Made several record port-to-port or point-to-point passagesHurricane was a large extreme clipper of 1608 tons burthen built in Hoboken, New Jersey, United States in 1851.

Reputedly the most extreme clipper ever built, Hurricane proved a very fast vessel, reportedly capable of speeds of up to 18 knots (33 km/h) in ideal conditions, and establishing a number of record passages in the early years of her career.

[1][2][8] According to some authorities,[c] Hurricane was "the sharpest sailing ship ever constructed by any builder"[1][8][9]—that is, the most extreme clipper[10]—though her model fore and aft is said to have avoided concave lines.

"[d] The disadvantage of such sharp lines was a corresponding reduction in cargo capacity, which ran the risk of making the extreme clippers unprofitable during periods of low freight rates.

[8][e] Hurricane was loftily sparred and fitted with rolling topsails, with her name emblazoned across the lower part of the foretopsail in large black lettering[1] "that could be read much further than any signals and looked very smart and shipshape.

Another North Carolina reporter, writing some weeks after the launch, described the ship "with all her sails and colors flying" as "one of the most cheering nautical sights ever shown in this region".

Prior to Hurricane's launch, a voyage to China via Cape Horn, Chile and San Francisco, California,[f] had already been organized for the vessel, and in the days following the ship's completion, she took on cargo and booked passengers.

[1] Sixteen days out from New York, Hurricane's fore and main topmasts and mizzen topgallant mast were lost in a white squall, but despite the mishap, the ship crossed the equator in good time and arrived at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 28 January 1852, where she put in for repairs.

In the vicinity of Cape Horn, however, she was beset by much calm weather, and also lost her jibboom and foretopgallant mast, finally arriving at San Francisco after a 123-day passage.

"[23] Hurricane then returned to New York in ballast, clearing San Francisco 31 December and arriving at her destination in early April after a passage of 96 days.

[25] Fairburn has additionally noted Hurricane's "unusually uniform"[26] speeds under varying conditions on this passage,[26] and argued that with a little more good fortune, the vessel could well have set considerably faster times throughout her career.

[24] From London, the vessel returned to Calcutta, on this occasion making the run from The Needles to the mouth of the Hooghly River in 82 1/4 days,[27] setting a record "not beaten or equalled for many years thereafter.

[29] After returning to New York in September 1857, Hurricane was laid up with no work until the end of 1858 due to low freight rates caused in part by an economic depression in the United States.

[2][24] Toward the end of 1858, Hurricane was again placed in commission—reportedly in hopes of finding a buyer—and on 8 January 1859, departed for the fourth and final time for San Francisco, with Captain Ichabod Sherman in command.