View source for Taitsing (clipper)

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2014}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image               = The British clipper 'Taitsing' (Great Arrow) off Hong Kong.png
| Ship caption             = The British clipper ''Taitsing'' (Great Arrow) off Hong Kong
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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| Ship country             = United Kingdom
| Ship flag                = {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}}
| Ship name                = ''Taitsing''
| Ship owner               =*Findlay & Longmuir, Greenock; 1865-1876
*James Findlay, Greenock; 1876-1880
*Robert D Willis, London; 1880-1883
*<ref name="MacGregor">{{cite book |last=MacGregor |first=David R. |date= 1983|title=The Tea Clippers, Their History and Development 1833-1875 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press Limited |isbn=0-85177-256-0}}</ref>{{rp|page=166}}
| Ship ordered             = 
| Ship builder             = Charles Connell & Co, [[Glasgow]]
| Ship original cost       = 
| Ship laid down           = 
| Ship launched            = 25 July 1865
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| Ship notes               = 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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| Ship fate                = Sank 20 September 1883
| Ship notes               = Arrived fifth in [[The Great Tea Race of 1866]]
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header              = 
| Header caption           = 
| Ship class               = [[Clipper]]
| Ship tonnage        = {{NRT |815}}<ref name=MacGregor/>{{rp|page=166}} 
| Ship length              = 192 ft<ref name=MacGregor/>{{rp|page=166}}
| Ship beam          = 31.5 ft<ref name=MacGregor/>{{rp|page=166}}
| Ship draught             =
| Ship depth          = 20.1 ft<ref name=MacGregor/>{{rp|page=166}}
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| Ship sail plan          = [[Full-rigged ship]]
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'''''Taitsing''''' was a famous British tea [[clipper]].

==Tea Clipper Taitsing==

''Taitsing'' was a [[Full-rigged ship|full-rigged]], composite-built [[Clipper|clipper ship]], measuring {{convert|192|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} in length, with a beam of {{convert|31.5|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} and a draught of {{convert|20.15|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}}. She was built in 1865 by Charles Connell & Co, [[Glasgow]], [[Scotland]], for Findlay & Longmuir, [[Greenock]], Scotland.{{r|MacGregor|p=166}} ''Taitsing'' was launched on 25 July 1865.<ref name=GH260765>{{Cite news |title=Launches |newspaper=Glasgow Herald |location=Glasgow |date=26 July 1865 |issue=7972 }}</ref>

The ship sailed from [[London]] to [[China|Chinese]] ports like [[Xiamen|Amoy]], [[Hong Kong]], [[Wusong]], [[Fuzhou]], and [[Shanghai]]. She also travelled from Fuzhou to [[New York City|New York]] in 1874. In 1876 the ship was sold to James Findlay of Greenock. She was sold to John Willis & Son [Robert D. Willis] of London in 1879.{{r|MacGregor|pp=235-243}}

==The Great Tea Race of 1866==
{{main|Great Tea Race of 1866}}
[[File:The Pagoda Anchorage, Foochow, in 1866. The Tea Clippers lined up awaiting their cargo. Pictured L to R - The 'Black Prince', 'Fiery Cross', 'Taitsing', 'Taeping', and 'Flying Spur'. PRG-1373-4-67 (cropped and title corrected).jpg|thumb|The Pagoda Anchorage, Fuzhou, in 1866. The Tea Clippers lined up awaiting their cargo. Pictured from Left to Right - The 'Black Prince', 'Fiery Cross', 'Taitsing', 'Taeping', and 'Flying Spur']]
Laden with just over a million pounds (453,600&nbsp;kg) of tea, ''Taitsing'', under the command of [[Sea captain|Captain Nutsford]], raced nine other ships from China to [[England]] in [[The Great Tea Race of 1866]]. The first five ships – [[Taeping|''Taiping'']], [[Ariel (clipper)|''Ariel'']], [[Serica (clipper)|''Serica'']], [[Fiery Cross (clipper)|''Fiery Cross'']], and ''Taitsing'' – finished the 14,000-[[Nautical miles|nautical-mile]] (25,930-km) race within three days of each other. ''Taitsing'' arrived fifth, in "the closest run ever recorded."<ref>{{cite news
| author = Lars Bruzelius
| title = The Great Tea Race, 1866 
| quote = "The Taeping took in 1,108,700 lbs. of tea, the Ariel 1,230,900 lbs., the Serica 954,236 lbs., the Fiery Cross 854,236 lbs., and the Taitsing 1,093,130 lbs."
| publisher = The Shipping and Mercantile Gazette
| date = 12 September 1866
| pages = 5
| url = http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/News/SMG/SMG%281866-09-12%29_p5ab.html
| access-date = 2010-02-18
}}</ref> ''Taitsing''′s best 24-hour run during the race was on 2 July 1866, when she traveled {{convert|318|nmi|km|abbr=off}}, averaging {{convert|13.25|knots|km/h}}).<ref>{{cite news
| author = Arthur H. Clark 
| title = The clipper ship era; an epitome of famous American and British clipper ships, their owners, builders, commanders, and crews, 1843-1869
| quote = "The best twenty -four hours' runs were as follows : Average, Ariel June 25 317 miles 13.2 knots, ... Taitsing July 2 318 13.25 "
| publisher = G. P. Putnam's Sons
| year = 1911
| pages = 330
| url = https://archive.org/stream/cu31924020891416/cu31924020891416_djvu.txt
| access-date = 2010-02-18
}}</ref>

