Including Sail versus steam
Sails and rigging
copyright R.J.Warren 2011-2012
This section has been placed for those with an interest in Sails triaing ships, Sail rigging on barques and etc. There were many ships bought and used as sail training ships by the sailing nations. Most countries felt the need to keep their youth actively engaged in this discipline even after the demise of the age of sail. Listed below are a few of the many, some of the older generation may still recall being told that their grandfather had been trained aboard this or that vessel. With Devitt and Moore showing the way in the late 19th century, sail training became a tradition for most of the sailing nations and this tradition still continues into the 21st century.isted below are just a few of the many.
‘ALBATROS’ Built 1905, Iron three mast Schooner of 472 tons. Length: 156.4 ft, Breadth: 27.6 ft, Depth: 12.8 ft. Built by Neistern and Te Weldt at Martenshek for Seetzen Gebreuder. Master: Captain N. Dier. German Training ship before the first world war. [German Cadet Training Ship]
‘ARETHUSA’ ex ‘PEKING’ Training ship of New Zealand. [See ‘Peking’]
‘CRAIGMORE’ Built c1895. Steel ship of 1997 Tons. Length; 262.5 ft. Breadth; 40 ft. Depth; 23.6 ft. Built by A Rodger and Co. Owned by the Italian Government in 1922 as the Training ship ‘Marie’ [General Carrier and Training ship]
‘ESMERALDA’ Built 1931.Chilean Naval training ship of approximately 1850 Tons. She was one of quite a few ships of the same name in that followed one another in that profession. [Naval training ship]
‘ESMERALDA’ Built 1952.Launched 12th May 1953. Steel four-mast brigantine schooner of 3673 Tons. Length: 113 metres. Breadth: 13.11 metres. Depth: 8.67 metres. Draft: 6.78 metres. Mast: 48.50 metres. Engine: Diesel of 6 cylinders and 2000 Horsepower. Engine speed: 9.5 Knots. Sail area: 2870 square metres. Speed under sail only. 17.5 Knots. She was built at Echevarrieta’s Shipyard, Cadiz, Spain. Commissioned to the Chilean Navy 12th May, 1953.Crew; master and 20 officers, Midshipmen; 88. Sailors: 210. [Chilean Naval Training Ship]
‘EVERTSEN’ Built 1891. Steel barque of 1465 Tons. Length: 238.2 ft. Breadth: 37.5 ft. Depth: 21.4 ft. Built by Rijkee and Co at Rotterdam, Holland. Sold to the Peruvian government for use as a training ship in 1925. She was renamed ‘Tellus’ by them and ran under this name for a few more years. [General Carrier and Training Ship]
’‘FAVELL’ Built 1895. Steel barque of 1363 Tons. Length: 237.5 ft. Breadth: 36.2 ft. Depth: 21.3 ft. Built by Hill and Co for themselves at Bristol. She was sold to the Finns and used as a training ship by them until she made her last voyage in 1934, to the ship breakers. [General Carrier and Training ship]
‘GLENARD’ Built 1893. Steel ship of 1937 Tons. Length: 265.5 ft. Breadth: 40.1 ft. Depth: 22.9 ft. Built by Roger and Co for Sterling. She was sold to the Finns for use as a training ship late in her life. [General Carrier and Training Ship]
‘HARBINGER’ Built 1876. Iron ship of 1506 Tons. Length: 253.5 ft. Breadth: 37.6 ft. Depth: 22.4 ft. Built by Anderson for Steel of Greenoch. Master: Captain Bolt. She was sold to Devitt and Moore in 1890 and was used by them as a training ship. They sold her to the Russians in 1897.Russian owner: J. L. Enlund 1905. [Passenger Ship and Cadet Training Vessel then General Carrier]
‘HERZOGIN CECILIE’ Built 1902. Steel four-mast barque of 3242 Tons. Length: 324.1 ft. Breadth: 46 ft. Depth: 23.8 ft. Built by Rickmers for Nordeuscher Lloyd. She was a German training ship until the end of the First World War. She was then given to the French who sold her to the Finn, Gustav Erikson for 8000 dollars. Her master at this time was Captain Reuben De Cloux and he took her into the Australian grain trade. [General cargo, Training ship and Grain Carrier]
