The Colonial Clippers

The port arrangements in those days allowed ships to go alongside in the order in which they had booked the berth. On this occasion Patriarch had booked the berth on 18th August, Smyrna on 20th August, Cairnbulg on 9th September, St. Lawrence on 13th September, Centurion on 26th September and Cimba on 30th September—the day after she arrived.

On Nineveh sailing, Patriarch should have hauled alongside, but her captain had been told that as it was Saturday he need not come alongside until Monday. The Patriarch, being in no particular hurry as a good deal of her wool was still up country, therefore remained where she was. Hearing of this, the enterprising Captain Fimister proceeded to hire a tug and move his ship from Smith’s Wharf where she was lying to the vacant berth at Circular Quay, all ready to load the wool which was waiting for him. He took the precaution, however, to take his shorefasts through the quay rings and aboard again. This defiance of the harbour authorities was allowed to go unnoticed until Monday morning. Then Captain Fimister received an order to remove his ship. Of this he took no notice. His action, as may be supposed, was the talk of the port, especially amongst the captains of the wool clippers. One of these skippers threatened to moor his ship in Sydney Cove, ready to be the next to jump the berth. Others complained in person to the Colonial Secretary.

On Tuesday morning Captain Bell, the harbor-master, went in person to the Cimba to order her removal, but the undaunted Captain Fimister triced up his gangway ladder and threatened to throw him overboard if he attempted to gain the deck. By this time all the legal lights of Sydney were puzzling their heads over the legal aspects of the case; Messrs. Dangar, Gedye & Co., the ship’s agents, upholding the captain. Finally the Colonial Treasurer sent the President of the Marine Board an order to remove the ship. So at 6 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Captain Hixson, the assistant harbourmaster, with 20 men and half-a-dozen water police, boarded the ship, only to find that Captain Fimister and his whole crew had flown after first removing every means of weighing the anchor. But a harbourmaster is not easily balked, and Captain Hixson let go the shorefasts, slipped the chain, and with the aid of a tug took the Cimba out and moored her at the man-of-war buoy off Fort Macquarie.

It was now time for Dangar, Gedye & Co. to take action. They immediately enlisted the help of Sir John Robertson, who moved the adjournment of the House in order that an explanation of the harbourmaster’s high-handed proceedings might be given. The House was already divided into two factions over Captain Fimister’s action, but the Colonial Secretary firmly upheld the Marine Board, and in the end Captain Fimister was fined 20 shillings and 5s. costs and ordered to pay £28 4s., the cost of removing the Cimba from the berth.

All this trouble really arose firstly through the Patriarch’s being ahead of her cargo, and secondly owing to Circular Quay being a free berth. This was shortly afterwards rectified, but the Patriarch did not get away until a month after the Cimba for want of cargo.

In 1889, the Cimba made her best wool passage, as follows:—

Captain Holmes, who took the Cimba in 1895, had had a long experience in clipper ships. He had been third mate of the Salamis, chief mate of Hallowe’en and Blackadder, and commander of the Lencadia, a smart ship built for the China trade.

The Aberdeen ships were, however, very clannish, and being a stranger and not a Scot, he had his reputation all to make, the standard set being a very high one. However, he knew how to carry sail, and he managed to keep the Cimba moving, though she was always a tender ship requiring a master hand.

Under him, her best passages were:—

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.

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.

Passed the Horn on 2nd November, 25 days out, having run 3422 miles in 14 days—crossed the line on 29th November, 27 days from the Horn—passed the Western Isles on 20th December, Lizard light abeam at 8 a.m. on 26th December, 79 days out.

In 1899 Cimba went out to Rockhampton and loaded home from Brisbane. In 1901 she went out to Sydney in 85 days, her best run being 310 miles.

By this time sailing ship freights were in a very bad way, and a profitable charter in Sydney grew more and more difficult to obtain, thus in 1905 we find her making the record passage between Callao and Iquique for a sailing ship. As this may be of interest, I give her abstract log below:—

This was Cimba’s last voyage under the British flag; she came home from Caleta Buena to Falmouth in 85 days, and was then sold (March, 1906) to the Norwegians owing to the death of her owner.

Under the Norwegians she made a remarkable passage from Dublin to the St. Lawrence in 14 days; lumber 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.