Chapter XXII: Part IV: The New Zealand Trade (2)

In 1885, on her passage home from Otago, she survived another bad dusting. She left Port Chalmers on 9th March, had strong S.W. gales and heavy weather to the Horn, which was rounded at 6 a.m. on the 5th April, 27 days out. On 11th April, when in 44° 46′ S., 40° W., she ran into a perfect hurricane, the squalls being at their worst between noon and 5 p.m. At 2 p.m. the lower main topsail blew away, at 2.30 the foresail was whipped out of her and at 3 the lee quarter boat was washed away. All this time the ship was swept fore and aft by the terrific sea running, and at 5 p.m. the weight of water on her main deck burst the lee topgallant bulwarks. Luckily the wind then began to veer to the S.W. and the squalls began to take off and come up at longer intervals.

The equator was crossed on 3rd May, 28 days from the Horn. She had light trades followed by moderate southerly winds to the Western Isles, then light southerly and easterly winds, with thick fog to the Wight, where she picked up her tug, arriving in the Thames on 11th June, 94 days out.

Like most of the New Zealand clippers _Turakina_ was fitted with refrigerating machinery in the late eighties, and it was as a frozen meat ship under Captain Hamon that she made her name as a passage maker in the New Zealand trade.

In 1892 she left Gisborne and arrived home on 31st May, 78 days out.

In 1893 she left Timaru for Liverpool on 2nd February, but carried away her mainyard on the first night out and had to put back to Lyttelton to repair damages. This spoilt her passage.

In 1894 she signalled off the Lizard on 27th May, only 69 days out from Wellington, and docked in the London River, 71 days out.

In 1895 she made the Wight on 1st July, 73 days out from Port Chalmers.

On her previous outward passage she had distinguished herself by sailing past the company’s steamer _Ruapehu_. The following account of this incident was given me by one of the officers of the steamship:—

On the 14th February, 1895, in lat. 46° 15′ S., long. 68° 16′ E.,
the N.Z.S. Co.’s mail steamer _Ruapehu_ was running her easting down
under whole topsails and courses, the weather dirty and a strong wind
from the norrard, force 7 Beaufort scale. At 9 a.m. a sailing ship
was reported astern, topgallant sails up. Shortly after she sheeted
home her royals. Orders were given on the _Ruapehu_ to the engineer
to drive the ship and topgallant sails were set, the patent log
showing a good 14.

At noon exactly the N.Z.S. Co.’s sailing ship _Turakina_ passed
along our lee side. She was then carrying all square sail except
mizen royal and topgallant sail (probably griping a good deal). She
was right alongside and you could distinguish the features of the
officers, and see the seas breaking over her—I have a very good
photo. She then hauled her wind and crossed our bow, at the same time
shortening sail to topsails, reef in mainsail and furled crossjack;
even then she held her own with us during a long summer evening
light, till 9.30 there she was just ahead on the port bow.

Next day at noon we had run 315 miles. At midnight the wind came aft
and she was therefore not in sight from masthead at daylight. It was
a wonderful performance and made a man feel glad to be alive to see
it.

And the _Turakina_ held her own for 14 days. She covered the 5000 miles between the meridians of the Cape and the Leeuwin, in 16 days, her best runs being 328, 316 and 308.

I am glad to say that the gallant little ship is still afloat under the name of _Elida_, owned in Tordesstrand.

In 1912 she was in Rio at the same time as the Portuguese _Ferreira_ ex-_Cutty Sark_. I wonder how many of the shipping people there realized that two of the fastest and most beautiful sailing ships ever built were lying at anchor in their wonderful harbour.

Before leaving the _Turakina_, I must not omit to give her official measurements from Lloyd’s Register:—

Tonnage (net) 1189 tons
Tonnage (gross) 1247 „
Tonnage (under deck) 1160 „
Length 232.5 feet
Breadth 35.4 „
Depth 22.2 „
Depth moulded 23.5 „
Freeboard amidships (summer) 4.5½ „
Raised quarterdeck 32 „

Robert Duncan’s Six Beautiful Sister Ships.

