became his biggest customer, commissioning seven more packet ships and four clipper ships between 1845 and 1853--including the legendary Flying Cloud. Ships built before 1845 1840 Delia Walker, 427 tons, McKay finished her for John Currier, Jr. 1841 Mary Broughton, 323 tons, barque, built by Currier & McKay. 1842 Ashburton, 449 tons, ship, build by Currier & McKay. 1842 Rio Trader Courier, early clipper trading ship, 380 tons OM was the first ship fully designed and built by Donald McKay himself, as a partner in the firm of Currier & McKay, on a commission from Andrew Foster & Son, New York. She was built at Newburyport, Massachusetts. At the time it was rather unusual for a such advanced vessel to be built outside of New York or Baltimore. She was employed in the Rio coffee trade and made a big deal of money to her owners, but most importantly brought a much needed fame to McKay. 1843 St. George, 845 tons, pioneer packet of Red Cross Line, built by McKay & Picket. 1844 John R. Skiddy, 930 tons, packet, built by McKay & Picket. 1844 Joshua Bates, 620 tons, pioneer packet of Enoch Train's White Diamond Line. The White Diamond Line was one of the most important Atlantic emigrant routes from Europe to North America at the time. Built by McKay & Pickett. East Boston shipyard In 1845 McKay, as a sole owner, established his own shipyard on Border Street, East Boston, where he built some of the finest American ships over a career of almost 25 years. One of his first large orders was building five large packet ships for Enoch Train's White Diamond line between 1845 and 1850. Between 1845 and 1850 McKay built five large packet ships for Enoch Train's White Diamond line: Washington Irving, Anglo Saxon, Anglo American, Daniel Webster, and Ocean Monarch. The Ocean Monarch was lost to fire on August 28, 1848, soon after leaving Liverpool and within sight of Wales; over 170 of the passengers and crew perished. The Washington Irving carried Patrick Kennedy, grandfather of Kennedy family patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., to Boston in 1849. In the summer of 1851, McKay visited Liverpool and secured a contract to build four large ships for James Baines & Co.'s Australian trade: Lightning (1854), Champion of the Seas (1854), James Baines (1854), and Donald McKay (1855). Ships built after 1845 1845 Washington Irving, 751