A beautiful bell with a great resonating tone and a sailor made lanyard.
Sea Serpent was an 1850 extreme clipper that sailed in the San Francisco trade, the China trade, and the transatlantic lumber trade. She was one of the longest lived clippers, with a service life of 36 years and 5 months.
She was a very fast clipper with many records and notworthy sailings to her name
Sea Serpent sailed from Shanghai for London in company with the British clipper Crest of the Wave. A premium of thirty shillings a ton, over and above the amount of the freight, had been offered to the vessel first in, and this was quite sufficient inducement for both skippers to crack on. The two ships were fairly near together all the way home, and they actually hove to for pilots, off the Isle of Wight, within an hour of each other. The American captain determined that he would not be outdone by the Britisher, so leaving his ship in the hands of the mate, he came ashore in the boat that brought out his pilot, took the steamer from Cowes to Southampton, and the train up to Waterloo. From thence he took a cab to the Custom-house, and reported the Sea Serpent as "arrived," while each ship was carrying on all she knew in order to get into the Thames before the other.
On June 12, 1891, on a voyage from Dublin to Quebec with a cargo of timber, she was abandoned at sea at 46° N, 40°W. The crew of 17 left the ship in boats, and was picked up by the bark Gulnare. On October 18, 1891, the barque Ardgowan sighted Sea Serpent at 45°N, 24°W. She drifted 1,120 miles (1,800 km) in 93 days, and was sighted 19 times before disappearinglife of 36 years and 5 months.
