  Fill us with wool till we’re nigh overflowing, Send us away when strong breezes are blowing, And we’ll show all the others the road. The tug boat is coming for us in the morn, We’ll drive her like blazes from here to the Horn, For the main royal shall never be stowed.— J. St. A. Jewell. The Introduction of Iron in Shipbuilding.IT was the introduction of iron, as the chief material for the building of ships, that contributed more than anything else to the supremacy of the British Mercantile Marine. Iron killed the competition of our American cousins, who, as long as wood was the chief factor, were able to give us a hard fight as to which should lead the world in shipbuilding. Yes, it was the advent of iron, more than the North and South War, more than the sinkings of the Alabama, more than any slump in freights or foolish shipping legislation on the part of the United States, and more even than our adoption of Free Trade, which made the British nation the carriers of the world. Many people think, and they have been fostered in their belief by the good old conservative wood and hemp sailor, that iron also sounded the knell of the sailing ship. This is, of course, to a certain degree true, yet sail continued to flourish for 50 years after the advent It was the deterioration of the man before the mast which the advent of steam brought about, and the cutting of freights induced by coal, the cry for bigger ships and more luxury, and also, that soulless modern institution, the company manager, which drove sailing ships down and down in the trade of the world; these and the growing desire for mechanical speed, which have invaded almost every department of life, killed the windjammer. But in iron, as in wood, sail had a zenith to reach before the decline set in, and through the last half of the nineteenth century the ports of the world were crowded with magnificent iron full-rigged ships and barques, such as it would have been hard to improve upon with all our new knowledge of wind pressure, streamlines, and least resistance curves. The Drawbacks and Advantages of Iron.Like everything else iron had its drawbacks as well as its advantages. At first its effect upon the deviation of the compass caused many a stranding and many a disastrous shipwreck. Then too, though an iron ship can be driven into a head sea in a way no dare-devil of a Yankee driver would have dared to attempt with his soft-wood clipper, iron has not the buoyancy of wood, and the sight of a modern four-poster’s main deck when running before the westerlies would have made a Black Ball skipper rub his eyes with astonishment. As a preventative of weed and barnacles, no anti-fouling has yet been discovered which can compete with copper, and thus an iron hull, The three chief advantages of an iron ship were firstly, that her hull would stand unlimited driving, especially into a head sea; secondly, she had more room for cargo than a wooden ship of the same size; and thirdly, she was safer from that dreaded scourge at sea—fire. Increase in the Size of Ships.The chief change brought about by iron has been the increase in the size of ships. The old-style shipowner held that a very big ship was a very big mistake. When the Jason, a 1500-ton ship, went out to Calcutta at the beginning of the seventies, Patrick Keith, of Gladstone, Wyllie & Co., wrote to the Carmichaels, her owners, saying that she was far too big a ship for the Indian trade, and that Smith’s smart little 1000-ton “Cities” were quite large enough. Yet on her last voyage to the Hooghly, 20 years later, the Jason was by far the smallest deep-water sailing ship in the port of Calcutta. The difficulty of working wood in big sizes kept down the tonnage in the old days, but with the introduction of iron this difficulty was at once removed. And iron masts and yards in the place of Oregon pine, and wire in the place of the tremendous hemp shrouds, solved the problem of rigging strain—thus, with sail as with steam, the first result from the use of iron was the steady increase in individual tonnage. Sail Plan Alterations.Iron masts and wire stays caused a big change in the sail plan of the full-rigged ship. The increased strength led at first to a certain amount of over-masting as well as over-carrying of sail, with the result that many a new clipper was dismasted on her maiden voyage. 1874 was a specially disastrous year in this way. No less than seven ships lost their masts bound out to Australia, and the Loch Ard was twice a victim. It was her maiden voyage, and she lost her “gossamer,” as Joseph Conrad poetically calls it, before she had cleared the land. She put back to the Clyde and refitted, only to again lose her masts running the easting down. About this date also a great number of iron ships were posted as missing, notably the Africa, Asia, Loch Laggan (ex-America), Cairo and Great Queensland. No doubt some of these losses were due to dismasting. It was not only that the ships were tremendously lofty, but their yards became squarer and squarer, until it was found that stunsails were a luxury. In fact, partly for this reason and partly owing to the competition of steam and the resulting need for economy, flying kites of all descriptions were given up and by the early eighties even a fore topmast stunsail was looked upon as a curiosity. The lesson of rigging strain had to be learnt with the iron clippers, just as it had had to be with the early wood clippers, but it was not long before the seas were crowded by perfectly sparred iron ships. Specially worthy of mention for perfection of sail plan were Carmichael’s beautiful main skysail clippers, such as the Golden Fleece, Jason, Mermerus, Thessalus, Argonaut and others. Double topsail yards were followed before very long by double topgallant yards, then came the eclipse, and the I give a mainyard table, which may be of interest as showing the development of width in sail plans.
The “Ironsides,” First Iron Sailing Ship.The first vessel to be constructed of iron was launched in 1838, and appropriately named the Ironsides. She was built at Liverpool by Messrs. Jackson, Gordon & Co., and in appearance differed very little from wooden ships of that date. She was very short, with heavy stern and low bow, out of which cocked an extremely long bowsprit and jibboom, whilst her masts in contrast to her hull seemed to rake the heavens. However she was the pioneer of the new material and at one time her picture was a common sight in shop windows. It is doubtful if she was altogether a success, and iron ships were still a rarity 20 years later. The “Martaban.”In 1853, an iron sailing ship was launched from the yard of John Scott, of Greenock, with intercostal plates and stringers. This was the Martaban, of 743 tons register, built for the well-known firm of Carmichael. Her specifications were the product of the brains of Matthew Orr, brother-in-law of the first Thomas Carmichael, and of John Ferguson, who was afterwards a member of Barclay, Curle & Co., the famous shipbuilders. The Martaban was classed nine years A1 at Lloyd’s, being rated equal to a nine years wooden ship. At that time Lloyd’s had no rules or class for iron ships, so they retained Martaban’s original specification as a basis for their rules concerning iron ships. That the Martaban was a success is proved by the fact that she received £4 a ton for a cargo of coffee and cotton from Bombay to Havre, and was offered a DiplomÉ d’Honneur at the local exposition for delivery of her cargo in perfect condition. Mr. THOMAS CARMICHAEL, of A. & J. Carmichael. Iron Ships in the Australian Trade.It was in the Australian trade that the iron passenger ship was to be seen in her perfection. She succeeded the great Liverpool clippers and the little Blackwall frigates, and she was as beautiful and perfect as any of her wooden sisters. In the sixties, seventies and even eighties thousands of emigrants were carried from the Old Country to Australia and New Zealand in these magnificent iron clippers. They also took out blood stock of every description from racehorses to pedigree bulls and rams; and a nice time some of these animals must have had when the clippers were carrying on running their easting down. Most of the ships raced home again with wool for the London sales, but a few, notably Heap’s fine ships, went on from Australia to India and Burma, generally with a load of walers for the army in India. In the Bay of Bengal they either loaded jute home from Calcutta or rice from Rangoon. Messrs. J. Heap & Sons were rice millers, and their ships took the firm’s rice home. In the seventies and eighties these beautiful clippers were a never-ending interest in the London River, the Mersey, the Clyde and the great ports of the Antipodes. In Sydney landsmen made special Sunday excursions to Circular Quay to see the ships, and it was the same with the other ports in the days of masts and yards. Every Australian, whether native-born or new chum, kept a tender corner in his heart for the tall ships which had had so much to do with the development of his country. The Sydney-side native, indeed, not only took a pride in the regular traders to the port, but knew them intimately, and could generally be The New South Dock.A visit to the docks of the London River is only made nowadays from dire necessity. Their charm has entirely departed. Instead of a forest of spars, nothing now shows above the warehouse roofs but the soot-covered, stumpy masts, blunt-nosed derricks, and squat funnels of a few steamers. Truly the glory of the docks has departed for ever, and only the sentiment remains. Joseph Conrad, in his delightful Mirror of the Sea, thus describes the New South Dock in the days of the iron wool clipper:— To a man who has never seen the extraordinary nobility, strength, and grace that the devoted generations of shipbuilders have evolved from some pure nooks of their simple souls, the sight that could be seen five-and-twenty years ago of a large fleet of clippers moored along the north side of the New South Dock was an inspiring spectacle. Then there was a quarter of a mile of them, from the iron dockyard gates guarded by policemen, in a long, forest-like perspective of masts, moored two and two to many stout wooden jetties. Their spars dwarfed with their loftiness the corrugated iron sheds, their jibbooms extended far over the shore, their white and gold figure-heads, almost dazzling in their purity, overhung the straight, long quay above the mud and dirt of the wharfside, with the busy figures of groups and single men moving to and fro, restless and grimy under their soaring immobility. I have a photograph of the South Dock just as it is depicted by Conrad, showing the long row of lean, knife-like cut-waters, surmounted by their spotless figure-heads, and with their bowsprits stabbing the sheds opposite, whilst the masts and yards criss-cross the dull grey of the London sky. The Builders of the Iron Wool Clippers.Before proceeding to the ships themselves, I must not omit to say a few words about the men who built these splendid iron sailing ships. The London River, partly owing to an ill-advised strike and partly owing to its distance from the raw material in comparison to the northern ports, entirely lost its shipbuilding business in the latter half of the nineteenth century; and the builders of the iron wool clipper were pretty evenly distributed over the Clyde, the Mersey and Aberdeen. Once more, as with the tea clippers, there was a keen rivalry between Glasgow and Aberdeen, and it is difficult to say which carried the day, for both cities were represented by countless beautiful ships. Duthie, Hall and Hood had, however, to contend with more than twice their number of Clydeside rivals. If I were asked to give my humble opinion, I should award the palm to Messrs. Barclay, Curle & Co. for producing the most perfect iron ships that ever sailed the seas. They built many of the best “Lochs,” such as Loch Maree, and the four-posters Lochs Torridon, Carron and Broom. They were responsible for the whole of Carmichael’s splendid fleet, and the two famous “Bens”—Voirlich and Cruachan—emanated from their drawing lofts. Thomson, of Glasgow, built some half-dozen “Lochs,” his masterpiece being the Loch Garry. The rest of the Loch Line were divided amongst Lawrie, Inglis, Henderson, and Connell. Duthie’s finest ship was the Brilliant. Hall built the well-known Port Jackson, whilst Hood was the originator of all the Aberdeen White Star ships and also built the smart little Cimba. Heap’s ships were mostly built by Evans, of Liverpool; and Potter, of Liverpool, produced the two well-known London ships, Thomas Stephens and Old Kensington. Of the other London owned ships, Hesperus and Harbinger worthily upheld the name of Steele, I must now turn to the ships themselves, and, taking them in order of date, will begin with that famous veteran the Darling Downs. The “Darling Downs.”She was one of that numerous fleet of ships, the converted from steam to sail, about which one could make a largish book without much trouble. And she was one of the most successful of the lot. She was built as far back as 1852 and sailed under the flag of the General Screw Steamship Company, as the Calcutta, an auxiliary steamer with a 300 horse-power engine. Like nearly all early steamship businesses the General Screw S.S. Co. did not remain solvent very long, their ships were sold and were promptly converted into sailing ships, and in many cases renamed. As a sailing ship, the Darling Downs was a very favourite passenger ship to Sydney. Like all converted steamers she was a very fast sailer, and made very good and regular passages. After a prosperous career as a Sydney trader, she was finally run into and sunk off the Nore in 1887. “City of Agra” and “Sam Mendel.”These two early iron ships were both exceedingly fast and made many a good passage to the Colonies. City of Agra once landed her passengers in Melbourne when only 65 days out from the Tuskar; on another occasion she passed Port Phillip Heads on her way to Queensland, when 63 days out; and she made the run out to Lyttelton, New Zealand, in 71 days. In 1881, when commanded by Captain Young, she left Gravesend on 25th May, took her departure from the “DARLING DOWNS.” Larger image (213 kB) “ANTIOPE.” Photo by Captain Schutze, Sydney. Larger image (193 kB) Sam Mendel is known for her 68-day run from London to Port Chalmers in 1876. On another occasion, whilst racing one of the “Cities” to New Zealand, she lost her foremast, and I have a photograph of her as she appeared under jury rig. Both ships lived to a ripe old age. The City of Agra was wrecked on Cape Sable on the 31st March, 1907, when on a passage from New York to Bridgewater. The Sam Mendel, after being twice sold and twice renamed, the first time Charlonus and secondly Hannah, was at last condemned and broken up in June, 1909. Thus it will be seen that City of Agra was afloat 47 years and Sam Mendel 48 years, which speaks volumes for the good workmanship of their builders. “Dharwar.”The Dharwar, which was one of Harland & Wolff’s finest productions, originally belonged to the Indian “Iron Ship Company.” Though the company made money in the early sixties, a slump in freights brought it into the hands of the Receiver after a very short existence. The Dharwar sailed for England in 1868, and on her arrival was bought by John Willis, The Strange Career of “Antiope.”The Antiope was one of the earliest of Joseph Heap’s ships, and, like all his others, had a name which no sailor could possibly pronounce correctly. Indeed when she came out many an old salt shook his head over such a name. Who ever heard of a ship called the “Anti-hope” coming to any good? However she upset the predictions of the evil prophets by being one of the luckiest ships ever launched, and at the present day must be one of the oldest ships afloat. She was Heap’s fourth ship, I believe; her sister ship, the Marpesia, having been launched from Reid’s yard four months before her. The first ship of Heap’s “Thames and Mersey Line” was the little Hippolyta, of 853 tons, built as far back as 1856. Then came the Eurynome, of 1347 tons, built at Whitehaven in 1862. “ANTIOPE.” Larger image (215 kB) For some years the Thames and Mersey Line was managed by Thompson, May & Co., of Water Street, Liverpool. The ships carried emigrants and general cargo from Liverpool to Melbourne, then crossing to the Bay of Bengal, often with walers to Madras or Calcutta, they came home from Rangoon with Heap’s rice. They generally sailed from Liverpool on the 10th of each month. In the early eighties the line was bought by Mr. Beazley to start his son, and was henceforth known as the Australian Shipping Company, managed by Gracie, Beazley & Co. The Antiope made her best passage in 1868, running out to Melbourne under Captain Withers in 68 days, and but for being hung up on the line for 10 days would have gone near to breaking the record. After Beazley sold her she was for some years in the South American trade. Then during the Russo-Japanese war she was captured by the Japanese whilst under Russian colours. The Japs sold her to Mr. J. J. R. Matheson, of Ladysmith, British Columbia, and for a short while she was in the timber trade. The world war found her lying in a New Zealand port, doing duty as a coal hulk for the Paparoa Coal Co. Here the Otago Rolling Mills bought her at a stiff price, and like many another old sailing ship, she came out of her retirement with a new set of wings in order to brave the German submarines and keep the old Red Duster flying. In 1916, she got ashore on the coast when making for Bluff Harbour in a gale of wind, and there she lay on her side in the wash of the tide for 96 days. At last, with tonnage pretty near worth its weight in gold, an attempt was made to float her. For this purpose a “Theophane.”The Theophane was probably the fastest of all Heap’s ships, and was built on sharper lines than the Antiope or Marpesia. On her maiden passage—the abstract log of which I give in the Appendix—she went out to Hobson’s Bay under Captain Follett in 66 days. Her first 12 passages to Melbourne were 66, 75, 75, 70, 80, 73, 73, 82, 73, 75, 79 and 77 days, giving an average of 75 days, this being from the Channel. On the 11th December, 1891, she sailed from Newcastle, N.S.W., with a cargo of coal for Valparaiso, and was never heard of again. Messrs. Aitken & Lilburn and the Loch Line of Glasgow.The best known line of sailing ships running to Australia since the use of iron shipbuilding has undoubtedly been the famous Loch Line of Glasgow. “THEOPHANE.” Larger image (268 kB) “DHARWAR.” Larger image (227 kB) It was started in 1867 by two young men who had been in the employ of Patrick Henderson & Co.—these were William Aitken and James Lilburn. In the old days it was the custom for owners to make a daily visit to intending shippers; this was Aitken’s part of the work and he continued to make a practice of it long after other owners had given it up. Lilburn superintended the loading and despatching of their ships, and so great was his practical knowledge and so keen his interest that it is no exaggeration to say that no ships were better kept up than the Loch liners. All over the world the Loch Line clippers were held up by seamen as examples of what well run and comfortable ships should be. A keen yachtsman and a one-time Commodore of the Royal Northern Yacht Club, Mr. Lilburn was a man who not only thoroughly understood ships but loved them for their own sake. And it is under such owners that sailors consider themselves lucky to serve. The ships carried first, second and third class passengers outwards, and when steam began to cut in they still held on until they were the last of all the sailing ships to continue carrying passengers. Many an invalid or consumptive has gained fresh vigour and untold benefit from a voyage to the Antipodes in a Loch liner. The saloon fares charged were:—£40 to Adelaide and Melbourne, £42 to Sydney, £76 for the round trip out and home. The “Clan Ranald,” “Ben Nevis” and “Loch Awe.”Messrs. Aitken & Lilburn commenced business by chartering the Clan Ranald, Ben Nevis and Loch Captain Bully Martin, who was afterwards one of the best known skippers in the Loch Line, superintended the building of the Clan Ranald, and took command of her for the first few years of her existence. Bully Martin was a great personality amongst sailing ship skippers. He was a driver of the old type, and stories referring to Bully Forbes are often mixed up with those referring to Bully Martin. He nevertheless was such a consummate seaman that in 45 years’ service as master he never cost the underwriters a penny, and only lost a couple of men, one through a fall from aloft and one from being washed overboard. He is said to have hated passengers. He served his time in Allan’s beautiful little Transatlantic sailing ships—his first ship being the Caledonia, a full-rigged ship carrying royals and stunsails though only of 390 tons. She was commanded by Captain Wylie, who was afterwards marine superintendent of the Allan Line. After passing for mate, he obtained the berth in the 900-ton iron ship Shandon, which was fitted with patent reefing gear for topgallant sails, topsails and courses. She made three voyages a season to Montreal and in the winter ran to the Southern States for cotton. After four years as mate, he obtained command of the Edendale, belonging to the same owners, Messrs. W. Kidston & Son, of Glasgow. His next command was the Lord Clyde, which he left for the Clan Ranald. He commanded her for two or three voyages and then went to Watson Bros., commanding the Ben Venue, Ben Voirlich and Ben Cruachan in turn, after which he returned to the Loch Line, and after having the Loch Ness and Loch Long, commanded the Loch Broom until he retired from On 22nd February, 1907, the Loch Rannoch left Melbourne under Captain Morrison with the usual cargo of wool, hides and tallow for Hull, at which port she arrived on 8th June, 106 days out. After discharging she returned to Glasgow, and was then sold to the Norwegians. In November, 1910, she was again sold to the Germans, and has since been broken up. The Ben Nevis after making her maiden voyage under charter to Aitken & Lilburn became one of Watson’s passenger ships to Australia. On 14th July, 1897, when bound to Dunedin from Glasgow, she unexpectedly appeared in Hobson’s Bay, having put in to repair damages which had taken place 12 days before in the Southern Ocean. It appeared that she had been swept from stem to stern by a tremendous wave; two of the crew had been taken overboard along with everything movable on the main deck; besides which the break of the poop had been burst in and the interior so gutted that her officers had nothing but the clothes they stood up in. The repairs cost £3000. In 1898 the Ben Nevis was sold to the Norwegians and renamed Astoria. On 24th January, 1912, she was abandoned, dismasted, in the Atlantic, after being set on fire, her crew being taken off by the steamer Dungeness and landed at Penzance. The Loch Awe is known for her record passage to Auckland, New Zealand, under Captain Weir.
