Red, White and Blue of New York was a ship-rigged, 26-foot (7.9 m) lifeboat that, with her crew John Morley Hudson, Francis Edward Fitch and Fanny the dog, broke an American record for a small vessel by crossing the Atlantic from New York to Margate in 38 days in 1866.

The crew endured heavy weather, a leaking hull, and spoiled stores; the dog died at sea.

The ship and crew received the welcome due to them at Margate, but some of the British public found it difficult to credit the success of the attempt, although the voyage was ultimately proved genuine.

The ship was exhibited in 1866 at The Crystal Palace, London, and in 1867 at the Exposition Universelle, Paris, where Hudson was granted an interview with Emperor Louis Napoleon.

However the temporary British controversy about the validity of the crossing attempt, and Hudson's consequent difficulties and debts, contributed to the rather quiet way in which this story ended.

[2] The hull of Red, White and Blue was constructed of galvanised iron, "pressed and moulded to a clinker built configuration" by the inventor Oliver Roland Ingersoll.

[5] For the master's department she carried, "a boat compass, quadrant, charts, parallel rule, dividers, weather indicator, longline,[nb 4] glass, 7 lbs lead, American ensign and pennant, English and French ensigns, anchor and fifty fathoms of rope, but no chronometer."

[1][3] At The Crystal Palace, Hudson and Fitch attended daily to make the ship's log available, and to answer questions.

Agents were to secure goodly numbers to visit her; but for three months scarcely any one paid for a ticket, until at length the vessel was admitted into the grounds of the Exhibition.

[8][11][13] The ship had an oval, engraved plaque, with the words, "Ingersoll Metallic Life Boat Red White and Blue.

[4] The intention of the voyage was to publicise the new hull-invention with a record-breaking smallest-ship Atlantic crossing,[15] then to exhibit the ship at the prestigious Paris Exposition of 1867.

[3] The log book said, "The object of this expedition is to be at the world's fair in Paris, to show the French they have not all complete without something notorious to give the rest a contrast.

[1][16] The ship was registered on 9 July as if she were a clipper packet: "a clearance in ballast, a crew list [and] a bill of health.

"[1] The crew which took the ship from Sandy Hook, New Jersey, to Margate, England, were Captain John M. Hudson and Mate Frank E. Fitch, along with Fanny the poodle.

"[1] The steamer Silas O. Pearce towed the ship from Red Rock Point to the Sandy Hook lightship for the start of the voyage.

"[1] The Daily Telegraph lauded the crew's "pluck and endurance, even if bordering upon rashness", and confirmed its belief in the success of the venture.

[1] There were some public suggestions that Red, White and Blue had not achieved the voyage alone, but had been carried for part of the west–east journey on board William Tapscott, or had been towed.

Two men and a dog crossed the briny, Of course we believe it, we do; In a boat of two tons, vessel tiny And they called it the Red, White and Blue.

[22] John MacGregor (1893) blamed this misunderstanding partly on the way in which the ship's log was published in re-written form, calling it a "mutilated paper".

Although he believed that the ship really had made the voyage without outside assistance, he said, It is a very great pity that when it has been effected there should be a failure in appreciating its marvellous accomplishment ... After examining, probably more than any body else, the evidence in their case—the men, the log, the documents, and affidavits, and the boat, and its contents, also the numerous doubts and criticisms from all quarters, both in London and Paris, and in Dover and Margate, I have good reason to believe that the Red, White, and Blue had no extraneous help in her voyage across that wide ocean.

[7] On 24 December 1866, Hudson wrote to the London Daily News to confirm politely and with dignity, with evidence from his log and from witnesses, that the voyage was not fraudulent.

[27] Regarding Red, White and Blue's transatlantic adventure, Hudson described himself as the "captain, ... originator and promoter of the enterprise".

Hudson wrote and collated an undated document called, Mind-Your-Helm or Laws of Passing Vessels.

His wife had had a "serious accident" in America, he could not find work to pay for passage home, and his ship had been seized for debt.