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.