Dimensions: 266'x46'3"x29'5"
Tonnage: 2604 RT

She was equipped with Howes patent double topsails.

     1855 - During the trans-atlantic passage a 421 miles 24-hour run was
     recorded and Cape Clear off the south coast of Ireland was sighted
     after 12 days. 
     1866 - Was sold to Thomas Harrison, Liverpool, and chartered back
     to the Black Ball Line until 1868 after which time she was employed in
     general trading. 
     1874 - Sold J.S. de Wolf, Liverpool, for £ 8750 but was
     almost immediately resold to captain William Williams of London. 
     1879 - Was sold to the sailmaking firm of Bertus Bartling & Co,
     Bremerhaven, who kept her on the Bremen - New York run. 
     1886 - Her last owner came to be Carl Brewer, Bremerhaven, and she
     was used as a coal hulk in Madeira. 

The figurehead of the Donald McKay, which pictures a Highlander in the McKay tartan, is preserved at the Mystic Seaport Museum.

Select Bibliography:

McLean, Duncan: The New Clipper Donald McKay. The Boston Daily Atlas, Vol. XXIV, No. ??, ?, February 6, 1855.

Reprinted in Nautical Research Journal Vol. 26 [1980], pp 94-96. Stammers, Michael K.: The Passage Makers. Teredo Books, Brighton, 1978.