As far as I know this record still holds good. Captain Weir was a great driver, and the Loch Awe The Famous “Patriarch”—First Iron Ship of the Aberdeen White Star Line.In 1869 the Aberdeen White Star Line gave their first order for an iron clipper ship, the result of which was the famous Patriarch. George Thompson was only contented with the very best, and Patriarch was no exception to his rule. Built of the best iron plating at a cost of £24,000, she was considered the finest iron ship in the world when she first came out. She had a poop 90 feet long, under which extended a magnificent saloon. In her rigging plan she was a long way in advance of her times. Her topmasts and lower masts were in one, and her topgallant masts were telescopic, fitting into the topmasts; and in the seventies she was fitted with double topgallant yards on fore and main, whilst she still carried stunsails in the eighties when most ships had discarded them. As a sea boat she proved herself on numberless occasions, notably in the Indian cyclone of 1892, which she weathered out with only the loss of a lifeboat, whilst the fine Loch liner, Loch Vennachar, was totally dismasted 70 miles away. She possessed that very rare quality in iron vessels—dryness. And during her life of 29 years under the Red Ensign she never had a serious accident and never made a bad passage. Patriarch’s best 24 hours’ run was 366 miles, and “PATRIARCH.” Photo by Hall & Co., Sydney. Larger image (175 kB) Patriarch was no doubt lucky in her captains: Captain Pile took her from the stocks until 1876, Captain Plater had her ten voyages from 1877 to 1887, Captain Allan from 1887 to 1890, and Captain Mark Breach took her until she was sold in 1898, during which time, he says, that she never stranded a ropeyarn. Patriarch’s maiden voyage was almost as much of a record as Thermopylae’s, each passage being the best ever made by an iron ship at that date. On her outward passage with 40 passengers and a large general cargo, she arrived in Sydney on 10th February, 1870, only 67 days from pilot to pilot, and 74 anchorage to anchorage. And on the homeward run she went from Sydney Heads to the West India Dock in 69 days. This was an extraordinary performance, as anything under 90 days is very good for an iron ship on the homeward passage. After this the Patriarch was one of the most regular ships in the Sydney trade. She was never much over 80 days going out, and though she never repeated her maiden performance coming home her passages were most consistent and she only twice ran into three figures in over 20 passages from Sydney. In 1897-8 the good old ship sailed her last voyage under the Red Ensign—a round of London, Sydney, Newcastle, N.S.W., Manila and home in 13 months. On his arrival Captain Mark Breach was horrified to find that his beloved ship had been sold to the Norwegians for a paltry £3150, and on 1st November, 1898, he hauled down the celebrated house-flag and handed her over to her new owners. For another 14 years she washed about the seas,
On Christmas Day, 1911, she left Algoa Bay for a Gulf port, and on 23rd February, 1912, got ashore on Cape Corrientes, south of the River Plate, and became a total loss. The “Thomas Stephens.”The Thomas Stephens was one of the best known ships of her day. When she came out she was considered the most up-to-date and perfectly appointed passenger sailing ship ever built on the Mersey. She was intended for the old Black Ball Line, but never actually sailed under the famous flag, but sailed as one of the London Line of Australian Packets (Bethell & Co.). She was owned by Thomas Stephens & Sons, of London. Captain Richards, the well-known commander of the Donald Mackay, superintended her building and fitting out and eventually left the Donald Mackay to command her. The Thomas Stephens soon proved herself one of the fastest iron ships afloat, and a very successful ship financially. She was beautifully sparred, crossing three skysail yards, and was a very lofty ship—one of the tallest ships, indeed, that ever sailed either from the Mersey or the Thames; and she carried all her stunsails well into the eighties. At first she was fitted with single topgallant yards, but followed the fashion for double topgallant yards before she had been afloat many years. She was launched in July, 1869, and left Liverpool on 24th September, with a full passenger list for Melbourne, arriving out on 15th December in 82 days. “THOMAS STEPHENS.” From a painting by F. B. Spencer; lent by Messrs. Thomas Stephens & Sons. Larger image (221 kB) On her second voyage she left Liverpool on 9th September, 1870, and anchored in Hobson’s Bay on 21st November, 73 days, port to port. After this she always sailed from London as one of the London Line of Packets, along with her great rival The Tweed. And for her third voyage, I find the following advertisement in the Times of 5th October, 1871. MELBOURNE-LONDON LINE OF PACKETS. R. Richards (so well and favourably known when in command of the Donald Mackay and Great Victoria), commander. This superb clipper, 1507 tons registered, of the highest class at Lloyd’s, and owned by Messrs. Thomas Stephens & Sons, is one of the finest specimens of marine architecture afloat, and made her last passage in 64 days. Constructed specially for the Australian passenger trade. Her spacious full poop saloon is fitted with bathrooms, cabin furniture, bedding, and every convenience. The second and third cabins are most comfortable. Carries a surgeon.—Bethell & Co., Cowper’s Court, Cornhill, E.C. Thomas Stephens left London on 26th October, 1871, for Melbourne, her great antagonist The Tweed sailing for Sydney about the same date. She crossed the line on 20th November in long. 29° 57' W., making 12 knots with the S.E. trade blowing steadily from S.E. by S. Her best run was 315 miles in a 23½-hour day when running down her easting. This was from Saturday, 9th December to Sunday, 10th December, and her log book gives the following details:— Saturday, 9th December, 1871.—Lat. 44° 50' S., long. 20° 34' E. Courses S.E. by E. ½ E., S. by E., S.E. by E. ½ E., S.S.E., S.E. Winds E.N.E., E. by N., variable, west. A.M., strong wind and squally, logging 10 knots. 11 a.m., heavy squalls, handed topgallant sails, crossjack, spanker and outer jib. P.M., squally with heavy rain. 4 p.m., set main topgallant sail. 9 p.m., wind veering into westward; set fore topgallant sail and main topgallant staysail. Midnight, logging 16 knots during last four hours Sunday, 10th December, 1871.—Lat. 44° 48' S., long. 27° 57' E. Courses S.E. ½ E., S.E. Winds west, N.W. Distance 315 miles. A.M., On Friday, 29th December, the westerlies were so strong that the Thomas Stephens had to be hove to for 4½ hours, the gale being preceded by six hours’ calm with fog; the log reads as follows:— Friday, 29th December, 1871.—Lat. by acc. 45° 21' S., long. 129° 7' E. Courses N.E., E.N.E., E. by S., N.N.W., N.E. Winds variable, calm, N.W., west. A.M., light variable airs, thick foggy weather. Watch hauling up cable. 10 a.m., strong breeze, dull cloudy weather, logging 12 knots. 3.30 p.m., strong gale, handed topgallant sails. 4 p.m., gale still increasing, handed upper topsails, courses and jib. Brought ship to the wind under lower topsails. Heavy sea running; decks completely flooded. 8.30 p.m., wind veering into S.W. Wore ship off before the wind. 10 p.m., set foresail and upper fore topsails, logging 10 knots. On Saturday, 30th December, the gale still continued and the log book records:— Lat. by acc. 43° 57' S., long. 134° 27' E. Courses N.E., N.E ½ N. Winds W.S.W. A.M., strong gale, high sea. Shipping a quantity of water over all, logging 13 knots. 4 a.m., set upper main and mizen topsails. 7 a.m., set topgallant sails, weather moderating, logging 12 knots. 10 a.m., heavy sea. Decks at times completely flooded. P.M., strong gale and heavy sea. Shipping a quantity of water over all, logging 13 knots. 10 p.m., gale increasing. Handed fore and mizen topgallant sails, logging 14 knots. 10.30 p.m., handed main topgallant and mizen topsail. Midnight, strong gale and high sea; have logged 14 knots during last six hours. On Tuesday, 2nd January, 1872, Cape Otway bore north, distant 2 leagues; at 7 a.m. the pilot came on board and took charge, and at 1 p.m. the Thomas Stephens came to anchor in Hobson’s Bay, 66 days out from her Channel pilot. From Melbourne she went During her long and successful career she usually loaded outwards to Melbourne or Sydney; but in 1879 on her twelfth voyage she went out to Otago, and on her thirteenth left Liverpool on 29th April and arrived at Rangoon on 21st July, 83 days out. In 1881 she went out to San Francisco in 124 days from Holyhead, and coming home to Falmouth in 98 days. Except for an occasional run to Frisco, Calcutta or Rangoon, she was kept regularly in the Sydney trade during the eighties and nineties. The following is a list of her best sailing records:—
In the later eighties her passages began to slow up for two very good reasons: firstly her sail plan was cut down; and secondly her captain, owing to a very nervous wife being with him, made no attempt to drive her. Captain Richards had her through the seventies, except for two voyages in 1874-5 when Captain Bloomfield had her, then Captain Archibald Robertson commanded her for half a dozen voyages, he was followed by Captain W. Cross, then Captains Cutler, Davis and Belding took her in turn. The Thomas Stephens was a lucky ship and kept singularly free of trouble; indeed she had no serious mishap until July, 1893, when she got well battered by a severe gale in 52° S., 130° W., whilst homeward bound from Melbourne with wheat. Her bulwarks were carried away from the fore rigging to abaft the main rigging on the starboard side and her main deck was swept clean. She put into Callao for repairs, but she was not leaking and her cargo was found to be undamaged. On her following voyage she got into more serious trouble in battling to get to the westward of Cape Stiff. She sailed from Barry on 27th December, 1894, and was partially dismasted off the pitch of the Horn. Put back to the Falklands, arriving in Stanley harbour on 28th February, 1895. Captain Belding, however, refused to agree to the extortionate demands of the Stanley shipwrights, and sailed for Capetown under jury rig, arriving there 14th May, 1895. Here he refitted, and leaving Table Bay on 22nd June arrived at Esquimalt by the eastern route on 24th September. This unfortunate voyage terminated her career under the Red Ensign, for on her arrival home in 1896 the Thomas Stephens was sold to the Portuguese Government. The Portuguese have a singularly shrewd eye for a ship; and in this year they bought at breaking up prices three of the finest and fastest ships ever built, namely the Thomas Stephens, Cutty Sark and Thermopylae. Captain Belding was retained to sail the Thomas Stephens to the Tagus under her new flag. He had a Portuguese crew, and the passage was not without incident, for a fire broke out on board and it was chiefly owing to Captain Belding’s personal bravery that it was extinguished. Indeed so pleased were the Portuguese with his behaviour that they presented him with a service of plate and a Portuguese Order, at the same time asking him to continue in command. For many years after this the Thomas Stephens served as a naval training ship in the Tagus in conjunction with the Thermopylae. She survived the famous tea clipper, however, and many a British naval officer has probably been aboard the famous old ship without realising that, disguised under the name of Pero d’Alemguer, floated one of the crack Australian passenger ships of the seventies. The Great War found her lying a hulk in the Tagus. The Portuguese fitted her out when tonnage began to get scarce in 1915, and sent her across to America. On her return passage to Lisbon in January, 1916, she was posted as missing—possibly a Hun torpedo sent her to the bottom—and that terrible word “missing” may be hiding some awful tragedy or glorious heroism. Anyhow her name goes on the “Ships’ Roll of Honour in the Great War,” along with more than one of her sisters in the Australian trade. The First Six Ships of the Loch Line.Messrs. Aitken & Lilburn started their venture with six splendid ships, of 1200 tons each, all built during 1869-70. These were the Loch Katrine, Loch Earn, Loch Lomond and Loch Leven, all built by Lawrie, of Glasgow, and the Loch Ness and Loch Tay, built by Barclay, Curle & Co. At first it had been intended to name the ships after clans, but the Clan Line registered first, and so at the start the “Lochs” were advertised as the “Clyde Line of Clipper Packets.” The Loch Katrine was the first ship away. She arrived in Hobson’s Bay under Captain M’Callum, on 20th December, 1869, 81 days out from Glasgow. The Loch Ness, Captain Meiklejohn, arrived on 13th January, 1870; the Loch Tay, Captain Alex. Scott, on 12th February, 1870; the Loch Earn, Captain W. Robertson, on 31st March, 1870; the Loch Lomond, Captain Grey, R.N.R., on 26th May, 1870; and the Loch Leven, Captain Branscombe, on 19th August, 1870. Of the six clippers, the Loch Tay made the best passage out, being only 73 days, anchorage to anchorage. Running her easting down, her best week’s run was over 2000 miles, and she averaged 285 miles a day for nine consecutive days. Stunsails and large crews were carried by the Loch clippers right up to the end of the seventies; and the following passages under these conditions will show their speed capabilities:—
Their average, pilot to pilot, 69½ days; port to port, 77 days. Four of these ships lived to a good old age, whilst the other two came to early and tragic ends. When sailing ship freights began to fall, the Lochs Katrine, Tay, Ness and Lomond were converted into barques, but in spite of losing the yards on the mizen, they continued to make good passages right into the twentieth century. The Loch Katrine made her best passage in 1893, from the Channel to Melbourne in 71 days. In 1907 she was nearly lost running her easting down when bound out to Australia. It was blowing hard from the S.W., and a heavy sea broke aboard, tearing up the standard compass and washing it into the scuppers, besides smashing up a lifeboat and floating the gig out of its chocks. The next roller came right over the stern, crumpling up the wheel and binnacle and breaking in the cabin skylight. The men at the wheel were washed away, and the ship broached to, filling her main deck to the rail. All hands were called to save the ship, and as usual in such cases, it meant risking life and limb to venture along the flooded main deck and man the braces. However Captain Anderson managed to get his ship off before the wind and by the following night a jury wheel of capstan bars had been lashed on to the remains of the old wheel. Three years later, in 1910, the Loch Katrine was dismasted off Cape Howe. After a perilous trip of three days, a boat in charge of her mate was picked up near the land by a Swedish steamer, and a tug was sent out from Sydney, which found the disabled ship and towed her into Port Jackson. The Loch Katrine was then sold in Australia, and for some years earned a living carrying coal round the coast. So far as I know she is still afloat. The fastest of these six ships, in my opinion, was the Loch Ness. In 1874-5 she beat the time of her maiden voyage by going out to Melbourne in 67 days. The following voyage she went out in 74 days; but what is more astonishing is the time of her passages, in her old age when cut down, rigged as a barque and with small and indifferent crews. Under these conditions she made the following five runs home from either Melbourne or Adelaide:—1893, 85 days; 1894, 87 days; 1895, 85 days; 1899, 90 days; 1900, 91 days; and she finished her active career by two splendid passages. In 1906 she came home from Melbourne to Hull, laden with wool and wheat, in 79 days; and on 20th May, 1907, she left the Tail of the Bank for Adelaide, crossed the equator 28 days out, passed the Cape meridian on 9th July, and arrived at the Semaphore anchorage on 4th August, 76 days out. On 16th June when in lat. 3° N. she fell in with a 9-knot tramp steamer bound to the southward; and the two ships were constantly in company for 2000 miles, and it was not until they were south of lat. 30° S. that the steamer saw the last of the old Loch Ness. Running her easting down the Loch Ness averaged 245 knots for 18 consecutive days, her best day’s work being just under 300 miles. Captain M. Heddle, who had previously commanded the Loch Rannoch, was in charge of the Loch Ness and deserved great credit for this fine performance as a wind up to the old clipper’s career. The Loch Ness was sold in Adelaide along with her sister ship, the Loch Tay, and the celebrated pair are ending their days together as coal hulks for the N.D.L. Co. at Adelaide. There was probably not much to choose between the two sister ships in point of speed, though Loch Ness had slightly the better record. Loch Tay, however, had many fine runs to her credit. For many years she brought wool home from Geelong, her passages being most consistent and rarely being much over 90 days. The Loch Earn became world-notorious by her fatal collision with the French Transatlantic mail steamer The Loch Lomond, which in her palmy days under Commander Grey, R.N.R., was known as the Scotch man-of-war owing to her smart appearance, was a steady going ship without any very special records to her credit. In May, 1908, she was sold to the Union S.S. Co. of New Zealand to be converted into a coal hulk. Loading a cargo of coal at Newcastle, N.S.W., she left there on 16th July, 1908, bound for Lyttelton, N.Z., under Captain J. Thomson. But time went by and she never arrived, and in due course she was posted as missing. The only trace of her that was ever found was a life-buoy which was picked up on the New Hebrides. The Loch Leven came to a sudden end on her second voyage. On 22nd October, 1871, she left Geelong for London with 6523 bales of wool on board, valued at £154,000. Two days later she stranded on King’s Island and became a total loss. All her crew got ashore safely, but Captain Branscombe ventured back in a surf boat to rescue the ship’s papers. The boat capsized and the captain was drowned. King’s Island—A Death Trap for Ships.King’s Island, lying 80 miles S.S.W. of Port Phillip Heads, has been the cause of many a fine ship’s end. Nearly 50 sailing ships, from first to last, have found a grave in the King’s Island surf. A Captain Davis, who for many years carried cattle between the island, Melbourne and Tasmania in the coasting steamer Yambacoona, made a list some ten years ago of 36 ships known to have perished on the rocky shores of King’s Island. This list, which was included with other interesting data regarding tides, currents and pilotage notes of King’s Island, was used by the Hydrographic Office, Washington, U.S.A., and contains the following names:—
“MERMERUS” alongside. Larger image (176 kB) “MILTIADES.” Photo by Captain Schutze, Sydney Larger image (253 kB) On many parts of King’s Island’s rocky shore these wrecks have been piled one on top of the other, one reef of rocks alone tearing the life out of no less than six vessels. No doubt the list is far from being complete; there was no light on King’s Island in the earlier days, and this no doubt was the cause of many an unknown tragedy. “Miltiades.”George Thompson’s second iron ship was the beautiful Miltiades, for many years a favourite ship in the Melbourne trade. Like the Patriarch, she was built for the emigrant trade, and in the Australian papers was spoken of as “that mammoth clipper,” though to modern eyes she would look quite small and one of the daintiest of ships. Unlike Patriarch she was a very wet ship, especially when running in heavy weather, but she was just as fast as the Patriarch, if not faster—indeed taking her average, both outward and homeward, I do not think that any ship can beat her record for an iron ship except the little Salamis. Captain Perrett took her from the stocks and had her until 1885, when Captain Harry Ayling assumed command. On her first voyage she carried stunsails, but when she got home the booms were sent down and never used again. Her best outward passage was made in 1873, being 70 days dock to dock, 63 days pilot to pilot. She left London on 5th May, dropped her pilot off the Start on 12th May. Had very light winds to the equator, crossed the line on 6th June in 27° 30' W., crossed the meridian of the Cape on 24th June in 44° S. On 24th, 25th and 26th June she ran 305, 310, and 345 miles. Crossed the meridian of Cape Leeuwin on 9th July, and was off the Otway on 14th July, only 20 days from the Cape, finally anchored in Hobson’s Bay on the 15th; just 39 days from the equator. On this passage her decks were lumbered up with sheep pens, and one can well imagine what an unpleasant time those sheep must have had when she was running her easting down. In 1874 Miltiades was diverted from Melbourne to Wellington. Emigration to New Zealand was booming and many extra ships had to be taken up; for instance the La Hogue took 443 emigrants to Wellington, the fine iron Calcutta clipper Ballochmyle took 484 to Canterbury and the Rooparell 361 to Auckland. The change was very near being the end of Miltiades, for she missed stays whilst beating up to Wellington and slid on to a reef. Captain Perrett immediately fired his signal guns and sent up a rocket to attract attention. Luckily for him the inter-colonial steamer had just rounded the North Heads bound in and at once went to his assistance, and after one or two failures managed to get the Miltiades off. It was not until many years later that the Miltiades was again seen in Maoriland, but in the early nineties she made the following fine runs home:—
When the Aberdeen White Star sold their ships the Carmichael’s Superb Wool Clipper “Mermerus.”This beautiful ship was one of the finest and most successful of all the iron wool clippers, and as a specimen of an iron sailing ship she could hardly be beaten, either for looks, speed or sea worthiness. Barclay, Curle never turned out a more graceful and handsome ship as looks; and like all Carmichael’s, she was most beautifully sparred, crossing the main skysail yard, which was so characteristic a feature of their ships. I give her spar plan below.
