Chapter XVIII: Part III: “the Iron Clippers.” (4)

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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 gunter or flying jibboom. On these she set a whole fleet of jibs, and, as if they were not sufficient, she had cliphooks for a storm staysail on the fore stay.

_Photo lent by F. G. Layton._]

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 bungler could hardly mishandle her; she would work in spite of him. And lastly, she would steer when you could hardly detect an air out of the heavens, with a sea like a mirror, and the sails hanging apparently motionless. The men used to say that she would go a knot with only the quartermaster whistling at the wheel for a wind.”

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:—

1879-80 London to Calcutta, undocked 3.30 p.m. October 4
Arrived Saugor Roads, Jan 4 90 days.
against N.E. monsoon.
1881 Calcutta to Melbourne, Jan 10-February 25 45 days.
1881 Melbourne to London, 7th April—off Lizard, 4.30
p.m. June 27 81 „
—docked June 30 84 „
1882 Dundee to Frisco, July 17-November 14 120 „
1882 Frisco to Queenstown, January 6-April 20 104 „
1883 Wifsta, Sweden, to Adelaide, July 11-October 8 89 „
1883 Adelaide to Tegal, Java, November 15-December 13 28 „
1885 Liverpool to Sydney, June 14-August 31 78 „
1894-5 Sydney to London, October 14-January 4 82 „
1895 Dungeness to Sydney. March 13-June 4 83 „
1895 Sydney to London, October 13-December 29 77 „

_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.

_Photo by Hall & Co., Sydney._]

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 difficult to award the palm. _Pericles_ usually took emigrants out, _Brilliant_ being loaded deep with general cargo, and they both loaded wool home. The two captains, Davidson of the _Brilliant_ and Largie of _Pericles_, usually had a new hat on the result of each passage. _Pericles_ with her light load line generally won the hat going out, but the _Brilliant_ was always very hard to beat on the homeward run, and Captain Davidson, more often than not, got his hat back again.

_Photo by Hall & Co., Sydney._]

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 Stuart failed to get anything remarkable out of her, though he drove her unmercifully; but in 1892-3 she made two very good voyages.

_Photo lent by Captain C. W. Davidson._]

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 successful captains in the history of our Mercantile Marine. Many of his men sailed year after year with him, and there are men in command at the present day who originally shipped before the mast with Stuart and owed not only their sea training but their education to him. Peterhead, his native town, was very proud of Captain Stuart, as well it might be. With Viking blood in his veins, he went to sea in 1846 through the hawse hole of a Peterhead schooner in the Baltic trade, and rose to the topmost pinnacle of his profession. May the British race produce many more like him.

_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.

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 themselves lying wedged amongst the rocks, where the breakers had washed them up.

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 limit of the S.E. trades—and the Cape meridian, she had ten days of strong N.W. winds, during which she logged over 300 miles a day for several days in succession.

_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 south, but _Cutty Sark_ kept in 46° S., whilst _Thermopylae_ did not go higher than 44° 30′ S. Both ships by the way were forced by bad weather to put back to the Downs on their first attempts to get down Channel.[C]

PASSAGES TO SYDNEY UNDER 80 DAYS IN 1877.
+-------------+----------+-------+--------+---------+--------+----+
| | | |Crossed | Passed | | |
| Ship |Departure |Crossed| Cape |S.W. Cape|Arrived |Days|
| | |Equator|Meridian|Tasmania | |Out |
+-------------+----------+-------+--------+---------+--------+----+
|_Cutty_ |Lizard |Dec. 28|Jan. 18 |Feb. 13 |Feb. 16| 72 |
| _Sark_ | Dec. 6| | ’78 | ’78 | ’78| |
|_Patriarch_ |Start |July 26| |Sept. 12 |Sept. 15| 74 |
| | July 3| | |(Otway) | | |
|_Pericles_ |Plymouth |Oct. 17|Nov. 7 |Nov. 30 |Dec. 3| 74 |
| | Sept. 20| | | | | |
|_Brilliant_ |Start |Oct. 31|Nov. 26 |Dec. 10 |Dec. 20| 79 |
| | Oct. 2| | | (Otway) | | |
|_Samuel_ |Plymouth |July 7|July 28 |Aug. 23 |Aug. 27| 79 |
| _Plimsoll _| June 9| | | (Otway) | | |
+-------------+----------+-------+--------+---------+--------+----+

