Benvenue

An iron full-rigged ship built in 1867 by Barclay, Curle & Co., Glasgow. Dimensions 210'×35'1"×20'7" and tonnage 999 GRT, 999 NRT and 961 tons under deck. The forecastle was 33 feet long and the raised quarterdeck 34 feet.

1867 May: Launched at the shipyard of Barclay, Curle & Co., Glasgow, for Watson Bros., Glasgow. Assigned the official British Reg. No. 58314 and signal HPNQ. Employed in the Australian emmigrant trade.
1876: Transferred to the New Zealand emmigrant trade.
1879: Captain J. Macgowan [LR 1879-1880].
1881 February 11 - April 29: Sailed from Gravesend Port Chalmers in 77 days or 70 days from Lizard.
1882 May 5: Arrived at Timaru with a cargo of coal from Newcastle.
1882 May 13: Capsized and broke her anchor cables during a storm while discharging her cargo. Drifted ashore and was too severely damaged to be worth salvaging. The wreck was later sold for £ 150. Captain McGowan and the crew managed to get off before the ship drifted ashore and were taken up by the City of Perth. When the steel hawser of the latter ship showed signs of breaking the two crews abandoned the ship and managed to reach shore.

References:

Square-rigged ships, general references.
Lubbock, Basil: The Romance of the Clipper Ships.
Hennel Locke Ltd, London, 1948.

Updated 1998-06-22 by Lars Bruzelius

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