Name Serica Tonnage 708 NRT Depth 19.6 ft (6.0 m) Length 57 m | Owner James Findlay Beam 31.1 ft (9.5 m) Launched 1863 | |
Fate Wrecked on the Paracels, 1872 | ||
The Serica was a clipper ship built in 1863 by Robert Steele & Co., at Greenock on the south bank of the Clyde, Scotland, for James Findlay.
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Winner of 1864 Tea Race
Serica is Latin for "China"-- the ship was built expressly for the China tea trade. The Serica participated in the annual "tea races" to bring the new season's crop to London; she won in 1864 and finished second in 1865, and in The Great Tea Race of 1866 came in third, by a matter of hours.
Sailing performance
According to Basil Lubbock, the tea clippers Serica, Fiery Cross, Lahloo and Taeping performed at their best in light breezes, as they were all rigged with single topsails.
Loss of the ship
On her final voyage under Capt. George Innes, she left Hong Kong bound for Montevideo, 2 November 1872, and was wrecked on the Paracels, in the South China Sea the following day. Out of a crew of twenty-three that manned her, only one survived.