Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

White Wings Vol I. Fifty Years Of Sail In The New Zealand Trade, 1850 TO 1900

The Loch Awe

page 193

The Loch Awe.

Record Held by the Loch Awe—A 76 days 6 hours' Passage—Two Ships Run Her Very Close—the Merwanjee Framjee and the Vanduara.

Many fast passages were made to New Zealand by the clipper ships which in the early days flew the house flags of the Shaw, Savill Co., New Zealand Shipping Co. and other lines. During this period many of the ships were running light and bringing on each trip from 300 to 500 immigrants, who came out under Sir Julius Vogel's scheme of colonisation. Many mis-statements have appeared in the papers when referring to the time occupied by these noted old ships, and there has been more controversy over the time in which the Loch Awe made the record run to Auckland than over any other vessel's performance,
The Famous Loch Awe.

The Famous Loch Awe.

and all of the correspondents writing in the "Auckland Star" and "Herald" have fallen into the same error. Only recently a correspondent who claimed to have been an officer on the ship made the same mistake as many others by stating that the run was done in 73 days. the Loch Awe was a vessel of 1053 tons, commanded by Captain Weir, and the time actually occupied on the voyage was 76 days six hours.

Great Sailing.

On the morning after the arrival of the Loch Awe the reporter of the "Auckland Star" was supplied with, and published at the time, the following report, particulars being given from the log book by the chief officer, Mr. Boyd: "the Loch Awe, with 369 immigrants on board, left Gravesend on April 6, at 4 p.m., and parted with the pilot on the 9th. We crossed the Equator on April 30, passed the meridian on the Cape on May 22, ran down the easting in latitude 45 degrees with strong south-west to north-west winds; took in the main topsail for the first time in the passage on May 29 in longitude 51.36 E., latitude 45.18 S. Passed longitude of Cape Leeuwin on June 8 in latitude 45.10, and were abreast of Tasmania on 13th June, being within 30 miles of Ruric Rock at 10 p.m. On the 14th we fell in with a very heavy south-east gale, and at 3 a.m. on the 15th the ship took a very heavy roll and filled the port lifeboat, which carried away the davits, taking with them the topgallant and main rails and everything movable on deck. From thence the weather became better, the wind settling into a steady south-east breeze, which carried the ship to within ten miles of the North Cape. The Three Kings were sighted on the 19th June at 1 p.m., the passage from land to land being thus made in the unprecedentedpage 194 time of 69 days 4 hours. The ship experienced south and south-east winds down the coast, and anchored in Auckland Harbour after completing the voyage in 76 days 6 hours. From Tristan d'Acunha into port we occupied only 37 days, a time probably never approached by any ship. The log shows an average daily run during this time of 247 nautical miles, the highest record for the day being 330 miles on the 8th June. During one week from the 4th to the 10th June the Loch Awe ran the extraordinary distance of 2159 miles, representing an average of 308 miles a day."

Captain Weir.

Captain Weir.

Captain Weir had the reputation of being a great driver. During the storm on the 15th June the married couples and single girls on board had a very uncomfortable time, and were battened down for two days, but the single men did not suffer this inconvenience.

An Unpleasant Trip.

A correspondent, writing to the "Star" referring to the Loch Awe's record voyage, said: "There were some curious features about this remarkable sail over more than 13,000 miles of the globe, the time being before the days of the cable service. The first announcement the Loch Awe's agents in Auckland had of the sailing from London was her arrival in the Waitemata. The consequence was that considerable delay occurred in passing Customs entries and other papers connected with the cargo. The documents arrived a week after the ship had dropped anchor. The fast passage was not at all appreciated by the passengers. The captain of the Loch Awe was a regular old 'sea dog,' and when an opportunity to crack on occurred he would batten down his 'live stock,' as he called his passengers, and drive the ship through the water like a railway train. He was bent on making a record passage, and one of the consequences was that when he arrived at Auckland he had only two boats left. the Loch Awe covered the distance from London to New Zealand in six weeks less time than the James Wishart and Queen of Nations. These two ships left London and Belfast respectively on the same day, just three days before the Loch Awe left London, and they arrived at Auckland on July 5, 1874, in time to see the record-breaker discharged and almost ready for sea again."

Battened Down.

As Mr. Boyd, in furnishing the report of the Loch Awe's voyage, made no reference to passengers being battened down, I inserted an advertisement in the personal column of the "Star," asking the passengers to write or call upon me, so that I might substantiate some of the sensational statements published. I received more than a dozen replies from the city and country districts supplying many interesting details. Two days after the advertisement appeared three gentlemen who had been passengers called upon me and they all arrived at about the same time. They shook hands and conversed in my room. They had not met since leaving the ship over fifty years ago. When asked how many times the passengers had been battened down, one man said "Never"; the others to some extent corroborated the published statements, but they agreed that it occurred only on the occasion of the big gale in the Tasman Sea. The one who stated they had never been battened down came out as a single man; they apparently were allowed their freedom, but the married couples with their families and the single girls were not allowed on deck during the gale. These men sat and discussed many incidents which occurred during the voyage. They did not agree upon many points, but they were all of the opinion that the passage had been made in 73 days, and were surprised when I read Mr. Boyd's report to find their memory had failed them.

page 195

The chief officer of the Loch Awe, Mr. Boyd, was later given command of the ship Piako.

Some years after her record passage, the Loch Awe made another voyage to Auckland, taking 99 days. She was then barque-rigged.

the Loch Awe also made two voyages to Lyttelton under charter to the N.Z. Shipping Co. She sailed from London on the first occasion on May 4th, and arrived on the 3rd August, 1880, making the passage in 89 days. During the run she encountered several severe gales and had a rough time when approaching the New Zealand coast. The second voyage to Lyttelton was in 1886. She sailed from London on March 13th, and arrived on the 16th June, after a rather lengthy passage of 95 days.

Afterwards sold to a Norwegian firm, she was renamed the Madura, and was torpedoed by a German submarine during the war, with loss of life.