In 1874 Patrick Henderson launched out by ordering six iron passenger clippers from Robert Duncan and two from Scott, of Greenock, and of the big fleet of splendid iron ships built in the seventies there were few more perfect specimens of the shipbuilders’ art than these eight ships. The following are the measurements of the Duncan ships:—

+--------------+----------+-------+------+----+-----+------+--------+
| | Date | | | | |Length| Length |
| Ship | Launched |Tonnage|Length|Beam|Depth| of | of |
| | | | | | | Poop |Foc’s’le|
+--------------+----------+-------+------+----+-----+------+--------+
|_Dunedin_ |March 1874| 1250 | 241 |36.1|20.9 | 70 | 35 |
|_Canterbury_ |May 1874| 1245 | 239.7|36 |20.8 | 70 | 35 |
|_Invercargill_|June 1874| 1246 | 239.7|36 |20.7 | 70 | 35 |
|_Auckland_ |July 1874| 1245 | 239.8|36 |20.7 | 70 | 35 |
|_Nelson_ |Aug. 1874| 1247 | 239.3|36 |20.7 | 70 | 35 |
|_Wellington_ |Sept. 1874| 1247 | 239.8|36 |20.7 | 70 | 35 |
+--------------+----------+-------+------+----+-----+------+--------+

_Lent by F. G. Layton._]

All these ships, with the exception of _Dunedin_, which went missing when homeward bound with frozen meat in 1889, were sailing the seas in the twentieth century, and until Shaw, Savill sold them in 1904-5 were still making good passages. Even after they had ceased to carry emigrants, their outward passages were constantly under 80 days; and the frozen mutton did not affect their homeward runs as much as one would expect, for I find the _Nelson_ running from Wellington to the Lizard in 1889-90 in 83 days; the _Auckland_ from Wellington to the Lizard in 1899 in 84 days; _Invercargill_ from Timaru to the Wight in 1895, in 85 days, and _Wellington_ from Timaru to the Lizard in 1900 in 79 days.

The _Canterbury_ was credited with a run out of 64 days. She was at her best off the wind in a strong breeze. She was still afloat at the outbreak of the war, owned in Tordesstrand, Norway.

_Invercargill_, under Captain Bowling, had many excellent passages to her credit. Captain Bowling was a native of Kingstown, in Ireland, and started his sea life in the China trade. He commanded the _Invercargill_ for 13 years, at the end of which time he had been 50 years at sea and 30 years in command of sailing ships. He was one of Shaw, Savill’s most trusted commanders and was noted for the way in which he handled his beautiful ship.

Not many years ago a writer to the “Nautical” described one of Captain Bowling’s skilful bits of seamanship. He wrote as follows:—

The _Invercargill_, fully laden from London, arrived off Wellington
Heads one afternoon. A fine southerly breeze was blowing. Very
impatient to get anchored, Captain Bowling decided to sail right
in without the assistance of a tug. But just as he got well up the
entrance, the wind suddenly veered right round to the northward and
blew hard, and as his ship was well up inside Barrett’s Reef by this
time, things began to look rather serious. Notwithstanding his many
difficulties—for the slightest error or hesitation in timing the
order of the different manœuvres meant disaster—old Bowling managed
everything like clockwork, and the _Invercargill_ dropped her anchor
off Kaiwarra, just as darkness fell.

The _Invercargill’s_ last passage under the British flag in 1904 was her worst; in it she weathered out the biggest gale of Captain Bowling’s experience. She sailed from Sydney, N.S.W., on the 27th August, 1904, loaded with wheat, being bound to Queenstown for orders. On the 30th September she was caught in a Cape Horn snorter, her cargo shifted to port, her port bulwarks were carried away and for some time she lay on her beam ends. At last by hard work the cargo was man-handled to the windward side, she righted and continued her passage. But once again she ran into heavy weather, this time in the Atlantic in 45° N., 20° W., and the morning of the 8th December found her battling with a heavy gale from N.W., the weather being clear. The entry in the log at 4 p.m. said:—

Hard squalls and high confused sea, vessel labouring heavily and
shipping great quantities of water fore and aft.

