United States Merchant Marine Academy - Midships Yearbook (Kings Point, NY)

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DEDICATED TO Ship-building at East Boston. The spectator beholds that busy and interesting scene—an East Boston shipyard, with the huge skeletons of two vessels in the process of receiving their planking, decks and finishing. Even the framework of the hull is symmetrical, the giant strength of the knees showing the solidity of the fabric. In the 1850’s East Boston was one of the most noted places for shipbuilding in the U. S. In the spring of 1845 Donald McKay opened a yard at the foot of Border Street in East Boston. From this yard some of the finest clippers that ever sailed the seas were launched. During the period from 1845 to 1869 McKay built a total of 48 ships, many of which were to become world famous. McKay designed every vessel built in his Boston yard, superintended each detail of their con- struction, and chose their names. He had a flair for names and those such as “Flying Cloud,” “Sovereign of the Seas,” and “Lightning” became household knowledge. The people of Boston became wildly enthusiastic over the fame that McKay had brought to their city. It is said that over ten thousand people gath- ered at the East Boston yard on a cold day in December, 1851 to see the sculpture- clean body of the “Stag Hound” pierce the waters of Boston Harbor. But New York and her master shipbuilders were determined not to be out- done. Consequently a keen rivalry was built up between the two shipping centers. John Westervelt and William Webb of New York were able builders, and many fine vessels were built in their yards. However, the records clearly show the outcome of this shipbuilding race and it is quite apparent that Boston, in the person of Donald McKay, reigned supreme. Boston and the McKay yard became the shipbuilding center of the Age of the Clippers.

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THE LOGBOOK OF THE GRADUATING CLASS UNITED STATES MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY KINGS POINT, NEW YORK

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 DONALD E. McKAY KING OF THE CLIPPERS A man of vision, a dreamer with the energy and ability to make his dreams a practical reality, a ship- designer endowed with the creative genius of an artist and the clear perception of an engineer, a pioneer in the field of nautical mechanics who blazed a path when others held back, Donald McKay stands today as the epitome of those qualities which symbolized the spirit of a growing, young America. His name is indelibly inscribed in the pages of history with that high-spirited and inspiring Age of Clipper Ships, an age which he did more than any other man to glorify with the creations of his brain and hand. To the memory of this man we respectfully dedicate this, the 1962 edition of MIDSHIPS. • AS 7' The Art of Shipbuilding Shipbuilding had come to the United States with the earliest settlers and had been practiced for nearly two hundred years before the Age of the Clipper. What was learned and evolved by the construction of the California clipper ships on the Atlantic seaboard of our country established a school of world-experts in the art of designing and building ships of wonderfully swift sailing ability. America quickly became the world’s leading shipbuilding country.