W[illiam] D. Lawrence

A full-rigged ship built in 1874 by William Lawrence, Maitland, NS. Dimensions: 262'0"×48'0"×29'1" and tonnage 2458,82 GRT, 2458,82 NRT and 2315 tons under deck. An additional 144 tons could be stowed under a 70 ft long raised quarter-deck. Equipped with Fraser & Bryan's patent double action metal pumps.

Rigged with double topsails and three skysails. The mainyard was 90 feet long and the lower shrouds and topmast backstays were made of 5½ inch wire.

Later [before 1889] re-measured as 259'×47'8"×27'4" and 2493 NRT.

1874 October 27: Launched at the shipyard of William Lawrence, Maitland, NS, for his own account. Assigned the official British Registration No. 72434 and signal NGDC. Was at the time of her launch the largest sailing ship, with the exception of the Three Brothers, a converted steam-ship from New York.
1974-1880: In command of Captain James Ellis.
1974 December 4 -: Sailed from Saint John to Liverpool in 23 days.
1974: Sailed from Liverpool to Aden.
1875 [?] September 13 - December 3: Sailed from Aden to Callao in 80 [?] days.
1876 January 20: Proceeded to Pabellon de Pica on charter to Dreyfus Frères et Cie to load guano for Le Havre. Was detained for eleven months before the cargo could be obtained.
1876 December 11: Sailed from Pabellon de Pica to Le Havre.
1878 March - July: Sailed from Aden to Callao in 148 days.
1879 December - April: Sailed from Huanillos to Falmouth in 106 days with a cargo of guano.
1880: Sailed from Newcastle to Bombay in 138 days.
1882: Sailed from Liverpool to Bombay in 122 days.
1882 September 23 - January 3: Sailed from Narakal, India, to London in 101 days.
1883-05-01: Sold to Sandefjord, Norway, for $ 140.848 and was renamed Kommandør Sven Føyn. Her new master Captain Johan M. Bryde owned 1/16 part of the ship. Employed initially in the trans-Atlantic timber trade and later in the oil trade between New York and Europe.
1889: Sold to Chr. Christensen, Sandefjord.
1892: Sold to A.S. Union (Johan Bryde), Sandefjord.
1892-1896: In command of Captain G.M. Bryde.
1896-1898: In command of Captain A. Nielsen.
1897 December: On voyage from Dalhousie, NB, with a cargo of lumber for London, she was partly dismasted in a storm near the Goodwin Sands and was towed to Gravesend.
1898: The damages proved to be too much for the old ship and she was condemned and sold to French owners for £ 1500. Used as a barge at Dakar.

References:

Squarerigged ships, general references.
MacMechan, Archibald: The Great Ship.
Nova Scotia Museum, Halifax, 1976 (2nd). 8vo, 8 pp, ill. First published in the Dalhousie Review, Vol. 8, No. 2, Summer, 1928.
Stephens, David E.: W.D. Lawrence: The Man and the Ship.
Lancelot Press, Hantsport, Nova Scotia, 1975. -8vo, 68 pp, 4 plates.

Updated 1999-02-01 by Lars Bruzelius

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