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Blencathra | Official Number
69716 |
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Blencathra | Official Number
69716 |
The Blencathra was an iron barque built by the Whitehaven
Shipbuilding
Company, launched at Whitehaven in August 1874. She was owned by George
Nelson & Co., of Whitehaven, and made her maiden voyage from
Glasgow for Sydney, departing from the Broomielaw quay on the Clyde on
26th October 1874. She had been chartered by a Clyde shipping line and
was under the command of Captain David Nicholas, an experienced master.
The Blencathra was wrecked at Currie harbour, King Island, midway between Tasmania and the Australian mainland, on the 3rd February1875. The master mistook Cape Wickham light for the Cape Otway light, then struck a reef near Currie harbour. No lives were lost among the 20 crew and one passenger, who were helped off the stranded vessel by workers salvaging goods from another recent wreck, the British Admiral. The barque could not be refloated, but the cargo was salvaged.
The Scotsman, 12th March 1875, page 6;
" This vessel, which went ashore at King's Island on February
3d, was given up by the owners, and her cargo was also thrown upon the
underwriters. The Blencathra was a vessel of 890 tons; she sailed from
Glasgow for Sydney, New South Wales, on the 28th of October. She was new,
being built in the end of last year by the Whitehaven Shipbuilding Company,
Whitehaven, for G.Nelson & Co., of that port. The Blencathra came round
to the Clyde and took on board a large general cargo, valued at £50,0000.
The cotton goods were set down as worth £15,000, woolens at £7,500,
linens and jute at £3,000; haberdashery, £9,500; spirits and
beer, £5,000; and iron goods at £6,000. A telegram received by
the Glasgow underwriters states that the ship and cargo have been sold,
and realised £12,300. The vessel alone cost £5000 more than
the sum realised for ship and cargo, and the loss sustained by the underwriters
from this wreck will be about £60,000. "
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