Ship Yorktown

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Ship Yorktown

The Forsters boarded the sailing ship Yorktown (passenger list) and departed London, England on 21 July 1852 . The Yorktown was the first of two identical packet ships built by William H. Webb of New York, for Grinnell, Minturn & Company in late 1847 and 1848. The Yorktown, hull number 33, was completed first, followed three months later by the London. Both ships were originally built with two decks, but years later each ship acquired a third deck. The Yorktown measured 170 feet by 38 feet 3 inches by 22 feet 3 inches. Her tonnage was 1150, five tons more than the London.

Sailing ship London--the sister ship to the

Yorktown. Painted in 1863 by Philip John Ouless, an English artist. This picture was obtained from the

collection of the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA.

Text Box: Sailing ship London--the sister ship to the
Yorktown. Painted in 1863 by Philip John Ouless, an English artist. This picture was obtained from the
collection of the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA.

The Yorktown was built for Grinnell, Minturn & Company's Red Swallowtail Line to London, England. She was called a packet ship as she made regularly scheduled trips between the port of London, England and the port of New York City. She was launched in

October 1847 and departed on her maiden voyage to London about

1 November 1847. Her average westbound passage took 37 days with 22 days as her fastest and 53 days her slowest. She remained in service for 21 years.

On 6 November 1868, she encountered extremely heavy weather and lost her masts and rigging and began to leak. On the 24 December 1868, the Yorktown was taken to the island of Faial, part of the Azores Island chain located off the coast of Portugal. It was there that inspectors condemned the Yorktown. The ocean waters off the coast of Faial was her final resting place.

Because the Yorktown never produced any record-breaking

transatlantic passages, no pictures were ever made of her.

And today, according to the Webb Institute of Long Island, New York, which is the library for the William H. Webb Company, no plans or drawings remain of her either.

The following passenger list is for one transatlantic passage of the Yorktown, departing London, England 21 July 1852 and arriving in the port of New York 36 days later on August 27. It was this particular passage that carried my Forster ancestors to America.

04-Oct-2008

Ship Yorktown