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

The Lochnagar

The Lochnagar.

the Lochnagar, a fine little barque of 460 tons, completed twenty voyages to New Zealand from 1873 till 1896, and brought out many thousand immigrants. Under the command of Captain Kelly she made runs outwards of 94, 95, 99, and 102 days—a really fine performance for such a small vessel. The barque sailed under the Shaw, Savill flag.

The little barque had a narrow escape of leaving her bones on the beach at Gisborne during 1880. the Lochnagar frequently visited Gisborne to load wool for England, and on October 27 of that year she arrived from Auckland, and was lying in the roadstead. A heavy southerly gale sprang up, and the vessel was dragging her anchors, so the captain attempted to take his ship out of the bay, but found it impossible. As there was grave danger of the barque being driven on the rocks, he squared away and ran her up high and dry on a sandy beach to the west of the entrance of the river, where she remained for several weeks. Early in 1881 the Arawata was sent up to tow the vessel off, but when she arrived the Lochnagar was already afloat, and required no assistance. The insurance companies congratulated the captain upon his skill in saving the vessel. Fifteen thousand pounds were expended in refitting the barque.

On his arrival at Timaru in 1885. Captain Perriam gave some details of a very severe storm which commenced on September 29 and continued until October 2. During these three days the ship laboured fearfully, and was hove-to on several occasions, her decks being constantly awash. About midnight on September 29, when the wind was blowing with hurricane force, a heavy sea struck the starboard side, carrying away bulwarks, rails, stanchions, skylight, compass, and binnacle; also flooding thepage 150 decks and cabins, and knocking the second officer across the poop. The barque was kept away from the wind, and tarpaulins nailed over the hole in the poop. The ship was hove-to, and a new binnacle stand made by the carpenter.

Two years later, on September 22, 1887, when the Lochnagar was making a second voyage to Timaru, under Captain Sinclair, the vessel again encountered heavy weather when rounding the Cape, and was hove-to under close-reefed topsails for twenty hours. During this time the ship laboured heavily. A huge sea broke on board, seriously injuring the helmsman and doing minor damage to fittings, etc.

the Lochnagar had another rough experience when bound out to Nelson in 1891. On this occasion she was 48 days reaching the Equator, owing to a succession of heavy gales, the vessel being hove-to several times for 24 hours. She met with further furious gales in the Southern Ocean, the barometer falling at one time to 28.85. For eleven days the gales were favourable, and the barque travelled 2500 miles in that time, the best day's run being 264 miles.

On the passage out to Nelson in 1895 the Lochnagar, while lying at anchor off East End, was run into by a large steamer which carried away the Lochnagar's bowsprit, jib-boom, head rails and did other serious damage. The barque returned to London for repairs, sailing again a fortnight later. The barque also had a bad run out to Napier in 1889, very severe gales being met with after rounding the Cape.

The records of the Lochnagar were:—

To Auckland.
Sailed. Arrived. Captain. Days.
June 7 Sep. 26, '64 Chester 111
Oct. 16, '72 Jan. 19, '73 Kelly 95
June 12 Sep. 16, '80 Perriam 96
To Wellington.
Sailed. Arrived. Captain. Days.
Mar. 2, '66 Jan. 24, '67 Stott 114
July 13 Oct. 23, '79 Kelly 102
To Lyttelton.
July 2 Oct. 25, '84 Perriam 114
To Dunedin.
Feb. 4 May 22, '75 Kelly 107
To Nelson.
Aug. 22 Nov. 24, '76 Kelly 94
July 6 Oct. 22, '77 kelly 108
Apr. 27 Aug. 25, '86 Herd 120
Aug. 12 Dec. 8, '91 Gasson 118
Jan. 20 May 16, '95 Summers 116
Jan. 21 May 8, '96 Wightman 107
To Napier.
Aug. 12 Dec. 4, '89 Sinclair 114
*Sep. 19, '90 Jan. 15, '91 Gasson 118
To Timaru.
July 18 Nov. 1, '85 Perriam 106
July 15 Oct. 25, '87 Sinclair 102
To Bluff.
May 21 Aug. 28, '78 Kelly 99
July 5 Oct. 28, '82 Perriam 115
July 14 Oct. 19, '83 Perriam 99
July 21 Nov. 17, '88 Sinclair 119
Nov. 15, '93 Apr. 10, '94' Gasson 146
*

A barque of 379 tons, also bearing the name Lochnagar, arrived at Auckland on April 5, 1859, in command of Captain Jenkins, making the passage in 121 days.

* Via Nelson.