‘HESPERUS’ Built 1873. Iron ship of 1777 Tons. Length: 262.2ft. Breadth: 39.7 ft. Depth: 23.5 ft. Built by Steele of Glasgow. Owned and built for Anderson and Anderson. Master: Captain Legoe. She was bought by Devitt and Moore for their cadet training scheme in 1891.She was later abandoned by her crew in Sydney, New South Wales. They left only her cadets aboard her under the command of her captain and officers. She left Sydney with a full cargo of wool and arrived in England after a good passage. She was sold to the Russians in 1899, she was the renamed after Russian royalty and became the ‘Grand Duchess Maria Nicolaevna’. They used her as a training ship until they sold her to Italians from Genoa and they renamed her ‘Silvana’. She was sold back to the British who had her until she was broken up in the 1930’s. [Passenger vessel and Cadet training ship]
‘JORDAN HILL’ Built 1892. Steel barque of 2291 Tons. Length; 278.4 ft. Breadth; 42 ft. Depth; 24.2 ft. Built by Russell at Port Glasgow for T Law and Co. Master; Captain G Kennedy. Registered. Glasgow. She was sold to Spain in 1920 and became the Spanish training ship ‘Augustella’. She was registered at Genoa, Italy in 1922. [General Carrier and Training ship]
‘JUAN SEBASTIAN DE ELCANO’[Spanish Training ship pre- second world war 1939-45]
‘KJOBENHAVEN’ Built 1921.Steel five-mast barque of 3901 Tons. Length: 368.9 ft. Breadth: 49.3 ft. Depth: 26.9 ft. Built as a Danish training ship along with the ship ‘Viking’. Master: Captain Andersen. She went missing with all hands in December 1928, while on a voyage from Buenos Ayres to Melbourne. She had a crew of 15 Officers and ratings with 45 cadets. [Training Ship]
‘LAURISTON’ Built 1892. Steel four-mast barque of 2301 Tons. Length: 284.6 ft. Breadth: 42 ft. Depth: 24.4 ft. Built by Workman. She was sold to Galbraith, Hill and Co in 1902 and they in turn sold her to George Duncan and Co in 1905. She was sold to the Russians in 1925 and renamed ‘Tovarisch’ and she operated as a training ship for them although her first voyage with them was under the command of a British captain who deserted the ship for reasons unknown at Port Talbot. The ship had only one person who could navigate- a woman. She took control and sailed the vessel back to Leningrad with the 45 cadets manning the ship. In 1927, the vessel was involved in a collision with the steamship; ‘Alcantra’ and the steamer went to the bottom very quickly leaving only one survivor. The survivor was an engineer who managed to grab the back ropes of the ‘Tovarisch’ as his own ship sank beneath him. Master: Captain Ernest Friedman. [General Carrier and Training Ship]
‘L’AVENIR’ Built 1908. Steel four-mast barque of 2738 Tons. Length: 278.2 ft. Breadth: 44.8 ft. Depth: 26.5 ft. Built by Rickmers at Bremerhaven for Associated Maritime, Belge. She was built as a Belgian training ship. She was later sold by them and was renamed ‘Admiral Karpfanger’ and she was lost with all hands in 1938. Master: Captain Zander. Registered at Antwerp at the end of her days. [Training Ship and General Carrier]
‘LIBERTAD’ Steel square-rigger of the Argentine navy. [Naval Training Ship]
‘JOHN MURRAY’ ex ‘Loch Ryan’ Built 1877. Iron ship of 1207 Tons. Length; 228.5 ft. Breadth; 35.8 ft. Depth; 21.3 ft. Built by Thompson for the General Shipping Company’s ‘Loch’ line. Master: Captain Black. She was sold to the Victorian Government for use as boys training ship. She was renamed ‘John Murray’ while in this enterprise. She was wrecked in the Pacific during the Second World War. [General Carrier and Training Ship]
‘MEDWAY’ ex ‘Ama Begonakoa’ Built 1902. Steel four-mast barque of 2516 Tons. Length: 300 ft. Breadth: 43.2 ft. Depth: 24.8 ft. Built by McMillan for Sota Y Aznar of Monte Video. She was later sold to Devitt and Moore and renamed ‘Medway’ by them. She became a training ship for that firm and was then put into the Australian trade. Master: Captain Robert Jackson. He died in November 1916 and was replaced by Captain McKay for one month until Captain David Williams could take her over from the eighty year old Mckay. Captain Jackson had the privilege of being able to show the Germans how to sail, in 1914 he was ordered to heave to by a German raider but he just ordered more sail and cleared out before the German steamship could do anything about it. The steamer was soon left behind in a good breeze. She was commandeered by the English government and was converted to a diesel engine oil carrier in 1919. She was renamed ‘Myr Shell’ for this enterprise. She went to the Japanese scrappers in 1933. [Training ship and Oil Carrier]
