Carricks

Official Number 51216

The Carricks was a full-rigged ship built by J.T.Fell at Workington in June, 1867. She was owned in Liverpool and her early voyages are described by Capt.Thomas Garry Fraser (see Source 1), who sailed in her as a senior apprentice. The vessel was equipped with skysails and double topsail yards, and was capable of carrying over 2000 tons of cargo.

On the 2nd August the Carricks left Workington in ballast and under tow, to load a cargo of salt for Calcutta at Princes Dock, Liverpool. Her master was Capt.J.Garry. She left the Mersey on the 28th August, and was severely damaged by a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, eventually arriving in Calcutta for repair. There several crew members were lost to cholera. The return journey was first to Mauritius with a rice cargo, then to Ceylon, and then from Burma to Liverpool with another rice cargo. Capt.Garry was badly ill from a tropical fever and was forced to retire from the sea after this voyage. He was replaced for the next voyage by the Chief Mate, Anderson. That voyage took the Carricks from Liverpool to Calcutta, then returning to Liverpool via St.Helena. According to Capt.Fraser, Capt.Anderson died from the effects of alcoholism on the subsequent voyage.

Source 2 shows that the Carricks arrived in Sydney from London in August 1871, under the command of Capt.Alexander Locke (possibly the Capt.A.Locke who had command of another Bushby ship, the Belted Will, until 1870). In Source 1 Capt. Fraser reports that in 1873 the Carricks had stranded on a reef in the Phillipine Sea, but had been recovered to Manilla, where her master was tried by Naval Court and lost his certificate. She was then given to the command of Capt.Can, previously of the Corea, another Bushby ship built at Workington.

The Carricks was eventually sold to Norwegian owners and was re-rigged as a barque. In December 1890 she was abandoned on a voyage from Pensacola to the Tyne, with the loss of eleven crew. Her master was picked up by the barque Emma Payzant.
 

Sources :

1. "Captain Fraser's Voyages" by Marjorie Gee (Stanford Maritime Limited, 1979) ISBN 0 540 07180 3.
2. Mariners and Ships in Australian waters - Carricks 1871
3. Record of American and Foreign Shipping, 1890 - names master as Capt.A.Jensen and owner as O.Roed, vessel registered at Tonsberg, Norway.
4. Wreck reported in the Times newspaper, Saturday, 27th December, 1890, page 4.