The Colonial Clippers

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:—

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:—

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.