(U.S.
Registry 125293) begins in winter of 1871, when the Manitowoc,
Wis., shipyard of Hanson & Scove laid the
keel
for the
new three-masted
schooner
. Built for Swedish immigrant Charles
M. Lindgren of Chicago, who named his new vessel after a
world-renowned Swedish diva, the Nilsson measured 139
feet in length, 26 feet in beam, and 11 feet in depth of hold.
With planking completed in June, the Christina Nilsson's masts
were stepped the following month and the new vessel slid
down the ways on 3 August 1871. So great was Charles Lindgren's
enthusiasm for what local newspapers deemed "a
splendid craft," that an inspired Hanson and Scove laid the
keel for an identical craft the same day the Nilsson
was launched.
Built
at a cost of $23,000, the Nilsson was completed
during the first year of the Hanson & Scove partnership
(1871), though Jasper Hanson appears to have already been
building ships for at least four years. Notably, between
1860 and 1880, Manitowoc shipbuilders had gained a reputation
around the Great
Lakes for their
clipper
-built ships
used as grain, lumber, and merchandise carriers. Hanson and
Scove operated a relatively busy shipyard and were responsible
for 16 (39%) of the 43 total sailing craft constructed in
Manitowoc between 1871 and 1885.
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