PASSAGES TO MELBOURNE UNDER 80 DAYS IN 1877.
+-------------+----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+----+
| | | |Crossed | Passed | | |
| Ship |Departure |Crossed | Cape | Cape |Arrived |Days|
| | |Equator |Meridian| Otway | |Out |
+-------------+----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+----+
|_Loch Maree_ |Cape Clear|June 3|June 24|July 19|July 19| 67 |
| | May 13 | | | | | |
|_Ben_ |Lizard |May 13| | |June 23| 67 |
| _Cruachan_ | April 17| | | | | |
|_Thermopylae_|Lizard |Dec. 20|Jan. 17|Feb. 14|Feb. 15| 74 |
| | Dec. 3 | | ’78| ’78| ’78| |
|_Mermerus_ |Start |July 28|Aug. 19| |Sept. 13| 75 |
| | June 30| | | | | |
|_Miltiades_ |Start |July 10|July 31| |Aug. 27| 75 |
| | June 13| | | | | |
|_Loch_ |Channel |May 2|May 29 | |June 22| 75 |
| _Vennachar_| April 7| | | | | |
|_Romanoff_ |Lizard |Apl. 25|May 19 | |June 15| 75 |
| | April 1| | | | | |
|_Loch Fyne_ |Tuskar | | | |Mar. 5| 75 |
| | Dec. 20| | | | ’78| |
|_Salamis_ |Start |Aug. 1 |Aug. 26| |Sept. 21| 76 |
| | July 7| | | | | |
|_Thomas_ |Tuskar |Sept. 9|Sept. 30|Oct. 26|Oct. 27| 76 |
| _Stephens_ | Aug. 12| | | | | |
|_Loch Ryan_ |Tuskar |Mar. 27|Apl. 23| |May 21| 76 |
| | Mar. 6| | | | | |
|_Theophane_ |Holyhead |July 30|Aug. 21| |Sept. 15| 77 |
| | June 30| | | | | |
|_Parthenope_ |Holyhead |Sept. 19|Oct. 10|Nov. 1|Nov. 2| 77 |
| | Aug. 17| | | | | |
|_Sir Walter_ |Lizard |July 30|Aug. 22| |Sept. 20| 77 |
| _Raleigh_ | July 5| | | | | |
|_Loch Garry_ |Qu’nstown |Aug. 10|Sept. 2|Sept. 25|Sept. 26| 77 |
| | July 11| | | | | |
|_Maulesden_ |Tuskar |Mar. 26|Apl. 24| |May 22| 79 |
| | Mar. 4| | | | | |
+-------------+----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+----+

“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:—

Main lower mast 60 feet.
Fore and main yards 82 feet.
Fore and main lower topsail yards 76 feet.
Fore and main upper topsail yards 69 feet.
Fore and main lower topgallant yard 58 feet.
Fore and main upper topgallant yards 52 feet.
Fore and main royal yards 41 feet.

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:—

1880 Channel to Sydney 71 days
1882 Channel to Sydney 82 days
1884 Channel to Sydney 79 days
1889 Sydney to London 75 days
1891 Sydney to Channel 84 days
1892 Channel to Sydney 83 days
1893 Sydney to Channel 86 days
1894 Channel to Sydney 80 days

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.

_Photo lent by F. G. Layton._]

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:—

October 22—Left Sydney.
November 18—Passed Cape Horn 27 days out.
December 11—Crossed the equator 50 days out.
December 25—Passed the Western Isles 64 days out.
January 3 ’90—Signalled in the Channel 73 days out.
January 5—Arrived London 75 days out.

