Robert Waterman

Robert H. Waterman (March 4, 1808 – August 8, 1884), known as Bully Waterman or Bully Bob Waterman, was an American merchant sea captain. He set three sailing speed records; his time of 74 days from Hong Kong to New York City has never been bettered in a sail-powered vessel. He was reputed as a martinet, and was once convicted of assault against a crewman in a controversial California criminal case. Early career Waterman was born in Hudson, New York, the son of a Nantucket whaling captain. His father died at sea when the boy was eight, and the family moved to Fairfield, Connecticut. Waterman first went to sea at age 12 aboard a China trader, and spent most of the next nine years aboard transatlantic packet ships. By 1829, at the age of 21, he had been promoted to first mate of the Black Ball packet Britannia. His captain aboard the Britannia, Charles H. Marshall, later bought the packet South America and made Waterman the skipper. It was Waterman's first command. In 1836, Waterman accepted command of the cotton freighter Natchez, owned by Howland & Aspinwall, a Manhattan merchant company. He guided the Natchez on several voyages around Cape Horn to Valparaiso. In 1842, Howland & Aspinwall switched the Natchez to the China trade, and Waterman sailed her to Macao. His return trip from Macao to New York took only 78 days, a new record. Captain of the Sea Witch During the late 1840s, Howland & Aspinwall gave Waterman command of the clipper Sea Witch. Waterman worked with the ship's designer, John W. Griffiths, designing much of the Sea Witch'''s rig and sail plan, specifying masts and more square footage of sail than a 74-gun warship. In 1847, he brought the Sea Witch from Hong Kong to New York in 77 days, beating his previous record by a day.