# Samuel Samuels

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Captain **Samuel S. Samuels** (8 March 1823 – 18 May 1908) was a 19th-century American sea captain best known for command of the famous [clipper](/source/Clipper) ship the Dreadnought.[1] The fastest sailing ship of the time was quite famous and Captain Samuels was also renowned as the captain and designer of the ship. In 1859 he set a new record for [New York](/source/New_York_City) to [Liverpool](/source/Liverpool) of only 9 days, 17 hours.[2] Twice Captain Samuels sailed faster than steamer ships which were increasingly popular for freight during this time.

He was born in [Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia) on 8 March 1823. According to his autobiography, works of [James Fenimore Cooper](/source/James_Fenimore_Cooper) and [Frederick Marryat](/source/Frederick_Marryat) inspired him to run away to sea at the age of 11.[3] As a youth Samuels is shanghaied onto a ship bound for Liverpool. He learns the skills of the seaman, becomes an officer, and then a captain by age twenty-one.[4]

Samuels was captain of [James Gordon Bennett Jr.](/source/James_Gordon_Bennett_Jr.)'s yachts [*Henrietta*](/source/Henrietta_(ship,_1861)) and [*Dauntless*](/source/Dauntless_(ship,_1866)) in famous races in 1866 (Great Ocean Yacht Race), 1870 and 1887.[5][6] After his 1866 win, Bennett bought the rival yacht, the [*Fleetwing,*](/source/Fleetwing_(ship,_1865)) for $65,000.[7]

In 1887 he released his autobiography *From the Forecastle to the Cabin,* published by [Harper & Brothers](/source/Harper_(publisher)). In the book he described all of the topics one would expect from the golden age of the sailing era: storms, shipwrecks, famine, disease, press-gangs, desertion, piracy, violence, mutiny. He also tells the story of meeting his future wife, Miss Harriet Alice Steele.[8]

He died on 18 May 1908 at age 85 in [Brooklyn](/source/Brooklyn), New York.

## References

1. ["SV Dreadnought (+1869)"](https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?164281). The Wrecksite. Retrieved 8 February 2021.

1. Lars Bruzelius (1996). ["Dreadnought"](http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Ships/Clippers/Dreadnought(1853).html). Retrieved 8 February 2021.

1. From Forecastle to Cabin By Samuel Samuels

1. The Maritime History of Massachusetts, 1783-1860 By Samuel Eliot Morison

1. Thompson, Winfield M. (1902). [*The Lawson History of the America's Cup.*](https://books.google.com/books?id=w1Z3GFPbbEQC&pg=PA46). Boston, Massachusetts. p. 48. ISBN 9780907069409. Retrieved 2021-06-08.

1. ["The Ocean Yacht Race."](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79329081/yacht-race/). *New York Daily Herald*. 15 Jan 1867. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-06-08.

1. Prerce, Henry (1894). ["History Of Flag Of The United States Of America And Of The Naval and Yacht-Club Signals, Seals, And Arms, And Principal National Songs OF The United States."](https://archive.org/details/historyofflagofu00preb/page/710/mode/1up?view=theater&q=Henrietta). *Houghton, Mifflin and Company*. p. 710. Retrieved 2021-06-10.

1. Samuels, Samuel S. (1887). *From the forecastle to the cabin.*. New York: Harper & Brothers. [OCLC 978456653](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/978456653)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Samuel Samuels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Samuels) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Samuels?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.