This is her original spar plan. Barclay, Curle planned her spars for three skysails, but the fore and mizen were not sent aloft. Mermerus had a poop 54 feet long, and a foc’s’lehead 32 feet long. She carried a cargo of 10,000 bales of wool, representing the fleeces of a million sheep and worth £130,000 more or less as wool varied in price. She never made a bad voyage under the Golden Fleece house-flag, and the regularity with which she arrived every year in time for the February wool sales caused her to receive the most out-spoken praise. On one occasion, when as usual she had arrived in time and several notable ships had missed the sales, Mr. Young, of the Australian Mortgage Land and Finance Company, greeted one of the Carmichaels in Cornhill with the heart-felt remark:—“That ship of yours is the most satisfactory ship in the wool trade.” Most of those connected with the Mermerus regarded her with great affection and spoke of her as a living thing. Mr. John Sanderson, a well-known Melbourne merchant, was often heard to say:—“The Mermerus is a wonderful ship, I can always depend on the Mermerus.” The Melbourne people, indeed, looked upon her as the pride of their port; and Lord Brassey, when Governor of Victoria, heard so much about her that he paid her a special visit and inspected her with the approving eye of a seaman. Captain W. Fife commanded her until 1888, and then Captain T. G. Coles had her until she was sold to the Russians. Except for her third voyage she was always in the Melbourne trade, but in April, 1874, she went out to Sydney. On this passage she took out a dozen South Sea Island missionaries as passengers. Whilst in the North Atlantic she happened to be becalmed for a few hours, and several turtle were noticed lying asleep on the water close to her. Captain Fife, who was a great fisherman, immediately launched a boat and succeeded in capturing six of them. The Mermerus duly arrived in Sydney early one morning in June after a splendid passage of 72 days. The passengers, on the morning of her arrival, were This voyage she did not come home with wool, but went up to Newcastle, N.S.W., and loaded coal at 24s. for San Francisco. After making the passage across the Pacific in 56 days, she loaded 2420 tons of wheat at £4 1s. 3d. for Liverpool. She finally arrived in the Mersey on the 25th May, 104 days out from Frisco. This must have been a good voyage for her owners, as the freight on the outward passage to Sydney alone came to £5000. On her next voyage she left Liverpool Docks on 21st July, 1875, and went from the Tuskar to Melbourne in 69 days; this time she loaded wheat home. She made her best passage out in 1876; leaving London on the 25th June, she took in gunpowder at Gravesend, and arrived in Hobson’s Bay on 30th August, exactly 66 days from the Gravesend powder buoys to Melbourne. The powder was only just 66 days on board, being landed on the 67th day. She crossed the line on 17th July and the Cape meridian on 6th August. Her best homeward run was made the following year, when she was 71 days to the Lizard, and then was held up by head winds. And in And as she grew older, her splendid average in no way deteriorated. In 1896 she went out to Melbourne in 76 days, and in 1897, her last voyage under the British flag, she went out in 77 days. She was then sold to the Russians, but they kept her going. On 4th February, 1902, she arrived at Port Adelaide from Cardiff only 73 days out, whilst in 1904 she made the best passage home from the Antipodes of the year, from Adelaide to the Wight in 69 days. This beautiful ship came to her end at the beginning of December, 1909. She had sailed from Frederickstadt on 29th November, timber laden for Melbourne, and stranded near Christiansand in a heavy fog; she was floated again, but was found to be so damaged that it was not thought worth the money to repair her, so on 28th April, 1910, she was sold to the shipbreakers. Devitt & Moore’s “Collingwood.”Collingwood was Devitt & Moore’s first venture into the Melbourne wool trade. She was one of the early Aberdeen built iron clippers, and thoroughly looked her part. Though she made no very remarkable passage, her voyages were very regular, and it was not often that she missed the wool sales. You could not wear out these early iron ships, and the Collingwood has the distinction of being on the “Ships’ Roll of Honour in the Great War,” being sunk by a German submarine on 12th March, 1917, whilst under Norwegian colours. The story is of the usual kind. The officers and crew of the U-boat were drunk with champagne and cognac obtained from the French ship Jules Gommes, which they had sunk two hours previously. The crew of the “Hesperus” and “Aurora,” the First Iron Ships of the Orient Line.In 1873-4 Robert Steele & Co., the celebrated builders and designers of some of the fastest and most beautiful tea clippers, built two magnificent iron clippers for the Orient Line. These were the Hesperus and Aurora, sister ships. “HESPERUS.” From a lithograph. Larger image (241 kB) The Aurora unfortunately was destroyed by fire on her first homeward passage, through spontaneous combustion of her wool cargo. This occurred on 9th August, 1875, in 40° N., 35° W., and she was finally abandoned in flames with fore and mainmasts gone. The Hesperus, her sister ship, is I, believe, still afloat. Steele put some wonderful workmanship into the building of these ships, everything was of the best; deck fittings were all of picked teak, with enough brass to outshine a steam yacht. Besides being a very comfortable ship for passengers, Hesperus soon proved herself a hard ship to keep with. But like most of the big passenger clippers of the seventies she did not race home, but made a comfortable passage via the Cape. This ship, in fact, was never hard driven, or she would have had many more fine passages to her credit. She was a stiff ship in spite of a tall sail plan, and she Anderson, Anderson kept the Hesperus in the Adelaide trade until 1890, when she was bought by Devitt & Moore for Lord Brassey’s training scheme. The Brassey Cadet Training Scheme.In the year 1890 it was felt by the late Lord Brassey, Sir Thomas Devitt and others who were interested in our Mercantile Marine, that it was time some effort was made to train apprentices on the old system of the Blackwall frigates, whereby parents by paying a larger premium could be sure that their sons learnt more seafaring than how to wash out a pig pen or clean brasswork during their four years’ apprenticeship and also could rest assured that they would receive good food and treatment. This was all the more necessary because it had gradually come to be the custom in many sailing ships to use the apprentices merely as drudges to do all the dirty work aboard, the historic ship’s boy having been for many years extinct on deep water ships; at the same time very few captains gave their apprentices any instruction in navigation. The result of this was that parents were less inclined than ever to send their sons to sea. With both steamship and sailing ships being run to the closest margin possible for the sake of economy, it was seen by those who studied the question that not only was the Mercantile Marine failing to get as good a class of officer as it should do, but also that if the condition of the apprentice was not improved there would soon be a shortage. A great deal of the glamour of sea life had already departed. Cleaning hen coops on a close-run windjammer It was entirely owing to Lord Brassey and Mr. Devitt, as he was then, that we possess such highly trained officers as those who now command the present day liners. They set the ball rolling which was later taken up by most of the big steamship lines. Luckily for the success of the venture, Messrs. Devitt & Moore possessed two or three captains in their employ who were specially fitted for the arduous task of controlling and teaching a shipload of 30 or 40 high-spirited boys. Of such were Captains Barrett, Corner and Maitland. The first two ships to be specially fitted to carry an extra number of big premium apprentices or cadets, as they should be called, were the famous Orient pair, Hesperus and Harbinger, which were taken over by Devitt & Moore for the purpose. The Hesperus as a cadet ship made some very fine passages. She left London on 11th September, 1891, and arrived Sydney on the 8th December 88 days out. There happened to be a gold rush up country and her crew cleared out, leaving the cadets to do everything during On 11th October, 1892, she left London with Captain Barrett in command, F. W. Corner, chief officer, and Lieut. Hackman, R.N., as naval instructor. She was off the Lizard on the 13th and crossed the equator in 30° W. on 8th November. The meridian of Greenwich was crossed on 29th November in 42° S. Her best runs in easting weather were 300, 302, 319, 326 and 328 miles, whilst her best week’s work were 1830, 1840 and 1898. She arrived at Melbourne on 23rd December, 71 days from the Lizard. In the following year she again left on the 11th October and took her departure from the Lizard on 18th October. On 1st November, at 1.10 a.m., when in 26° 20' N., 17° 56' W., the shock of a submarine volcano made the ship tremble very much, though the surface of the water was not disturbed. The equator was crossed in 25° W. on 8th November. And on 30th November, the day before she crossed the Cape meridian, three icebergs were sighted. On 10th December with a strong north wind and smooth water, the Hesperus ran 363 miles in the 24 hours. This was done without the mainsail which, at 4 a.m., was badly torn whilst all hands were attempting to reef it and it had to be furled. On 28th December at 6 p.m. the Otway was sighted during a strong southerly gale with heavy squalls; for some hours the ship was hove to whilst the gale was at its height, but on 29th December the Hesperus anchored in Hobson’s Bay, 72 days from the Lizard. SAIL PLAN OF “BEN CRUACHAN” AND “BEN VOIRLICH.” Larger image (211 kB) The Hesperus kept up this fine average, serving as a cadet training ship until 1899 when she was sold to the Russians, who renamed her the Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, but continued her as a training ship in the Black Sea. As late as 1913 she was refitted by Swan & Hunter at Wallsend. She has survived the war and the Bolshevists, and not long ago could have been seen in the Liverpool Docks. “Ben Cruachan” and “Ben Voirlich.”These two splendid sister ships were amongst the hardest driven of those in the Melbourne trade. They carried saloon, second cabin and steerage passengers out and wool home—and there was no snugging down for the convenience of the sorely tried emigrants with such skippers as Captains Bully Martin and McPetrie. On her maiden passage, Ben Cruachan, under Bully Martin, left the Clyde on 5th October, 1873, passed the Tuskar light on 7th October, crossed the equator 26 days out in 24° 30' W., crossed the meridian of the Cape on 21st November in 46° 30' S., and running her easting down averaged 300 miles a day from the Crozets to the Leeuwin between 27th November and 6th December. On 13th December she arrived in Hobson’s Bay, 67 days out from the Tuskar. This passage, however, was cast in the shade by Ben Voirlich’s run in 1874-5 on her second voyage, and on her maiden passage Ben Voirlich only took two days longer from the Tuskar than her sister ship. Ben Voirlich, on her maiden passage, left Glasgow under Captain McPetrie, on 3rd January, 1874. But she was held up at Greenock by bad weather until the 26th and did not pass the Tuskar until the 27th. From On her second trip, Ben Voirlich left Gravesend on the 9th November, Plymouth on 11th November, but was held up in the mouth of the Channel over the 12th. She crossed the equator on 1st December in 31° 20' W.; crossed the Cape meridian on 24th December, in 45° S., and ran down her easting on the parallel of 46° 30', her best 24-hour run being 352 miles. She arrived in Port Phillip on 14th January, 64 days out from Plymouth. From pilot to anchorage Captain McPetrie claimed to have broken Thermoplyae’s record; and on Thermopylae arriving in Melbourne on 4th February, only 64 days out from the Lizards, a fine wrangle started. It was a specially favourable season, and Ben Voirlich was very hard driven, indeed in the roaring forties her main deck was never free of water, and the midship house and half-deck were water-logged all the time. She possessed a very hard nut of a mate, a bald-headed man with a great red beard, who was a very fine seaman. But he had no mercy on the boys, his usual greeting to a delicate-looking first voyage apprentice being “Have your people sent you to sea to escape funeral expenses or what?” The Ben Voirlich had a winch just aft of her midship house, to which the fore braces were taken in the following way. The fore brace had a wire pennant with a gin block on its end. A chain was shackled to the
Though she made many good passages, she never again approached the time of her second outward passage. On her homeward passage in 1878 she broached to when running heavy to the westward of the Horn and was nearly lost. This occurred on the 18th November. A very big sea was running, and the helmsman, a Dutchman, let go the wheel from sheer fright. As the ship broached to a huge wave broke over her quarter. This avalanche of water smashed in the break of the poop, gutted the cabin, and took nine men overboard. For an hour the ship lay over on her beam ends dragging her lower yards in the water, entirely out of control. Two men who happened to be at work The brave ship struggled gamely; three times she brought her spars to windward, and three times she was laid flat again. The whole of her topgallant rail and bulwarks were washed away, together with everything of a movable nature on the deck. At last after a whole hour of desperate fighting, they managed to get the wheel up, and the clipper slowly righted herself as she fell off and brought the wind astern. Captain Ovenstone, who was in command at the time, spoke several ships in the Atlantic and told them of his near shave. One of these reported it to a homeward-bound steamer, the consequence was that when the Ben Voirlich arrived those on board found their parents and relations in a great state of mind, not knowing who had been amongst the nine victims and who was safe. “COLLINGWOOD.” Larger image (249 kB) “SAMUEL PLIMSOLL.” Photo lent by F. G. Layton. Larger image (290 kB) In 1885 the Ben Voirlich had almost as bad an experience to the southward of the Cape of Good Hope, when bound out to Melbourne under Captain Bully Martin. At 8 a.m. on the 6th August a terrific squall from W.N.W. struck the vessel and in a moment the foresail had blown to rags. By 10 a.m. it was blowing a hurricane, the ship scudding before it under fore and As soon as daylight broke, they managed to lash up and repair the wheel; then the second class passengers were moved from the midship house to the poop, as Captain Martin feared that the house would be burst in and gutted by the seas raging aboard over the broken bulwarks. But again the Ben Voirlich safely weathered it out, and four weeks later dropped anchor in Hobson’s Bay. The two famous Bens were kept in the Melbourne trade until 1885. Then in 1886 both ships went to The Ben Cruachan was not so fortunate. She left the Tyne on 4th May and did not arrive in San Francisco Bay until 15th October—164 days out. The Ben Cruachan ended her days under the Mexican flag and was known as the Carmela, and I believe she still does duty as a hulk in a Mexican port. The Ben Voirlich was sold to the Germans in 1891 and converted into a barque. In 1903 the Germans sold her to the Italians, who renamed her the Cognati. During the winter of 1908 she was badly damaged by collision with an iceberg off the Horn, but managed to make port. She can now be seen at Leith, where she is serving as a domicile for the crews of surrendered German ships. Here she lies a mast-less hulk, covered with deck-houses, but fitted below with electric light and every comfort. These two sister ships were very evenly matched. Though not as fast as some of the iron wool clippers, they made up for it by hard driving and generally managed to get home in well under three figures. “Samuel Plimsoll.”Famous as had been the Aberdeen White Star wooden clippers, the iron ships launched for Thompson in the seventies may almost be said to have eclipsed them. And not least of these magnificent vessels, either in speed, appearance or sea qualities was their third iron ship, the Samuel Plimsoll, named after a The Samuel Plimsoll was launched in September, 1873, and christened by Mrs. Boaden, wife of Captain Boaden, in the presence of Samuel Plimsoll, Esq. Captain Boaden left the famous Star of Peace in order to take Samuel Plimsoll from the stocks. She came out as a double topgallant yarder and was specially fitted for emigrants. On her maiden passage she took out 180 emigrants. Leaving Plymouth on 19th November, she had poor winds and very light trades to the line, which was crossed on 11th December in 29° W. The meridian of Greenwich was crossed on 2nd January, 1874, and the Cape meridian four days later. Her best run in the 24 hours was 340 miles, and between the Leeuwin and the S.W. Cape, Tasmania, she was only four days. On the 17th January she overhauled and passed the Alexander Duthie, and finally arrived in Port Jackson on 1st February. Whilst loading for London she was thus advertised in the Sydney Morning Herald:— ABERDEEN CLIPPER LINE—For London. 100 A1, 1444 tons. reg. R. Boaden, late of the Star of Peace, commander. This magnificent vessel has just completed the passage from Plymouth in 73 days, and having a large portion of her cargo stowed on board will leave about 7th April. As this vessel has lofty ’tween decks and large side ports, she offers a good opportunity for intermediate passengers, of which only a limited number will be taken. Carries an experienced surgeon. For freight or passage apply to Captain Boaden or to Montefiore, Joseph & Co. Wool received at Talbots. From the very first Samuel Plimsoll proved herself a very fast ship. Her best performance was 68 days to Sydney from 190 miles W.S.W. of the Bishops, when commanded by Captain Henderson, who had been chief officer on her first two voyages, and left her to command the Wave of Life, Moravian and Thermopylae, eventually returning to her as commander in 1884. Samuel Plimsoll’s logs show that she revelled in the roaring forties. In 1876, when in 41° S., she ran 2502 miles in eight days, her daily runs being 348, 330, 301, 342, 320, 264, 340, 257. In 1883 she averaged 278 miles in 13 consecutive days, her best being 337. In 1895, when homeward bound, she ran from 49° 50' S., 179° 05' W., to 55° 25' S., 79° 59' W. in 15 days, 29th November to 12th December, her daily distances being—244, 286, 263, 259, 261, 273, 302, 290, 257, 253, 274, 264, 314, 235, 245—equalling 4020 miles. The Samuel Plimsoll was in the Sydney trade until 1887; she was then transferred to the Melbourne trade. On her first passage to Melbourne, she left London 2nd March, 1888, dropped her pilot off the Start on 5th March, but was only 270 miles from the Start on the 15th owing to westerly gales; she crossed the equator 5th April, in 26° W., and averaged 218 miles a day from Trinidad to 130° E., her best run being 310 miles. She arrived in Hobson’s Bay on 22nd May, 79 days from the Start. During the whole of her career under the Aberdeen house-flag, her only mishap was the carrying away of a fore topmast: and this freedom from casualties was the case with most of Thompson’s green clippers. Writing about the increase of sailing ship insurance rates in 1897, Messrs. Thompson remarked:— Five of our sailing vessels now in the Australian trade, viz., Aristides, Miltiades, Patriarch, Salamis and Samuel Plimsoll are over 20 years of On the occasion of her only mishap a tropical squall carried away the bobstay, and down came the fore topmast and main topgallant mast. It happened that a Yankee clipper was in company; this vessel beat up to the dismantled Samuel Plimsoll and sent a boat off with the message that she was bound to Australia and would gladly tranship the passengers and carry them on to their destination. This offer, Captain Simpson, who then commanded the Samuel Plimsoll, declined with thanks, so the American went on her way. It was all day on until the Aberdeen flyer had fresh masts aloft, and then she settled down to make up the lost time. And nobly she did so, one week’s work in the roaring forties totalling 2300 miles, and she eventually arrived at Melbourne, 82 days out. Some days later the Yankee arrived and her captain at once went to the Samuel Plimsoll’s agents and reported speaking her dismasted in the Atlantic, at the same time he commented on her captain’s foolhardiness in not transhipping his passengers. “Is it Captain Simpson you are referring to?” asked the agent. “Yes,” returned the Yankee. “Wall,” said the agent, imitating the American’s leisurely drawl, “I guess you had better speak to him yourself. He’s in the next room.” In 1899 the famous old ship caught fire in the Thames and had to be scuttled. After being raised and repaired she was sold to Savill of Billiter St., who ran her until 1902 when she was dismasted and so damaged on the passage out to Port Chalmers that they decided not to repair her. She was subsequently towed to Sydney from New Zealand at the end of a 120-fathom hawser, and later taken round to Western Australia where she was converted into a coal hulk. And here is a description of her as she lies at her moorings in Fremantle harbour:— From quay to midstream buoy, and from buoy to quay, she is plucked and hauled. Occasionally she feeds a hungry tramp with coal. Abashed and ashamed of her vile uncleanliness she returns to her midstream moorings where most of her time is spent in idleness and neglect. One looks in vain for the long tapering spars and the beautiful tracery of her rigging. Stunted, unsightly derricks have replaced them. The green-painted hull is now transformed into a dull red, a composition red that cries aloud, not of beauty, but of utility. Regularly with each returning ebb and returning flood of the Swan, she swings to her moorings the composition smeared effigy of Samuel Plimsoll, alternately facing towards river and sea. Marine life has made of her plates a habitation and refuge; her bottom is foul with the dense green growth of years. Her costly fittings, solid brass belaying pins and highly burnished, brass-covered rails and spotless decks, where are they? Coal-gritted baskets, whips and tackles are strewn along the decks: they all proclaim her squalid and servile calling. Amongst these old hulks, however, she is withal the most dignified looking, the graceful lines of her hull lending her an air of distinction at once apparent even to the layman. As coal hulking goes, she is perhaps the most fortunate of her class. Days pass—weeks—perhaps months, all spent in slothful idleness and neglect, whilst her more unfortunate sister hulks scarcely know a day but what they are not coal feeding some important steam-driven interloper. “Loch Maree”—the Fastest of the Lochs.The Loch Maree was also launched in September, 1873. She was an especially beautiful ship in every way and the fastest probably, of all the “Lochs, Barclay, Curle were instructed to spare no expense in making her as perfect as an iron ship could be, and she certainly came up to her owners’ expectations, both in her looks, her outfit as an up-to-date passenger clipper, her speed, and her behaviour as a sea boat. Underneath a poop of over 50 feet in length, she had her first class passenger accommodation arranged on the plan adopted in the P. & O. steamers. She crossed three skysail yards, had a full outfit of stunsails and other flying kites, and the following spar plan will give one an approximate idea of her sail area.