At 7 p.m. both wind and sea increased, and a huge mountain of water broke over the port quarter and swept the decks, the whole length of her. The cabin skylight was burst in and the water flooded below, breaking into the saloon and cabins, the sail locker, the lazarette and even into the ’tween decks; the companion hatch on the poop was carried away, and along with it went both compasses, stands and binnacles, side lights and screens, the patent log from the taffrail; in fact, pretty near everything on the decks except the wheel. Mr. Le Sueur, the mate, lost no time in getting a sail over the gaping skylight and all hands were turned to bailing out the water from below, which was up to one’s waist in the cabin. 8 p.m. found the gale still blowing with undiminished force, and the ship was rolling heavily as she ran before it. By midnight the seas were mountainous and the squalls became fiercer and more frequent. About 4 a.m. a big sea washed out the carpenter’s quarters, and “Chips,” under the impression that the ship was sinking by the head, made the best of his way aft. But Captain Bowling and his officers were all below clearing up the wrecked cabin, etc. The carpenter, thereupon, informed the man at the wheel of his fears, with the result that the latter had an attack of nerves, thought he was running the ship under, and allowed her to come to. As the ship broached to, the cargo shifted for the second time and the _Invercargill_ went over on her beam ends. The foresail, fore upper topsail, jib, fore topmast staysail and main royal all blew adrift out of the gaskets and were soon in tatters. The lifeboat to leeward was lifted out of her davits and swept away. Then, whilst the ship lay down with her lee foreyard arm dipped 6 feet into the broken water to leeward, the seas worked havoc on the flooded main deck.

Daylight disclosed the extent of the damage; the galley was gutted, the carpenter’s shop was bare, all his tools gone and the doors smashed in; the contents of the bosun’s locker, paint locker, and the mate’s and second mate’s cabins were washed clean out of them, and gone overboard. The topgallant bulwarks to leeward were all gone, and the running gear being dragged backwards and forwards through the swinging ports was cut to pieces, two of these ports had been torn off their hinges; the foc’s’le-head and poop ladders were gone and all the poop stanchions; whilst the racks for handspikes and capstan bars were empty.

All that day and the next night the _Invercargill_ lay like a log with her lee rail buried deep and her main deck full of water. At last, early on 10th December, the wind dropped very light and went into the S.W. with thick weather.

Cargo was jettisoned to bring the ship on an even keel, and at last she was got away on her course. The next difficulty was making a landfall without a reliable compass, as only an old compass which had not been adjusted was available, both the steering and standard compasses having gone overboard.

In spite of a large allowance made for his defective compass, Captain Bowling found himself nearly ashore amongst the Scilly Isles. Again his fine seamanship saved the vessel, and on the 18th December he brought her safely into Queenstown, 113 days out from Sydney.

Orders were received here to proceed to Glasgow, but the crew came aft and refused to proceed in the crippled ship; upon which she was towed round to the Clyde and was docked in Princes Dock, Govan, on Christmas Eve.

After she had been repaired and refitted at a cost of £1000, Shaw, Savill sold the splendid old ship to the Norwegians, who renamed her the _Varg_. She sailed for Christiania in 1905, with coal ballast, and was never seen again after clearing the Tail of the Bank.

The _Auckland_, after a long and successful career with many fine passages to her credit, was sold to S. O. Stray, of Norway, in 1904, but soon disappeared from the Register.

The _Nelson’s_ finest sailing feat was in 1875, when she ran from Otago Heads to the Horn in 19 days. She was still afloat in 1914 at the outbreak of the war, sailing as a barque under the Chilean flag, and must often have had a chance of trying her sailing powers against the old tea clipper, _Lothair_, which was also still afloat on the West Coast of South America.

“Wellington” and Captain Cowan.

