Third in the series of four books on clippers ships, "Clipper Ships - Iron Maidens", details the transition from wood to iron-hulls. They were built to carry bulk cargo and passengers for long distances in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They were the largest of merchant sailing ships, with three to five masts and square sails, as well as other sail plans. They are to as "windjammers" or "tall ships". Even into the twentieth century, sailing ships could hold their own on ultra-long voyages such as Australia to Europe, since they did not require bunkerage for coal nor freshwater for steam, and they were faster than steamers. This edition, "Clipper Ships - Iron Maidens", documents, illustrates and brings back to life a unique and exciting period in sea history, the memory of which has faded into the misty realms of the past.