‘MACQUARIE’ ex ‘Melbourne’ Built 1875. Iron ship of 1857 Tons. Length; 269.8 ft. Breadth; 40.1 ft. Depth; 23.7 ft. Built by the Blackwall yards for Green. He sold her to Devitt and Moore for conversion to a training ship. She was then renamed ‘Macquarie’. Her figurehead was of Queen Victoria. Master; Captain Goddard. She was sold to the Norwegians in 1903 and they renamed her ‘Fortuna’. [Passenger and Training ship]
‘PADUA’ Built 1926. Steel four-mast barque of 3064 Tons. Length; 320.5 ft. Breadth; 46.1 ft. Depth; 25.4 ft. Built by Tecklenborg at Wesermunde, Germany for R.F.Laeisz. Master; Captain Shuberg then Captain Claus in 1936. She was built for the Grain trade under the ‘Flying P’ flag. Registered; Hamburg 52785 RFVQ. She was launched on June 24th 1926, with space aboard for 40 cadets to undergo sail training. She went into the Nitrate trade for a short spell before going to the Australian grain trade.[Grain Carrier and Training ship]
‘PAMIR’ Built 1905. Steel barque of 3020 Tons. Length; 316 ft. Breadth; 46 ft. Depth; 26.2ft. Built by Bloom and Voss for Laeisz. Master; Captain R.Miethe in 1912.She was the last of the great clipper ships to leave Australia with a full cargo [grain] in 1948-49. She was turned into a Training ship for the Germans and in 1959, she was lost during a gale off the coast of West Africa. Many cadets went to their deaths with her.[Grain Carrier and Training Ship
‘PORT JACKSON’ Built 1882. Iron ship of 2132 Tons. Length; 286.2 ft. Breadth; 41.1 ft. Depth; 25.2 ft. Built by Hall of Aberdeen for Devitt and Moore. Master; Captain A.S.Cutler. She was designed by Alexander Duthie and cost 29,000 Pounds to build. She became a cadet training ship and ended her days when she was torpedoed by a German submarine on April the 28th 1917.[Passenger ship and Cadet Training Vessel]
‘SOBRAON’ Built 1866. Composite ship of 2131 Tons Length; 317 ft. Breadth; 40 ft. Depth; 27 ft. Built by Hall of Aberdeen for Lowther, Maxton and Co. Master; Captain Kyle then Captain J.A.Elmslie. He had her for here career in the Australian passenger trade. His sons also did their apprentice ships aboard her. She saw many highs and lows during her varied career. She had the usual crew accidents and the occasional death by other means but overall she was a very popular ship in the passenger trade. She was retired and sold to the NSW government in 1891 and she then served as a reform school for boys for the next twenty years. In 1911 the shipwrights who were about to break her up inspected her but she was found to be as sound as she ever was and the Federal Government bought her for use as a training ship. They renamed her ‘Tingira’ and she remained in that role until she was retired for good and broken up. She carried the bell from the old cadet training ship ‘Vernon’ as a call to assembly for the boys who were learning their trade.[Passenger Liner and Training Ship]
‘SORLANDET’ Built 1927. Steel ship of 577 Tons. Length; 172.3 ft. Breadth; 29.1 ft. Depth; 16 ft. Built by A/S Hoivolds Motor Mechanical Works in Christiandsand, Norway. Registered; Norway LDTY. Master; Captain H.Brunsvick. She became the Norwegian training ship in the 1930’s. [General Carrier and Training Ship]
HMAS ‘TINGIRA’ [see ‘Sobraon’]
‘VERNON’ Built 1839. Wood frigate built ship of 911 Tons. Built for Green at the Blackwall yards. Master; Captain George Denny. She was an East Indiaman before being placed into the Australian passenger trade. She then became a reformatory ship for boys and finally she was destroyed by fire in Sydney, NSW, when sparks from the Hulk, ‘Golden South’ ignited the ‘Vernon’ and caused her destruction. Flames lit up the hills around the harbour creating a scene that was long remembered in that city [ East Indiaman, Passenger ship and Training ship.
