John C. Munro

An iron full-rigged ship built in 1862 by James Laing, Sunderland. Dimensions: 169"2'×28'2"×18'5" and tonnage: 612 tons.

1862 November 8: Launched at the shipyard of James Laing, Sunderland, for George Lawson Munro & Co., London. Assigned the official British Reg. No. 45076 and signal ..... Employed in the China trade.
1869: Sailed from Amoy to New York in 99 days.
1872: LR 1872-73: Master: Captain J. Kidder.
1873: Sold to Killick, Martin & Co., London. Captain J. Smith.
1885: Sold to Thomas Dobson Woodhead & Co., Hull. Probably reduced to barque rig at this time.
1892: Sold to Cockerline & Co., Hull [?].
1893 June 13: Sold to Nils C. Corfitzon and partners, Helsingborg, for £ 1450 and was renamed Nornan. Assigned the official Swedish Reg. No. 612 and signal JBRV. The new measurements were 51,80×8,31×5,59 meters and 641 GRT, 618 NRT and 900 DWT. Captain Edward Julius Hellgren, Helsingborg, owner of a 11/30 part was appointed master of the ship.
1896 June 15: Sailed from Sydney with a cargo of guano [?] for Mauritius.
1896 July 1: Wrecked on the east coast of Eastern Fields, British New Guinea, just east of the entrance to Torres Straits. The crew of the captain's boat was picked up by a steamer while the mate's boat managed to reach the coast of New Guinea.

References:

Square-rigged ships, general references.
Svenska järn- och stålseglare.
Båtologen Årg. 29-31 (1991-93).
MacGregor, David R.: The China Bird. The History of Captain Killick, and the Firm he Founded: Killick Martin & Company.
Conway Maritime Press, London, 1986 (2nd rev.). 4to, 224 pp, ill.

Updated 1997-05-18 by Lars Bruzelius