SHIPS AND THE SEA

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 57, 4 September 1937, Page 24

SHIPS AND THE SEA

(By "Spunyarn.")

SPEEDING ACROSS THE TASMAN

The suggestion that a race between the Awatea and the Mariposa from Auckland to Sydney has been disposed of by the delaying of the Matson liner's sailing until this afternoon, so that the question whether a race would or would not have taken place —and the point has been much discussed—is out of the argument.

The reappearance, of the Awatea after her long overhaul at Sydney, with an enhanced performance, has made it appear as if she would have had a good chance of carrying off the honours. During her trials she worked up a speed of 26 knots. Before her overhaul she was not driven hard, as it was discovered that in another vessel which had similar gearing installed there was not a sufficient margin of strength, and a fault was likely to develop at full power. During the Awatea's overhaul the builders installed stronger gearing, which will enable the ship to steam at full speed with perfect safety. The Awatea, in the words of her master, Captain A. H. Davey, can now develop her tremendous power if and when she wants it.

The Awatea is a vessel of 13,482 tons, built at Barrow in 1936, and the Mariposa, of 18,017 tons, was built in 1931 at Quincy, Massachusetts.

The Awatea, more noticeably on her

runs between Sydney and Wellington, has proved, since her commencement in the service, that she is a fast ship, and probably ■'has a considerable amount of speed in reserve. On October 12, 1936;. she' arrived at Wellington after haying broken the record held by the Monowai by a substantial margin. The Monowai's time had been 2 days 15 hours 10 minutes, and this the Awatea reduced to 2 days 12 hours 33 minutes, subsequently further lowering it to 2,days 11 hours 13 minutes, this time "being recorded on two consecutive trips. Two days 10 hours 22 minutes was the, rext mark reached by the Awatea, and she finally brought the record down to 2 days 9 hours 15 minutes, at which figure it now stands. AVERAGE SPEEDS. The most important fact in regard to these crossings is that the record crossing was done at an average speed of 21.62 knots, compared with the average speed of 22.06 knots maintained by the Mariposa's sister-ship Monterey during a record crossing of 2 days 9 hours 53 minutes between Auckland and Sydney. On that occasion the Monterey used only ten of her twelve boilers, so she.had certainly something in reserve. The Mariposa, with which the Awatea left port, has crossed the Tasman in 2 days 11 hours 20 minutes, this being over the Auck-land-Sydney run, which is 1281 miles, compared with the 1239 miles between Wellington and Sydney. ; The Wanganella has on occasions taken up to about 77 hours to cross the Tasman, and the Marama, just recently disposed of, even longer. In October, 1858, the Lord Worsley, built the previous.year for tha Intercolonial Royal Mail Line, of 500 tons register, and with engines of only 180 nominal horse-power, crossed the ■ Tasman in , the remarkably good time of 4 days 18 hours.' The Awatea develops,2o,ooo horse-power. In the)sixties the Tararua ran between Sydney and Nelson in 4 days 12 hours. . :

What is more remarkable than this,

THE OLD SAILERS WERE NOT SLOW I

however, is that an even lower time has been set by a sailing vessel, and one that is still engaged in the intercolonial trade. The topsail schooner Huia, well-known visitor to Wellington in the explosives trade between Australia and New Zealand, holds the Tasman record for the crossing under sail, having made the passage between Kaipara Heads in 4 days 6 hours. Although this crossing was made under sail alone, she used to carry a small oil engine and propeller for use when entering or leaving harbour. She was sold to Nobel's Explosives, of Auckland, in 1912, and in 1921 a new 160 h.p. Beardmore Diesel engine was fitted, later being replaced by a Gardner Diesel engine, but she relies on sail alone when at sea, carrying petrol and other inflammable cargoes. On her last visit to Wellington she brought more than 1000 ninety-pound artillery shells, which were unloaded at Shelly Bay. As far as the sailing vessel record is concerned, many of the particular) efforts of the early days are either unrecorded or indefinite, but it is certain that many stirring contests took place in the Tasman between whitewinged craft, their speed largely depending upon' the skill of their skippers. The record in 1859 was six and a half days, but in 1862 the barque Alice Cameron crossed the Tasman in

5 days 22 hours, a record which! stood until the'following year when the Kate clipped two hours from the ; time.Then the Adela lowered it again on a run from Newcastle to Auckland. Under Captain Le Brien she sailed from Newcastle; with 400 tons of coal at 4 p.m. on July 30, 1876, and passed the Three Kings on August 3. Th& same evening she was off the Bay of Ifelands, exactly four days from Newcastlfe. She anchored at Auckland on the following day, having made the run in 9. days from port to port. „ ~,,.'