Loch Maree’s start in life was an unfortunate one. On 5th November, 1873, she sailed from the Clyde for On the tenth day out, we were bowling along sharp up on the starboard tack, near the Island of Palma in the Canary group, when a squall struck her flat aback with such violence, that in a few moments her tall masts with their clothing of well-cut canvas lay a hopeless tangle over the side. Everything above the lower masts disappeared under the magic breath of the squall. When the wreckage was finally cleared away, the driving power was limited to a foresail, a crossjack and a lower mizen topsail. The mainyard had been snapped in the centre, one half lay on the rail and the other hung by the slings, rasping and tearing with every roll. But the crippled sailer, unlike the crippled steamer, can usually make a very creditable effort for safety. A course was set for Gibraltar. Improvised canvas, mostly of the fore and aft variety, was rigged up, and in 14 days the Rock was reached in safety. To show her wonderful sailing qualities, when two days from Gibraltar, we overhauled and easily passed a 600-ton barque under royals. Captain MacCallum watched the barque as she fell away astern, and remarked: “If I had only thought she could sail like this, I would have kept on for Australia.” The Loch Maree arrived at Gibraltar on the last day in November, and after being refitted sailed from the Straits on 20th January, 1874, and ran out to Melbourne in 74 days, arriving there on the 4th April, 150 days out from the Clyde. She sailed from Melbourne homeward bound on 14th June, ten days behind the Carlisle Castle of Green’s Blackwall Line. On the 14th day out, a sail appeared ahead at 11 in the forenoon. We were at the time swinging along with topgallant stunsails set on fore and main and a three-cornered lower stunsail. Captain MacCallum, though Scotch, had sailed mostly in Yankee ships and was a veritable whale for “kites.” “Take in that three-cornered stunsail and set a square one,” he ordered, “I want to be alongside that fellow this afternoon.” At 3 p.m. we were side by side with the Carlisle Castle. She flew no kites, her royal and skysail yards were down and the crossjack unbent. She was taking it easy and arrived in London three weeks after us. On that same passage Loch Maree put up a remarkably fine spin from abreast of Fayal to the Downs, which distance she covered in 4½ days. On the run we overhauled a fleet of 12 schooners bound from the Azores to England, all bunched together in a radius of 3 or 4 miles. With topgallant stunsails set and everything drawing to a spanking breeze on I had often listened to the tales of old sailors, portraying in vivid language the fabulous speed of these little vessels, but alongside a smart 1600 tonner, with a skipper who knew how to crack on, they cut but a sorry figure. The Loch Maree was doing at least 3 knots more than any of them, and in a very short time they were mere silhouettes on the skyline. Right up the Channel the kites were carried, and when morning broke off the Isle of Wight a sail was discerned ahead, which daylight proved to be a big barquentine rigged steamer under all sail. We had evidently crept up on her unobserved in the darkness, for when the discovery was made that a windjammer was showing her paces astern, volumes of black smoke belched in sooty clouds from her two funnels, as if entering a protest against such a seeming indignity. But, in vain, she fell away in our wake as the fruit schooners had done a couple of days before. Loch Maree’s times, both out and home, from this date were generally amongst the half-dozen best of the year. Captain Grey, R.N.R., had her on her second voyage and then Captain Scott took her. In 1878, when homeward bound from Melbourne, the Lizard was sighted on the 68th day out, but the passage was spoilt by hard easterly winds in the Channel. In 1881, the Loch Maree made Port Phillip Heads on 19th July, 70 days out from the Channel. On 29th October she left Geelong homeward bound. When a day out she was spoken by the three-masted schooner Gerfalcon off Kent’s Group, and that was the last seen of her. It is significant that another big ship, the North American, a transformed Anchor Line steamer, disappeared at the same time, also homeward bound from Port Phillip. The Tragedy of the “Loch Ard.”The ill-fated Loch Ard was the largest vessel owned by Aitken & Lilburn until Barclay, Curle built Her maiden passage was one of the unluckiest on record. She lost her masts almost before she had cleared the land and put back to the Clyde to refit. She made a second start on 26th January, 1874, and again, whilst running her easting down, was badly dismasted, only the mizen lower mast and 15 feet of the mainmast being left standing. After rolling in the trough of the sea for four days of the greatest peril her crew managed to get her under a jury rig, and she took 49 days to cover the 4500 miles to Hobson’s Bay, where she arrived on 24th May, 118 days from the date of her second start. As I have already related, the year 1874 was a disastrous one for dismastings; and when the Loch Ard struggled into Melbourne, she found the John Kerr and Cambridgeshire, both on their maiden voyages, lying there in a similar plight to her own. Besides these ships and the Loch Maree, the following were also dismasted this year on their maiden passages:—Rydal Hall, Norval, Chrysomene and British Admiral. The latter was refitted in England, only to be wrecked on her second attempt, on King’s Island, on 23rd May, 1874, with great loss of life. The Loch Ard on her unfortunate maiden passage had been commanded by Captain Robertson, who, also, was skipper of the Loch Earn when she collided with the Ville du Havre. On her third voyage the Loch Ard was taken by Captain Gibb, who was a stranger to Australian waters. He married just before sailing. The Loch Ard left Gravesend on 2nd March, 1878. She was spoken by the John Kerr, Captain W. Scobie, on 9th April. But between 5 and 6 on the morning of 1st June, the day after the John Kerr had arrived in Hobson Out of 52 souls on board, only two were saved, an apprentice and a passenger. About these two a romance has been woven, which would have done for Clark Russell. Tom Pearce, the apprentice, displayed such gallantry and pluck in saving the passenger, Miss Carmichael, that he became the hero of the hour in Australia. He was one of those people, however, who have the name “Jonah” attached to them by sailors, for a year later he suffered shipwreck again, in the Loch Sunart, which was piled up on the Skulmartin Rock, 11th January, 1879. The story goes that Tom Pearce was washed ashore and carried up in a senseless condition to the nearest house. This happened to be the home of Miss Carmichael, who fittingly nursed him back to health, with the proper story book finish that he married her. Whether this is true or not, Pearce lived to be a Royal Mail S.P. captain. He finally retired from the sea in 1908 and died on 15th December of that year. I now commence a series of tables of outward passages to Australia. These have been compiled with as much care as possible, but slips will creep into lists of this kind, and I should be very grateful if any reader who is able to correct a date from an original abstract or private journal would write to me, so that the mistake may be set right in future editions. I have not always filled in a date, as where there was any want of proof I have preferred to leave it blank. Besides the regular traders, I have tried to include every ship making the outward passage under 80 days, thus we find some of Smith’s celebrated “Cities” and a number of the frigate-built Blackwallers figuring in
The homeward runs I have had to put in the Appendix for want of space, as this part has run to far greater length than I had contemplated at first. The races to catch the wool sales will thus be found in Appendix F, under the heading of “The Wool Fleet.” Notes on Passages to Australia in 1873.The fine passage of Miltiades and the maiden passages of Samuel Plimsoll and Ben Cruachan I have already described. The 66 days of Thomas Stephens was a very fine performance. She left Gravesend on “RODNEY.” Photo lent by F. G. Layton. Larger image (234 kB) “LOCH GARRY.” Larger image (244 kB) Loch Tay, which left Glasgow on 4th September under Captain Scott, also lost a day becalmed off the Otway. She crossed the equator in 29° W. and the meridian of Greenwich on 18th October in 39° S. Running the easting down she averaged 276 miles a day for 19 days, her best day’s work being 336 miles. Of the others nothing special calls for notice. Thermopylae left Gravesend on 2nd December, and had a light weather passage all the way, though she went as far as 47° S. in search of wind. Cutty Sark also was handicapped by very light winds. She ran her easting down in 40° S. with light winds and calms from the S.E. trades to Port Jackson. This was the Tweed’s first visit to Melbourne. This magnificent clipper was probably the tallest ship ever seen in Hobson’s Bay. And wherever Captain Stuart took her she compelled admiration both for her majestic appearance and wonderful sailing performances. Devitt & Moore’s Crack Passenger Ship “Rodney.”Messrs. Devitt & Moore always considered the Rodney to be the fastest of their iron ships. She was The following account from an Australian paper of November, 1874, will give a good idea of the Rodney’s accommodation for passengers. It is also interesting as showing what was considered luxury in the seventies and comparing it with the present day:— To render voyaging as easy and pleasant as possible has long engaged the attention of shipowners, but it is only of late years that it has become a special study to make the accommodations for oversea passengers not merely comfortable but absolutely luxurious. The change in this respect since the time when only a certain amount of cabin space was provided is something akin to a transformation. The worry and bother of attending to the fitting up, as well as the extra expenditure of time and money, are now avoided, and with very little need for previous provision or preparation, the intending voyager nowadays can step on board ship and find his cabin carpeted and curtained and fitted up with almost all the accessories and appointments of a bedroom in a hotel. An inspection of the Rodney will convince the most fastidious that the entire question of passenger comfort has been thought out fully and amply. The Rodney is an iron clipper of beautiful model and is what is termed a 1500-ton ship. She has been constructed specially with a view to the conveyance of passengers, and there are few sailing ships coming to the colony which have such a spacious saloon. It measures 80 feet in length and has berthing accommodation for 60 people. No cost has been spared in the decoration and embellishments, and yet these have not been promoted at the expense of solid and material comfort. The cabins are 10 feet square, and a number of the sleeping berths can be drawn out so as to accommodate two people. For each cabin there is a fixed lavatory, supplied with fresh water from a patent tap, and by the removal of a small plug in the centre of the basin, the water runs away right into the sea, so that all slopping is avoided. The lavatory is fixed on top of a cupboard, which answers all the purposes of a little chiffoniere, being fitted up for the reception of bottles, glasses, brushes, etc. There is also a chest of drawers in each cabin—a very great convenience—in which may be kept clothes, books, linen and many “unconsidered trifles,” which generally go knocking about in ships’ cabins at sea. The windows in the cabins are large, admitting plenty of light and The cabins are also so arranged that two or more or even the whole of them on one side of the ship afford communication to each other without going out into the saloon, and where families are together this is very advantageous. The bathroom occupies the space of one of the largest cabins, and hot as well as cold baths are attainable. The saloon is lighted by two large skylights, one of them being 21 feet in length. They are emblazoned with very pretty views of Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, and Capetown, these being the principal ports to which Messrs. Devitt & Moore’s vessels trade. There is also a piano in the saloon, by which the tedium of a voyage may be enlivened, and the tables are so constructed that they can be easily unshipped and the saloon cleared for dancing. For gentlemen there is a capital smoking-room at the top of the companion leading from the saloon to the deck. The accommodation in the ’tween decks for second cabin and steerage passengers is everything that could be desired, and there is quite an elaborate system adopted for ventilation. Cooking can be done in the galley for 500 people, and there is a steam condenser, which can distil 500 gallons of water daily. The passengers of all classes who came out in this ship on her maiden voyage here expressed themselves wonderfully well pleased with the ship and her commander, Captain A. Louttit, who has had great experience in the passenger trade. The Rodney’s best passage was to Sydney in 1887, when under Captain Harwood Barrett, with Captain Corner of training ship fame as his mate. On this occasion she ran from the Lizards to Sydney in 67 days, and 68 days from pilot to Sydney. Her best passage home was 77 days from Sydney to London. Her best run to Melbourne was 71 days in 1882, and to Adelaide 74 days in 1880. The Rodney was sold in 1897 to the French and renamed Gipsy. On her previous voyage she had encountered terrible weather both out and home, and was On the 7th December, 1901, the Rodney was wrecked on the Cornish coast, when homeward bound from Iquique with nitrate. The ship became a total loss but the crew were saved. Nicol’s “Romanoff.”Romanoff was Alexander Nicol’s finest iron clipper until the Cimba came out. Nicol’s ships were always good lookers, painted Aberdeen green with white masts and yards and scraped jibboom and topmasts, they fully upheld the Aberdeen reputation. Romanoff was a fast ship, but was overmasted with double topgallant yards and skysails, and after a few years she was severely cut down. She was a very regular Melbourne trader. She ended her days under the Norwegian flag. Duthie’s “Cairnbulg.”The Cairnbulg was another Aberdeen ship, but she was in the Sydney trade. She was of about the same speed as the Romanoff, a fine, fast, wholesome ship without any very special records to her credit. She came to a most unusual end. After being sold to the Russians and renamed Hellas, she was sold by them to the Danes and called Alexandra. On the 26th November, 1907, she sailed from Newcastle, N.S.W., for Panama, coal laden. In April she was taken off the overdue list and posted as missing, being uninsurable at 90 guineas. The following June, one of her boats in charge of the mate, was picked up off the South American Coast. The mate then told the following The Speedy “Thessalus.”Thessalus, Carmichael’s largest three-master, was one of the finest and fastest sailing ships ever seen in Australasian waters. Though not a regular wool clipper like the Mermerus, she was well known both in Sydney and Melbourne. But she was also as well known in Calcutta and San Francisco, and wherever she went she always made fine passages. “THESSALUS.” Larger image (229 kB) “THESSALUS.” Photo by Hall & Co., Sydney. Larger image (242 kB) Here are a few of her best:—
On her third voyage she encountered the cyclone of 31st October, 1876, near the Sandheads. Captain E. C. Bennett, foreseeing the approach of the cyclone, stood over to the east side of the Bay of Bengal, and considered himself lucky to escape with the loss of his topgallant masts. Lashed on top of his main hatch, he had a large kennel containing a pack of foxhounds for the Calcutta Jackal Club. When the cyclone began, the hounds were let out of the kennel, to give them a chance to save themselves; and shortly afterwards the kennel was washed clean over the lee rail without touching it. The hounds had meanwhile disappeared and everyone thought that they must have gone overboard; but when the weather cleared they all came out, safe and sound, from under the lower foc’s’le bunks, where they had taken refuge. This cyclone wrought havoc amongst the Calcutta shipping, and cost the underwriters over £100,000. Thessalus was lucky to get off with a repair bill of £380. The Thessalus was lucky with live freight. On her seventh voyage she took horses from Melbourne to Her best wool passage was in 1896, when she left Sydney on the 17th October and was only 75 days to the Start, where she signalled on 31st December. She had left Melbourne in company with Cimba and Argonaut. Argonaut made a long passage, but Thessalus and Cimba were twice in company, concerning which Captain Holmes of Cimba wrote:— I left Sydney in company with Thessalus and Argonaut. I was twice in company with Thessalus on 3rd October in 54° S., 152° W., to 5th October 54° S., 143° W., and on 25th November in 30° S., 34° W. I came up on him in light winds, but when he got the breeze he just romped away from me as if I was at anchor. Thessalus was a wonderfully fast ship. I think the German five-master Potosi is the only one I have seen to touch her. This is high praise, for Captain Holmes had a great knowledge of ships, especially in the Australian trade, and he had a very fast ship in Cimba, which on this occasion reported at noon at the Lizard when Thessalus was reporting at Start Point. After a long and successful career Thessalus was sold to the Swedes in 1905, when she was still classed 100 A1. Notes on Passages to Australia in 1874.1874 was Ben Voirlich’s great year. It will be noticed, however, that on her record passage she had Lochs Ness and Maree on her heels the whole way.
Cutty Sark and Thomas Stephens also had a great race, the famous tea clipper making the best passage of the year to Sydney. Both ships were off the Lizards on 22nd November, and experienced very baffling winds to the equator, which Cutty Sark crossed in 26° W. and Thomas Stephens in 29° W. a day later. Cutty Sark was 65 days from the Lizards to S.W. Cape, Tasmania, whilst Thomas Stephens was 68 days to the Otway, where she was becalmed for 14 hours. Thermopylae, with a 64-day passage from the Lizards, her best run being 348 miles, arrived just in time to defend herself, for Captain McPetrie was declaring to all and sundry that Ben Voirlich had broken Thermopylae’s record, by making a better run from port to port. The “Loch Garry.”Many experts considered the Loch Garry to be the finest sailing ship in the world at the date of her launch. She certainly was an example of the well-known Glasgow type at its best. A new feature was adopted in the placing of her masts. Her mainmast was stepped right amidships, with the fore and mizen masts at equal distances from it. Loch Garry, her sister ship Loch Vennachar, Green’s Carlisle Castle, Nicol’s Romanoff and the American ship Manuel Laguna were rigged in a manner peculiar to themselves. They had short topgallant masts with fidded royal and skysail masts, on which they crossed royals and skysails above double topgallant yards. When in port their upper topsail and upper topgallant yards would be half mast-headed, and with the seven yards on each mast, all squared to perfection, they presented a magnificent appearance. Loch Garry’s first commander was Captain Andrew Black, a very fine seaman indeed. He commanded her from 1875 to 1882. With regard to her merits, the veteran Captain Horne, who commanded her for close on 26 years, wrote to me:— The Loch Garry is a front rank ship and always will be so. She is a ship that has got no vices and when properly loaded is as gentle as a lamb. It is quite a pleasure to sail such a ship, which might be described as a 1500-ton yacht. She is not a ship of excessive speed, but with a moderately fresh breeze will maintain a speed of 10 or 11 knots without much exertion. Loch Garry’s best run under Captain Horne was on 26th December, 1892, when running her easting down in 40° S. With a N.W. wind and smooth sea she covered 334 miles. It is very possible that she exceeded this in her early days when she carried a stronger crew. She was also a good light weather ship. In 1900 she went from the South Tropic to the North Tropic in 14 days 2 hours. The following passages of recent date will show that Captain Horne kept the Loch Garry moving in spite of the lack of a good crew of sailormen:—
The following account of Captain Horne’s care of his boats and system for provisioning them should be a lesson for younger masters. It is taken from the Melbourne Herald:— A feature of Loch Garry’s equipment, in which Captain Home takes a justifiable pride, is the system for provisioning the lifeboats, should it ever be necessary to abandon the vessel. In two minutes the apprentices can place enough provisions in the boats to last all hands 14 days. The lifeboats are on the after skids and the falls are always kept rove. In each boat are two 15-gallon breakers, which are kept full of fresh water, charged about once a month. Then in a strong wooden box, fitted with beckets, is stowed a good supply of biscuits, in protected tins, whilst in another box a number of tins of meat are packed together with The career of Captain Horne, who was the veteran skipper of the Loch Line, is worth recording. He was born in 1834, apprenticed to the sea at 15 years of age, and only retired in 1911, after 62 years at sea and 47 years in command without experiencing shipwreck, fire or collision. The motto of his life, which he always emblazoned on the cabin bulkhead, was:—“Never underrate the strength of the enemy.” Like many another old seaman, he was not pleased with the changes brought about by steam and cut-throat competition. Just as Captain Horne’s apprenticeship finished the Crimean war broke out, and, volunteering for active service, he was appointed to the three-decker H.M.S. Royal Albert, the largest ship afloat. He was rated as A.B., but soon promoted to be second captain of the maintop. Sir George Tryon was a junior lieutenant on this ship. The Royal Albert was in the engagement against the Kinburn Forts on the north shore of the Black Sea. At the close of the war Captain Horne received the Crimean and Turkish medals and was paid off on the Victory. He then returned to the Merchant Service and served in 1859 as second mate of the tea clipper Falcon under Captain Maxton. Subsequently he was attached to Lord Elgin’s embassy and placed in charge of a lorcha by Lindsay & Co., of Shanghai. As a member of Lord Elgin’s staff, he was present at the taking of the Taku Forts and was on the house-boat After this he was 13½ years in the employ of John Allan & Sons. In 1877 he joined the Loch Line and took command of the Loch Sloy, leaving her to take charge of the Loch Garry in 1885. The Loch Garry only had two severe mishaps in her long life. In August, 1880, when running under topgallant sails off the Crozets in a heavy beam sea, the weather forebrace carried away, the fore topmast went above the eyes of the rigging and took main topgallant mast with it—and Loch Garry was a month getting to Melbourne under jury rig. She was rigged in Geelong with Kauri pine topmasts and long topgallant masts, as shewn in the illustration. In August, 1889, she was dismasted in a furious gale to the south’ard of the Cape. To save the ship Captain Horne was obliged to jettison some 100 tons of cargo in the shape of gunpowder, hardware, whisky, bottled beer, paper, etc. The main and mizen masts carried away close to the deck, but Captain Horne succeeded in sailing his vessel 2600 miles to Mauritius, under foresail and fore lower topsail. Here the Loch Garry was delayed some months whilst new spars were sent out from England, and she eventually reached Melbourne on 14th February, 1890, eight months out from Glasgow. After 36 years of good service, she was sold in March, 1911, to the Italians for the scrap iron price of £1800. “Loch Vennachar.”One of the finest and fastest of the Lochs, as well as one of the most unfortunate, was the Loch Vennachar, launched from Thomson’s yard in August, 1875. She was usually one of the first wool clippers to get away from Melbourne, and for many years, sailing in “LOCH VENNACHAR.” Larger image (220 kB) “LOCH VENNACHAR.” Photo lent by F. G. Layton. Larger image (219 kB) Her first misfortune was in 1892, when she was dismasted during a cyclone in the Southern Indian Ocean. The following is an account of the disaster, given in the Melbourne Argus:— The Loch Vennachar left Glasgow bound for Melbourne on 6th April, 1892, with a crew of 33 all told and 12 passengers, four of whom were ladies. All went well with the ship until she reached lat. 39° 55' S., long. 27° 21' E., when at 8 o’clock on the evening of 3rd June the barometer began to fall ominously and sail was promptly shortened. Darkness lifted soon after 5 o’clock in the morning and the break of day showed the terrific head seas that swept down upon the vessel, lashed by the north-east gale. (At this time both watches were aloft fighting to make the foresail fast.) Captain Bennett, who was on the poop, saw the danger of his crew and at once resolved to sacrifice the sail. He sang out to the mate to send the men aft and the hands, who had been lying out on the pitching foreyard, gained the deck in safety and reached the poop in time. As they did so, two enormous waves bore down upon the ship, which rode slowly over the first, and sank to an interminable depth in the trough at the other side. Whilst in this position the second wave came on towering halfway up the foremast, and broke on board, filling the lower topsail 60 feet above the deck, as it came. Hundreds of tons of water swept over the ship in a solid mass from stem to stern, thundering inboard on the port side of the foc’s’le and racing away over the main deck and over the poop, where most of the crew were standing. Every man on the poop was thrown down, and when they regained their feet they perceived that the foremast and mainmast were over the side, and the mizen topmast above their heads had disappeared. Not a man on board actually saw the spars go or even heard the crash of the breaking rigging so violent was the shock and so fierce the howling of the hurricane. The cook was washed out of his galley and swept overboard, the galley being completely gutted of everything it contained. For nine days after her dismasting, Loch Vennachar lay unmanageable, rolling in the trough of the sea, whilst the gale still raged. At last with immense difficulty a jury mast was rigged forward and a sail set on the stump of the mizen mast; in this trim Captain Bennett managed to get his lame duck into Port Louis, Mauritius, after five weeks under jury rig. The ship On 18th November Loch Vennachar at last proceeded on her voyage, and after a light weather passage arrived in Port Phillip on 22nd December 260 days out from the Clyde. As soon as her anchor was on the ground, her crew assembled at the break of the poop and gave three ringing cheers for Captain Bennett and his officers, who had brought them safely through such a trying time. For saving his ship under such difficulties, Captain Bennett was awarded Lloyd’s Medal, the Victoria Cross of the Mercantile Marine. In November, 1901, when anchored off Thameshaven outward bound to Melbourne with general cargo, Loch Vennachar was run down by the steamer Cato. The steamship struck her on the starboard bow, and the Loch liner went down in 40 feet of water. All on board, however, were saved, including a parrot and a cat, the only cat to escape out of seven on the ship. The Loch Vennachar lay at the bottom of the Thames for a month and was then raised. After repairs and alterations to the value of about £17,000 were made on her, she was pronounced by experts to be as good as the day she was launched; and she once more resumed her place in the Australian trade. About September, 1905, when bound from Glasgow to Adelaide, she came on the overdue list. On 6th September she was spoken “all well” by the ss. Yongala, 160 miles west of Neptune Island. But as the days passed and she did not arrive, grave anxiety began to be felt. On 29th September, the ketch Annie Witt As if the fatal curse of Jonah had been transmitted from father to son, T. R. Pearce, a son of the twice wrecked Tom Pearce, was one of the apprentices lost in her. “Salamis”—an Iron “Thermopylae.”Salamis, one of the most beautiful little ships ever launched and without doubt the fastest of all Thompson’s iron ships, was really an enlarged Thermopylae in iron, as she was built from Bernard Waymouth’s lines with a few minor alterations and improvements. The following comparison of their measurements shows that Salamis was roughly 100 tons larger and 10 feet longer than Thermopylae:—
In Salamis, Thompson’s were determined to have an out and out racer, and she was not fitted for passengers, The following spar measurements show that she set even more canvas than Thermopylae, her mainyard being a foot longer, and the other yards in proportion:—
