GREYHOUNDS OF THE DEEP BY F W Coonbes

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, Volume V, Issue 1, 1 October 1901, Page 43

GREYHOUNDS OF THE DEEP BY F W Coonbes

fiXTREME speed, no matter whether *• accomplished on land or water, always seems to possess a singular fascination of its own, and thus we find the utmost interest taken in anything in which it appears as an important factor. To a nation of sailors it is but small wonder that accounts of anything out of the ordinary, accomplished by some swift steamer or clipper ship, is always deemed worthy of perusal.

Looking a long way back into histoi'y we find that the Romans paid very special attention to the speed of their vessels, indeed going so far as to specially build a portion of their fleet with this one object in view, these being known as naves liburna. They were very lightly constructed, everything being sacrificed for the purpose of attaining great velocity, and were used by the great captains and for despatch boats. However, without going so far back into ancient history, we find one or two ships whose names have come down to us as being notable in this respect. The champion of the day was one of Henry the Seventh's

warships, " that grate and oxcedynge swyfte shyppe, ye ' Heuri Grace a Dieu.' " This ancient "Henry" may have been a fast vessel, but if so her looks sorely belied her. With immensely lofty castel luted to worn — for in those days these were considered essential for fighting purposes — great masts and generally cumbersome upper structure, she looks a vessel which it would have boon wise to have remained out of in a breeze of any strength. How it was possible for her to go to windward at all seems little short of a miracle, and, if she did so, the fact is a grand testimonial to the skill of the English tars of those times.

The famous " Sovereign of the Seas " marked a very great advance in marine architecture. She was the first of our three deckers, and the picture of her shows a vessel, although still disfigured with the towering stern, yet presenting some sort of semblance to the present-day clipper.

Although seamen were ever essentially a conservative race, yet gradually the work of improvement went on, the best representatives of progress in the matter of speed

being found in the sailing frigate of the early part of the century, such for instance as the " Saucy Arothusa." Even here Britishers had much to learn from their French aud American rivals, the warships of these countries being always considerably in advance in the matter of beauty of modelling.

Befoi'e the era of steamers some very fine ships were engaged in the tea trade with China, and here great inducement was offered to build ships for speed. Many were the races Home with the new season's teas, for the first ship in meant a fortune to the lucky owners. The " Lord of the Isles," the "Ariel," the "Sovereign of the Seas" and a host of others were engaged in the trade, and some wonderful passages were

made. The skippers of those days were never afraid to " carry on," and the amount of canvas they packed on to their ships was simply prodigious. A piotuve of the crack tea clipper " Ariel " shows her, not only under all plain sail, but with studding sails, raffers, skysails, moonrakers, and watersails.

The seamen in those days of keen rivalry must indeed have beeu kept busy, but then there were always plenty of men shipped to do the work, and there were none of the skeleton crews, which is the rule rather than the exception nowadays. The wool trade with Australia naturally brought about the advent of some speedy vessels into the waters of the Pacific. Noted among these were the Aberdeen clippers, which carried off most of the honours. Old Melbourne residents will tell you of the intense excitement which prevailed in 1860 when the good ship " Thermopyloe " was signalled off Port Phillip, sixty days out from the Old Country, for at that time the ai-rival of a ship from the Old Land was something of an event. People refused to

believe it possible that the clipper could have made the voyage in such phenomenal time. When it was seen to be in reality the beautiful gi'een -hulled ship, the utmost enthusiasm was shown, the skipper coming in for the heartiest congratulations. That record established forty years ago stands good

to this day, but, alas ! the " Thermopyloa," the pride of the fleet, has fallen ou evil times, having been sold to Norwegians, and now, with her spars cut down and all her glory of spotless sail and good paint departed, is doing duty as a timber tramp.

Another vessel of the same line captured the record from London to Sydney, this being the " Patriarch," which entered Port Jackson, only sixty-five days out from Home. One had only to glance at those two ships to see where they got their excessive speed from, for they possessed exceptionally beautiful lines, and when loaded up ready for sea, had all the smart appearance of yachts.

Very little inferior to these two were the "Sophocles" and "Cutty Sark." The latter, a small composite ship, made a remarkable number of quick passages, and it is doubtful if the average of her runs was not better than any other.

