Chapter XIX: Part III: “the Iron Clippers.” (5)

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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 over were not economical ships to work, and thus it was that the four-mast barque came into being. At first many owners went in for four-mast ships, but it was soon proved that besides being more economical the four-mast barque was just as speedy.

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 complement of petty officers, together with three mates and four apprentices aft. Looking forward from the break of the poop, one is struck by the immense amount of clear room on her decks, giving a visitor a sense of spaciousness and freedom in marked contrast to the often lumbered up decks of the average sailer.”

SPAR PLAN OF LOCH TORRIDON.
+-----------------------------------+-------------------+
| Bowsprit | 25 feet. |
| Jibboom (outside bowsprit) | 31 feet. |
| Bowsprit and jibboom (over all)| 56 feet. |
+---------------------+----------+--+-------+-----------+
| Spars | Foremast | Mainmast | Mizen mast|
| | feet | feet | feet |
+---------------------+----------+----------+-----------+
| Mast—deck to truck | 148 | 152 | 152 |
| Lower mast | 68 | 71 | 71 |
| Doubling | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| Topmast | 57 | 57 | 57 |
| Doubling | 7 | 7½ | 7½ |
| Topgallant mast | 27 | 30 | 28 |
| Royal mast | 21½ | 22½ | 22 |
| Lower yard | 88 | 88 | 88 |
| Lower topsail yard | 78 | 78 | 78 |
| Upper topsail yard | 74 | 74 | 74 |
| Topgallant yard | 56 | 56 | 56 |
| Royal yard | 42½ | 42½ | 42½ |
+---------------------+----------+----+-----+-----------+
| Spars of jiggermast | Length in feet |
+-------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Mast—deck to truck | 128 |
| Lower mast | 70 |
| Doubling | 12 |
| Topmast | 71 |
| Spanker gaff | 38 |
| Spanker boom | 46 |
| Jaws of gaff to head of topsail | 72 |
+-------------------------------------+-----------------+

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.

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 difficult to manage than the British sail-trained seaman.”

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 getting round his leg. On the following day the weather moderated, and the mate brought the ship home to Plymouth, from whence she was towed up to London.

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, that these old Geordie skippers, all smoking long church-wardens, would be leaning over their respective taffrails exchanging greetings and gossip. Truly 60 years have changed the London River. Yet many a man living to-day can remember the year 1866, when Pattman sailed up to London in his Geordie brig. It was the year in which the three famous tea clippers _Ariel_, _Taeping_, and _Serica_ arrived in the river on the same tide. Seafaring then was far more like that of the days of Drake and the Elizabethans than it is like the seafaring of the present day.

With Perforated Sails.]

_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 of slinging them aboard. The hatch gangways were left in position, and while at sea the horses were exercised on deck in batches, every horse getting 24 hours a week on deck. This would have been impossible on a ship with an incumbered deck, but here the fine clean sweep of _Loch Torridon’s_ main deck came in useful as a sort of training ground.

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, 1892. Nevertheless the _Loch Torridon_ made the best passage of the season and had the honour of beating all the cracks. The following is Captain Pattman’s account of his passage:—

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 height, blocked the way of ships in the Southern Ocean, as the following reports will show:—

1892.
April _Cromdale_ encountered ice 1000 feet high in 46° S. 36° W.
May _Strathdon_ encountered ice 1000 feet high in 45 S. 25 W.
June _County of_
_Edinbro_ encountered ice 900 feet high in 45 S. 37 W.
Sept. _Loch Eck_ encountered ice 1000 feet high in 44 S. 2 W.
Oct. _Curzon_ encountered ice 1000 feet high in 44 S. 31 W.
Oct. _Liverpool_ encountered ice 800 feet high in 55 S. 94 W.

1893.
Jan. _Loch_
_Torridon_ encountered ice 1500 feet high in 51° S. 46° W.
Feb. _Cutty Sark_ encountered ice 1000 feet high in 50 S. 43 W.
Mar. _Turakina_ encountered ice 1200 feet high in 51 S. 47 W.
April _Brier Holme_ encountered ice 1000 feet high in 49 S. 51 W.
May _Charles_
_Racine_ encountered ice 1000 feet high in 50 S. 52 W.

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
us, and as square and true at the edge as if just out of a joiner’s
shop, with the sea breaking right over the southern cliff and
whirling away in a cloud of spray.

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 to say for certain, but it is more likely that they were quite separate from each other.

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 week’s work being 1914 miles and her best 24 hours 327 miles.