Messrs. Thompson, when they gave Hood the order for Salamis, intended her for the same round as Thermopylae—out to Melbourne with general cargo, then across to China and home again with tea. But by 1875 the steamers had got a firm hold on the tea trade, and the clippers were either being driven away into other trades or had to content themselves with loading at a cut rate in the N.E. monsoon; and practically only Cutty Sark and Thermopylae were still given a chance to load the new teas. This was not a bright outlook for a newcomer with her reputation all to make, and the only time Salamis loaded a tea cargo home was on her second voyage when she came home from Hong Kong in 110 days. In 1878 she made another attempt to get a tea cargo home, but “SALAMIS.” Photo lent by F. G. Layton. Larger image (243 kB) “THOMAS STEPHENS,” “CAIRNBULG,” “BRILLIANT,” AND “CUTTY SARK,” in Sydney Harbour. Larger image (275 kB) As a wool clipper she set up a wonderful record; her average for 13 consecutive passages to Melbourne being 75 days pilot to pilot, and for her outward passages from 1875 to 1895 her average was 77 days. Homeward with wool, like all iron ships, she occasionally got hung up and topped the 100 days, nevertheless here she also had the best average for an iron ship, of 87 days for 18 consecutive wool passages from Melbourne to London. Her best run from London to the equator was made in 18½ days. Twice she ran from the equator to the Cape meridian in 21 days, and twice she ran her easting down from the Cape meridian to Cape Otway in 22½ days, and no less than four times in 23 days. Captain Phillip left the Harlaw to take the Salamis, and his name is associated with her during the whole of her life under the British flag. On her maiden passage Salamis left London on 6th July, took her departure from the Start on the 10th, then had very buffling winds to the equator, which she crossed on 2nd August in 25° W.; the S.E. trades were very poor and she had to make a tack off the Abrolhos Rocks. The Cape meridian was crossed on 24th August in 44° S. Running her easting down, the wind was very changeable, being mostly from the south’ard, and without any steady breezes her best run was only 304 knots. She passed the Otway on 16th September and entered Port Phillip Heads the same evening, 68 days from Start Point. On her second voyage she had a very protracted start, losing three anchors and chains in the Downs and also a man overboard during a very severe gale. She had to In 69° E. she encountered bad weather, and shipped a heavy sea whilst running under a fore topsail. This sea broke over the quarter, smashed the wheel and broke in the cabin skylight, and she had to be hove to for 14 hours whilst repairs were made. The main upper topsail had also blown away and a new one had to be bent. She eventually made Cape Otway at 10.30 p.m. on 7th June, entering the Heads early morning of the 8th, 75 days from the Lizards. In crossing to China, she went from Sydney to Shanghai in 32 days. Failing to get a tea cargo in Shanghai, she ran down to Hong Kong through the Formosa Channel with a strong N.E. monsoon in two days and some odd hours, but, of course, she was nearly new and in ballast. In 1878 she again tried for a tea cargo, crossing from Sydney in 43 days: after a very tempestuous passage of 83 days from London to Sydney, during which she continually had to be hove to, indeed, Captain Phillip declared that he had never met with such heavy gales during 30 years’ experience, even so she was only 79 days from the Channel to Cape Otway. She found tea freights slumping very badly at Shanghai, and was finally placed on the berth for general cargo only at 30s. per 50 cubic feet. Salamis left Shanghai on 26th November in company with Thermopylae, which was the only sailing ship to get a Of this fleet the first to get through was Thermopylae after several ineffectual attempts, but she was closely followed by her iron sister ship; clearing Java Head on 29th December after a delay of 14 days, the two sisters squared away for the S.E. trades, and left the fleet of 37 ships to wait patiently until the N.E. current slackened. Salamis carried the trades to 32° S., and then made some fine running to the Australian Coast, her best day’s work being 336 miles. On 26th January, 1879, she arrived off Port Phillip Heads and anchored off Queenscliff to await orders. She was sent up to Sydney and loaded coal alongside the Cutty Sark. On 18th March Cutty Sark sailed for Shanghai with 1150 tons of coal, Salamis followed on the 20th with 1200 tons of coal. Unfortunately I have no details of the race across, except that Salamis made the run in 37 days. Both ships failed to get a tea cargo for the London market, and Cutty Sark went off to Manila, whilst Salamis went to Foochow, and took a tea cargo from there to Melbourne, which she reached in time to load wool home, after a very light weather passage of 64 days. After this unsatisfactory voyage Salamis was kept steadily in the Melbourne trade, with the exception of one passage to Sydney. When the Aberdeen White Star sold their sailing ships, Salamis went to the Norwegians, who stripped the yards off her mizen mast and turned her into a barque. After several weary years of threadbare old The Colonial Barque “Woollahra.”The pretty little barque, Woollahra, owned by Cowlislaw Bros., of Sydney, had a very fair turn of speed, and on more than one occasion showed up well against some of the crack ships in the trade. In her later years she used to run from Newcastle, N.S.W., to Frisco with coal. She came to her end on Tongue Point, near Cape Terawhite, New Zealand, whilst bound in ballast from Wellington to Kaipara, to load Kauri lumber for Australia. She was wrecked about half a mile from the homestead of a sheep station, the only habitation on the coast for miles. The captain and an ordinary seaman were drowned, the rest of her complement getting safely ashore. She went to pieces very quickly and there was not even an odd spar or deck fitting left a few months afterwards. “Cassiope” and “Parthenope.”Cassiope and Parthenope were actually sister ships though by different builders. They were both fine fast clippers of the best Liverpool type. Cassiope, however, had a short life, being lost with all hands in 1885, when bound to London with Heap’s Rangoon rice, under the well-known Captain Rivers. Parthenope was sold in her old age to the Italians and rechristened Pelogrino O. On the 31st July, 1907, she sailed with coals from Newcastle, N.S.W., for Antofagasta and never arrived. “Trafalgar.”D. Rose & Co.’s Trafalgar was a very regular Sydney trader. She went to the Norwegians and was still afloat, owned in Christiania, when the war broke out. “WOOLLAHRA.” From a painting. Larger image (247 kB)
Notes on Passages to Australia in 1875.In no year were so many magnificent iron clippers launched as in 1875, and of the ships which made the passage to Melbourne in under 80 days no less than five, namely, Salamis, Loch Garry, Loch Vennachar, Parthenope and Old Kensington, were on their maiden passages. Loch Garry’s best run in the 24 hours was 333 miles, and Loch Vennachar did a week’s work of 2065 miles, viz., 285, 290, 320, 320, 312, 268 and 270. Samuel Plimsoll, with 360 emigrants on board, left Plymouth on 6th August, at 11.15 p.m.; on the same day she ran into and sank the Italian barque Enrica, though Captain Richards left the Thomas Stephens in order to tune up Parthenope. He made the latter travel, but as he returned to the Thomas Stephens in 1876 he evidently preferred his old clipper. Thermopylae still maintained her wonderful reputation; on this trip she averaged 270 miles a day from 23° W. to 100° E. The Old Kensington was a very fine ship with a good turn of speed, and she usually loaded home from Calcutta or San Francisco. The Wasdale must not be confused with the later Wasdale, which was not launched until 1881. This one must have been a very fast ship, for on this passage she made five 24-hour runs over 300, her best being 332 miles. Many well-known heelers were just over the 80 days; for instance, Miltiades was 81 days from the Start, Thessalus 83 from the Lizards, Theophane 83 from the Tuskar, Cassiope 81 from the Tuskar, Marpesia 83 from the Tuskar, Thyatira 80 from the Start, all to Melbourne, whilst Patriarch was 82 days from Torbay to Sydney. Two writers to the Nautical Magazine, both of whom were serving on the Cutty Sark during her 1875-6 voyage, claim that she was 50 miles south of Melbourne on her 54th day out from the Channel, and that owing to strong head winds she was compelled to go round Australia. As will be seen, she was 67 days from the Lizard to the S.W. Cape, Tasmania, and I fear that a mistake of ten days has been made. Captain Watson also stated in a personal letter to me that she ran 2163 miles in six “Sir Walter Raleigh.”The Sir Walter Raleigh, commanded by Captain W. Purvis, was a very well-known and regular wool clipper of the type of Romanoff. I do not think she was quite in the first flight, but she was never very far behind, and in 1880 she shared with Ben Voirlich the distinction of making the best outward run of the year. The following extracts are from Patriarch’s log, when homeward bound in 1878, 79 days out from Sydney. Feb. 8.—18° 41' N., long. 38° 55' W.—Spoke the Sir Walter Raleigh, Melbourne to London, 77 days out. Feb. 9.—Sir Walter Raleigh still in company. Feb. 10.—Sir Walter Raleigh ahead. Feb. 11.—Sir Walter Raleigh dead to windward. Feb. 12 to 16.—Sir Walter Raleigh still in company. In the end Patriarch got home a day ahead, Sir Walter Raleigh making the best passage by a day. Sir Walter Raleigh was probably faster in light and moderate winds than in strong, as I can find no very big runs to her credit. On the 10th November, 1888, she left Sydney for London, wool-laden, and was wrecked near Boulogne on 29th January, 1889, when only 80 days out and almost in sight of home. Five of her crew were drowned. It was a tragic end to what promised to be the best wool passage of her career. “Loch Fyne” and “Loch Long.”These two 1200-ton sister ships from Thomson’s yard, though fine wholesome ships, were not considered quite as fast as the earlier “Lochs,” though each of them put up a 75-day passage to Melbourne, Loch Fyne on her second voyage in 1877-8, and the Loch Long in 1884. The Loch Fyne left Lyttelton, N.Z., on 4th May, 1883, under Captain T. H. Martin, with 15,000 bags of wheat bound for the Channel for orders and never arrived. In January, 1903, Loch Long arrived in Hobson’s Bay from Glasgow, commanded by Captain Strachan. From Melbourne she was sent to New Caledonia to load nickel ore. She sailed on 29th April, but failed to arrive. Portions of wreckage, however, were washed up on the Chatham Islands, which made it only too certain that she had struck on the rocks and gone down with all hands. “Aristides”—The Aberdeen White Star Flagship.In March, 1876, Messrs. Hood launched the beautiful passenger clipper Aristides, the largest of all Thompson’s sailing ships. Captain R. Kemball of Thermopylae fame, the commodore of the Aberdeen White Star fleet, was given command of her, and she became the firm’s flagship. On her maiden voyage she sailed from London on 6th July, and arrived in Port Phillip on 18th September—74 days out (69 days from the land). Leaving Melbourne on 28th November, she arrived in the Thames on 17th February, 81 days out, beating two such well-known clippers as Loch Maree and Collingwood, which “ARISTIDES.” Photo by Hall & Co., Sydney. Larger image (154 kB) Aristides was kept on the Melbourne run until 1889, when she went out to Sydney in 85 days. From this date she was kept in the Sydney trade. She usually had a full passenger list and being perfectly run like all the Aberdeen ships she was a favourite both in Sydney and Melbourne. Captain Kemball retired in 1887, and Captain Spalding had her until the early nineties, then Captain Allan took her over; her last commander was Captain Poppy, who was lost in her. Her best 24-hour run that I have record of was 320 miles. Her passages, both outward and homeward, were very regular, from 78 to 88 days as a rule, but she never beat the times of her maiden voyage. When the Aberdeen White Star sold their sailing ships, they refused to part with the Aristides, and she remained under their flag till the end. On 28th May, 1903, she sailed from Caleta Buena with nitrate of soda for San Francisco and was posted as missing. H.M. ships Amphion and Shearwater made a search amongst the islands on her route for the missing ship, but no trace of her was ever found. “Smyrna.”The Smyrna, which was built on fuller lines than most of Thompson’s ships, came to a tragic end, being run into by the steamer Moto on 28th April, 1888, during The “Harbinger.”The Harbinger was built to lower the colours of the wonderful Torrens in the Adelaide trade, being fitted to carry a large number of passengers. Indeed she was the last sailing ship specially built and fitted for carrying passengers. In more ways than one she was a remarkable vessel, and differed in many interesting details from the stock type of Clyde-built iron clipper. In her rigging and sail plan, she had various fittings which were peculiar to herself. To begin with, she was the only iron ship which had the old-fashioned channels to spread the rigging: and in another way she went back many years by never bending a sail on her crossjack yard. Instead of this sail she spread a large hoisting spanker, and she always carried a main spencer or storm trysail, a sail very often seen on down east Cape Horners, who found it very useful when trying to make westing off Cape Stiff. The famous Cutty Sark was fitted with a spencer yard and sail at her launch, but I doubt if she ever used it; at any rate, Captain Woodget told me he never used it, for the simple reason that he never hove the Cutty Sark to in ten voyages to Australia. I have several of Harbinger’s abstract logs and I can find no instance of her using this sail either. Harbinger was a very lofty ship, measuring 210 feet from the water-line to her main truck, and, unlike the Hesperus, she always carried her skysail yards crossed. Her jibbooms were of unusual length—I say jibbooms, for outside her ordinary jibboom she carried a sliding “HARBINGER.” Larger image (253 kB) “HARBINGER.” Photo lent by F. G. Layton. Larger image (241 kB) After her first voyage 600 superficial feet of canvas were added to her square-sail area, and even so she was not a bit over canvassed, as she was a very stiff ship and always stood up well to a breeze. That she did not make more remarkable passages must be put down to the fact that, like the Hesperus, she was never hard sailed; but she could do over 300 miles in the 24 hours without much pressing, and running her easting down 340 knots in a 23½-hour day was about her best. Her best speed through the water, measured by the odometer and the common log, was 16 knots. With regard to her sea qualities, Mr. Bullen, who served on her as second mate, speaks as follows:—“She was to my mind one of the noblest specimens of modern shipbuilding that ever floated. For all her huge bulk she was as easy to handle as any 10-ton yacht—far easier than some—and in any kind of weather her docility was amazing…. She was so clean in the entrance that you never saw a foaming spread of broken water ahead, driven in front by the vast onset of the hull. She parted the waves before her pleasantly, as an arrow the air; but it needed a tempest to show her ‘way’ in its perfection. In a grand and gracious fashion, she seemed to claim affinity with the waves, and they in their wildest tumult met her as if they knew and loved her. She was the only ship I ever knew or heard of that would ‘stay’ under storm staysails, reefed topsails and a reefed foresail in a gale of wind. In fact, I never saw anything that she would not do that a ship should do. She was so truly a child of the ocean that even a It is doubtful if a ship ever sailed the seas with more beautiful deck fittings. They were all of the finest teak, fashioned as if by a cabinetmaker and lavishly carved. In her midship house, in addition to the galley, carpenter’s shop, petty officer’s quarters, donkey engine and condenser, she had accommodation for 30 passengers. Like the Rodney, she was fitted up with all the latest comforts and conveniences—luxuries they were considered in those robust days. On her forward deck against the midship house were lashed a splendid cowhouse, two teak wood pens to hold 30 sheep, and a number of hen coops which were crammed with poultry, ducks, and geese, the butcher being one of the most important members of her crew. Her foc’s’le had three tiers of bunks, for she carried a large crew. In 1886 I find that she hauled out of the South West India Dock with 200 passengers and a crew of 51 all told. She did not stay very long in the Adelaide trade, but from the early eighties was a favourite passenger ship to Melbourne, her commander being Captain Daniel R. Bolt, a very experienced passenger ship commander, who had previously had the Darling Downs, Royal Dane, and Holmsdale. Under him without any undue hurry, she was generally between 80 and 85 days going out, and in the nineties coming home. Below will be found a typical abstract of her log when running the easting down, taken from her outward passage in 1884:— August 31.—Lat. 38° 00' S., long. 1° 52' W. Dist. 242. Moderate steady S.W. wind, rain squalls. Two sail in company. September 1.—Lat. 38° 57' S., long. 2° 47' E. Dist. 226. Strong, unsteady, squally S.W. to west wind, high sea, royals set. September 2.—Lat. 39° 07' S., long. 7° 42' E. Dist. 230. Variable south wind, squally, heavy rollers from S.W. September 3.—Lat. 39° 40' S., long. 12° 49' E. Dist. 241. Westerly wind, fresh and squally, under topgallant sails, heavy rollers. September 4.—Lat. 40° 06' S., long. 19° 05' E. Dist. 288. Strong gale and high sea. September 5.—Lat. 40° 24' S., long. 24° 50' E. Dist. 267. Moderate W. gale, high sea. September 6.—Lat. 40° 49' S., long. 30° 44' E. Dist. 267. Gale moderating and falling to light S.S.E. wind. September 7.—Lat. 40° 08' S., long. 35° 15' E. Dist. 213. South wind variable in force and direction. September 8.—Lat. 38° 30' S., long 36° 37' E. Dist. 116. Variable light E. and S.E wind. September 9.—Lat. 40° 25' S., long. 38° 36' E. Dist. 148. Moderate E.S.E. gale. Sea smooth. P.M., strong N.E. wind, reduced to topsails. September 10.—Lat. 42° 17' S., long 42° 18' E. Dist. 203. Strong gale and head sea. Main upper and three lower topsails. Later, wind dropping. September 11.—Lat. 42° 10' S., long. 46° 41' E. Dist. 196. Light W. wind, variable airs increasing to strong N.W. gale at midnight. September 12.—Lat. 42° 28' S., long. 52° 13' E. Dist. 247. 6.30, wind shifted to west and fell light, then freshened, sea smooth. September 13.—Lat. 42° 22' S., long. 58° 06' E. Dist. 262. Moderate westerly gale and high sea, royals in. Midnight, light winds. September 14.—Lat. 42° 10' S., long. 63° 50' E. Dist. 253. Increasing N.W. wind. September 15.—Lat. 41° 30' S., long. 70° 22' E. Dist. 298. Fresh gale, cross sea from N.N.W., a sea down saloon companion; overcast. September 16.—Lat. 41° 30' S., long. 77° 07' E. Dist. 305. Fresh W.N.W. wind and moderate sea. Bar. 29.70° to 29.60°. September 17.—Lat. 41° 15' S., long. 84° 19' E. Dist. 326. Strong gale and high sea. 7.30 a.m., wind shifted from N.W. to W.S.W. Bar., 30.20°. Sept. 18.—Lat. 40° 40' S., long. 90° 00' E. Dist. 259. Moderate gale W.S.W. to light W. wind, 8 knots. Bar., 30.10°. September 19.—Lat. 41° 00' S., long. 95° 01' E. Dist. 228. Moderate to light W. wind, skysails set. Bar., 29.60°. September 20.—Lat. 40° 30' S., long. 100° 44' E. Dist. 260. Moderate N.W. gale, thick weather, rain. September 21.—Lat. 40° 04' S., long. 106° 05' E. Dist. 248. Moderate gale and high seas. September 22.—Lat. 39° 28' S., long. 111° 05' E. Dist. 230. Moderate S. wind, squally with rain falling to light airs. On this passage Harbinger was 81 days from the Lizard to Port Phillip Heads; she had very light winds to the line, which she only crossed 31 days from the Lizard. It was, perhaps, a pity that she was not fitted with stunsails and given a chance to go, as there is no doubt that under such conditions she could have given the fastest ships in the trade a very good race. In 1885 she took her departure from the Start with the little Berean, and beat that little marvel out to the Colonies by six days, being 79 days from the Start to the Quarantine Station, Port Phillip. Harbinger’s best run on this occasion was 310 miles. In the year 1890 Harbinger was bought, along with the Hesperus, for Devitt & Moore’s cadet-training scheme. She carried a full complement of cadets until 1897, when her boys were turned over to the Macquarie and she was sold to the Russians for £4800, and she was still in the Register in 1905. “Argonaut.”Carmichael’s Argonaut, like their Thessalus, was not a regular wool carrier, though often seen in Sydney and Melbourne; for some years, however, in her latter days, she was a member of the wool fleet from Sydney. She had all the good looks of a Golden Fleece clipper; and the following records speak for her sailing powers:—
Argonaut’s best known commander was Captain Hunter, who was one of those who knew how to carry sail. On his wool passage home in 1896, however, he was very much out of luck, as the Argonaut was one of the very few ships that took over 100 days. “ARGONAUT.” Photo by Hall & Co., Sydney. Larger image (258 kB) Captain A. Cook was her first skipper, then Captain Bonner had her in the late eighties. Argonaut was still afloat in 1914. Under the name of Elvira, she flew the Portuguese flag and used the same home port, Lisbon, as the Cutty Sark and Thomas Stephens—and her round of ports was usually the same as that of Cutty Sark, namely—Rio Janeiro, New Orleans and Lisbon. In 1913, her name was again changed to Argo. The Portuguese, as in the case of the Cutty Sark, retained the yards on the mizen.
Notes on Passages to Australia in 1876.The only new ship to make a name for herself this year was Aristides, but I do not think she was as fast as Thompson’s earlier ships, and I much doubt if she were capable of the following week’s run, made by Samuel Plimsoll whilst running her easting down this year in 41° S., viz., 348, 330, 301, 342, 320, 264, and 340 = total 2245 miles. Hardly any of the cracks are missing from the “under 80 day” list. The Tweed, with eight fine stallions on board, ran from the Start to King’s Island in 77 days on her way to Sydney, but was then held up three more days by calms. “Brilliant” and “Pericles.”Duthie’s Brilliant and Thompson’s Pericles were built alongside of each other and launched on the same tide; and both ships being in the Sydney trade there was naturally great rivalry between them. The two clippers proved to be very evenly matched and it is “PERICLES.” Photo by Hall & Co., Sydney. Larger image (210 kB) On her maiden passage Brilliant went out to Sydney in 78 days without clewing up her main royal from the Bay of Biscay to Sydney Heads. Down in the roaring forties she made three consecutive runs of 340, 345 and 338 miles by observation, a performance which I do not think any iron ship has ever beaten. Her best homeward passage was 79 days to the Channel in 1888, but her wool passages were so regular that she was rarely allowed more than 85 days to catch the sales. Brilliant was a specially handsome ship; painted black with a white under-body, and with a brass rail along the whole length of her topgallant bulwarks, she was always the acme of smartness, being known in Sydney as “Duthie’s yacht.” Taking the average of 16 outward passages under Captain Davidson, we find Brilliant’s record to be 85 days, her rival Pericles had an average of 84 days for 10 passages; this was considerably helped by a very fine run of 71 days in 1886. In 1888 Captain John Henderson took the Pericles for three voyages, leaving her to take the Samuel Plimsoll. He took the Pericles across the Pacific to San Francisco and made three passages home from the Golden Gate with wheat, his first being the best, 110 days to Falmouth. Thompson’s sold Pericles to the Norwegians in 1904, whilst Brilliant was sold to the Italians in the following year. Brilliant, I believe, was broken up in Genoa about 10 or 12 years ago, but Pericles, until recently at any rate, was still washing about the seas disguised in the usual way as a barque. “Loch Ryan.”Loch Ryan was another 1200-ton ship, a favourite size with Messrs. Aitken & Lilburn. Though she managed to make the run to Melbourne in 78 days on her maiden passage, she was not as sharp-ended as her predecessors and was more of a carrier, her passages home being more often over 100 days than under. She was more fortunate in her old age than most of her sisters, as she was bought by the Victorian Government and turned into a boys’ training ship, her name being changed to John Murray. For many years, until well into the late war in fact, she lay in Hobson’s Bay as spick and span as ever, occasionally making short cruises under sail for training purposes. About the middle of the war, like many another gallant old windjammer, she was fitted out and sent to sea in the face of the German submarines and was wrecked in the Pacific. “Loch Etive,” of Captain William Stuart and Joseph Conrad fame.The Loch Etive, launched in November, 1877, had the honour of being commanded by Captain Stuart of Peterhead, for long the well-known skipper of the famous Tweed, and the still greater honour of having Mr. Joseph Conrad as one of her officers. She also was a fuller ship and for some years Captain “MERMERUS,” in Victoria Dock, Melbourne, 1896. Larger image (353 kB) “BRILLIANT.” Photo lent by Captain C. W. Davidson. Larger image (328 kB) Leaving Glasgow on 15th October, 1892, she arrived at Melbourne on Xmas Day, 70 days out from the Tail of the Bank. Loading a wool cargo, she left Melbourne on 26th January, 1893, and arrived in the London River on 29th April, 93 days out. On her next voyage she left Glasgow at 8 p.m. on 23rd September and arrived at Adelaide 10 a.m., 12th December; towed to powder ground and discharged 20 tons of gunpowder, and berthed at the wharf same afternoon; commenced discharging on 13th, discharged 800 tons of cargo, took on board 300 tons lead spelter, towed down the river and anchored off the Semaphore on the 16th; left on the 17th, and arrived at Melbourne on the 19th. Here she discharged 750 tons, the remainder of her inward cargo, and loaded wool and sundries for Antwerp and Glasgow. Left Melbourne Heads on 18th January—detained a week in Bass Straits by light easterly winds—passed within 3 miles of Cape Horn at noon, 15th February—crossed equator at noon, 15th March—signalled Lizard at noon, 12th April, and docked in Antwerp on 15th April, 87 days out. Captain Stuart died at sea on his next voyage, on the morning of his birthday, 21st September, 1894, and was buried at sea some 300 miles S.W. of Queenstown, the Loch Etive being five days out from Glasgow. He was 63 years of age and had been 43 years a master. It was his proud boast that during the whole of his career he had never lost a man or a mast overboard. Though offered many a chance to go into steam or a larger ship, Captain Stuart preferred to remain in the Loch Etive. Without a doubt he was one of the most Loch Etive was sold to the French in 1911 for £1350. The Wreck of “Loch Sloy.”The Loch Sloy was another 1200-ton Loch liner. She was Captain Horne’s first ship in the Australian trade, and he left her to take over the Loch Garry in 1885. “LOCH ETIVE.” Larger image (253 kB) “ARGONAUT,” in the Clyde. Larger image (234 kB) In April, 1899, when on a passage to Adelaide under Captain Nichol, the Loch Sloy overran her distance and was wrecked on Kangaroo Island. Captain Nichol was trying to pick up Cape Borda light, but it was shut out from him by the cliffs between Cape Bedout and Cape Couldie, and the Loch Sloy, in the darkness of the morning of 24th April, drove on to the Brothers Rocks and became a total loss in a few moments, the heavy surf sweeping right over her. The crew and seven saloon passengers took refuge in the rigging, but one by one the masts went over the side, and the men were hurled into the breakers. The ship had struck 300 yards from the shore and only four men reached it—a passenger, two able seamen and an apprentice. None of the survivors remembered how they got ashore; they heard the crash of the masts, then felt the wreckage bumping them about in the surf, and finally found The following account of their subsequent hardships appeared in an Adelaide paper:— The survivors endured dreadful privations before they reached a settlement. They had plenty of whisky, which had floated ashore from the wreck, but for solid food they had to eat grass, dead penguins cast up by the waves, and shellfish. They suffered terribly through insufficient clothing and lack of boots. Two of them walked along the coast until they came to the Cape Borda light. One went inland to May’s Settlement. The other survivor, David Kilpatrick, the passenger, was so ill that he had to be left behind. When search parties came back for him he had disappeared, and it was not till a week later that a systematic search of the island led to the discovery of his dead body a mile and a half from the spot where the others had left him. The Loss of Lochs “Shiel” and “Sunart.”Loch Shiel, the sister ship of Loch Sloy, was lost on the Thorne Rock, Milford Haven on the 30th January, 1901. Her master mistook the Great Castle Head lights and got on the rocks at 8.40 p.m., the Loch liner being bound out to Australia from Glasgow. There was no loss of life, however, on this occasion, half the crew being taken out of the mizen rigging by a lifeboat, and the other half climbing ashore on to the rocks by means of her bowsprit. Loch Sunart, the last three-master built for the Loch line, was launched in January, 1878. Her life was a very short one, as on her second passage out to Melbourne she was piled up on the Skulmartin Rock, 11th January, 1879. Notes on Passages to Australia in 1877.Loch Maree left Glasgow on 5th May, but was held up for four days in sight of Tory Island, first by calms and then strong S.W. winds. Between 21° S.