It is recorded of the " Patriarch " that on one occasion, when coming up the Australian coast, she was passed off Jervis Bay by the P. and 0. " Britannia." Soon afterwards a " southerly buster " sprung up, yet, although

the mail steamer was doing over fourteen knots, with the gale behind hor, the old Aberdeen clipper showed such a rare turn off speed that she was oft' the M.'icquario Light twenty minutes before her big antagonist — a piece of sailing which goes to prove what these old " wind-jammers " could really do when pressed. It is somewhat doubtful as to which ship the honour of holding the record to New Zealand belongs. It is, however, claimed, and probably with justice, for tho Liverpool barque, " Sam Mendel," which on one occasion reached Port Chalmers in the splendid time of sixty-three days, a trip which has not since been bcatou. Some good performances have been registered by sailing vessels across the Atlantic. In 1866 one of tho sensations of the year was the yacht race from Sandy Hook to Cowes between the three schooners, "Henrietta," " Fleetwing," and "Vesta." They sailed from New York in December, and met a constant succession of galos all the way ont, the " Fleetwing" losiug some of her crew overboard. Curiously enough, they all arrived at Cowes ou the same day,

after a quick trip of fourteen days. The «' Henrietta " proved the victor by about two hours, a close enough finish for a three thousand miles' race. The winner afterwards did good service in the Civil War, while the " Fleetwing," rechristened the " Dauntless," was subsequently defeated in another Atlantic race by the English schooner

" Cambria."

The trip to England of the famous schooner " America " probably did more good than was generally recognised, for her victory in the race for the Cup stirred up the Home designers, and tended to get them out of the old groove in which they had jogged along for years.

Quite apart, however, from the doings of the pleasure fleet., a keen rivalry existed for many years between American and British merchant vessels, and the trials of speed across the Atlantic were very numerous between them, but it must be freely admitted that in nine cases out of ten victoi'y fell to the representatives of Uncle Sam. Judging by some of the models of the clippers of the early part of the last century, American designers had arrived at a very high state

of proficiency in their art, for their productions were certainly the most beautiful specimens of marine architecture, being chiefly remarkable for their yacht-like lines and for the enormous height of the spars they carried. It is small wonder that some of the passages across the " herring pond " were accomplished in times which border on the phenomenal.

The advent of steam, and more especially the introduction of iron into ship building, brought about a complete change, and the death knell of American supremacy may be said to have been sounded with the first toans- Atlantic trip of the steamers " Sirius " and " Great Western." The former vessel, which was the pioneer of the innumerable ocean linei\s of the present day, was a wooden paddle steamer of 703 tons, and on her first voyage, in 1838, she crossed from Liverpool to New York in seventeen days. Fancy the dismay of twentieth century travellers if they were asked to essay the trip in what, compared to the present day leviathans, was but the veriest of cockle shells. The " Sirius " was immediately followed by the " Great Western," of 1,340

tons, a steamer which at that time was looked upon as one of the wonders of the age, and on their first trips these two vessels had a trial of speed. Great interest centred in their meeting, and there was much wagering as to the result. Victory fell to the larger steamer, which accomplished the passage in fifteen days. Subsequently the " Great Western " made sixty-four voyages across the Atlantic, her speediest trip taking twelve days, seven and a-half hours. She was eventually broken up at Vauschall in 1857.

Prior to this, however, the " Savannah," an auxiliary steamer of 300 tons, had accomplished the passage in twenty-two days, this being in 1819. This ship, which was under the command of Captain Stevens Rogers, when passing Cape Clear under steam, was sighted by the look-out man, who signalled to the admiral at Cork that she was a " ship on fire." The admiral thereupon despatched a cutter to go to her assistance, but the officers of the British ship were amazed to find that they were unable to come up with the stranger, although the latter was under bare poles. The engines of the " Savannah " were then stopped, and the crew of the cutter allowed to inspect the steamer.

In 1840 Mr. Samuel Cunard, of Halifax, founded the famous line which bears his name, and with him were associated Messrs. Robert Napier, Geo. Burns, and David Maclvor, the first vessels of the fleet being the " Caledonia," " Acadia," " Columbia," and " Britannia," and it is worthy of note that the Company, although running for over sixty years, during which time its ships have carried millions, still maintains its proud boast of having never lost a passenger's life.

The Cunarder "Britannia" and the American line steamer " Washington " once indulged in a race from Liverpool to Boston, the Britisher taking first honours by nearly two days. Cousin Jonathan, however, had his revenge some years later, when the ill-fated Collins Line entered the arena. The " Baltic," belonging to this Company,

brought down the rocord to nino days, eleven hours, a performance which was not eclipsed for twelve years. Disaster, however, seemed to dog the stops of this enterprising Company, which, after losing some of its finest vessels, eventually had to go to tho wall.