The Novelty, an Aucklanift-built barque, made consistently fast passages to Auckland from Sydneyj her best run being 6 days 16 hours; and the brigs Vision and Moa werje also among the smaller speedy vessejls of their day. The Alice Cameron, to which reference was made abovetmade the trip from San Francisco toj Wellington in 31 days in 1870* | The Rona, another of the barqjues in the Newcastle-New Zealand trade, and previously oh the San Franciscj) run, made some remarkably good passages, and the Raupo, formerly the {Louisa Craig, another intercolonial coal and timber barque, used to set {almost steamboat time regularly. She fre-' quently ran from Adelaide to lAuckland in 12 days, from Melbouqtye to Auckland in nine days, and from Newcastle to Auckland in- 6 days. /

Although all the ships that ha^e distinguished themselves in the intercolonial run cannot possibly be 1 mentioned here, and a number of Reserving vessels have doubtless been jpassed over, the Grasmere deserves A word of praise for her astonishing performance between Newcastle and 'Wellington. She left Newcastle on August 24, 1895, and arrived off Wellington Heads on the 29t'h, five days from port to port. Unfortunately a heavy! nor'west gale sprang up and caused the barque to stand off-shore. On tft c 31st she again beat back to the headis, and was towed in by the tug Duco,; being then only seven days out. But Ifot that unfortunate northerly breeze h%jj» time from port to port would have j.< been phenomenal. s

railway trucks at Melbourne for shipment to India. In 1883 the ship carried no fewer than 320 horses from Melbourne to Calcutta, and the passage was made ir. 42 days.

Emigrants were at one time regularly carried from England to Australia in the ship, and in her roomy cabins she had also first-class accommodation for fourteen people. In ihe early eighties the ship would sometimes be carrying as many as sixty passengers. In regard to rapid trips her old skipper was ever an enthusiast. In his news-cutting book he had many references to trips made in remarkably good tunes. Amongst these were the following:—London to Melbourne, 69 days; Newcastle to San Francisco, 4S days; Glasgow to Adelaide, 72 days; Barry to Port Pirie, 72 days; London to\ Sydney, 72 days; Newcastle to ValpsTaiso, 32 days, and Fredrickstadt to Melbourne, 85 days. tifhatting on one occasion on the subject of his ship's good runs, Captaint, Pattman said: "In regard to those i?unsj from Newcastle to Valparaiso and fcfrom Fredrickstadt to Melbourne, there's a bit of a yarn, and although it is agfliinst ,my ship, I'll spin it. When I waft; going from Newcastle to Valparai.so the four-masted ship Wendur and' flhe Loch Torridon raced each other. \ We left Newcastle at exactly the satyme time,.but^she got to Valparaiso* just six hours ahead of us. And etiriously enough it was that same sliip, the Wendur, which beat me on $he Fredrickstadt to Melbourne passage!.by four days. This ship can travel, l\ can tell you, but the Wendur beat us fln both those runs."

As a matter of fact, the Loch Torridon once>\ sailed 341 knots in 24 hours, and on on(B! occasion she reeled off 2119 knots in seven days.

In 1891 tS'ie Loch Torridon was lying in Sydney i,for five months, eventually loading, hef, first wool cargo. Amongst the magniftoeht fleet of 77 ships which were loading for the sales, she was considered te complete outsider, and had towwaitf t for the last sales. However, she startled the world by beating all the crocks, making the smartest passage of the/ season to the Lizard in 81 days. \\

This fine vessel was eventually sold to the Russians, and ended her days by being abandoned while on a voyage from Fredrickstadt to Melbourne. She was set afire sjp that she would not become a dangerous derelict.