—the Ben Cruachan had such favourable winds in the Channel that she carried the Channel pilot on to Madeira, where she landed him on 25th April. She made very steady running down south, for her best day’s work was only 296 miles. Her sister ship, Ben Voirlich, on the contrary, made a run of 350 miles on 26th July in 35° 37' S., 22° 10' W., though she took 83 days from Achill Head to Hobson’s Bay. Pericles, with 489 emigrants on board, made a good start in her career, like all Thompson’s ships. Between the 23rd and 24th November in 44° S., she ran 354 miles before what Captain Largie called a hurricane, so it is not surprising that Brilliant failed to catch her in spite of an average of 261 miles a day for 22 days between the Cape and Otway. Brilliant, however, instead of emigrants, had 4000 tons of general cargo on board. Patriarch, who very rarely suffered damage in bad weather, took a very heavy sea over her poop during a W.N.W. gale on the 2nd September in 100° E., and lost 9 feet of her taffrail and three stanchions over the side. This sea would not have been a pleasant one for Loch Vennachar or Sir Walter Raleigh, both of which had their decks lumbered up with horse boxes full of draught stock. Samuel Plimsoll as usual made some good running down south, her best week’s work being 2050 miles. Thermopylae was hard chased by Cutty Sark, in spite of a 17-day run from the Lizard to the equator. It is a pity the two ships did run their easting down on the same parallel, as they must have been neck and neck down
“Cimba.”In April, 1878, Hood launched the beautiful little Cimba for A. Nicol, and with her green hull, gold scrolls and lion figure-head she was a familiar visitor to Port Jackson for close on 30 years. An out and out wool clipper, she was very heavily rigged, her chief measurements being:—
Her lower masts were short compared to some clippers, but her lower yards were very heavy, her fore and main yards weighing over 4 tons each. Her first master was J. Fimister, who had her until 1895, when Captain J. W. Holmes took her over until she was sold abroad in 1906. Under Captain Fimister her best passages were:—
On her maiden trip she left London 27th June—left Channel 2nd July, 5 days out—crossed the line 28th July. 26 days from departure—crossed Cape meridian 20th August, 49 days from departure—arrived Sydney 29th September, 89 days from departure. A curious notoriety came upon the new clipper in Sydney owing to Captain Fimister, in his eagerness to get loaded and away in good time for the wool sales, jumping Patriarch’s loading berth at Circular Quay. The berth was vacated by Nineveh on a Saturday. “CIMBA.” Photo lent by F. G. Layton. Larger image (233 kB) The port arrangements in those days allowed ships to go alongside in the order in which they had booked the berth. On this occasion Patriarch had booked the berth on 18th August, Smyrna on 20th August, Cairnbulg on 9th September, St. Lawrence on 13th September, Centurion on 26th September and Cimba on 30th September—the day after she arrived. On Nineveh sailing, Patriarch should have hauled alongside, but her captain had been told that as it was Saturday he need not come alongside until Monday. The Patriarch, being in no particular hurry as a good deal of her wool was still up country, therefore remained where she was. Hearing of this, the enterprising Captain Fimister proceeded to hire a tug and move his ship from Smith’s Wharf where she was lying to the vacant berth at Circular Quay, all ready to load the wool which was waiting for him. He took the precaution, however, to take his shorefasts through the quay rings and aboard again. This defiance of the harbour authorities was allowed to go unnoticed until Monday morning. Then Captain Fimister received an order to remove his ship. Of this he took no notice. His action, as may be supposed, was the talk of the port, especially amongst the captains of the wool clippers. One of these skippers threatened to moor his ship in Sydney Cove, ready to be the next to jump the berth. Others complained in person to the Colonial Secretary. On Tuesday morning Captain Bell, the harbor-master, went in person to the Cimba to order her removal, but the undaunted Captain Fimister triced up his gangway ladder and threatened to throw him overboard if he attempted to gain the deck. By this time all the legal lights of Sydney were puzzling their heads over the legal aspects of the case; Messrs. Dangar, Gedye & Co., the ship’s agents, upholding the captain. Finally the Colonial Treasurer sent the President of the Marine Board an order to remove the ship. So at 6 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Captain Hixson, the assistant harbourmaster, with 20 men and half-a-dozen water police, boarded the ship, only to find that Captain Fimister and his whole crew had flown after first removing every means of weighing the anchor. But a harbourmaster is not easily balked, and Captain Hixson let go the shorefasts, slipped the chain, and with the aid of a tug took the Cimba out and moored her at the man-of-war buoy off Fort Macquarie. It was now time for Dangar, Gedye & Co. to take action. They immediately enlisted the help of Sir John Robertson, who moved the adjournment of the House in order that an explanation of the harbourmaster’s high-handed proceedings might be given. The House was already divided into two factions over Captain Fimister’s action, but the Colonial Secretary firmly upheld the Marine Board, and in the end Captain Fimister was fined 20 shillings and 5s. costs and ordered to pay £28 4s., the cost of removing the Cimba from the berth. All this trouble really arose firstly through the Patriarch’s being ahead of her cargo, and secondly owing to Circular Quay being a free berth. This was shortly afterwards rectified, but the Patriarch did not get away until a month after the Cimba for want of cargo. In 1889, the Cimba made her best wool passage, as follows:—
Captain Holmes, who took the Cimba in 1895, had had a long experience in clipper ships. He had been third mate of the Salamis, chief mate of Hallowe’en and Blackadder, and commander of the Lencadia, a smart ship built for the China trade. The Aberdeen ships were, however, very clannish, and being a stranger and not a Scot, he had his reputation all to make, the standard set being a very high one. However, he knew how to carry sail, and he managed to keep the Cimba moving, though she was always a tender ship requiring a master hand. Under him, her best passages were:— 1895Lizard to Sydney82 days. Her best week’s work was 1860 miles, and her best 24 hour’s run, made on 6th June in 39° 51' S., 34° 54' E., 336 miles in a fresh gale from S.W., during which the second mate was lost overboard. Other good runs on this passage were:—300, 302, 308 and 312. 1896Sydney to London78 days. Cimba left Sydney in company with Thessalus and Argonaut on 17th October. Passed the Horn on 15th November, 29 days out—on 18th November in 51° 31' S., 55° 47' W., ran 316 miles, the wind blowing a strong gale from W.S.W. to W.N.W.—crossed the line on 8th December, 23 days from the Horn—passed Fayal, Western Isles, on Xmas Day, and signalled the Lizard at 1 p.m. 31st December, 75 days out. This was really a splendid performance, for the Thessalus, which was really a much faster and more powerful ship, signalled the Start on 31st December at noon, whilst Argonaut, which was certainly quite as fast as Cimba, did not arrive until a month later. 1898Sydney to London81 days. Passed the Horn on 2nd November, 25 days out, having run 3422 miles in 14 days—crossed the line on 29th November, 27 days from the Horn—passed the Western Isles on 20th December, Lizard light abeam at 8 a.m. on 26th December, 79 days out. In 1899 Cimba went out to Rockhampton and loaded home from Brisbane. In 1901 she went out to Sydney in 85 days, her best run being 310 miles. By this time sailing ship freights were in a very bad way, and a profitable charter in Sydney grew more and more difficult to obtain, thus in 1905 we find her making the record passage between Callao and Iquique for a sailing ship. As this may be of interest, I give her abstract log below:—
This was Cimba’s last voyage under the British flag; she came home from Caleta Buena to Falmouth in 85 days, and was then sold (March, 1906) to the Norwegians owing to the death of her owner. Under the Norwegians she made a remarkable passage from Dublin to the St. Lawrence in 14 days; lumber
Notes on Passages to Australia in 1878.Thessalus was the heroine of the year, though on her arrival in Melbourne critics declared that she was too deeply loaded for safety. Miltiades had a bad time running her easting down; on more than one occasion her decks were badly swept, and once Captain Perrett was washed off the poop on to the main deck and had his head badly cut about. Loch Vennachar, owing to the death of Captain Robertson, had a new skipper in Captain J. S. Ozanne, her late chief officer. He proved that he could carry sail by two 24-hour runs of 325 and 311 miles. Captain Stuart made a very good maiden passage out to Sydney, but Loch Etive never had anything like the speed of his old ship the Tweed. Parthenope had the veteran Captain Grey in command this year, and he certainly made her travel. Of the other crack ships Salamis was 83 and Samuel Plimsoll 86 days to Sydney; whilst of the Melbourne clippers Loch Garry was 80, Loch Maree 82, Mermerus, Ben Cruachan and Romanoff 83, Sir Walter Raleigh 84 and Ben Voirlich 87 days. Neither of the two tea clippers, Cutty Sark and Thermopylae, sailed for the Colonies in 1878. “Sophocles.”The Sophocles was a pretty little ship, though, following the trend of the times, she was given a fuller body than Thompson’s earlier ships, as she was meant to be an economical carrier rather than a record breaker. I believe she is still afloat rigged as a barque under Italian colours. Passages to Australia in 1879.I have had considerable difficulty in finding any good passages to Melbourne or Sydney in 1879. It was a time of depressed freights and ships found themselves seeking cargoes in other than their regular trades. Thus we find the tea clipper Titania on the Melbourne run instead of going out to China. The Thomas Stephens tried a voyage to Otago. Salamis was still in the East seeking a tea cargo. Thessalus went to Calcutta from Penarth, whilst the poor little Cutty Sark had many strange and unpleasant adventures before she resumed her place in the Australian trade, which was not until 1883. Of the other cracks Patriarch with 90 days, Miltiades with 88, Ben Voirlich with 87, Loch Maree with 94, “SOPHOCLES.” Photo by Hall & Co., Sydney. Larger image (228 kB) The two rivals, Brilliant and Pericles, were the only ships to make Sydney in under 80 days from the Channel, and owing to Pericles getting ashore close to Plymouth and having to come back and dock and discharge her cargo, etc., the two ships eventually left the Lizard together.
The best passages out to Melbourne were the following:—
Notes on Passages to Australia in 1880.It will be noticed that all the ships going out in under 80 days, with exception of Aristides, Loch Katrine and Theophane, left the United Kingdom in April, May or June and got a good slant South. It was also a season of hard winds both in the Channel and North Atlantic and from the limits of the S.E. trades right away to the Otway and even inside the Heads. Captain Charles Douglas, from the Blackwaller Malabar, took over the Ben Voirlich this year; and on 21st July when south of Gough Island he got 323 and 330 miles out of her in 48 hours before a hard W.S.W. gale. On the 17th August, when in sight of Cape Schanck, Ben Voirlich was held up by terrific squalls from N.N.W. and N., and had to be brought to under reefed topsails. This cost her a day as she was not able to enter the Heads until the 19th, when the wind shifted to the W.N.W. Sir Walter Raleigh made the best passage of her career. With a good run down Channel, she took her departure from the Start the day after leaving the Thames, but Romanoff had to beat down Channel and was six days from the Thames to the Lizard, and strong S.W. winds compelled her to go inside the Canaries and Cape Verdes. She crossed the equator in 21° W. She ran her easting down in 44° S., and though she had no big runs was only 21 days between the Cape meridian and the Otway. Ben Cruachan also had tempestuous weather and easterly winds on making the Australian coast, and came into port with most of her bulwarks gone. The day after passing the Leeuwin meridian, 19th June, she had a hard gale with a very heavy beam sea. She had her fore and mizen lower topsails blown out of the bolt ropes, and carried away two topmast backstays owing to the heavy rolling. Aristides had to beat out of the Channel against strong S.W. gales and Miltiades had three days of S.W. gales in the Bay of Biscay, whilst Salamis, which was very deeply laden with her Plimsoll mark awash, was forced down into 47° S. by hard easterly gales. Samuel Plimsoll, with 384 emigrants on board, was only 16 days to the equator. Between the Cape and the Leeuwin she made the following fine 24-hour runs:—
The Tweed this year was commanded by Captain Loch Maree ran down her easting in 41° S. and experienced no very heavy weather, but managed to average 284 miles a day for 28 days. Rodney went out to Adelaide in 74 days, but her passage was thrown in the shade by the wonderful Torrens, which arrived a few days later, only 65 days out from Plymouth. The Thomas Stephens left Liverpool on 29th April and made the fine run of 83 days to Rangoon. Passages under 80 days to Sydney in 1881.Again only three ships made the run out to Sydney in under 80 days. Cimba dropped her pilot in the Channel on 10th May and arrived Sydney on 24th July, 75 days out. Samuel Plimsoll arrived on 10th June 79 days from the Channel, and Loch Etive on 20th September 79 days from the Clyde
Notes on Passages to Australia in 1881.Captain Young once more showed what the old City of Agra could do when she got the chance. Between the N.E. and S.E. trades she lost her fore topgallant mast in a squall, otherwise the passage was without incident. Running the easting down she maintained a splendid average, as her best run was only 270. Captain Young evidently did not believe in high latitudes as he kept her in 39° and 40° S. “ILLAWARRA.” Larger image (259 kB) “ILLAWARRA.” Larger image (237 kB) Theophane made a good try to beat the City of Agra’s time; she made no less than three attempts to enter the Heads on the ebb tide, but each time the wind dropped in the rip and she was drifted back and at last was compelled to wait until the next day and come in on the flood. Ben Voirlich again made some big runs, her best day’s work being 349 miles and her best week 2100 miles. Loch Maree had to be careful not to ship heavy water, as she had four valuable Clydesdale stallions on her main deck. Thyatira was in company with the little Berean for three days to the south’ard, parting from her eventually in 40° S., 131° E. Berean arrived in Launceston on 9th August, 87 days out from Prawle Point. The Big “Illawarra.”In 1881, Devitt & Moore launched out with a real big ship, the Illawarra, and put her into the Sydney trade. She was not so fine lined as the earlier iron clippers, for the competition of steam and reduced freights were making good carrying capacity a necessity for a money-making ship. Nevertheless Illawarra had a very fair turn of speed, and her average of passages both outward and homeward was under 90 days. She will be chiefly remembered as a cadet ship under the Brassey scheme; she succeeded the Hesperus, and under Captain Maitland carried premium cadets from 1899 to 1907. In that year Devitt & Moore made a contract to take 100 Warspite boys round the world, and as they did not consider the Illawarra large enough, they sold her to the Norwegians and bought the Port Jackson. The Norwegians abandoned the old Illawarra in the North Atlantic during March, 1912, when she was on a passage from Leith to Valparaiso, her crew being taken off by the British steamer Bengore Head. “Orontes.”The Orontes, Thompson’s new ship, was also more of a deadweight carrier than a clipper. After a plodding life with no very startling adventures, she was run into and sunk on 23rd October, 1903, by the ss. Oceana, when almost in sight of Ostend, whither she was bound from a nitrate port. The “Loch Torridon.”When the competition of steam began to cut badly into the Colonial trade, all the Loch three-masters except the Loch Vennachar and Loch Garry, the two finest ships in the fleet, had their yards removed from the mizen mast and were converted into barques, yet they still continued to make fine passages. Until the eighties 1500 tons was considered a good size for a sailing ship, but the time arrived when it became necessary to have ships which possessed both large carrying capacity and speed, and every designer strove to produce a successful compromise between the two. It was soon found that full-rigged ships of 2000 tons and Following the trend of the times Messrs. Aitken & Lilburn commissioned Barclay, Curle & Co. in 1881 to build them two four-mast barques of 2000 tons burden. These were the sister ships Loch Moidart and Loch Torridon; Loch Moidart was launched in September and Loch Torridon in November. The Loch Moidart was only afloat nine years and was a general trader. On the 26th January, 1890, at 4 in the morning, when bound to Hamburg with nitrate from Pisagua, her look-out suddenly reported a bright light on the port bow. Five minutes later she struck on a sand bank, close to the village of Callantsoog in Northern Holland. A violent gale from the westward was blowing at the time, and only two men, one of whom was the cook, succeeded in gaining the shore alive. Her sister ship, Loch Torridon, was one of the best known four-mast barques in the British Mercantile Marine, and one of the fastest. “Loch Torridon is perhaps one of the most graceful and elegant models ever launched from the Glasgow yards,” wrote Sir G. M. White, the Naval Architect to the Admiralty, in 1892. In 1904 John Arthur Barry, the Australian writer, wrote of her:—“She is exceptionally lofty as to her masts, exceptionally square as to her yards. She carries nothing above a royal, but her royal yards are as long as the topgallant yards of most vessels. Her lower yards are enormous. The vessel is uncommonly well-manned with 20 hands in the foc’s’le, with the usual
Her royals were 18 feet deep, measured at the bunt; and the depth of her courses was 38 feet measured at the bunt. She also had a spencer gaff on her mizen, measuring 24½ feet. Thus it will be seen that, though she did not carry stunsails, she had plenty of canvas. Loch Torridon had a poop 36 feet long, a half-deck for apprentices 16 feet long, a midship house 25 feet long, and her topgallant foc’s’le measured 49 feet in length. SAIL PLAN OF “LOCH MOIDART” AND “LOCH TORRIDON.” Larger image (192 kB) Captain Pattman, who commanded her for over 26 years, gave the following testimony to her qualities, when interviewed by the Shipping Gazette:—“Being perfectly sparred, the ship is easy to steer, and even in the worst weather the smallest boy on board can keep her on her course.” Anyone who has felt how hard-mouthed the average four-mast barque can be will appreciate this quality and envy the lucky quartermasters of such a ship. On Loch Torridon there was certainly no excuse for bad steering, and the most strictly adhered to rule on board was that any man or boy found more than half a point off his course was at once sent away from the wheel in disgrace. There were two other factors in Loch Torridon’s success, which she owed to her enterprising commander. Captain Pattman believed in British crews, and took the trouble to train his apprentices. Regarding the first, he once remarked:—“Give me a Britisher everytime, drunken and bad as he is. The best crew I ever had during the past 15 years I shipped in London last summer (1907). They were all Britishers. The view I hold on this question is that the British sailing ship sailor cannot be equalled, let alone beaten. But the difficulty I have experienced is in regard to steamship A.B.’s. I shipped one of these fellows some time ago, and it turned out that he knew nothing of sailing ship ways. He could not steer, and he knew a good deal less than one of our second voyage apprentices. As compared with such a man, I say, ‘Give me a foreigner who has been at sea on sailing ships for two or three years and who knows the way things are done on a sailing ship.’ I find, however, that the foreigner who has been a few years in British ships becomes more insolent, more disobedient and more With regard to the training of apprentices, many a good officer owes his present position to the late Captain Pattman. The Loch Torridon apprentices went to the wheel on their first voyage. At first they took the lee wheel, but as soon as they showed their ability they were allowed to stand their regular trick. In other matters Captain Pattman was a strong advocate of the system carried out on board the German training ships, notably the North German Lloyd. Captain Pattman took command of Loch Torridon on her second voyage. Her maiden voyage was a very tragic one. She went out to Hobson’s Bay from Glasgow under Captain Pinder, arriving on 27th April, 1882, 105 days out. This gave no indication of her sailing capabilities, so she was not taken up to load wool but was sent across to Calcutta to load jute. She left Calcutta on 22nd August. On 9th October, when off the Cape, she ran into a heavy gale from W.N.W. Captain Pinder hove her to on the starboard tack under close-reefed main topsail. After a bit Captain Pinder wore her round on to the port tack, but with the squalls increasing she lay down to it, dipping her starboard rail. Thereupon Captain Pinder decided to wear her back on to the starboard tack. The mate besought him not to do this without setting the foresail, but unfortunately, having been lucky once, the captain insisted, with the result that when she got off before the wind she had not enough way on her and a tremendous sea came roaring over the stern and carried overboard the master, second mate, man at the wheel, sailmaker and a boy, all being drowned. The mate also was swept away but was saved by a hitch of the main brace
