File:Ships Through the Ages (3).jpg

English: BPLDC no.: 09_03_000079

Subtitle: The Dreadnought; the clipper ship, Flying Cloud; Old New Bedford whaler

Creator: King, Frederic Leonard (American painter and illustrator, 1879-1947)

Date created: 1934-1935

General format: oil on canvas

BPL Department: Special Collections, East Boston Branch Library

Dimensions: visible image 22 ½ x 108 ¾ in., framed 25 ½ x 111 ¾ in.

Description: (left to right)

The Dreadnought This 19th century vessel was a fore-runner of the modem armored warship. The Dreadnought was the queen of the clipper fleet and was commanded by Captain Samuel Samuels of the American merchant marine. Her record was 9 days and 17 hours in the 2,760 mile run from Sandy Hook to Queenstown, and this record holds good today for sailing crafts.

The clipper ship, Flying Cloud This ship, built in 1851 by Donald McKay for Enoch Tram's Line in East Boston. On her maiden voyage, the Flying Cloud broke all speed records for the passage from New York City around Cape Horn to San Francisco, the record time being 89 days, 21 hours. This passage meant a reduction of from 1/3 to 1/2 the time that formerly had been required for this trip.

Old New Bedford whaler New Bedford, Massachusetts, became the center of American whaling, and it was from this port that whalers first ventured into the Pacific in search of whales. The whaling vessels were usually of 300 to 500 tons and were fitted with windlasses for raising the blubber, boilers for trying it, and tanks or barrels for holding the oil.

Notes: The description above was written in 1935. Ships Through the Ages, originally four murals painted by Frederic Leonard King between 1934 and 1935, was commissioned as part of the Public Works Art Project for the Jeffries Point Branch of the Boston Public Library. In 1956, the Jeffries Point Branch closed, and each mural was divided into multiple paintings and relocated to the East Boston Branch Library where they are currently on display; however, several sections of the murals are missing.