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:—

1895 Lizard to Sydney 82 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.

1896 Sydney to London 78 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.

1898 Sydney to London 81 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:—

ABSTRACT LOG OF _CIMBA_ FROM CALLAO TO IQUIQUE
RECORD SAILING SHIP PASSAGE.

July 2-7 p.m. got underweigh.
| Lat. | Long. | Course.| Dist. | Wind.
| | | | |
July 3 | 12° 48′S | 79° 24′W| S50° W.| 80mls.| S.S.E.
„ 4 | 14° 30′ | 80° 15′ | S46° | 150 „ | „
„ 5 | 16° 47′ | 81° 49′ | S34° | 165 „ | „
„ 6 | 19° 20′ | 82° 54′ | S22° | 165 „ | S.E. by E.
„ 7 | 21° 48′ | 84° 17′ | S28° | 168 „ | S.Easterly
„ 8 | 23° 52′ | 85° 52′ | S35° | 152 „ | „
„ 9 | 25° 32′ | 86° 34′ | S21° W.| 160 „ | „
„ 10 | 23° 57′ | 84° 41′ | N47° E.| 141 „ | S.E. by S.
„ 11 | 23° 8′ | 82° 24′ | N69° | 135 „ | South, S.W.
„ 12 | 23° 10′ | 81° 35′ | S87° | 46 „ | N.W. Westerly
„ 13 | 23° 53′ | 78° 00′ | S78° | 202 „ | W’ly to S.S.W.
„ 14 | 22° 42′ | 75° 7′ | N66° | 175 „ | S. Easterly
„ 15 | 21° 38′ | 71° 00′ | N75° | 246 „ | „
„ 16 | 20° 57′ | 70° 48′ | N15° | 43 „ | „
„ 17 | 20° 31′ | 70° 22′ | S11° | 31 „ | „

(2080 miles in 14 days.)

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 was now her chief cargo and she used often to be seen discharging firewood from the Baltic in the Aberdeen Bay, East India Dock, where she had so often loaded general for Sydney.

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, _Old Kensington_ with 96, _Cimba_ with 91 and _Thermopylae_ with 86 days all made poor passages.

_Photo by Hall & Co., Sydney._]

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:—

+---------------------+--------+--------+---------+--------+----+
| Ship | Left | On | Arrived | On |Days|
| | | | | |Out |
+---------------------+--------+--------+---------+--------+----+
|_Sobraon_ |Plymouth|Oct. 3|Melbourne|Dec. 16| 74 |
|_Mermerus_ |Channel |March 26| „ |June 11| 77 |
|_Titania_ | „ |Feb. 21| „ |May 7| 75 |
|_Aristides_ | „ |July 8| „ |Sept. 23| 77 |
|_Loch Vennachar_ |Clyde |July 4| „ |Sept. 23| 81 |
|_Ben Cruachan_ |Channel |June 5| „ |Aug. 25| 81 |
|_Loch Garry_ |Clyde |June 6| „ |Aug. 27| 82 |
|_Sir Walter Raleigh_ |Channel |June 9| „ |Aug. 30| 82 |
+---------------------+--------+--------+---------+--------+----+

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 from the Eddystone to the line she only had two runs of over 200. However between 4th and 11th July in 42° 30′ S., she ran 2128 miles, her best day’s work being only 304 miles, which meant very steady going. She also was held up off her port by strong head winds after being braced sharp up all the way from the meridian of the Leeuwin.

_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:—

June 11 298
„ 15 294
„ 17 313
„ 19 304
„ 22 291
„ 23 308
„ 26 314
„ 26 300

The _Tweed_ this year was commanded by Captain White, who had had the _Blackadder_. The old ship averaged 240 miles a day from the equator to the S.W. Cape, Tasmania, her best day’s work being from 8th to 9th July, when she covered 362 miles.

_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.

_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_.

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The Colonial ClippersChapter XVIII: Part III: “the Iron Clippers.” (4)

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