“WOOLLAHRA.”From a painting.Larger image(247 kB)
“WOOLLAHRA.”
From a painting.
Larger image(247 kB)
PASSAGES UNDER 80 DAYS TO SYDNEY IN 1875.ShipDepartureCrossedEquatorCrossedCapeMeridianPassedS.W. CapeTasmaniaArrivedDaysOutCutty SarkLizardNov. 29Dec. 21Jan. 13 ’76Feb. 4 ’76Feb. 12 ’7675Samuel PlimsollFalmouthAug. 8Sept. 4Sept. 28Oct. 19Oct. 2275(Otway)PASSAGES UNDER 80 DAYS TO MELBOURNE IN 1875.ShipDepartureCrossedEquatorCrossedCapeMeridianPassedCapeOtwayArrivedDaysOutThermopylaeLizardDec. 3Dec. 24Jan. 14 ’76Feb. 7 ’76Feb. 9 ’7668SalamisStartJuly 10Aug. 2Aug. 24Sept. 16Sept. 1668MermerusTuskarJuly 27Aug. 15Oct. 1Oct. 168Loch GarryTuskarNov. 8Dec. 5Dec. 29Jan. 20 ’7673City of CorinthStartSept. 4Sept. 27Oct. 21Nov. 16Nov. 1673Loch MareeScillyAug. 8Sept. 5Sept. 26Oct. 2174RomanoffLizardAug. 10Sept. 5Oct. 22Oct. 2374Loch VennacharInistrahullSept. 6Oct. 10Oct. 28Nov. 18Nov. 1974WasdaleTuskarAug. 7Sept. 4Sept. 26Oct. 2074MoravianLizardMay 26June 22Aug. 975City of AgraStartMay 31June 24Aug. 1576Ben CruachanTuskarJune 7July 1July 29Aug. 2377ParthenopeTuskarJune 9June 29Aug. 2577GlengarryTuskarFeb. 26Mar. 22May 1477Old KensingtonChannelFeb. 3Apl. 21Apl. 2278Loch KatrineHolyheadMay 7July 2579
Inno 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,ParthenopeandOld Kensington, were on their maiden passages.Loch Garry’sbest run in the 24 hours was 333 miles, andLoch Vennachardid 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 barqueEnrica, thoughwithout damage to herself. She saved the Italian’s crew and put into Falmouth to land them.
Captain Richards left theThomas Stephensin order to tune upParthenope. He made the latter travel, but as he returned to theThomas Stephensin 1876 he evidently preferred his old clipper.
Thermopylaestill maintained her wonderful reputation; on this trip she averaged 270 miles a day from 23° W. to 100° E.
TheOld Kensingtonwas a very fine ship with a good turn of speed, and she usually loaded home from Calcutta or San Francisco.
TheWasdalemust not be confused with the laterWasdale, 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,Miltiadeswas 81 days from the Start,Thessalus83 from the Lizards,Theophane83 from the Tuskar,Cassiope81 from the Tuskar,Marpesia83 from the Tuskar,Thyatira80 from the Start, all to Melbourne, whilstPatriarchwas 82 days from Torbay to Sydney.
Two writers to theNautical Magazine, both of whom were serving on theCutty Sarkduring 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 sixdays. I have 14 years of her abstract logs, and from what her logs tell me I consider that she was quite capable of accomplishing such a run with a strong steady breeze, but it is very rarely that you get such a breeze for six days on end even in the roaring forties. She left London on 20th November but collided with theSomersetshireoff Gravesend, and lost her main topgallant mast, besides other damage, so that she had to put back to refit.
TheSir Walter Raleigh, commanded by Captain W. Purvis, was a very well-known and regular wool clipper of the type ofRomanoff. I do not think she was quite in the first flight, but she was never very far behind, and in 1880 she shared withBen Voirlichthe distinction of making the best outward run of the year.
The following extracts are fromPatriarch’slog, when homeward bound in 1878, 79 days out from Sydney.
Feb. 8.—18° 41′ N., long. 38° 55′ W.—Spoke theSir Walter Raleigh, Melbourne to London, 77 days out.Feb. 9.—Sir Walter Raleighstill in company.Feb. 10.—Sir Walter Raleighahead.Feb. 11.—Sir Walter Raleighdead to windward.Feb. 12 to 16.—Sir Walter Raleighstill in company.
Feb. 8.—18° 41′ N., long. 38° 55′ W.—Spoke theSir Walter Raleigh, Melbourne to London, 77 days out.
Feb. 9.—Sir Walter Raleighstill in company.
Feb. 10.—Sir Walter Raleighahead.
Feb. 11.—Sir Walter Raleighdead to windward.
Feb. 12 to 16.—Sir Walter Raleighstill in company.
In the endPatriarchgot home a day ahead,Sir Walter Raleighmaking the best passage by a day.Sir Walter Raleighwas 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.
Thesetwo 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 Fyneon her second voyage in 1877-8, and theLoch Longin 1884.
TheLoch Fyneleft 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 Longarrived 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.
InMarch, 1876, Messrs. Hood launched the beautiful passenger clipperAristides, the largest of all Thompson’s sailing ships. Captain R. Kemball ofThermopylaefame, 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 asLoch MareeandCollingwood, whichhad sailed on 27th November, by 18 days. The Aberdeen White Star ships invariably made fine maiden voyages. Their captains always left port with the firm intention of breaking the record, and they had every help from their owners, the ships being most carefully loaded with their Plimsoll marks well out of water. Crews also were picked men, and gear, of course, everything of the best.