Auchencairn

Official Number
89842

Auchencairn, painting submitted by Ray Lloyd.

The Auchencairn was built in October 1891 by Ritson & Co. at Maryport. She was a four-masted steel barque rigged with royal sails over double top- and topgallant sails. She was initially owned by her builders and was registered at Maryport. Her first commander was Capt.William Nelson, an experienced master who had previously commanded the William Ritson, and was later to command Acamas and Ladas, all built at the Ritson shipyard.

The vessel survived a gale when under tow from her builders to Cardiff, and she made her maiden voyage from Cardiff to San Francisco, departing on the 24th Nov.1891 and arriving after a passage of 118 days. Unfortunately British vessels were unable to compete with subsidised foreign ships at this time, so the Auchencairn remained at the American port for 18 months. It was only in August 1893 that she could load a grain cargo and sail for Stockton-on-Tees. Subsequent voyages in 1893-4 were from Newcastle-upon-Tyne to Port Pirie, Australia with coal, then Newcastle, NSW, to San Francisco, also with coal. The vessel remained under the command of Capt.Nelson until May, 1897, when she discharged a grain cargo at Limerick from San Francisco. The Auchencairn was then sold out of British ownership.

The painting shows the Auchencairn rounding Cape Horn in 1893, returning from San Francisco after her enforced stay there following her maiden voyage (photo submitted by Ray Lloyd).

The barque was renamed Nomia after being sold to Rhederei Visurgis AG of Bremen, Germany. She was lost in a hurricane at lat.42S long.160E (Tasman Sea, 640 nm SSW of Sydney) on the 16th July 1912, bound for Antofagasta from the Australian port of Newcastle, which she had left 6 days previously. The barque was carrying 3100 tons of coal and was under the command of Captain Himme. Her fate was only revealed when a message in a bottle was picked up at Wanganui, New Zealand, in May 1913. Another corked bottle, bearing a message from Captain Himme, was picked up at Tewah beach, near Brisbane, in February 1914.


Name
Year Built
Gross Tons
Length (feet)
Breadth (feet)
Depth (feet)
Masts
Figurehead
Stern
Lloyd's Classn.
Auchencairn
1891
 2040
287.7
40.2
23.4
4
 
 
100 years A1, Special Survey

Sources :

  1. Photographs and newspaper reports at the National Library of Australia website.
  2. Her career under Capt.W.A.Nelson is described in detail in the book "Master of Cape Horn" by Hugh Falkus, which includes three photographs of the vessel.
  3. The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, has two photos of the Auchencairn.
  4. Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1893-4: Auchencairn, steel 4-masted barque, 2040 grt, built Oct.1891 by Ritson & Co. at Maryport, official no.89842, signal letters MHTW, owned by Ritson & Co., registered at Maryport, master Capt.W.A.Nelson.
  5. Report of the Nomia as "Missing" in the Sydney Morning Herald,Thursday, 21st November 1912, page 10.
  6. Messages in bottles reported in the Brisbane Courier, 13th May 1913, and in the Sydney Morning Herald, 6th February 1914.