Ditton

A steel full-rigged ship built in 1891 by T.R. Oswald, Milford Haven, as yard no. 259. Dimensions 311'0"×42'3"×25'7" and 2901 GRT and 2699 NRT. Rigged with a main skysail and single topgallant sails. Together with her sistership the Speke (1891), the largest three-masted ships built.

1891 July 20: Launched at the shipyard of T.R. Oswald, Milford Haven, for R.W. Leyland & Co., Liverpool. Assigned the Official British Reg. No. ____ and signal MJBV. The first master was Captain H. Stap.
1897: Sailed from North Shields to San Francisco in 155 days.
1898: Sailed from North Shields to San Francisco in 180 days.
1899: Sailed from Tocopilla to Hamburg in 156 days.
c1901: Captain William Davis.
1901 October 15: Sailed from Birkenhead for Melbourne.
1902 April 4: Drifted onto the Port Crawford (1883) and the Peebleshire when the towrope broke in the harbour of Newcastle, NSW.
1902 July 3: Caught by the wind and the tide when she, loaded down to her marks with coal, was shifted by two tugs in the harbour of Newcastle, NSW. She collided with the British barque Sardhana (1885) and the German ship Anemone.
1902: Sailed from Newcastle, NSW, to San Francisco in 79 days.
1903: Sailed from Puget Sound to Port Pirie in 112 days.
1904 September 13: Stranded on voyage from Newcastle, NSW, to San Francisco, but was later re-floated.
1906: Sailed from Antofagasta to Hamburg in 124 days.
1907: Sailed from Hamburg to Santa Rosalia in 180 days.
1909: Sailed from Chemainus, BC, to Adelaide in 118 days.
1910: Sailed from Sydney to Le Havre in 139 days.
19__: Managed by J.H. Welsford & Co.
1911 February: Sold to Carl Bech & Co., Tvedestrand, Norway, and was renamed Nordfarer.
1911: Captain Fr. Thorstensen.
1912: Sailed from Newport to Mejillones in 173 days.
1914: Captain O. Halversen.
1914: Sailed from Hamburg to Montevideo in 102 days.
1915: Sailed from Portland, OR, to Hull in 192 days.
1916: Captain Thv. Lystad.
1916: Sailed from Philadelphia, PA, to Dublin in 42 days.
1916: Sailed from Dublin to New York in 51 days.
1917: Captain Joh. G. Karlsen.
19__: Sold to Christiansands Shipping Co., Kristiansand, and was renamed Bragdø.
1919: Captain A. Skanberg.
1919: Sailed from Bermuda to Sydney in 126 days.
1920: Sold to Lars Jørgensen, Kristiansand.
1921: Sailed from Wallaroo to Queenstown in 85 days.
1921 November 2: Wrecked at Broobjerg on voyage from Liverpool to Kristiansand in ballast.

References:

Square-rigged ships, general references.
Lubbock, Basil: The Last Windjammers.
Brown, Ferguson & Son, Glasgow, 1926 [?].
Naylon, John: Berättelsen om den mäktiga fullriggaren Ditton.
Longitude Nr 34, Stockholm, 1998. pp 2-12, ill.
Walker, David: Champion of Sail. R.W. Leyland and his Shipping Line.
Conway Maritime Press, London, 1986. 4to, 191 pp, ill.

Updated 1999-01-01 by Lars Bruzelius

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