McKay, Donald

Donald McKay, (born Sept. 4, 1810, Nova Scotia—died Sept. 20, 1880, Hamilton, Mass., U.S.), Canadian-born naval architect and builder of the largest and fastest of the clipper ships.

After emigrating to New York City in 1827, he worked as an apprentice to the ship carpenter Isaac Webb. In 1845 he established a shipyard at East Boston, Mass.; there he designed and built his great clipper ships. His first, the Stag Hound, launched in 1850, was followed by many others, including the Lightning, which established a long-standing world record of 436 nautical miles in a day, at times reaching a speed of 21 knots. His James Baines set an around-the-world record of 133 days and a transatlantic record of 12 days 6 hours from Boston to Liverpool. McKay’s Great Republic, registered at about 4,555 tons, was the largest clipper ever built.

By 1855 the demand for clipper ships was over and McKay closed his yard. In 1863 he equipped the yard to build iron ships and constructed several such vessels for the U.S. Navy, including the warship Nausett; but he was not financially successful in this work. His last sailing ship, the Glory of the Seas, built in 1869, was under sail until 1923.