I cannot pronounce an opinion as to which was the fastest of these six beautiful Duncan sisters, but the _Wellington_ probably has the best average. She was taken from the stocks by Captain D. Cowan, of Peterhead, and under his able guidance was a most consistent passage-maker. Captain Cowan, like Captain Bowling, of _Invercargill_, was a magnificent seaman of the old sailing ship type, the survivors of which grow fewer, alas, every day. He served his time in the Peterhead whale fishery. Then about 1862 he joined Patrick Henderson’s as third officer of the _Pladda_, a slow but comfortable old wooden packet, which carried 400 emigrants to Port Chalmers. His next vessel was the _Vicksburgh_. Again after one New Zealand voyage he was transferred, this time with promotion to mate, to the _Jane Henderson_, in which he made three voyages to Rangoon, on the last of which, about 1867, he went in command. His second voyage as a skipper was in the _Helenslee_ with passengers to Port Chalmers. This ship was sold in New Zealand, and Captain Cowan travelled home as a passenger. He next had _Margaret Galbraith_ for two voyages, then the composite clipper _Wild Deer_, which he left in order to take over the _Wellington_.

Captain Cowan had the _Wellington_ for 18 years. He told me that the _Wellington_ was such a fast ship with the wind abaft the beam that he never remembers her being passed under such conditions, but that she was nothing out of the way when braced sharp up. This indeed may be said to have been the general case with Duncan’s ships. From 1877 to 1884 _Wellington_ ran from Glasgow to Otago with first class passengers and emigrants. Under these favourable conditions her average outward passage was about 80 days, her four best being 73, 75, 76 and 78 days.

Soon after the amalgamation with Shaw, Savill, _Wellington_ had freezing machinery put on board, and henceforth came home with 18,000 carcases a trip. The _Wellington_ had her freezing machinery on board for four voyages, after which the mutton was sent on board frozen.

“Wellington” Collides with an Iceberg.

Early in the nineties she nearly finished her career by colliding with an iceberg to the eastward of the Falkland Islands. Her bows were stove in, two men being killed in the foc’s’le by the deck being driven down on top of them, broken down by a mass of ice falling aboard. The bowsprit and jibboom were, of course, carried away, and also the fore topmast; only the collision bulkhead saved the ship from sinking. Captain Cowan shored up his bulkhead and squared away for Rio de Janeiro. He was a month getting there and repairs were hardly under weigh before the Civil War broke out, and all work was stopped for six months.

Meanwhile in order to keep the mutton frozen, the engine had to be kept going at full speed night and day; owing to the heat not even a rest for an hour to overhaul it could be thought of, and it says a good deal for Captain Cowan and his engineer that they managed to keep the engine running without a breakdown for so many months.

Orders came out from home that the mutton was to be sold; whereupon Captain Cowan rashly sold some of it to the rebels—the Government at once issued a warrant for his arrest—and he had to be smuggled aboard the New Zealand Shipping Co.’s steamer _Norangi_, the mate being left in charge. After this very trying experience Captain Cowan, feeling that he needed a rest, retired from the sea.

_Photo by De Maus, Port Chalmers._]

At Picton, Queen Charlotte Sound.

_Lent by F. G. Layton._]

In 1904 the _Wellington_ was sold to S. O. Stray, of Norway, for £3150. In December, 1906, she was abandoned on her beam ends and foundered when bound from a Gulf port to Rosario.

“Oamaru” and “Timaru.”

Not content with Duncan’s six beautiful ships, Patrick Henderson ordered two from Scott, of Greenock, in 1874. These were the _Oamaru_ and _Timaru_, which measured 1306 tons, 239.1 feet length, 36.1 feet beam, 21 feet depth.

The _Oamaru_ was launched in October and the _Timaru_ in December. These fine little ships were well worthy of ranking with Duncan’s beauties.

The _Timaru_ especially, under Captain Taylor, made some fine passages, when she was carrying emigrants.

In March, 1879, she reported off the Scillies, only 68 days out from New Zealand. On the following outward passage, she went out to Port Chalmers in 78 days. Whilst running her easting down she averaged 270 miles a day for 17 days. She had 499 souls on board this passage.

Captain Taylor was rather fond of sending bottles adrift, a common practice in the old days, and he was lucky enough to have two picked up in five years. One which he threw over in 12° N. in the Atlantic was picked up in the Gulf of Guinea, and the other, thrown over just east of the Cape meridian, was washed up on the beach in Western Australia.

