View source for Eamont (schooner)

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|Ship name= '''''Eamont'''''
|Ship owner= [[Dent & Co]]
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|Ship builder= White, [[Cowes]]
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|Ship launched= 1854
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|Ship tons burthen= 120 ([[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]]
|Ship length= {{cvt|87|ft|m|1|abbr=on}}
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|Ship draught= {{cvt|12|ft|m|1|abbr=on}}
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'''''Eamont''''' was an opium clipper built in [[Cowes]].<ref name="lubbock">
{{Cite book
 | last = Lubbock
 | first = Basil
 | title = The Opium Clippers
 | publisher = Charles E. Lauriat Co
 | year =  1933
 | location = Boston, MA
 | pages = 339, 341, 347, 351–2, 364–8, 384
  }}</ref> It was the subject of an 1891 book, ''A cruise in an opium clipper'', by Captain Lindsay Anderson.<ref>{{Cite book
| publisher = Chapman and Hall, Limited
| last = Captain Lindsay Anderson
| title = A cruise in an opium clipper
| location = London
| access-date = 2013-03-21
| date = 1891
| url = https://archive.org/details/cu31924023257532
}}</ref>

''Eamont'' was involved in the [[Bakumatsu|opening]] of [[Japan]] to foreigners in 1858, serving as a dispatch boat between [[Nagasaki]] and [[Shanghai]],<ref>Lubbock (1933), p. 351-352</ref> and was one of the first vessels to open up a trade with [[Taiwan|Formosa]].

== Construction ==
White, of Cowes, built both ''Eamont'' and ''Wild Dayrell''. ''Eamont'' was constructed of [[teak]] and [[mahogany]], measured a little over 200 tons and had a mainboom 110 feet long. She was a very powerful vessel and carried 200 tons of iron [[kentledge]] fitted into her as a stationary [[ballast]]. She was armed with four 18-pounders a side and two pivot guns, like ''[[Zephyr (schooner)|Zephyr]]'', the two vessels belonging to [[Dent & Co]].

== Career ==
During the [[Taiping Rebellion]] ''Eamont'' ran up to the threatened city of [[Ningbo|Ningpo]], passing right through the [[Battle of Chinhai|Battle of Chinhae]], which was being waged not only on the banks but in the river itself. At Ningpo she found ''Zephyr''. The two schooners loaded up with fugitive celestials, and raced each other back to [[Wusong|Woosung]]. But in the smooth sheltered water of the river, and with a fresh whole sail breeze, ''Zephyr'' was more than a match for the more strongly built Cowes schooner. However, ''Eamont'' had her revenge in weather more to her choice. The two vessels met this time in half a gale of wind with a heavy sea running, and ''Eamont'' sailed right dead to windward of ''Zephyr'', and left her out of sight in twelve hours.

''Eamont'' was sent on some very dangerous trips. She was one of the first vessels to open up a trade with Formosa, and made the first survey of the port of Taku, which she entered by bumping over the reef in spite of a tremendous surf beating upon it at the time, a most daring performance. And in her efforts to trade with the Formosans she had to withstand the attack of hundreds of armed natives right on top of a typhoon, which she succeeded in riding out on her moorings. But ''Eamont''{{'}}s captain was a famous fighting man, as the Chinese pirates knew to their cost. In his constant encounters with piratical lorchas Captain Gulliver made use of a drag sail, with which he would suddenly deaden the way of his schooner, and so out-manoeuvre these "Invincibles," as they called themselves.

''Eamont'' was also employed in the negotiations for the first commercial treaty with Japan. On this occasion she ran into [[Nagasaki]] and quietly dropped anchor, in spite of the fact that opposition to the proposed commercial treaty was very strong at the time. On the following morning 150 boat-loads of Japanese attempted to tow her to sea, being evidently ignorant of an anchor's ''raison d'être''. But though they attempted several similar methods to get rid of her they refrained from any armed attack, and, eventually, her mission was completely successful. This was in 1858, and ''Eamont's'' crew saw many wonderful sights in that tierra incognita.

==Typhoon of 1858==
[[File:Double Haven 2.jpg|thumb|right|Double Haven, Double Island, in 2011]]
On 21 September 1858,<ref name=DN291158>{{Cite news |title=China |newspaper=Daily News |location=London |date=28 November 1858 |issue=3913 }}</ref> a typhoon destroyed several well-known opium clippers, including ''Anonyma'', ''Gazelle'', ''Pantaloon'', and ''Mazeppa''. ''Eamont'' was anchored off [[Double Island, Hong Kong|Double Island]], with "{{convert|150|fathom|feet meters|abbr=off|sp=us}} of chain out and a second anchor backed on it at {{convert|60|fathom|feet meters|abbr=off|sp=us}}]." The waves in the anchorage were estimated to be as large as {{convert|40|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}}, and ''Eamont''’s crew had to cut away her masts. ''Eamont'' was one of only two ships in that anchorage to survive the night, the other being ''Hazard''.<ref>Lubbock (1933), p. 384.</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Source-attribution|{{Cite book
| edition = 2nd
| publisher = James Brown & Son
| last = Lubbock
| first = Basil
| title = The China clippers
| location = Glasgow
| access-date = 2013-03-21
| date = 1914
| url = https://archive.org/stream/cu31924024151957#page/n59/mode/2up/search/eamont
}}}}

== Further reading ==
*{{Cite book
| publisher = Chapman and Hall, Limited
| last = Captain Lindsay Anderson
| title = A cruise in an opium clipper
| location = London
| access-date = 2013-03-21
| date = 1891
| url = https://archive.org/details/cu31924023257532
}}

==External links==
* {{librivox book | title=A Cruise in an Opium Clipper | author=Lindsay ANDERSON}}
{{1858 shipwrecks}}

[[Category:Opium clippers]]
[[Category:Schooners]]
[[Category:Individual sailing vessels]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in September 1858]]
[[Category:Bakumatsu]]
[[Category:1854 ships]]