The Fiery Destruction of the Clipper Ship "Great Republic"

In this episode of “Wet Lunch on the High Seas,” I discuss the story of Donald McKay and his masterpiece Great Republic. By far the largest sailing ship in the world, Great Republic attracted both admiration and derision at her launch in October 1853. Tragically, the 335-foot-long, 4,500-ton behemoth would never sail the seas as McKay had designed her.

The amazing life story of Donald McKay—who came to America as an immigrant boy and rose to become a shipbuliding legend in his adopted home town of Boston—is fully recounted in my 2018 book Barons of the Sea, recipient of the St. Nicholas Society of the City of New York’s Literary Medal.

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Donald McKay (1810-1880). A master shipbuilder and self-made folk hero, he skillfully used the press and endorsements from politicians to gin up business. He declared that his ships were “monuments on the ocean.”

A Currier & Ives print of the clipper ship Great Republic, as originally built by Donald McKay.