These little New Zealand emigrant clippers, like the larger and earlier Australian clippers, constantly carried very rich cargoes of bullion. On one occasion the _Timaru_ had £57,000 in bar gold on board.

_Oamaru_ was finally sold to Norway and renamed _Fox_. She was broken up in 1912.

_Timaru_ was sold in South Africa as a cold storage ship during the Boer War, and is now, I believe, a freezing hulk at Durban.

“Marlborough,” “Hermione” and “Pleione.”

In 1876 three very fine little ships were built for Shaw, Savill; these were:—

_Marlborough_, 1124 tons, 228 feet length, 36 feet beam, 21 feet
depth, launched in June from Duncan’s yard.

_Pleione_, 1092 tons, 209.7 feet, length, 34.6 feet beam, 20.3 feet
depth, launched in September by Stephen, of Glasgow.

_Hermione_, 1120 tons, 219.4 feet length, 35 feet beam, 21 feet
depth, launched in October by Hall, of Aberdeen.

The longest of the three was also the fastest, as is the general rule where beam and depth are about the same.

_Marlborough_ was certainly a very fast ship and in 1880, under Captain Anderson, ran from Lyttelton to the Lizard in 71 days.

In 1889 she sailed from New Zealand homeward bound with frozen mutton about six weeks behind the _Dunedin_, and a great stir was raised in New Zealand when neither ship reached her destination. No trace of them was ever found, though the _Wellington_ which sailed in between the two arrived safely.

_Pleione_, like so many ships in the New Zealand trade was eventually sold to the Scandinavians, whilst _Hermione_ was bought by the Italians and renamed _Mantova_. She was broken up at Genoa in 1913.

“Taranaki,” “Lyttelton,” and “Westland.”

These three were the last sailing ships built for the Shaw, Savill & Albion Companies. _Taranaki_ was James Galbraith’s last ship and _Westland_ Patrick Henderson’s.

_Lent by Captain T. S. Angus._]

All three were built by Duncan and were very fast ships, and continued making fine passages right into the twentieth century. They were over 100 tons smaller than Duncan’s 1874 ships, their measurements being:—

_Taranaki_, 1126 tons, 228.2 feet length, 35.2 feet beam, 20.9 feet
depth.

_Lyttelton_, 1111 tons, 223.8 feet length, 35.0 feet beam, 21.0 feet
depth.

_Westland_, 1116 tons, 222.8 feet length, 35.1 feet beam, 21 feet
depth.

Of the three, _Westland_ was the fastest; in fact, many people considered her to be the fastest of the Shaw, Savill & Albion fleet. One of her best performances was a run of 72 days from Bluff Harbour to the Lizard, where she reported on 31st March, 1895.

_Taranaki_ was sold to the Italians, when Shaw, Savill parted with their sailers, and, owned in Genoa, was still afloat when the Great War burst on Europe. The _Lyttelton_ struck on an uncharted rock outside Timaru, when leaving homeward bound. _Westland_ went to the Norwegians, she put into Moss, leaking, and was condemned there.

“Lutterworth” and “Lady Jocelyn.”

Besides the ships specially built for them, Shaw, Savill occasionally bought a ship; of these probably the best known were the _Lutterworth_ and _Lady Jocelyn_.

The _Lutterworth_ was a fast little iron barque of 883 tons, built by Denton, of Hartlepool, in 1868. Shaw, Savill & Co. sold her eventually to Turnbull & Co., of Lyttelton, N.Z. Whilst on a passage from Timaru to Kaipara in ballast, she was dismasted and abandoned in Cook Straits. She was, however, picked up as a derelict and towed into Wellington, where she was converted into a coal hulk.

The _Lady Jocelyn_ was one of those early auxiliary steamers, which always seem to have had long and adventurous careers. She was originally the _Brazil_, owned by the General Screw Steamship Company, and was built as far back as 1852 by Mare, of London, her measurements being—2138 tons; 254 feet length, 39 feet beam, 24.9 feet depth. Of iron construction, she had a spar deck above her two decks, and no expense was spared in her construction.