Captain Pattman took charge of Loch Torridon in December, 1882, giving up the command of the four-mast ship County of Selkirk in order to take the Loch liner. As a sailing ship commander of the first rank, it may perhaps be of interest to give a short outline of Captain Pattman’s previous career. From this record it will be seen that Captain Pattman had won his way to command by the time-honoured means of the hawse-hole. In the barque Advice he had an experience which would have sickened most boys of the sea, and he bore the scars to his dying day. The officers of the ship were actually prosecuted by his father for their brutality, the result being that Pattman’s indentures were cancelled, the captain had his certificate cancelled and was sentenced to 18 months’ hard labour, whilst the mate was given three years’ hard labour. Both were hard drinkers and uneducated men. The brig Hubertus, which Pattman joined as an ordinary seaman, was a real old-fashioned Geordie collier brig. Her skipper could neither read nor write, and Pattman acted as his clerk and did all his correspondence. But the old man knew his way about the North Sea by smell: he only had to sniff the arming of the lead and was never wrong in naming the ship’s position. These old collier skippers always wore sleeved vests and stove-pipe hats at sea, and in the summer the Thames was often a wonderful sight when these colliers sailed up to London before a fair wind. There were often a hundred and more, brigs, schooners, and barques, all crowding up the river so closely, CAPTAIN PATTMAN. “LOCH TORRIDON.” Larger image (239 kB) Lauderdale was a well-known ship in the China trade, and the Christiana Thompson was, of course, the Aberdeen White Star liner. On her first three voyages under Captain Pattman, Loch Torridon took first, second, and third class passengers out to Melbourne from Glasgow. She left Glasgow on 2nd March, 1883, with 7 saloon, 33 steerage passengers and 12 prize stallions for Port Phillip. Passed Rothesay Bay on the 5th and the Tuskar on the 8th. Running down the easting she made 1911 miles in one week, and was only 22 days between the Cape meridian and Hobson’s Bay, passing through the Heads 74 days out from the Tuskar. At Melbourne she took on board 320 horses, 2 cows, 3 dogs, 12 sheep and 27 Chinese grooms for Calcutta. The trade in walers between Australia and Calcutta was a very lucrative one in those days. On the Loch Torridon a new system was adopted for taking the horses on board. They were walked from the railway trucks up gangways on to the main deck, then down other specially laid gangways through the hatchways and so into their stalls. This method proved an unqualified success and saved four days’ time on the old method Sailing from Melbourne on 20th June, 1883, the Loch Torridon was unfortunate in encountering very bad weather between Cape Otway and the Leeuwin, in which she lost 27 horses and 2 Chinese grooms. She arrived in Calcutta on 1st August, 42 days out, and cleared £1250 on the trip after paying all expenses such as fittings, grooms and horse food. From Calcutta she took 103 days to London. On the 26th May, 1884, Loch Torridon again left Glasgow for Melbourne with 8 saloon, 8 second class and 34 steerage passengers, and the usual Clyde cargo of pig iron, pipes, bar iron, heavy hardware, bricks, boards, ale and whisky. She put into Rothesay Bay for shelter from the weather on 30th May, and passed the Tuskar on 2nd June. Crossed the line on 1st July in 27° W. The S.E. trades were southerly and she had to beat along the Brazilian coast to 17° S. Passed the Cape meridian on 30th July in 44° S. On 10th and 11th August she logged 642 miles, was 23 days from the Cape meridian to Port Phillip, and arrived in Melbourne 23rd August, 82 days from the Tuskar. She then took coal from Newcastle, N.S.W., to Frisco, making the run across the Pacific in 58 days: and loaded a grain cargo home. In 1885 she ran out to Melbourne from Glasgow with 58 passengers in 89 days, crossed to Frisco with Newcastle coal in 58 days, and took 49,317 bags of wheat from Frisco to Hull. In 1886 she went out to Bombay from Cardiff with 2928 tons of coal, arriving Bombay on 14th January, 1887, 97 days out, having raced and beaten the County of Edinburgh. After lying three months in Bombay, she got a freight home to Dunkirk. In 1887 Loch Torridon went to Calcutta from Liverpool and then took a Calcutta cargo to New York, arriving there on 10th June, 1888, 102 days out. From New York she took case oil back to Calcutta, but at 8.15 a.m. on 1st November she stranded on Bangaduni Sand and Captain Pattman had to jettison cargo to get her off. It was proved at the inquiry that an abnormal nor’westerly current caused by cyclonic disturbances at the south end of the Bay of Bengal had set the Loch Torridon in on the land. The weather had been thick for some days and Captain Pattman had no blame attached to him. Temporary repairs were made in Calcutta, and on her arrival home permanent repairs were made at Jarrow-on-Tyne. In 1889 Loch Torridon again went to Calcutta, taking a brutal cargo of railway iron from Middlesboro, and came home to London. In 1890 she went out to Calcutta from Liverpool in 87 days port to port, and took jute back to Dundee. In 1891 Loch Torridon at last returned to the Australian trade, arriving in Sydney from Glasgow 94 days out. Then after lying in Sydney for five months, she loaded her first wool cargo. Amongst the magnificent fleet of 77 sailing ships, which were screwing wool into their holds for the London market, Loch Torridon was considered an outsider, a dark horse with her name all to make; and she thus had to wait for the last sales, and did not get away until the 27th March, My passage home was the smartest of the wool season, 1891-2, either from Melbourne or Sydney, being 81 days to the Lizard and 83 to dock. After I left Sydney, I got down as far as Jervis Bay and there met an S.S.E. gale, which was in force for 36 hours. I went away for the north of New Zealand, which I passed on the 14th day out. I fell in with the Liverpool there. I was in 150° W. on 29th April, before I got a wind without any easting in it. Nothing but N.E.E. and S.E. winds prevailed up to that time. On 14th May I rounded the Horn, 40 days out, I was nearly grey-headed at that time. On 21st May I fell in with the Strathdon. We were both dodging icebergs, the Strathdon had been in amongst them since 18th May, but I only had 12 hours of it, which was quite enough. I left her astern in a short time. On 3rd June I was in 0° 27' S. lat., 60 days from Sydney, 20 from the Horn. On 24th June I signalled at the Lizards, 21 days from the equator. I think it is a record passage from the Horn. I can hardly believe my good fortune, for I threw up the sponge when I got to the Horn, 40 days out, and made sure that the passage would run into three figures. Loch Torridon passed everything we saw, in fact she never sailed better with me. I saw in the evening papers that the Hesperus was reported in 14° N. on 1st June. I was in 0° 27' S. on 3rd June. The Hesperus docked yesterday. She was the only one I thought had a chance with me, and I am of opinion that if I had gone south of New Zealand I should have done much better. It would have been hard lines if I could not have rounded the Snares in 14 days and been in a better position for winds as well, but I am content. I have shown that an outsider, as they looked upon the Loch Torridon, can show the road to their regular traders. Ice to the South’ard.It will be noticed from Captain Pattman’s letter on his run home in 1892 that Strathdon and Loch Torridon encountered ice to the south’ard. And they were not the only ships to do so. In the years 1892 and 1893 a tremendous drift of field ice and huge bergs, many of them over 1000 feet in
The Cromdale had a very exciting experience, and Captain E. H. Andrew wrote the following account to the secretary of the London Shipmasters’ Society:— We left Sydney on 1st March, and having run our easting down on the parallel of 49° to 50° S., rounded the Horn on 30th March without having seen ice, the average temperature of the water being 43° during the whole run across. At midnight on 1st April in 56° S., 58° 32' W., the temperature fell to 37½°, this being the lowest for the voyage, but no ice was seen though there was a suspicious glare to the southward. At 4 a.m. on 6th April in 46° S., 36° W., a large berg was reported right ahead, just giving us time to clear it. At 4.30 with the first signs of daybreak, several could be distinctly seen to windward, the wind being N.W. and the ship steering N.E. about 9 knots. At daylight, 5.20 a.m., the whole horizon to windward was a complete mass of bergs of enormous size, with an unbroken wall at the back; there were also many to leeward. I now called all hands, and after reducing speed to 7 knots sent the hands to their stations and stood on. At 7 a.m. there was a wall extending from a point on the lee bow to about 4 points on the lee quarter, and at 7.30 both walls joined ahead. I sent the chief mate aloft with a pair of glasses to find a passage out, but he reported from the topgallant yard that the ice was unbroken ahead. Finding myself embayed and closely beset with innumerable bergs of all shapes, I decided to tack and try and get out the way I had come into the bay. The cliffs were now truly grand, rising up 300 feet on either side of Tacked ship at 7.30 finding the utmost difficulty in keeping clear of the huge pieces strewn so thickly in the water and having on several occasions to scrape her along one to keep clear of the next. We stood on in this way until 11 a.m., when, to my horror, the wind started to veer with every squall till I drew quite close to the southern barrier, having the extreme point a little on my lee bow. I felt sure we must go ashore without a chance of saving ourselves. Just about 11.30 the wind shifted to S.W. with a strong squall, so we squared away to the N.W. and came past the same bergs as we had seen at daybreak, the largest being about 1000 feet high, anvil shaped. At 2 p.m. we got on the N.W. side of the northern arm of the horseshoe shaped mass. It then reached from 4 points on my lee bow to as far as could be seen astern in one unbroken line. A fact worthy of note was that at least 50 of the bergs in the bay were perfectly black, which was to be accounted for by the temperature of the water, being 51°, which had turned many over. I also think that had there been even the smallest outlet at the eastern side of this mass, the water between the barriers would not have been so thickly strewn with bergs, as the prevailing westerly gales would have driven them through and separated them. I have frequently seen ice down south, but never anything like even the smaller bergs in this group. I also had precisely the same experience with regard to the temperature of water on our homeward passage in the Derwent three years ago, as we dipped up a bucket of water within half a mile of a huge berg and found no change in the temperature. Cromdale, Strathdon, County of Edinburgh and Curzon, all sighted this stupendous ice barrier, and Loch Torridon when she spoke the Strathdon was on the extreme eastern end in about 25° W., whilst the Cromdale cleared it at the extreme western end, giving the length of the barrier from east to west about 12 degrees of longitude. In the following year Loch Torridon, Cutty Sark, Turakina, Brier Holme and Charles Racine fell in with an equally huge field of ice, about 6 degrees of latitude further south and stretching from 52° W. to 43° W. That the two fields were the same lot of ice it is very difficult Here is Loch Torridon’s account of the 1893 ice as given to the Shipping Gazette:— Loch Torridon reports that on 17th January, 1893, in lat. 52° 50' S., long. 46° W., she sighted two large icebergs to the eastward. On the 19th in 50° 50' S., 46° W., she passed between numerous immense bergs, ranging in size from ¼ to 3 miles in length, and from 500 to 1000 feet high. At 3.30 p.m. on same date she saw an immense continent of ice ahead with apparently no open water. Passing to the eastward she had the south end abeam at 4 p.m. and the north end at 9.30 a.m. As the ship had been sailing 9 knots an hour during this time, steering a N. 11° E. course, this would give the length, north and south, of this mass to be about 50 miles. How far it extended to the westward was not known, but from aloft, as as far as the eye could see, nothing but ice was visible. Numerous large bergs were to the eastward of the barrier, through which Loch Torridon threaded her way, besides vast quantities of detached pieces of ice and small bergs. Numerous bays and indentations were noticed in the continent of ice, with bergs and detached ice in the bays cracking against each other and turning over. Loch Torridon had sleet and fine snow all night and intense cold. Numberless bergs were passed until 8 a.m. on the 20th, when an iceberg was abeam to the eastward at least 3 miles long and 1500 feet high. The following was the famous Cutty Sark’s experience. I have taken it from Captain Woodget’s private journal:— Wednesday, 8th February.—Lat. 50° 08' S., long. 46° 41' W., course N. 50° E., distance 150 miles. Gentle S.W. breeze and fine. 6.00 a.m., foggy; 6.30, fog lifted and we found ourselves surrounded by icebergs; 8 a.m., foggy again; ice ahead, in fact there was ice all round. As soon as we cleared one berg another would be reported. You could hear the sea roaring on them and through them, the ice cracking sometimes like thunder, at other times like cannon, and often like a sharp rifle report, and yet could not see them. At 1 p.m. the top of an iceberg was seen which one could hardly believe was ice, it looked like a streak of dark cloud. Then we could see the ice a few feet down, but we could not see the bottom. It was up at an angle of 45 degrees, we were only about 1000 feet off, so it would be 1000 feet high, it had a circular top but we could not see the ends. A few minutes later another was under the bows, we only cleared it by a few feet. It was about 100 feet high and flat-topped. Just as we were passing the corner there was a sharp report that made you jump, as if it was breaking in two. Found another on the other side quite close, and a few minutes later saw the long ridge of ice almost ahead. Kept off, and then another came in sight on the other bow. We were too near it to keep away, but I felt sure that it was no part of the big one—as we were passing this the point of the big one came in sight, the fog cleared and we passed in between them, there being not more than 400 feet between them. When we had cleared the big one, I saw its north end and took bearings. After sailing 8 miles I took other bearings and found that the east side was 19 miles long; and we could not see the end of the side we sailed along. We sailed about 6 miles alongside of it, water now quite smooth. Before noon the water was quite lumpy from all ways. After we had cleared the passage by about 3 or 4 miles, it cleared up astern and what a sight it was! Nothing but icebergs through the passage and on the south side of the passage (for the south berg was only about ½ mile long north and south, same height as the big berg. I expect it had not long broken off.) There was nothing but a sea of ice astern, and another large flat-topped iceberg, which as far as you could see extended like land, it must have been 20 miles long or more. After we were through, there was nothing but small ice from small pieces to bergs 100 feet long. Also there was one about a mile long covered with what looked like pumice stone or lumps of tallow. “Loch Torridon’s” Voyages, 1892-1908.Notwithstanding her fine wool passage in 1892, Loch Torridon could not find a cargo in London and was obliged to leave the Thames in ballast. With only 350 tons of flints and a quantity of “London rubbish” as stiffening, she sailed in magnificent style. She left Gravesend on 30th July, 1892—was off Start Point, 31st July—crossed the equator, 19th August, 20 days out—lost S.E. trades in 22° S., 29th August—crossed the Cape meridian, 14th September, 46 days out—made Moonlight Island, 7th October, 69 days out. Loch Torridon’s best week’s work was 2119 knots; she ran down her easting in 43° S. and made the following consecutive runs in the 24 hours—303, 290, 288, 272, 285, 270, 327 and 341 miles. Her passage worked out at 69 days pilot to pilot, 73 days port to port. This would have been still better if she had not had to battle against a “dead muzzler” for the last week of the passage. She cleared for London on 30th November, 1892, and after her encounter with the ice arrived in the Thames 96 days out. Again she left London in ballast. This time she was sent up to Frederickstadt, where she loaded 940 pieces of timber and 400 tons of pig iron for Melbourne. Again she made a fine run out. She sailed on 14th June, 1893, from Frederickstadt. Had strong head winds in the North Sea:— Passed Dover, 20th June—passed Ushant 24th June—passed Cape Finisterre, 29th June—crossed the line, 23rd July—crossed Cape meridian in 42° S., 17th August. In lat. 46° S., long. 86° E., Loch Torridon was caught in an unusually heavy gale with a tremendous cross sea, the barometer touching 28.83°. However, she came through it without damage, Captain Pattman using oil with good effect. Loch Torridon passed through Port Phillip Heads at 11.30 p.m. on 9th September, 87 days from Frederickstadt and 77 days from Ushant. At the time this was a record passage from Norway to Melbourne. Loch Torridon cleared for London on 20th November, 1893, with a cargo consisting of 8498 bales of wool, 329 bales of sheepskins, 1250 old rails, 2 casks arsenic, 657 packages of tallow, 11 packages of books, 2000 bags of wheat, 11 bales of fur skins, 12 bales of hair, 1942 bags of peas, 118 hides, 351 pigs, horns, etc., 100 bales of scrolls. She dropped her pilot on the 30th and reached London on 6th March, 96 days out. In 1894 she loaded coke and railway iron at Barry for Port Pirie and made the run out in 72 days, her best She left Barry at 6 p.m. on 18th May—crossed the equator, 23 days out—crossed the Cape meridian on 30th June—crossed the meridian of Cape Leeuwin on 20th July—sighted Cape Borda 10 p.m., 27th July—passed Wedge Island at 1 a.m., 28th July, in a strong westerly gale and anchored at 1 p.m. on 30th July. From Port Pirie she went up to Melbourne and loaded another cargo of wool, wheat and hides; and leaving Melbourne on 20th December arrived in the Thames on 21st March, 1895. In 1895, owing to the falling off in the export trade to Victoria, which sailing ships were, of course, the first to feel, Loch Torridon was compelled to accept a charter for Cape Town. Leaving London 6th July, she reached Table Bay on 30th August, 55 days out. Here she was visited and greatly admired by Lord Brassey. From Africa she went to Australia, but owing to the severe drought, like many another clipper that year, she failed to get a wool cargo and so was compelled to go across to the coast of South America for a homeward freight. It was on this occasion that she had the famous race to Valparaiso with the well-known four-mast ship Wendur. The vessels left Newcastle, N.S.W., in company on 1st January, 1896, and though neither sighted the other during the passage, they made a magnificent race of it. Wendur picked up her pilot off Cape Coronilla at 6 p.m. on 29th January, and reached the anchorage at 8 p.m., after a record passage of 29 days. Loch Torridon was held up by fog and calm at the entrance to the Bay and did not arrive until six hours later. The previous best passage was 32 days, which had been made two years before. Many bets had been “LOCH TORRIDON.” Photo lent by late Captain Pattman. Larger image (184 kB) In the run to Valparaiso Wendur’s best day’s work was 330 miles with a moderate N.W. wind and heavy southerly swell in 54° S., 128° W. The next day she ran 310 miles, and three days later 320 miles, the wind strong at N.W. with heavy sea; her log remarks that she lost her boats, pigstye, goats, etc., on this day, so Captain Whiston was driving her. Loch Torridon loaded at Tocopilla for Hamburg, and was 93 days coming home, a poor passage, her bottom was probably foul. On 6th July her decks were badly swept off the Horn and she had a big repair bill when she arrived in Glasgow from Hamburg. In 1896-7 she went out to Adelaide from Glasgow in 71 days and then crossed from Newcastle, N.S.W., to Frisco in 46 days. She left Newcastle on 15th April in company with the four-mast ship Thistle and the Norwegian ship Hiawatha. Both these vessels were dropped hull down to leeward on the first day out. Going through the Islands continuous bad weather was met with; Captain Pattman never had his yards off the backstays until 35° N. and had difficulty in weathering Fiji; nevertheless on 31st May Loch Torridon came flying through the Golden Gate in front of a N.Wly. gale, and anchored in the Bay at 10 p.m. Hiawatha took 62 days, Thistle 79 days, and two Other passages home from Frisco that year were:—
All these vessels sailed about July and were considered crack ships. In 1898 Loch Torridon went out to Adelaide in 79 days. Whilst running her easting down she was swept by a heavy sea, one man being lost overboard, the half-deck burst in like a pack of cards, the donkeyhouse stove, and three of the boats flattened out and left like skeletons in the chocks, whilst their davits were snapped off close to the deck. She came home from Melbourne to London in 90 days. In 1898-9 she made the splendid run of 72 days 15 hours to Sydney. She left London 5 a.m., 10th November, 1898—on 11th November she ran 300 miles in the 24 hours—on 12th November she ran 315 miles in the 24 hours—crossed the line in 28° W., 22 days out—ran her easting down in 45° S., best 24 hours 320 miles and was 23 days from the Cape Meridian to Tasmania. Loch Torridon had between 4000 and 5000 tons of She arrived in Port Jackson on 31st January, 1899. This year for a change she came home from Lyttelton, N.Z., in 86 days. The next three years she did nothing remarkable.
In 1902 she went out to Adelaide in 79 days, then loaded coals at Newcastle, N.S.W., for Frisco. Again she made a remarkable run across the Pacific. She left Newcastle on 27th April—crossed the line on 17th May in 169° 42' W.—arrived at Frisco on 11th June, 45 days out. At San Francisco Captain Pattman loaded wheat for Liverpool. But when he was ready to sail he found himself 10 men short, so applied to the usual sources. And here is a good instance of the methods of Frisco boarding-house masters at that date. He was informed that each man would cost him $30 blood money, $25 advance, $5 shipping fee, $1 boat hire—total $61 per man. This was more than a resolute man like Captain Pattman could put up with, especially with wheat freights to U.K. at 11s. 3d. Though the boarding-house masters were a law unto themselves in San Francisco and boasted of their power, he determined to brave them and after some trouble managed to get men at $31 inclusive per man. His success broke the ring for a time, and they were soon offering men at $21 a head, less From 1904 to 1909, when Captain Pattman resigned his command, Loch Torridon was kept on the Australian run, her passages being:—
On her arrival home in 1908, Captain Pattman reluctantly decided to give up his command and go into steam, his reason that vexed one, the lack of real sailormen to man her. Besides which, owing to the unwillingness of good men to remain in sail, he had to put up with an aged “has been” as mate and an apprentice just out of his time for second mate. In 1912 Loch Torridon was sold to the Russians. About the same time Captain Pattman had his leg broken by a sea whilst on the bridge of his new command. He was landed at Falmouth and died there in hospital. “PORT JACKSON.” Photo by Captain Schutze, Sydney. Larger image (249 kB) “PORT JACKSON,” in the Thames. Larger image (192 kB) The old Loch Torridon survived until 1915, when she “Port Jackson.”Port Jackson has always been considered one of the most beautiful iron ships ever built. She was designed by Mr. Alexander Duthie, and built by Hall under the supervision of the Duthie brothers; cost £29,000 to build or at the rate of £13 a ton; was unusually strong and in every way made as perfect as possible. She was one of the most sightly four-mast barques ever launched. Captain Crombie was her first commander, and under him she did some very fine performances, notably a run of 39 days from Sydney to San Francisco, when she was only three days behind the time of the mail steamer. Her best run in the 24 hours was 345 miles. Unfortunately, when Captain Crombie left her, for some years no one attempted to bring out Port Jackson’s sailing qualities, and for two years before she was bought by Devitt & Moore for their cadet training scheme she lay idle in the Thames. After long years of cadet carrying Port Jackson fell a victim to the war, being torpedoed by a German submarine in the Channel in 1916.
Notes on Passages to Australia in 1882.Port Jackson holds the record of being the first four-poster to go out to Sydney in under 80 days. Her best run was 345 miles in the 24 hours. The Rodney’s best run was 312 miles, made the day before she sighted the Otway. Ben Voirlich averaged 300 miles a day from Gough Island to Kerguelen. Salamis crossed the Cape meridian the same day as the steamship Aberdeen, and the steamer only managed to get inside the Heads on 14th May, a bare 70 hours ahead of the gallant little green clipper. The Simla was a fine Liverpool ship with a good reputation for speed. She registered 1260 tons and was built by Royden in 1874. For a change there were no Lochs out to the Colonies in under 80 days this year, and Messrs. Aitken & Lilburn had sent their new four-masters to Calcutta. Notes on Passages to Australia in 1883.The Maulesden, which figured in these tables in 1877, was a 1500-ton ship, built by Stephen, of Dundee, for David Bruce. She and her sister ship, the Duntrune, were very well known clippers with some very fine
I have put all the passages together this year; of the ships bound to Sydney, only the Candida rounded Tasmania, the skippers generally preferring the shorter route through Bass Straits. A notable return this year to the Australian trade is the wonderful little Cutty Sark, commanded by Captain Moore, this was her first passage to Newcastle, and The Samuel Plimsoll did well to the south’ard again, averaging 278 miles for 13 consecutive days, her best day’s work being 337 miles. The little Salamis made her second appearance in Port Jackson. She arrived on the same day as her composite sister, Thermopylae. Thermopylae, however, had a terrible passage, the worst of her career, being actually 107 days from the Start. Held up by continual gales, she did not cross the equator until her 45th day out, 8th March, the day Salamis passed the Cape Verde. She crossed the Cape meridian on 7th April, six days before Salamis, and passed the Otway on 5th May, only one day ahead of Salamis, so Salamis had been closing steadily on her the whole passage. Dharwar arrived with 414 emigrants, and had measles and fever on board so had to go into quarantine. The Candida hailed from Liverpool, a 1200-ton iron clipper. She brought out 35 passengers and a general cargo from London. Mermerus had now made 12 consecutive passages to Melbourne, averaging 78 days. Her best runs this passage were 311 and 314 miles. Ben Cruachan and Ben Voirlich made passages of 85 and 87 days respectively. Ben Cruachan certainly must have been severely handicapped by a foul bottom, as I find this was the third voyage since she had been docked! The “Derwent.”The Derwent was a very up-to-date ship, with numerous innovations. She was built to the specification of Captain Andrew, her first commander, and “DERWENT,” off Gravesend. Larger image (195 kB) “MOUNT STEWART.” Photo by Captain Schutze, Sydney. Larger image (224 kB) She sailed on her first voyage on Xmas Eve, 1884, her crew consisting of captain, 3 certificated officers, 8 midshipmen, 12 apprentices, bosun, sailmaker, carpenter, donkeyman and 12 hands in the fo’cs’le. The start was not very propitious. She sailed from Glasgow, dragged her anchors off the Tail of the Bank, and then her crew refused duty. The weather was so bad that she sought shelter at Queenstown, 11 days out from Greenock. Here advantage was taken to prosecute her insubordinate crew, who received sentences of from one to three months’ imprisonment. The Derwent was never considered a fast ship, but a good sea boat and excellent cargo carrier; nevertheless she made some very good runs, notably:—
In 1904 Devitt & Moore sold her to the Norwegians, and she was still afloat when the war broke out, being owned in Larvik.