==Sinking==

''Taitsing'', carrying a load of patent fuel from [[Swansea]], [[Wales]], sank in the [[Indian Ocean]] off Nyuni Island, [[Zanzibar]], on 20 September 1883.<ref name=MacGregor/>{{rp|page=169}}

==In culture==

A painting of ''Taitsing'' signed by the Chinese painter [[Hingqua]], along with a painting of the clipper [[brig]] ''Venus'', sold at auction at [[Sotheby's]] in New York City in 2009.<ref>{{cite web
| author = Sotheby's
| title = Important Americana, Sale: N08512, Location: New York 
| quote = "PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF FRED F. AND LOIS K. ROGERS CHINESE SCHOOL, 19TH CENTURY, THE CLIPPER SHIP VENUS AND THE CLIPPER SHIP TAITSING: TWO CHINA TRADE SHIP PORTRAITS"
| date = 2009-01-24
| url = http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDetail.jsp?lot_id=159514037
| access-date = 2010-02-18
}}</ref>

Hungarian writer [[András Dékány]] centered his second fiction book of his "Monostory" trilogy "The Black Prince" ("A fekete herceg")<ref>{{cite web
| title = The Black Prince
| year = 2018
| url = https://waterbloggedbooks.wordpress.com/2018/01/31/the-black-prince/
}}</ref> around the Taitsing, and the great tea clipper race. András Dékány was a writer, journalist, critic, while in early life worked among other things as sailor. A number of his books spoke about sailboats and sailors, including the "Monostory" trilogy, a fictional work centered on Lt. Balázs Monostory who becomes sailor during the failed [[Hungarian Revolution of 1848]] and in this fictional book he becomes captain of Taitsing for the time of the race.
<ref>{{cite web
| author = Dékány András
| title = A fekete herceg
| publisher = Móra, Budapest
| year = 1966
| url = https://moly.hu/konyvek/dekany-andras-a-fekete-herceg
}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==

{{cite web
| author = David R. MacGregor
| title = Fast Sailing Ships: Their Design and Construction, 1775-1875
| quote = Taitsing, ship, compared with Serica, 240 ... compared with other clippers, 239-40
| publisher = Naval Institute Press
| year = 1988
| pages = 239–40
| url = http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/toc/becites/genealogy/immigrant/87062528.idx.html#tl
| access-date = 2010-02-18
}}

==External links==
===Paintings===
* [http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=4228834 The Ship ''Taitsing'' entering Hong Kong, July 1877]
* [http://www.sothebys.com/app/ecatalogue/ecat.do?dispatch=displayImageViewer&lot_id=159514037&SIZE=smaller Clipper ship ''Taitsing'' China trade portrait]
* [http://www.prices4antiques.com/paintings/oil-on-canvas/China-Trade-Oil-on-Canvas-British-Clipper-Ship-Taitsing-C216317.htm China Trade oil on canvas of ''Taitsing'', 1865-2870]
* [http://www.vallejogallery.com/artists/T/Thimgan/Taitsing/600%20dpi%20un%20framed.jpg "Ship TAITSING Visiting China", David Thimgan, 1955-2003]
* [http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/pictoria/b/4/6/doc/b46650.shtml ''Taitsing'', composite ship picture by David Michael Hartigan Little]
* [http://www.jimgriffithsart.com/wp-gallery2.php?g2_itemId=1078 "Fleeting Colors", British Tea Clipper ''Taitsing'', 1866-67, by Jim Griffiths, Maritime Gallery at Mystic Seaport]

===Scale model===

*{{Cite web
| url = http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/Modellers/Bob/ENTERPRISE%20%20TAITSING.htm
| title = Flying Enterprise & Taitsing
| access-date = 2010-02-18
| last = Wilson | first = Bob
| year = 2003}}
* Model built to a scale of 32 feet to one inch. Based on plans from: {{Cite book
 | last = MacGregor
 | first = David R.
 | title = ''The Tea Clippers, Their History & Development 1833 – 1875''
 | page = 167
}}
* [http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?pos=7&intObjectID=4097960&sid= Scale model of ''Taitsing'']

{{Clipper ships}}
{{1883 shipwrecks}}

{{coord missing|Indian Ocean}}

[[Category:Clippers]]
[[Category:Individual sailing vessels]]
[[Category:Tall ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Victorian-era merchant ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships built in Glasgow]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in September 1883]]
[[Category:1865 ships]]
[[Category:Full-rigged ships]]