The American Ship John Stuart crossing the Atlantic from New York to Liverpool in July 1852 in fourteen Days

The John Stuart was the first American medium clipper built in New York for the European trade. Launched in 1851 from the yards of Perrine, Patterson & Stack, she was registered at 1,653 tons and measured 206 feet in length with a 41½ foot beam. Never especially fast, she only ran on the North Atlantic for two years and in 1853 was switched onto San Francisco sailings, occasionally running from there across the Pacific to China. Her average passage times were good rather than exceptional and during her career she survived two serious collisions as well as being almost wrecked by severe weather on two other occasions. By the early 1860's she was plying several routes with a variety of cargoes, frequently coal, and whilst at Bombay in June 1863, she was sold into British ownership where she remained until at least 1870.