The Young America was built by William H. Webb

William H. Webb

William Henry Webb was a 19th-century New York shipbuilder and philanthropist, who has been called America's first true naval architect....

 of New York. She was launched in 1853, at the height of the clipper

Clipper

A clipper was a very fast sailing ship of the 19th century that had three or more masts and a square rig. They were generally narrow for their length, could carry limited bulk freight, small by later 19th century standards, and had a large total sail area...

 construction boom. She sailed in the California trade, on transatlantic routes, and made voyages to Australia and the Far East.

Fast passages and records

“Among her many fine passages may be mentioned: from New York to San Francisco, 103, 107, 110, 112, 117, and, 116 days, and from San Francisco to New York, 92, 97, 85, 101, 103, and 83 days; San Francisco to Liverpool, 103 and 106 days; Liverpool to San Francisco, 117, 111, and 99 days; and twenty consecutive passages from New York to San Francisco averaging 117 days. Her best performance, however, was from 50° S. in the Atlantic to 50° S. in the Pacific, in the record time of 6 days.”

She set a record for the passage from Liverpool to San Francisco in 1872, of 99 days. She set a record for a loaded sailing ship between San Francisco to New York in 1870, 83 days: "the record for a loaded sailing ship."

Passengers and cargo

In 1857, Young America transported 800 Chinese coolies

Coolie

Historically, a coolie was a manual labourer or slave from Asia, particularly China, India, and the Phillipines during the 19th century and early 20th century...

 from Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 to Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 via Guichon. She sailed from Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 to Melbourne under Captain D.S. Babcock with 289 passengers in 1858. In 1865, she brought a cargo of sugar and hemp from Manila to New York in 100 days.

Dismasted and run aground

Young America was dismasted three times. The first dismasting took place in 1859, on a voyage from New York to San Francisco, and repairs were made in Rio de Janeiro. A tornado in 9°N, 32°W in 1862 carried away the masts a second time, and forced her to put in to Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

, England. The third time she lost her masts, in a pampero

Pampero Winds

The pampero is a burst of cold polar air from the west, southwest or south on the pampas in the south of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. This wind picks up during the passage of a cold front of an active low passing by. It takes the form of a squall line and there is a marked drop in temperature...

 off Río de la Plata

Río de la Plata

The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...

 in 1868, she was jury-rigged

Jury rig

Jury rigging refers to makeshift repairs or temporary contrivances, made with only the tools and materials that happen to be on hand. Originally a nautical term, on sailing ships a jury rig is a replacement mast and yards improvised in case of damage or loss of the original mast.-Etymology:The...

 at sea and continued to San Francisco, where she incurred $18,000 in repair costs. In 1850, she went aground on a reef near Cabo São Roque, Brazil, and had to jettison part of her cargo.

Disappearance

“1886 February 17. Passed the Delaware Breakwater

Delaware Breakwater

The Delaware Breakwater is a set of breakwaters east of Lewes, Delaware on Cape Henlopen that form Lewes Harbor. They were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 12, 1976.The original and breakwaters were built in 1828...

 outward bound from Philadelphia for Fiume

Rijeka

Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...

 under command of Captain Vlassich and was never heard of again. The cargo consisted of 407.306 gallons of crude oil in 9700 barrels at a total value of $26.965.”

Another source states that "the Young America was last seen lying off Gibraltar

Bay of Gibraltar

The Bay of Gibraltar is a bay at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. It is around long by wide, covering an area of some , with a depth of up to in the centre of the bay...

 as a coal hulk."