This video shows an animation based on a beautiful hand-drawn image from 1866 made by Harry Cornish, gifted artist and Chief Ship Surveyor at Lloyds Register Foundation, a marine classification society dedicated to certifying the safety of ships.
This period is widely known as the Clipper Ship Era. The secret of their success was in their construction. Ships built from wood could not be much longer than 80 metres in length
and their timber frames took up a lot of valuable space. The Clippers however, were made with a composite hull of both wood and iron, so could be made larger and stronger than previous traditional wooden ships.
The strong iron frame made it possible to allow large masts to support a vast area of sail, giving the vessel a speed not previously attained. Powered by sail, the clipper ships became one of the greatest technological advances of the 19th century.
A robust wrought iron frame to give the ship more size and space, was cladded with wood, often rock elm below the waterline and teak above. A cladding of copper or brass sheathing for protection was also possible, something impractical for iron hulls due to bimetallic corrosion. But the Clipper Ship Era was short-lived. The opening of the Suez
Canal, caused their demise and gave rise to all-metal steam ships.
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