THE TEST; SAIL VERSUS STEAM
‘ TAURAKINA’ and SS ‘RUAPEHU’
On the 14th of February, 1895, in latitude 46* 15 S; Longitude 68* 16 E, the New Zealand Company’s mail steamer ‘Ruapehu’ was running her easting down in strong winds [force 7 on the Beaufort scale] when it was noticed by the watch, at 9am, that a sailing ship was coming up astern of the steamer.
The captain ordered the engineer to drive the ship and also to set the topgallant sails in an effort to out run the sailing ship. The steamer was running at 14 knots at this time and was, like her adversary, ploughing through the roughening seas. At noon, the sailing ship, which turned out to be the New Zealand Company’s ‘Turakina’ came up alongside of the ‘Ruapehu’ and was close enough for those aboard the steamer, to see the faces of the officers and men of the 27 year old ‘Turakina’ ex ‘City of Perth’. The sailors aboard were working feverishly as the excitement caused by passing a steamship had everyone aboard working as one.
The‘Turakina’ forged ahead in a flurry of foam and was heeled over with the force of the wind, she crossed the bows of the steamer after hauling her wind. She then shortened sail enough to satisfy the wind but yet stay ahead of the battling steamship. They stayed like that until midnight when the wind changed and the next morning the wonderful little sailing ship had disappeared. This tale of a race between sail and steam meant the world to all those who sailed before the mast, even though the life was rough, the men who sailed before the mast would not have had it any other way.
Only the want for faster service and the lure of wealth could end their era as the forerunners in transportation, an era gone but never forgotten.
The captain ordered the engineer to drive the ship and also to set the topgallant sails in an effort to out run the sailing ship. The steamer was running at 14 knots at this time and was, like her adversary, ploughing through the roughening seas. At noon, the sailing ship, which turned out to be the New Zealand Company’s ‘Turakina’ came up alongside of the ‘Ruapehu’ and was close enough for those aboard the steamer, to see the faces of the officers and men of the 27 year old ‘Turakina’ ex ‘City of Perth’. The sailors aboard were working feverishly as the excitement caused by passing a steamship had everyone aboard working as one.
The‘Turakina’ forged ahead in a flurry of foam and was heeled over with the force of the wind, she crossed the bows of the steamer after hauling her wind. She then shortened sail enough to satisfy the wind but yet stay ahead of the battling steamship. They stayed like that until midnight when the wind changed and the next morning the wonderful little sailing ship had disappeared. This tale of a race between sail and steam meant the world to all those who sailed before the mast, even though the life was rough, the men who sailed before the mast would not have had it any other way.
Only the want for faster service and the lure of wealth could end their era as the forerunners in transportation, an era gone but never forgotten.
‘SAILS AND RIGGING.’