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 made on this race, as both ships were noted in the Colonies for their sailing qualities. _Wendur_, indeed, was one of the finest ships in the British Mercantile Marine, and under Captain Frank Whiston had made many a splendid passage and, curiously enough, had once before shown _Loch Torridon_ the road by running from Frederickstadt to Melbourne in 81 days, before which _Loch Torridon’s_ run had been considered the record.

_Photo lent by late Captain Pattman._]

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 ships, the American barque _Topgallant_ 100 days and the _Cressington_ 106 days. Besides beating these, _Loch Torridon_ passed no less than ten vessels which had sailed from Newcastle before her. Loading grain at Port Costa, _Loch Torridon_ sailed on 23rd July, and arrived at Falmouth on 13th November, 1897, 113 days out. Captain Pattman stated that owing to the foulness of her bottom his ship was not sailing her best and he was disappointed with his passage.

Other passages home from Frisco that year were:—

_Musselcrag_ arrived Queenstown 110 days out.
_Lord Templeton_ arrived Queenstown 111 days out.
_Sierra Cadena_ arrived Queenstown 114 days out.
_Andelana_ arrived Queenstown 114 days out.
_Dominion_ arrived Queenstown 117 days out.
_Gifford_ arrived Liverpool 118 days out.
_Crown of Denmark_ arrived Queenstown 128 days out.
_Caradoc_ arrived Queenstown 134 days out.

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 heavy general cargo in her hold and was very deep. Between 1875-1887 the clippers loaded nothing like such a heavy general cargo outwards, and yet this performance of _Loch Torridon’s_ is equal to any of that day.

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.

1899 London to Adelaide 85 days.
Melbourne to London 105 „
1900 London to Adelaide 88 „
Melbourne to London 88 „
1901 London to Adelaide 86 „
Adelaide to London 112 „

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 $2.50 commission of the captains. No doubt many a present day officer will remember the episode, which caused quite a stir in windjammer circles at Frisco, and even produced a long poem in one of the leading papers. This poem was entitled “The Lay of the _Loch Torridon_,” and the patriotic Frisco newspaper man takes care that the British captain is bested in his efforts. The _Loch Torridon_ sailed on 8th November, in company with the four-mast barque _Crocodile_. _Loch Torridon_ arrived Liverpool on 14th March, 1904, and the _Crocodile_ on 31st March, over two weeks behind.

From 1904 to 1909, when Captain Pattman resigned his command, _Loch Torridon_ was kept on the Australian run, her passages being:—

1904 Glasgow to Sydney 77 days.
Sydney to London 97 „
1905 London to Adelaide 85 „
Melbourne to London 106 „
1906 London to Adelaide 83 „
Melbourne to London 117 „
1907 London to Adelaide 83 „
Melbourne to London 86 „
1908 London to Adelaide 94 „
Melbourne to London 87 „

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.

_Photo by Captain Schutze, Sydney._]

The old _Loch Torridon_ survived until 1915, when she foundered near the entrance to the Channel in the last days of January, and it is possible that a German submarine caused her end. Her Russian crew were rescued by the British steamer _Orduna_, and the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society awarded medals and certificates of thanks to Captain Taylor of the _Orduna_ and her chief and second officers.

“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.

PASSAGES TO SYDNEY UNDER 80 DAYS IN 1882.
+-----------------+-------+-------+------+------------+--------+
| Ship | From | Left | To | Arrived |Days Out|
+-----------------+-------+-------+------+------------+--------+
|_Thomas Stephens_|Channel|Nov. 9|Sydney|Jan. 22, ’83| 74 |
|_Port Jackson_ | „ |Oct. 28| „ |Jan. 13, ’83| 77 |
+-----------------+-------+-------+------+------------+--------+

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 records to their credit. But this passage of _Maulesden’s_ to Maryborough, Queensland, made a record which has never been approached. It will be noticed that she crossed the line 17 days out, doubled the Cape 39 days out, and passed Tasmania 61 days out, a truly phenomenal passage. Running the easting down, she made 24-hour runs of 302, 303, 304, 311, 317, 322 and 335 miles, whilst her best weeks were 1698, 1798, 1908 and 1929 miles. From Maryborough she went across to Frisco, and from there to U.K., calling at Queenstown; and the whole voyage, including detention in port, was only 9 months 13 days. I have a photograph of her, and she is a typical iron clipper very like the _Ben Voirlich_.

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 I believe she was one of the first ships to load wool at Newcastle. In future we shall see her somewhere near the top of every table.

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.”

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The Colonial ClippersChapter XIX: Part III: “the Iron Clippers.” (5)

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