Ben Voirlich

An iron full-rigged ship built in 1873 by Barclay, Curle & Co., Glasgow. Dimensions 255'6"×37'1"×21'8" and tonnage 1504 GRT, 1474 NRT and 1312 tons under deck.

Sister ship to the same owner's Ben Cruachan (1873).

1873 December: Launched at the shipyard of Barclay, Curle & Co., Glasgow, for Watson Bros. Assigned the official British Reg. No. 68067 and signal WSLK. Employed in the Australian wool trade until 1887.
1874 January 3: Sailed from Glasgow under command of Captain Mc Petrie.
1874 January 27 - April 6: Sailed from the Tuskar on her maiden voyage to Hobson's Bay in 69 days.
1874 June 14 - September 30: Sailed from Melbourne to Lizard in 108 days.
1874 November 11 - January 14: Sailed from Plymouth to Port Phillip Heads in 64 days.
1875 March 16 - June 17: Sailed from Melbourne to London in 93 days.
1876 December 18 - March 26: Sailed from Melbourne to London in 98 days.
1877: Sailed from Achill Head to Hobson's Bay in 83 days.
1877 November 6 - February 15: Sailed from Melbourne to London in 101 days.
1878 November 17: Left Melbourne for London.
1878 November 18: Was brought on her beam ends west of the Cape Horn when the ship broached to after haveing been pooped by a wave. Nine men were lost overboard and the ship was capsized for an hour before she righted herself. Captain Ovenstone was in command at the occasion.
1878 March 6: Arrived in London 109 days out from Melbourne.
1881 November 18 - March 22: Sailed from Geelong to London in 124 days.
1880 June 13 - August 19: Sailed from Lizard to Melbourne in 67 under command of Captain Charles Douglas late of the Blackwaller Malabar.
1881 May 2 - July 15: Sailed from Lizard to Melbourne in 74 days.
1882 May 3 - July 12: Sailed from Lizard to Melbourne in 70 days.
1882 November 9 - February 9: Sailed from Melbourne to London in 92 days.
1883: Sailed from Lizard to Melbourne in 87 days.
1883 November 11 - February 10: Sailed from Geelong to London in 91 days.
1884: Captain Bully Martin late of the Ben Cruachan changed ship with Captain Douglas.
1884 May 14 - August 10: Sailed from Lizard to Melbourne, where she arrived 88 days out from Lizard.
1885 December 22 - March 21: Sailed from Melbourne to London in 89 days.
1887 May 22 - September 23: Sailed from London to San Francisco in 124 days.
1890 June 7: Sold to E. Burchard & Co., Rostock, for £ 10.800. The ship was later converted to barque rig. Assigned the German signal MDPH. The new measurements were 76,80×10,90×6,70 meters and 1474 RT. Captain Otto Ahlers
1890: Sailed from Fleetwood to Valparaiso in 86 days.
1891: Sailed from Iquique to Prawle Point in 126 days.
1891: Sailed from North Shields to Iquique in 105 days.
1892: Sailed from Pisagua to Falmouth in 96 days.
1892: Sailed from Helsingør to Port Augusta in 112 days.
1893: Sailed from Port Broughton to Falmouth f.o. in 117 days.
1893: Collided with the British steam ship Prairie King on voyage from Calais to Cardiff.
1893: Sailed from Cardiff to Montevideo in 56 days with a cargo of coal.
1894: Sailed from Montevideo to Talcahuano in 92 days with a cargo of wheat.
1894: Sailed from Conception to Falmouth f.o. in 92 days with a cargo of nitrate.
1894: Sailed from Cardiff to Rio de Janeiro.
1895: Sailed from Rio de Janeiro to Talcahuano in 46 days.
1895: Sailed from Talcahuano to Falmouth f.o. in 100 days.
1895: Sailed from Cardiff to Montevideo in 62 days.
1896: Sailed from Montevideo to Newcastle, NSW, in 72 days.
1897: Sailed from Tocopilla to Hamburg in 123 days.
1897: Sailed from Hamburg to Santa Rosalia.
1898: Sailed from Santa Rosalia to Astoria, CA, in 44 days.
1898: Sailed from Astoria, CA, to Queenstown f.o. in 123 days.
1899: Sailed from Hamburg to Mollendo in 134 days.
1899: Sailed from Caleta Buena to Prawle Point in 105 days.
1900: Sailed from Dungeneß to Lyttleton in 93 days.
1902: Sold to J. Guandolfo & P. Rossalini, Italy, for £ 5750 and was renamed Cognati.
1908: Badly damaged in a collision with an iceberg off the Cape Horn but was able to reach port.
191_: Used as a receiving ship for captured German seamen at Leith during the war.

References:

Square-rigged ships, general references.
Lubbock, Basil: The Colonial Clippers.
Brown, Ferguson & Son, Glasgow, 1948 (2nd).
Rabbel, Jürgen: Rostocks eisener Segler. Hinstorf Verlag, Rostock, 1990 (2. Aufl.). 8vo, 224 pp, ill.

Updated 1997-06-14 by Lars Bruzelius

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