As an auxiliary steamer, like most of her kind, she proved to be a money-eater, and when after a few years the company went into liquidation she was bought by Shaw, Savill and put into their emigrant trade as a sailing ship. Then as passengers began to desert the clipper for steam, freezing machinery was put aboard her. Finally Shaw, Savill laid her up in the West India Docks, and used her as a frozen meat store ship, for which owing to her size and the freezing machinery aboard she was well adapted.

Years passed and still she remained the most familiar object in the West India Dock, right up to the present date, during which time she has served a variety of purposes, such as store ship for the Shipping Federation and a home for strike breakers.

Outsiders in the New Zealand Trade.

Though the New Zealand trade was held pretty tightly in the hands of Shaw, Savill, the Albion Shipping Company and the New Zealand Shipping Company, many a distinguished ship paid an occasional visit to Maoriland, notably the beautiful tea clipper _Sir Lancelot_ in 1879; the majestic Blackwall frigate _The Tweed_ in 1874, when she went out to Otago in 78 days; _The Tweed’s_ great rival _Thomas Stephens_, which took passengers to Otago in 1879; _Miltiades_, which in 1889-90 came home from Lyttelton in 78 days and the following season came home from Wellington in 82 days; and _Thessalus_, which in 1900 ran from Lyttelton to the Lizards in 87 days, beating the famous coolie ship _Sheila_ by a week. _Loch Awe’s_ record passage to Auckland I have already mentioned in these pages, also _Sam Mendel’s_ 68 days to Port Chalmers. Some years later, in an attempt to beat this performance and incidentally a fast little City liner, _Sam Mendel_ was dismasted and came into port without her foremast, bowsprit and jibbooms, which had all gone by the board.

The Pretty Little “Ben Venue.”

A regular trader to New Zealand in the seventies was Watson’s pretty little _Ben Venue_, an iron main skysail-yarder of 999 tons, launched by Barclay, Curle in 1867. Under Captain McGowan, she made the very fine average of 77 days for her outward passages, her best homeward being 72 days to the Lizards from Lyttelton in 1879. I have already described her loss in May, 1882.

“Hinemoa.”

The distinction of being the only sailing ship specially built for the New Zealand frozen meat trade belongs to the splendid steel four-mast barque, _Hinemoa_, built by Russell, of Greenock, in 1890. She measured 2283 tons, 278.1 feet length, 41.9 feet breadth, 24.2 feet depth. Like many of Russell’s carriers she possessed a very fair turn of speed, especially off the wind, and has the following fine passages to her credit.

1894 Downs to Melbourne 77 days
1901 Newcastle, N.S.W., to Frisco 60 „
1902 Frisco to Old Head of Kinsale 101 „

_Hinemoa_ was built at a time when “sail” was making a final effort to hold its markets against the steam tramp. That effort was a truly gallant one, and but for the fact that the windjammer possesses a charm and fascination totally lacking in steam, and has ever been enthroned in the hearts of all lovers of the sea, masts and yards would not have lasted longer in the Mercantile Marine than they did in the Royal Navy.

That there were still sailing ships used commercially in 1914 goes to prove that the most stony-hearted, matter-of-fact business man was ready to sacrifice his pocket for a sentiment, a sentiment indeed which many may find hard to define, yet which has forged the links in the chain of nations which represent the present British Empire.

To sail and the sail-trained seaman more than to any other cause do we owe our nation’s greatness. By sail were our homesteads kept safe from the enemy; by sail were our new coasts charted; sail took the adventurous pioneers to the new land, and sail brought home the products of these new lands to the Old Country and made her the Market of the World.

This book is an attempt to preserve in written form what the fading memory is fast forgetting—the Glorious History of the Sailing Ship.

As o’er the moon, fast fly the amber veils,
For one dear hour let’s fling the knots behind,
And hear again, thro’ cordage and thro’ sails,
The vigour of the voices of the wind.

They’re gone, the Clyde-built darlings, like a dream,
Regrets are vain, and sighs shall not avail,
Yet, mid the clatter and the rush of steam,
How strangely memory veers again to sail!

APPENDIX