She sailed on her first voyage on Xmas Eve, 1884, her crew consisting of captain, 3 certificated officers, 8 midshipmen, 12 apprentices, bosun, sailmaker, carpenter, donkeyman and 12 hands in the fo’cs’le. The start was not very propitious. She sailed from Glasgow, dragged her anchors off the Tail of the Bank, and then her crew refused duty. The weather was so bad that she sought shelter at Queenstown, 11 days out from Greenock. Here advantage was taken to prosecute her insubordinate crew, who received sentences of from one to three months’ imprisonment.
The Derwent was never considered a fast ship, but a good sea boat and excellent cargo carrier; nevertheless she made some very good runs, notably:—
| Sydney to Lizard | 77 | days. |
| Sydney to Penzance | 74 | „ |
In 1904 Devitt & Moore sold her to the Norwegians, and she was still afloat when the war broke out, being owned in Larvik.
| PASSAGES TO AUSTRALIA UNDER 80 DAYS IN 1884. | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ship | Departure | Crossed Equator |
Crossed Meridian Cape |
Passed Otway |
Destination | Date Arrived |
Days Out |
||||||
| Miltiades | Ushant | June | 3 | June | 28 | July | 18 | Melbourne | Aug. | 13 | 71 | ||
| Sobraon | Plym’th | Sept | 29 | „ | Dec. | 13 | 75 | ||||||
| Loch Long | Clyde | June | 1 | „ | Aug. | 15 | 75 | ||||||
| Thessalus | Downs | Apl. | 11 | Sydney | June | 27 | 77 | ||||||
| Windsor Castle | Dartm’th | Mar. | 26 | „ | June | 12 | 78 | ||||||
| (D. Rose & Co.) | |||||||||||||
| Star of Italy | Gr’v’s’nd | Nov. | 27 | Melbourne | Feb. | 13 ’85 | 78 | ||||||
| Cutty Sark | Channel | June | 18 | Newcastle | Sept. | 5 | 79 | ||||||
| Cimba | Channel | May | 30 | June | 23 | July | 18 | Sydney | Aug. | 17 | 79 | ||
Notes on Passages to Australia in 1884.
A good many ships this year were just into the 80 days; for instance Dharwar, 80 days to Sydney; Samuel Plimsoll, 80 to Sydney; Trafalgar, 81 to Sydney; Loch Vennachar, 80 to Melbourne; Romanoff 80 to Melbourne; Salamis, 82 to Melbourne; Patriarch, 82 to Sydney.
Miltiades, Cimba and Loch Long had a good race out. The Star of Italy was Corrie’s crack jute clipper; this was her tenth voyage, and her first trip to Melbourne. She was nearly lost when about to sail through a fire in her sail-room.
Cutty Sark had a fine weather passage to the Cape, but she scared her crew running the easting down. On one occasion she was pooped by a big sea which jammed the helmsmen in the wheel, and she came up in the wind and swept her decks clean, taking the boats off the after skids, breaking in one side of the monkey poop and gutting the cabin. At the change of the watch at midnight that night, the apprentice keeping the time, in order to call his mates, had to go up the mizen rigging and come down the stay to get to the apprentices’ house her decks were so full of water; for three or four days after this she ran like a scared hare before a mountainous sea, which rose up so high astern that it took the wind out of her topsails when she was in the trough.
Captains Bully Martin and Douglas of the two Bens changed ships this year, and Douglas in the Ben Cruachan arrived Melbourne on 5th June, 90 days out, whilst Martin in the Ben Voirlich arrived Melbourne on 10th August, 88 days out.
“Torridon” and “Yallaroi.”
The last of Nicol’s clippers were the Torridon and Yallaroi. They were skysail-yarders, and lying in dock alongside the modern four-poster, looked the real thing, a pair of dainty little thoroughbreds.