Nautical Research Journal 39


3. 1915 Docking Plan revealed extensive keel hogging in Donald McKay’s then 46-year-old clipper hull.


Determining Glory of the Seas ultimate mast heights


T anks to Lars Bruzelius’s excellent website, we have access to dozens of in-depth descriptions of American clipper ships, including many of Donald McKay’s.


Internal dimensions of Stag Hound and a few other McKay clippers became critical in our accurate fi nal height reconstruction of the loſt y masts on Glory of the Seas. Fortunately, Duncan MacLean, publicist for the Boston Daily Atlas was supplied exhaustive Stag Hound construction details by McKay’s East Boston shipyard. Calculating a ship’s backbone is critical in determining ultimate height of the masts since they mount directly on top. Keel and false keel are not the only components which comprise a vessel’s backbone. T anks to meticulous specifi cations of Stag Hound’s backbone it is possible to precisely calculate the actual depth of this critical structure, which was critical in preventing hogging, especially in extremely long vessels. (Figure 3)


From Boston Daily Atlas, December 21, 1850, we learn:


Keel depth: 46” Floor timbers on keel: molded 14” to 16” 3 depths midship keelsons: 42”


Hold stanchions: 10” square, kneed to beams above and keelson below, so that their lower arms form almost a rider along the top of the keelson. Including their depth and the molding of the fl oor timbers.


Stag Hound was nine feet through the backbone. Since masts cannot be stepped on hold stanchions, we can subtract them, leaving 8 feet 6 inches to 8 feet 8 inches upon which masts would be mounted. Most likely 8 feet 8 inches for fore and main masts and 8 feet 6 inches for the mizzen.


Using this same method, we can accurately estimate the backbone of Glory of the Seas from data in the Boston Daily Atlas 1869:


Keel molded: 24” Depth of shoe (also referred to as false keel): 5”


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