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322 were brought out—the Taeping, built by Robert Steele & Son; the Eliza Shaw, by Alexander Stephen, and the Yang-tze and Black Prince, by Alexander Hall. This system of ship-building—iron frames and wood planking—was invented by John Jordan, son of a member of the firm of L. H. Macintyre & Co., ship-builders of Liverpool, who built the schooner Excelsior upon this principle in 1850, and the barque Marion Macintyre, in 1851, these being the first composite vessels constructed.

This system combined the strength of iron frames with the advantage that the wooden planking could be coppered to prevent fouling, which was a serious matter in this trade. Great care had to be taken in building these vessels to prevent galvanic action so far as possible. Gutta-percha was placed between the frames and planking as a non-conductor; the planking was then fastened with yellow-metal screw bolts with counter-sunk heads, the holes being afterwards filled with a composition prepared for the purpose. Mr. Jordan obtained a patent for his invention, but it did not attract much attention until adopted in the construction of the Taeping, Eliza Shaw, Yang-tse, and Black Prince. From that time all the tea clippers were of composite build, though it was not until 1867 that the Committee of Lloyd's Register issued rules for their construction.

It was in 1863 also that the Seaforth, an iron ship of 1200 tons, built for the Calcutta trade by Jones, Quiggin & Co., of Liverpool, was fitted with steel lower masts, topmasts, topsails yards, and bowsprit, and with standing rigging of steel wire