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Dunboyne (af Chapman) | Official Number
95311 |
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Dunboyne (af Chapman) | Official Number
95311 |
The Dunboyne was a full-rigged iron ship built by the Whitehaven Shipbuilding Company, launched in February 1888. She had been built on speculation by the shipyard, but was sold soon enough, to Richard Martin & Co., of Dublin.The Dunboyne made her maiden voyage from Maryport to Portland, under the command of Capt.John O'Neill. During the voyage a ship travelling close to her, the Combermere, was badly damaged by a whirlwind. Upon his arrival in San Francisco, that vessel's master, Capt.Jenkins, reported that he feared for the safety of the Dunboyne. These fears were groundless, and the ship arrived safely at Portland. She returned to Liverpool, arriving there on the 15th January 1889.
The Dunboyne then made her first voyage to Australia, leaving
Liverpool and arriving at Sydney. Her mate on this voyage was Thomas
Messenger, later to command the Ladas and Midas.
In his account of the voyage, a book of letters that he sent to his
daughter, Mesenger records that Capt.O'Neill had his wife and daughter
aboard, but that the child died and was buried at sea. One story he did
not tell was that on a subsequent voyage, at Port Pirie in November
1892, he and the second mate, Wakeham, were fined 30
and 10 shillings respectively for assaulting an apprentice, Horatio
McCulloch.
In March 1893 the Dunboyne picked up off Cape Horn the 24 survivors of the barque Templemore, which had foundered after striking icebergs. The survivors, who included Mrs.Thomson, the master's wife, had spent five days in open boats. They were landed at the Falkland Islands.
The name of the owners of the Dunboyne was changed to Charles E.Martin & Co., but the ship remained registered at Dublin. She traded between Europe, Australia and the West Coast of the US, continuing under the command of Captain O'Neill until 1904.The command of the Dunboyne then passed to Captain Newnham. His first voyage was from London, to Fremantle, departing on the 13th November 1904, dropping the pilot at Beachy Head two days later, then arriving at Fremantle at sundown on the 3rd February 1905. This voyage of 80 days included a stop for the Dunboyne to load a cargo of explosives.
In 1908 the ship was sold to Leif Gundersen of Porsgrund. Norway, and she contiued in her usual trades. She was renamed the G.D. Kennedy in July 1915 when she was subsequently bought by the Swedish shipping company Transatlantic. This company sold her to the Swedish government in 1924, and it was then that the ship was renamed af Chapman. She spent ten more years at sea, ending her final voyage on the 27th September 1934. During World War II, the af Chapman was moored in Stockholm harbour, serving as a floating barracks for the Swedish Navy. No longer required by the Navy after the War, the ship was saved when the City of Stockholm bought her in 1947. Today the af Chapman is moored at Skeppsholmen in Stockholm, where she has been used as a youth hostel since 1949.
The af Chapman is reputedly the World's third oldest surviving iron-built ship (the Euterpe,
built in the Isle of Man, is one of the older ships).
Photographs of the Dunboyne
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