Vol. 71, No.1 Spring 2026 38


2. James Edward Buttersworth: “Clipper ‘Stag Hound’ Shortening Sail Before a Gale”. Courtesy of South Street Seaport.


length of 226 feet, with impressive towering masts, launched on December 7, 1850. (Figure 2) Originally commissioned by Enoch Train for himself, the ship was sold while on stocks to Grinnell, Minturn & Co, NY for $90,000 before its launch. T is was McKay’s most extreme vision of a swiſt hull with the sharpest fl oor of any clipper ship he ever designed. T e deadrise at half fl oor was a very extreme forty inches with a beam of thirty-nine feet, eight inches and depth of hold twenty-one feet. According to the Boston Daily Atlas, Stag Hound was described by Duncan McLean this way “Her model may be said to be the original of a new idea in naval architecture. She is longer and sharper than any other vessel of the merchant service in the world, while her breadth of beam and depth of


hold are designed with special reference to stability.” In fact, as far as deadrise at half hull is concerned, Donald McKay never designed another vessel with such a sharp fl oor. Every other clipper ship gradually had fl atter fl oors until his fi nal medium clipper Glory of the Seas launched almost nineteen years later. T is had the fl attest dead rise at half- hull of a mere eight inches. Still, compared to Stag Hound McKay’s fi nal, longest lived clipper ship was huge, being 265 feet overall length, 44 feet breadth of beam and 28 feet depth of hold. Docked side by side, both vessels would have been an impressive sight. Glory of the Seas, being a full thirty-nine feet longer, would have dwarfed even Stag Hound.


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