Blackwall frigates formed a transition between the classic East Indiaman and the clipper, combining a sleeker, faster merchant form with robust construction. Hundreds were built from 1837 onward, and the name came from the yard that first built them. They generally carried fewer guns than their predecessors. Frigate-like appearance and names resembling Royal Navy ships continued the practice of discouraging attack through uncertain identification. They were slower than clippers but had a reputation for greater robustness than some of them. Madagascar's disappearance on a Melbourne-to-London voyage in 1853, with about 150 lives lost, shows the limits of that reputation; her fate remains unexplained in the account.
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Blackwall frigates succeeded the classic East Indiamen
From the late 1830s, Blackwall frigates carried the East India trade toward a faster, sleeker merchant type without abandoning robust construction.