The year 1860 was remarkable for the first appearance of Scott Russell and Brunei's leviathan steamer, the " Grout Eastern." The history of this immense ship is so well known that it is needless to recapitulate it. Although she broke no record, yet some of her performances vvoro by no means to be dospisod, when it is considered how badly she was underengined. On her iirst trip, under Captain Vine Hall, she managed fourteen and a-hulf knots, the best day's work being 333 knots. Immense excitement was caused in Now York by the arrival of the " Great Eastern," Fort Lafayette firing a salute in her honour, while the chimes of Trinity Church played "Rule Britannia." Every vantage post was crammed with sightseers, and bunting galore was flying throughout the town.

In 1863 we find the Cunard Line again to the fore, the " Scotia " having made tho run from New York to Liverpool in eight days, three hours, but six years Inter tho supremacy was wrested from them by a new competitor in the Inmau and International Line, whose steamer, the " City of Brussels," was the first to make the run under eight days.

In 1872 the famous White Star Lino took a hand with the good ship " Baltic," which made the trip in seven days, twenty hours, but five years later the Inman Company were at the head of affairs once more, the " City of Berlin " having chipped nearly five hours of the figures put up by the " Baltic." The White Star people, however, were by no means content to sit quietly under defeat, and 1877 saw them ahead once again, the " Britannic " (5,004 tons) putting up seven days, ten hours, fifty-three minutes as her record.

Two years later another Richmond was in the field, this being the well-known

Guion Line, whose " Arizona " chipped another two and a half hours off the time, this being surpassed in 1882 by the celebrated " Greyhound of the Atlantic," the " Alaska," of the same line, which made the run in seven days, six hours, forty-three minutes. Yet another successful competitor appeared in 1884, the National Liner " America " reaching New York in the unprecedented time of six days, fourteen hours, eight minutes, but a few months later the old Cunard Company cut in again with the "Oregon," which wiped off another five hours from the slate. With the constant assaults on the record down it steadily came, the Cunarder "Etruria" making the passage in six days, one hour, fifty-five minutes in 1888, a year later the beautifnl Inman steamer, " City of Paris," easily surpassing this with five days, nineteen hours, eighteen minutes. Then the White Star liner " Teutonic " knocked off another three hours, but in her turn was defeated by the " City of Paris " with five days, fourteen hours, twenty-four minutes, figures which the Cunarder " Campania " has come near to beating. This record is, however, the best ever accomplished by a British steamer, but in this respect the red ensign has been lowered by the red, white and black of Germany. Four years ago the North German-Lloyd Company wrested the supremacy from England by the aid of that grand steamer, the " Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse," which made the voyage from New York to Plymouth in the wondei'ful time of five days, fifteen hours, doing nearly twentytwo knots per hour throughout. A very powerful antagonist, however, soon appeared on the scene, this being a compatriot —

the Hamburg- American liner " Deutchland." This splendid boat, of 16,000 tons, has recently made the run from New York to Plymouth in five days, seven hours, thirtyeight minutes, which at present stands as the record. The " Deutchland " maintained the remarkable average of 28.36 knots on the whole trip, her best day's run beiug 549 miles. It is said that on the occasion she hoisted these figures, she beat her great German rival by neai'ly twelve hours. The " Kaiser " left Sandy Hook over an hour ahead, but on the second day the Hamburg steamer had overhauled her, the latter coming in alone. Not only is the "Deutchland " noted for extreme speed, but repoi't has it that she is more elaboi'ately furnished than any other merchant steamer

afloat

Although many ships of war have surpassed these latest figures on their trial trips, yet none of them have been found equal to maintaining such high velocity for any length of time at sea. Only the other day two fast cruisers raced Home from Gibraltar with the object of testing the respective merits of Scotch or Belleville boilers, yet the winner, H.M.S. " Minerva," was only able to do a trifle over eighteen knots, although it is safe to assume she was given every pound of steam possible. Some of the torpedo destroyers have attained phenomenal speeds on the trials, notably the Turbine boats, and it is possible that it may be in this direction that future improvements will come. There can be little doubt, however, that in years to come we shall have vessels travelling as much faster than the present-day cracks as these latter in their turn are ahead of the champions of fifty years ago.