"After taking the helm from her sick husband in the middle of a ferocious storm off the coast of Cape Horn, the notoriously hazardous tip of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago off southern Chile, she successfully put down the mutiny and navigated her way to safety through a sea of icebergs. Patten arrived in San Francisco Bay 10 weeks later with her crew and her cargo intact, the first woman ever to command a merchant clipper ship."
"When Patten set off from New York on Neptune's Car, a fast 65-metre (216ft) sailing ship laden with mining equipment and groceries worth the equivalent of $12m (9m) today, her husband, Joshua, was the captain. They were hoping to break speed records and earn a fortune by participating in a five-way clipper race to San Francisco. Their bad luck began the day before they departed in June 1856."
Mary Ann Patten, aged 19 and pregnant, took command of the clipper Neptune's Car after her husband fell ill during a ferocious storm off Cape Horn. She quelled an attempted mutiny, navigated through icebergs, and arrived in San Francisco Bay ten weeks later with crew and cargo intact, becoming the first woman to command a merchant clipper. Neptune's Car had departed New York in June 1856 laden with mining equipment and groceries valued at the equivalent of $12 million and was racing to San Francisco. The original first mate broke his leg and a replacement was appointed at short notice.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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