Ships and the Sea

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 144, 21 June 1930, Page 30

Ships and the Sea

THE OLD LANCING

STEAMER AND SAILER

Tliesto'ry of our mercantile marine contains "some, wonderful: records, but few /vessels • ciln claim such a remarkable and romantic Career as the British sailing ship Lancing .(writes the "Mersey.") She; began as a crack French liner/ the.n : became in t turn a British ' full-rigged'four-maste'd sailing ship and, j finally, as a Norwegian vessel, ended her days at the hands of': tho . . ship- | breaker's -on the Italian seaboard. The Lancing .not only,hadi'.a remarkable career, but in rher. day .created, some splendid records. ,; X- ■' \ ... ■; In the year 1866, the Compagnie Generate Transatlantique placed iv commission the large ■ passenger, mail; and cargo liner. La Pereire. ; She was built on the.'Clyde to the special requirements of the trade and was engaged in the regular service • between Havre and New York. .In those days slie. was looked uponVas- one of the; Atlantic "greyhounds,"and her steaming prov ed veryv consistent all through' her voy; ages,. the %vessel': maintaining the high standard of 'the company's trans-Atlan-

tic services. Unfortunately, diving one of her trips, in or about, the year 1888, she went ashoro at St. Nazaire and sustained very serious damage. It was while in this damaged state that Captain George Hatflcld became interested in the >vessel and, with the flnan cial aid of th.c late Mr. A. U. Kinnear, of London, who was identified with a <rroup of financiers, he purchased La Pereire as she'was lying on tho beach. After a great deal of salvage and, repair work tlie steamer was eventually floated off, made seaworthy, and, with Captain George Hatiield m command, she was towed round to Blylh ou the east coast of England. CONVERSION TO FOUR-MASTED SHIP. The conversion of the liner to a fulljigced ship was possible' not only by the help of the London financieis, but also from the large sum received in payment for tne steamci 's engines and fittings. When'her conversion was completed 'she presented a fine appearance and not only pioved a ciedit to the East Coast firm which carried out the work, but also to her practical and able commander, and she could justly be termed a "Queen of tho Seas." Tho ship Lancing was named after the town of that name in Hampshire, Mr. Kinnear Js home town. Her dimensions were: 2785 tons gross and 2622 tons net, with a length of 405 feet over-all; beam 43.8 feet. Her mainmast and mizzen mast were 200 feet from deck to truck, while the head of her mainsail was 100 feet long. OUTBREAK OF FEVER. Her spars, rigging, and sails were planned by Captain George Hatfiold, and he commanded her for many years. On her third voyage as the Lancing, m the year 1894, she proceeded from Liverpool to Cardiff and loaded coals for Batavia. It is interesting to record in this connection that Captain George Hatfield on this voyago shipped as an ordinary seaman his nephew, the present Captain Jacob Hatfield. As proof of the vessel's fine sailing qualities 'she made the passage fiom the Bristol Channel to Batavia in 90 days. On the second part of this voyage, fiom Batavia to Calcutta, Lancing wet with an unfortunate experience, for whilst beating up tho Bay of Bengal the dreaded Java fever broko out on board, and out of the whole crew of 34 men all told, only four—tho two boys (one of whom was Jacob, now Captain, Hatfield), the second mate, and tho btewaid —wore sufficiently well enough to take a hand in working tho ship. lor a whole fortnight Captain George Halfield lay ill in one of the lifoboat covers, but he managed to give instructions for the safe handling o± tho ship during this trying period. As a result of the malady two of tho crow died and were buried at sea. In comparison with the very fast passage from Cardiff to Batavia, the iuu from Calcutta to New York was bordering on one of those passages where there is every likelihood of a vessel appearing on tho "oveidue" list, for this passage occupied 165 days, dvi ing which the crow were short of provision's, and for a whole fortnight each man was rationed to half-a-pint of, water por day.'. The Laneing's next voyage was from New York to Melbourne, and Captain George retained the command for about four years, when the ship was purchased by Messrs. Robert. Law and Co., of Glasgow, who subsequently. sold;her to the Norwegians. , SQMEIUBCpRD PASSAGES. ' • Among;her remarkably fast ; passages and recordß -were 76 miles in & hours; 18 knots'for. 72 i hours; 16.65 knots for 8 days, 3146 milee. The following are

