White Wings Vol I. Fifty Years Of Sail In The New Zealand Trade, 1850 TO 1900
The Thomas Stephens
The Thomas Stephens.
A Beautiful Ship.
The Thomas Stephens was built to carry passengers to Australia and her appointments could not well be improved upon. Thomas Stephens and Sons of London were the owners of the ship and she was built in 1869 at Liverpool. Capt. Richards took command of her when she was launched and made many rapid passages from Liverpool to Melbourne. Ten years later he brought the ship to New Zealand. On this occasion she left London on April 27th, 1879, calling at Plymouth to take on board passengers. She made the run from Plymouth to the Snares in 72 days and reached Port Chalmers on the 75th day from Gravesend, dropping anchor on the 13th July, 1879.
The Thomas Stephens had a great career. During the ten years she was running to Melbourne before coming to New Zealand she made several remarkable passages out and home. Capt. Richards on his arrival at Dunedin reported he had made three runs to Melbourne in 64, 65 and 66 day pilot to pilot. Other records from Liverpool to Melbourne were:—1871, 68 days; 1872, 72 days; 1873, 74 days; 1874, 73 days; 1878, 77 days—on one occasion when on her homeward run from Melbourne she covered the distance to Cape Horn in 16 days.
page 343The Thomas Stephens also made several very fast runs to Sydney after her visit to Dunedin, and on one occasion it is recorded she covered 1000 miles in 70 hours.
The Thomas Stephens never met with any serious disaster until she was lost, but like all other ships when in the Southern Ocean, encountered on more than one occasion very severe gales. She experienced a terrific gale in 1893 when homeward bound from Melbourne. Her decks were completely swept by heavy seas and her bulwarks carried away. She put into Callao for repairs when it was found that her cargo of wheat had not suffered.
The Thomas Stephens was eventually sold to the Portuguese and when shipping was scarce during the great war she was again fitted out and sailed for America. On her return passage she was posted as missing, probably sunk by a German submarine.