Over the centuries, the number and shape of sails used on shipping changed dramatically from the original single sail of the Mediterranean and Scandinavian shipping, to the great cloud like sails of the full rigged windjammer. Sails of the 16th through to the early 20th century were varied, dependent on the size of the vessel, on a typical three mast ship of this period, ships sailed with a lower course of mainsails on each mast followed by topgallant sails and royal sails. In some of the more adventurous vessels, more sails were placed above the royals, these were: skysails, cloudscrapers, moonrakers and the uppermost sail, the stargazer, which was not much bigger than a ladies scarf.. The ship ‘Essex’ loaded a total of 63 sails onto her masts giving that ship the fame of having carried the most ever sails. [A list of those sails can also be seen under ‘Essex’ in the ‘Notable Passenger Ships register in this work] American sea captains had a tendency to lay on more sail than was needed at most times, the desire for greater speed especially during the gold rush years caused a great many ships to come to grief because of this habit. Ships of three or more masts were square rigged on all masts with a spanker sail set on the aft side of the aftermost mast. The barque rig came into fashion around the first decade of the 19th century and this rig was to compete favourably with the fully square-rigged ship for the last of the days of the great tall ships.
The passenger vessel ‘Essex’ carried aloft more sails on her three masts than any other known ship.
Sail Plan of the three mast ship ‘Essex’;
Foremast Forecourse
1.Topsail...............................................Stunsails; [cont]
2.Royal..................................................31.Upper Topgallant.
3.Skysail...............................................Mainmast; Maincourse;
4.Moonraker......................................... 32.Topsail.
5.Cloudscraper..................................... 33.Topgallant.
6.Stargazer............................................ 34.Royal.
7.Storm Staysail.................................... 35.Skysail.
8.Topmast Staysail................................ 36.Moonraker.
9. Jib.......................................................37.Cloudscraper.
10.Inner Jib............................................38.Stargazer.
11.Flying Jib...........................................39.Staysail.
12.Outer Jib...........................................40.Topmast Staysail.
13.Outer Topmast Jib............................41.Middle Staysail.
14.Upper Topmast Jib............................42.Topgallant Staysail.
Bowsprit; ................................. 43.Royal Staysail.
15.Spritsail...............................................44.Upper Staysail.
16.Spritsail Topsail.................................. Mizzen Mast;
17.Sprit Outer Topsail..............................45.Square Crossjack Yard.
Stunsails;.............................................46.Mizzen Topsail.
18. Common Lower....................................47.Topgallant.
19.Outer Lower..........................................48.Mizzen Royal.
20.Common Topmast.................................49.Skysail.
21.Outer Topmast...................................... 50.Moonraker.
22.Common Topgallant...............................51.Driver.
23.Outer Topgallant....................................52.Ringtail.
24.Royal Topgallant....................................53.Water Sail.
25.Lower Stunsail........................................54.Gaff Topsail.
26.Common Topmast...................................55.Upper Topsail.
27.Outer Topmast........................................56.Mizzen Staysail.
28.Common Topgallant................................57.Topmast Staysail.
29.Outer Topgallant.....................................58.Royal Staysail.
30.Royal Topgallant.....................................59.Topmast Stunsail.
[cont top right] ............................................60.Topgallant Stunsail.
MASTS
Each mast also had its own name,even when the Americans managed to place seven of them on a single ship, all were given names by the captain. Three mast ship or barque; Foremast, Mainmast and Mizzenmast. When a fourth mast was added, it was named Bonaventure or Jigger.
When the fifth mast was added, it became the Spanker The sixth mast became the Driver, the seventh and eighth masts were usually open to naming by the captain, some used numbers while others used names like; After mast or After jigger etc. There have never been qualified names for the different masts over and above the normal three or four, perhaps due to the fact that three and four masts were the main in the English fleets and only the Germans and Americans seemed interested in having more than the regular number of mast.
BARQUES;
Barques were square rigged on all but the after most mast, this being fore and aft rigged, all ships were then noted as being either ship or barque with a usual comment on the number of ma
Unusual rigs;
Unusual rigs came into being toward the end of the 19th century and were mostly of American origin. Six and seven mast schooners were relatively common but they always caused excited comment when arriving in port.
Brigantines, schooners and smaller vessels were at times used as transport for passengers to the Antipodes and many descendants of these intrepid settlers have difficulty finding portraits or old photographic representations of the vessel that began their family history in the great south land.
No comments:
Post a Comment