a few of her notable passages:—New Caledonia to Buenos Aires in 42 days; Santos to Melbourne ,in 46 days; Christiania to Melbourne in 71 days; Glasgow to Buenos Aires'in'4l days; and Newfoundland to Pentland Firth in 6i days. On her, last i; voyage as a merchant ship from Sandy Hook to Cumbraes on the Clyde she made the trip in 9.days 8 hours. The '' Biver, Plato Observer of 21st May, 1920, referring to.her- fast passage from New- Caledonia to Buenos Aires,, said:—:"New Caledonia, the French possession, is the best part of 12,000 miles from Bueuos Aires, yet there is a sailing vessel in port which has made the run between -the: Plate and the Island in 42 days.: Seeing that she also, holds the world's sailing roeord ;of IS knots for; 72. consecutive hours, the voyage: is, not . surprising. The ship referred to is the Norwegian ship Lancing, now;in Buenos Aires under the Agency, of Messrs. S. O. Stray and ; Co., and commanded by Captain Pederson. -The Laueing is a full-rigged ship built on the Clyde 55 years ago, and she is as good to-day as she was when she -ran the fast mail between France and the ■ Onit^d States The famous old clipper came out from Glasgow to Buenos: Aires Con'her last voyage in 41 days. .She is a picture of a ship.under full.sail, and as big as most

of our modern tramp steamers. During j tho war tho Lancing made some very' fast' voyages. In a ■ day less than 12 months she made four complete round trips across tho Atlantic, including the time occupied in loading and unloading. Tho record between Liverpool and Melbourne held by one of the old clipper ships is 63 days,'and the Lancing made the run from Christiania ,to Melbourne in 71 days, which does not put her far outsido the record,' and tho marvel about the old ship is that Captain Pederson thinks that if he drove her she could still break records, although she is inoie than half.a century old." In 192j, while lying in the Clyde, tho' Lancing was sold to an Italian shipbreaking firm, and later the saino year feho sailed from Glasgow for Genoa with a cargo of coal, and ' although nearly 60 years old, she was classed 100 Al at Lloyd's right <up to the i end. * v Traffic Through Panama Canal, During the 'month of Maich, 1930, states the May-June "Bulletin of the American Bureau of Shipping," 515 commercial vessols and 7 small launches passed through tho Panama- Canal. Tolls on the commercial vessels aggregated 2,260,002.36 dollars, and on the launches 42.06 dollars, or a total tolls collection of 2,260,044.42 dollars. The daily average number of commercial transits for the month was 16.61, and tho average tolls collected was 72,903.30 dollars, as compared with an average of 17.54 transits and 76,120.93 dollars in tolls for the previous month, \and an average of 17.29 transits and 75,608.57 dollars,in tolls for March, 1929. Tho averago amount of tolls paid by each of the commercial transits was 4388.35 dollars, as compared with 4390.91 dollars for the month of February, 1930. While tho number.of transits for tho first nine months of the current fiscal year is 107 fewer than tho number in tho corresponding period of last year, tli£ amount of tolls collected is 158,296.----78 dollars greater in tho first nine months of 1930. 'Phis is accounted foj by the fewer transits in ballast this year, and an increase in the average si^se of vessels using the canal. Shipwreck Relief Society. The annual report of tho Shipwreck .Relief Society of Now Zealand, which was presented at tho annual meeting at Duncdin recently, states that the society had to deal with one of the most .serious shipwrecks that have occurred on the Xcw Zealand coast for many years, in tho wreck of the s.s. Manuka. Although the passengeis had had a most trying time, however, there had been no loss of life. The society had expended in relation to the wreck a gross total of £3222 10s lid. Altogether £3461 10_8 lid had been spent in shipwreck relief work, and other expenses brought the total to £3644 4s 6d. The total receipts were £1077 le, 4d, .leaving a loss on the year's workings of £2567 3s 2d.