Notes on Passages to Australia in 1884.A good many ships this year were just into the 80 days; for instance Dharwar, 80 days to Sydney; Samuel Plimsoll, 80 to Sydney; Trafalgar, 81 to Sydney; Loch Vennachar, 80 to Melbourne; Romanoff 80 to Melbourne; Salamis, 82 to Melbourne; Patriarch, 82 to Sydney. Miltiades, Cimba and Loch Long had a good race out. The Star of Italy was Corrie’s crack jute clipper; this was her tenth voyage, and her first trip to Melbourne. She was nearly lost when about to sail through a fire in her sail-room. Cutty Sark had a fine weather passage to the Cape, but she scared her crew running the easting down. On one occasion she was pooped by a big sea which jammed the helmsmen in the wheel, and she came up in the wind and swept her decks clean, taking the boats off the after skids, breaking in one side of the monkey poop and gutting the cabin. At the change of the watch at midnight that night, the apprentice keeping the time, in order to call his mates, had to go up the mizen rigging and come down the stay to get to the apprentices’ house her decks were so full of water; for three or four days after this she ran like a scared hare before a mountainous sea, which rose up so high astern that it took the wind out of her topsails when she was in the trough. Captains Bully Martin and Douglas of the two Bens changed ships this year, and Douglas in the Ben Cruachan arrived Melbourne on 5th June, 90 days out, whilst Martin in the Ben Voirlich arrived Melbourne on 10th August, 88 days out. “Torridon” and “Yallaroi.”The last of Nicol’s clippers were the Torridon and Yallaroi. They were skysail-yarders, and lying in “TORRIDON.” Photo by Captain Schutze, Sydney. Larger image (147 kB) Compared to most ships of their size, they had narrow sail plans, and with greater carrying power, they were not as fast as Cimba or Romanoff. For some reason Nicol gave up the green and gold colours of Aberdeen and gave them the conventional painted ports. No doubt the days were passed when crowds of landsmen thronged Circular Quay of a Sunday and gaped in awe, reverence and admiration at the tall green clippers. Captain Shepherd left Romanoff to take the Torridon, but he could only manage to get her out to Sydney in 90 days from Deal on her maiden trip, and Yallaroi took 99 from Grangemouth. However, both ships held on in the Sydney trade until 1906, when they were sold to the Italians, Torridon for £4250 and Yallaroi for £4400. Torridon was sunk by a German submarine on 27th August, 1916, but Yallaroi disguised as Santa Catarina is still sailing the seas. “Loch Carron” and “Loch Broom.”The last ships to be built for the famous Loch Line were the two fine four-mast barques Loch Carron and Loch Broom. The Loch Carron was taken from the stocks by Captain Stainton Clarke, one of the best known skippers in the Australian trade and the bosom friend of Captain Pattman, the pair being known in the ports they frequented as the “Corsican Brothers.” Captain Clarke was brought up in those beautiful little tea clippers, Skinner’s “Castles.” At the age of 28 he became master of the Douglas Castle, which he used to say was “one of the prettiest models that ever sailed.” When she was sold he was given the Lennox Castle, and he left her to take the Loch Carron. Loch Carron, though a very fast ship, was also a ticklish ship to handle, being rather tender, and Captain Clarke always sent down royal yards when in port. The following are some of her best performances:—
On one occasion when abreast of the Crozets, running her easting down in 45° S., she made three consecutive 24-hour runs of 310, 320 and 332 miles. On her maiden trip she went to Sydney, and then for two or three years left the Australian for the Calcutta trade. In 1887 she took case oil from New York to Calcutta in 112 days. In 1889 Loch Carron had a very nasty experience when rounding the Cape homeward bound from India. It is thus told by Captain Clarke:— We were bound for London from Calcutta with a cargo of jute and about 500 tons of rice for stiffening purposes. It was new rice and had not been properly dried. When the jute was loaded on top of it, the rice began to get heated and we had to take it out and stow it in the main hatch by itself, boring holes in order to allow the air to enter. This arrangement of the cargo caused the ship to be top-heavy, but it was unavoidable. When we got to the Cape of Good Hope we encountered violent gales, and the vessel could not stand up to them. She was carried right over on her side, although there was very little canvas on her. Her lee side was 5 or 6 feet under water and the crew became so frightened that many of them climbed up the rigging. I let the sails go and sacrificed them in order to save her. She righted herself and we ran before the wind all night, going miles out of our course. Next day we jury-rigged her and I tried hard to make way on the other tack. We tacked for eight days and then the gale again seized her and she In 1904 Loch Carron had a great race home from Frisco round the Horn with the French ship Jules Gommes. Loch Carron hove up her anchor in Frisco Bay on the morning of Christmas Eve, the Jules Gommes leaving in the afternoon. After being six days in company the two ships lost sight of each other. They met again on the equator in the Atlantic; finally the Loch Carron arrived at Queenstown one morning 112 days out, the Frenchman arriving eight hours later at the same port. On her next passage the Loch Carron had the most disastrous event in her career, in her collision with the Inverkip. The two ships were both outward bound, the Loch Carron from Glasgow to Sydney with general cargo. At 11.20 on 13th August, 1904, the Loch Carron was about 60 miles to the S. and E. of the Fastnet light, going 6 or 7 knots close-hauled on the port tack, with a moderate gale blowing from the S.W., when the red light of the Inverkip was suddenly seen ahead. But it was too late to avoid a collision, and the Loch Carron struck the Inverkip abreast of the foremast, stem on. The latter ship went down in a few minutes, only two men, the carpenter and the steward, being saved out of her ship’s company. These two managed to jump aboard the Loch Carron. Captain Jones of the Inverkip had his wife aboard, and as the ship went down she was seen praying on her knees aft. They were both Her repairs came to £1500, and as she was on the port tack and the Inverkip on the starboard, the Loch Line had to pay over £30,000 damages. When Loch Carron was again ready for sea, Captain Henderson, of Thermopylae and Samuel Plimsoll fame, took her out. Captain Clarke returning to his command on her return home. As late as 1908 Loch Carron made the run from Melbourne to London in 80 days. Loch Broom was commanded for the greater part of her career by the well-known veteran, Bully Martin. Though they were absolute sister ships according to the tape-measure. Loch Broom was always a stiffer ship than the Loch Carron, and her sailing records were not quite as numerous, nevertheless she was a very fast ship. In 1904 Captain Martin brought her home from Melbourne in 82 days. He left Port Phillip on 12th January, and was only 24 days to the Horn, most of the run being made under six topsails and foresail. On her following passage out Loch Broom took case oil from New York to Melbourne in 96 days. It was a nasty trip for her officers, as the hands before the mast were all hobos, Bowery toughs and hard cases, and had to be driven to their work in the old-fashioned belaying pin style. In 1907 Captain Bully Martin gave up his command and retired from the sea, being succeeded by Captain Kelynack, who had been mate under him for some years. I have the abstract log of Loch Broom’s last voyage under the British flag:— On 4th September at 7 a.m. she took her departure from the Lizard, had light breezes and calms to the 19th when she took the N.E. trades, crossed the line on 6th October, crossed the meridian of Greenwich on 26th October, ran down her easting on the 40th parallel, her best 24-hour run being 272 miles on 12th November before a moderate gale from W.S.W. in 40° 37' S., 60° 00' E., and she anchored off Port Adelaide at 2 p.m. on 4th December, 91 days from the Lizard. She left Melbourne homeward bound on 23rd February 1912. On 15th March in 50° 58' S., 135° 26' W., she ran 278 miles with a fresh S.W. gale, passed Cape Horn on 27th March. On 29th March Captain Kelynack remarks, “Fresh W.S.W. wind, thick misty rain, four-masted barque in company on lee quarter but falling astern, (nothing passes the Loch Broom but birds.)” And on 2nd April I find the following testimony to her qualities:—“Lat. 46° 50' S., long. 40° 04' W., distance 213, course N. 51° E. Fresh N.W. gale veering to W.N.W., high sea running, ship going 12 knots, dry as a bone.” The line was crossed on 29th April. On 24th May in 46° N., 20° 55' W., Loch Broom ran 301 miles in the 24 hours before a fresh southerly wind and moderate sea; and on the following day 282 miles. “Fresh S.S.E. wind. Barque in company at 6 a.m. on starboard bow, out of sight astern at noon.” On 31st May at 7 p.m. Loch Broom anchored off Gravesend, 98 days out. The Loch Carron and Loch Broom were both sold to the foreigners in 1912 for about £5000 a piece, and now, I believe, belong to Christianssand, Norway, being disguised under the names of Seileren and Sogndal.
Notes on Passages to Australia in 1885.The race of the year was that between Cutty Sark, Samuel Plimsoll, Sir Walter Raleigh and still a fourth ship, the City of York, which was off the Start on 2nd April—crossed the line 23rd April—crossed Cape meridian 26th May—passed the Otway on 18th June—and arrived Sydney on 21st June, 80 days out. It was Captain Woodget’s first voyage in Cutty Sark. He went as high as 48° S. in search of good winds, but had a lot of thick misty weather with light northerly winds, and no steady westerlies. He only had two chances. In 70 hours from 21st to 23rd May, the Cutty ran 931 miles, braced sharp up against a strong N.E. to E.N.E. wind; and on 4th June, with the wind fresh from N.E. to N.N.E. she ran 330 miles in 47° S., 99° E. None of the other ships made any specially big runs. Miltiades this year was taken over by Captain Harry Ayling, and arrived in Hobson’s Bay on 29th October, 85 days out from Torbay. “MOUNT STEWART.” Photo by Captain Schutze, Sydney. Larger image (207 kB) “CROMDALE.” Larger image (214 kB) Mermerus arrived Melbourne on 24th July, 88 days The Milton Park was an iron ship of 1500 tons, built by McMillan, of Dumbarton in 1882, a typical Clyde-built ship. The Bay of Cadiz was one of the Cardiff “Bays.” Siren was one of Carmichael’s, a 1482-ton ship, built in 1881. She had a number of fine passages to her credit, and came to a curious end, being rammed and sunk by H.M.S. Landrail off Portland in July, 1896. We have now had 12 years of outward tables, and space and, no doubt, the patience of the reader are both growing exhausted. However, as these beautiful ships kept up their wonderful averages until well into the nineties, fighting all they knew against the ever-growing competition of steam, I give here a table of times from the Channel to port from the year 1886 to 1894 for the seven most regular ships in the trade.
“Mount Stewart” and “Cromdale,” the last of the Wool Clippers.The last two ships to be built specially for the Australian wool trade were the magnificent steel skysail-yard The Cromdale was specially lucky in having Captain E. H. Andrew as her first master, a very experienced and up-to-date sailing ship captain, who had been mate under his father in the Derwent. The Cromdale came to grief in 1913 when commanded by Captain Arthur. She was 126 days out, bound home from Taltal with nitrate and was heading for Falmouth. There had been a dense fog for some days, when, most unfortunately, a steamer was passed which advised Captain Arthur to alter his course. Not long after a light was suddenly seen through the fog ahead, but before the ship could be put about she struck on the rocks right at the foot of a cliff. This proved to be Bass Point, close to the Lizard light. The ship was so badly holed that the captain ordered the boats out at once. Luckily it was calm weather, and some rockets brought the Cadgwith and Lizard lifeboats upon the scene, but the Cromdale settled down so quickly that there was only just time to save the ship’s papers and the crew’s personal belongings. Lying on the rocks in such an exposed position, it was of course hopeless to think of salving the ship, and the Cromdale became a total loss. The Mount Stewart is, I believe, still afloat, and still has Aberdeen on her stern. Perforated Sails.At first glance a sail with a hole in it would hardly be considered superior to a sail without one, yet sails with holes in them, or perforated sails, as they were called, became quite popular with the most experienced of our sailing ship skippers in the early nineties. Perforated sails were said to be the idea of an Italian shipmaster in the eighties. This Italian captain’s theory was that a cushion of air or dead wind, as he called it, was collected in the belly of every sail, and acted as a buffer, thus preventing the sail from receiving the whole strength of the wind. He advocated making a hole in the centre of the belly in order to allow this cushion of air to escape, and allow the true wind to blow against the surface of the sail. An important point was the proper placing of these holes; in fore and aft sails they were cut about the centre of the belly made by the clew; the holes in square sails were also cut near the clews, but they were also cut higher up in the sail on a line from the clews to the bunt: topsails and courses generally had the four holes and topgallant sails and royals only two, one in the lower part of the sail towards the clew on each side. These holes were from 5½ to 6 inches in diameter and roped with grammets. It is easy to understand that this system was more advantageous when one was close-hauled than when running free. But even when running free many shipmasters claimed that it had its merits and held that, though wind certainly did escape through the holes, it was mostly dead wind and even then was caught up again—the mizen by the main, and the main by the fore, so that in the end there was very little real wind that did not do its work in sending the ship along. A further advantage of perforated sails was their The perforated sails were also considered very useful in light airs and calms, because on the calmest day there always seemed to be a draught through the holes, and this kept the sails “asleep” and stopped that irritating flogging of canvas against the masts which is so trying to a skipper’s temper and also constantly necessitates the hauling up of courses in the doldrums. Captain Holmes, who always used them in the Cimba and Inverurie, wrote to me that he considered them specially valuable in light winds, and he did not adopt perforated sails without testing their efficiency in every way he could. He even had sand bags made to fit the holes, and thus was able to test his sailing when in company with another ship, first by seeing how he did with holes, and then filling up the holes with sandbags, by seeing how he altered his bearing when without holes. By this means he proved the benefit of the holes very clearly once when going down Channel. The Cimba was in company with another outward bound ship of nearly the same speed; and it was found that as soon as the sand bags were put in the holes the Cimba began to drop astern, whereas, with the holes open, she went ahead. Captain Holmes also tied a rag on the end of a stick, and held it up to the holes, and even in very light airs the rag was sucked through the perforations. In this way with a handkerchief on the end of a long rod, he tried to find out the result of the holes on the crossjack, by walking it all over the after Captain Pattman, of Loch Torridon, adopted perforated holes in 1892: Captain Poppy used them on the Aristides, and Captain Cutler, when he took over Port Jackson, had her sails cut for holes, and his successor continued to keep them in the sails. All these four captains were noted passage-makers, and unless the perforated sails had had very certain advantages, it is hardly likely that they would have adopted them. Hine’s Clipper Barques.Before turning to the New Zealand trade I must not forget to mention the fine little fleet of barques belonging to Hine Brothers, of Maryport, which brought home wool from Adelaide, Brisbane and the two Tasmanian ports. The following will still be remembered by the older inhabitants of these ports.
They were rarely much over 80 days going out, and generally under 90 days coming home. The Myrtle Holme, under Captain Cobb, and the Eden Holme, under Captain Wyrill (late of Berean) had perhaps the best records, and maintained their fine average right into the twentieth century. For instance, in 1899 Captain Wyrill brought the Eden Holme from Launceston to the London River in 88 days after experiencing 17 days of calms and variables to the north of the line. This was her fourth passage out of six, in which she had come home in less than 90 days from Tasmania. In 1895, the Myrtle Holme went from Beachy Head to Adelaide in 77 days, and in 1901 went from Dover to Adelaide in 81 days; whilst in 1902 the Eden Holme went from the Start to Launceston in 83 days. The Eden Holme, Brier Holme and Castle Holme were all transferred to the Tasmanian trade from that of Adelaide on the death of Mr. Walker and the dispersal of his fleet. The Eden Holme was wrecked on Hebe Reef in 1907. The Myrtle Holme was sold to Arendal, Norway, and renamed Glimt, a few years before the war. She was torpedoed in the North Sea in 1915. “BRIERHOLME.” Photo by De Maus, Port Chalmers. Larger image (202 kB) The Brier Holme came to a tragic end in 1904. She sailed from London for Hobart in September of that year, commanded by Captain Rich, an experienced and skilful seaman who was making his last voyage. She was three months overdue and much anxiety was being felt, when some fishermen landed on a bleak and unfrequented part of the West Coast of Tasmania. They found some jetsam on the shore in the shape of packages of cargo, marked and numbered so that they could be identified. Footprints and the remains of a rude hut also pointed to a wreck on the coast; a close search was made but no signs of the wreck or of life could be found. The fishermen then took the packages back to Hobart and they proved to be part of the cargo of the Brier Holme. Thereupon the Government sent out a steamer with a search party. The The Castle Holme is now owned in Frederickstadt, Norway, and sails under the name of Estar. Iron Barques of Walker and Trinder, Anderson.Hine Bros. were not the only owners of iron clipper barques in the Australian trade. Mr. T. B. Walker had four very well-known ships—the barques Westbury, Decapolis and Lanoma and the ship Barossa; whilst Trinder, Anderson & Co. had the Barunga, Oriana, Mineru, Morialta and Kooringa. Of the above, Walker’s Lanoma was probably the fastest. She has been credited with a run from Tasmania to the Horn in 21 days, another of 21 days from the Horn to the line, and again a third of 21 days from the line to soundings, which if they had all been on the same passage would have given her the record from A year or two ago a correspondent in the “Nautical” claimed that the Decapolis went out to Launceston in 56 days on her maiden trip, at the same time he claimed a 57-day trip to Melbourne for my old ship the Commonwealth. He had, of course, got his dates wrong somewhere, as the Decapolis ran regularly to Brisbane until that trade was captured by steamers, she was then diverted to Launceston. After the death of Mr. Walker, Decapolis was sold to the Italians and renamed Nostra Madre. Her name is on the Sailing Ship Roll of Honour, as she was torpedoed in the Mediterranean during the war. Barossa, a fine little full-rigged ship, ran for many years as a passenger ship to Adelaide. She eventually turned turtle in dock and was sold to be broken up. The Loss of “Lanoma.”Lanoma was lost in March, 1888, on what promised to be her best passage home. She was coming up Channel, only 76 days out, in thick, blowing south-westerly weather, under a very experienced commander, Captain G. Whittingham. Berean was also coming up Channel, it was the time when she had the narrow squeak of piling up on the Wight owing to the wrong notice about St. Catherine’s light. In the case of Lanoma, Captain Whittingham had had no observations for several days, and so an extra smart look-out was being kept. Just before midnight it must have cleared a bit for the land suddenly loomed up close to on the starboard bow. The helm was at once put down and the ship brought to the wind, and Like many another catastrophe of the same sort, the ship and her crew were hurtled from fancied security to destruction in a few minutes of time. And even so, the crew would probably have all been saved, if she had not fallen over to seaward, so that she at once began to break up in the heavy surf. The rocket apparatus was manned from the shore, but it was only in time to save a few, and Captain Whittingham and 11 of his crew were drowned. Trinder, Anderson’s ships were all well known in the London River at one time, specially the little Mineru, a 478-ton barque, built by Stephen, of Glasgow, in 1866. Fremantle, the Ashburton River and Sharks Bay were her wool ports. Morialta was an iron ship of 1267 tons, built in 1866 by Royden, of Liverpool, for Beazley, her first name being British Consul. Barunga was the old Apelles built in 1863, whilst Kooringa, a 1175-ton barque, built at South Shields in 1874, had been the Ravenstondale. Messrs. Trinder, Anderson bought several other well-known ships in their time, notably the Kingdom of Saxony, a 538-ton wooden barque, ex-Deerhound. Anderson’s Darra, and Thompson’s Ascalon also ended their days under the Red Ensign with Trinder, Anderson. It is a curious coincidence, but in looking through the list of their ships I cannot find two by the same builder, though I find the following all represented: Dudgeon, of London; Moore, of Sunderland; Denton & Gray, of Hartlepool; Scott, of Greenock; Hall, of Aberdeen; Stephen, of Glasgow; Royden, of Liverpool; Hood, of At the beginning of the twentieth century, just before going into steam, Trinder, Anderson & Co. bought the fine ships Wasdale and Hornby Castle, but the century was not ten years old before steamers only were flying the blue with yellow cross and black swan, as the house-flag of the combined firm of Trinder, Anderson and Bethell, Gwyn. Occasional Visitors in Australian Waters.Though this part has run to greater length than I had at first intended, nevertheless I fear that many of my readers will complain because old favourites have not been mentioned. I have tried not to leave out any regular Colonial trader, and space only admits of the bare mention of many beautiful and fast ships which occasionally visited Sydney, Melbourne or Adelaide in the course of their general round. Of these perhaps the finest were:—Carmichael’s Golden Fleece, one of the handsomest ships ever launched, with a run from London to Sydney of 72 days to her credit. Williamson & Milligan’s Cedric the Saxon, whose 72-day run from Liverpool to Calcutta is the iron ship record. This magnificent clipper once went from Calcutta to the Adelaide Semaphore in 28 days during the S.W. monsoon. D. Bruce’s Dundee clippers Maulesden and Duntrune; the first famous for her wonderful passage of 69 days from Glasgow to Maryborough, Queensland, in 1882. The beautiful Belfast ship Star of Italy, one of Corry Beazley’s British Merchant, which in 1881 arrived in Melbourne, 78 days out. The Sierra Blanca, one of those yacht-like white “Sierras,” which in 1883-4 went out to Sydney in 77 days. Carmichael’s Argus and Argo, the former with a 76-day run to Melbourne and the latter with a 78-day run to Sydney. Cuthbert’s Ballochmyle, Skinner’s Brodick Castle, Beazley’s John o’ Gaunt, Patton’s Hesperides, Alexander’s Glengarry, Bowring’s Othello and Desdemona, and my old ship the Commonwealth. Then coming to the later days of the four-poster, there were McMillan’s Swanhilda, which in 1894 made the wonderful run of 66 days from Wallaroo to Queenstown; Mahon’s Oweenee, which as late as 1913 made the run from Dublin to Newcastle, N.S.W., in 73 days; Troop’s Howard D. Troop, which in 1906 brought 3500 tons of wheat from Sydney to Falmouth in 82 days; that extraordinary four-mast ship, the Lancing, which in 1908 ran from Christiania to Melbourne in 75 days; Mackay’s Wendur, the rival of Loch Torridon; the beautiful skysail yarder Queen Margaret; Carmichael’s Glaucus; and the Lord Brassey, which went missing on her first voyage, after having made a fine outward passage of 77 days to Melbourne in 1892. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
