“Loch Maree”—the Fastest of the Lochs.
The Loch Maree was also launched in September, 1873. She was an especially beautiful ship in every way and the fastest probably, of all the “Lochs, Barclay, Curle were instructed to spare no expense in making her as perfect as an iron ship could be, and she certainly came up to her owners’ expectations, both in her looks, her outfit as an up-to-date passenger clipper, her speed, and her behaviour as a sea boat.
Underneath a poop of over 50 feet in length, she had her first class passenger accommodation arranged on the plan adopted in the P. & O. steamers.
She crossed three skysail yards, had a full outfit of stunsails and other flying kites, and the following spar plan will give one an approximate idea of her sail area.
| SPAR PLAN OF LOCH MAREE. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spars | Fore | Main | Mizen | |
Mast—deck to truck | 148 feet. | 153 feet. | 130 feet. | |
Lower mast | 63 ft. | 68 ft. | 59½ ft. | |
Doubling | 16 ft. | 16 ft. | 13 ft. | |
Topmast | 54 ft. | 54 ft. | 44½ ft. | |
Doubling | 11 ft. | 11 ft. | 9 ft. | |
Topgallant mast | 34 ft. | 34 ft. | 28 ft. | |
Doubling | 6 ft. | 6 ft. | 5 ft. | |
Royal and skysail masts | 30 ft. | 30 ft. | 25 ft. | |
Lower yard | 84 ft. | 84 ft. | 69 ft. | |
Lower topsail yard | 71 ft. | 71 ft. | 57 ft. | |
Upper topsail yard | 68 ft. | 68 ft. | 54½ ft. | |
Lower topgallant yard | 55 ft. | 55 ft. | 43½ ft. | |
Upper topgallant yard | 51 ft. | 51 ft. | 40 ft. | |
Royal yard | 41 ft. | 41 ft. | 31½ ft. | |
Skysail yard | 30 ft. | 30 ft. | 24 ft. | |
| Jibboom 70 feet | Spanker boom 50 feet | Spanker gaff 36 feet | ||
Loch Maree’s start in life was an unfortunate one. On 5th November, 1873, she sailed from the Clyde for Melbourne under Captain MacCallum with a full cargo, 11 saloon and 30 second cabin passengers, and the following is an account of her maiden voyage, which was given me by one of her apprentices:—
On the tenth day out, we were bowling along sharp up on the starboard tack, near the Island of Palma in the Canary group, when a squall struck her flat aback with such violence, that in a few moments her tall masts with their clothing of well-cut canvas lay a hopeless tangle over the side. Everything above the lower masts disappeared under the magic breath of the squall. When the wreckage was finally cleared away, the driving power was limited to a foresail, a crossjack and a lower mizen topsail. The mainyard had been snapped in the centre, one half lay on the rail and the other hung by the slings, rasping and tearing with every roll. But the crippled sailer, unlike the crippled steamer, can usually make a very creditable effort for safety. A course was set for Gibraltar. Improvised canvas, mostly of the fore and aft variety, was rigged up, and in 14 days the Rock was reached in safety. To show her wonderful sailing qualities, when two days from Gibraltar, we overhauled and easily passed a 600-ton barque under royals.
Captain MacCallum watched the barque as she fell away astern, and remarked: “If I had only thought she could sail like this, I would have kept on for Australia.”
The Loch Maree arrived at Gibraltar on the last day in November, and after being refitted sailed from the Straits on 20th January, 1874, and ran out to Melbourne in 74 days, arriving there on the 4th April, 150 days out from the Clyde.
She sailed from Melbourne homeward bound on 14th June, ten days behind the Carlisle Castle of Green’s Blackwall Line. On the 14th day out, a sail appeared ahead at 11 in the forenoon. We were at the time swinging along with topgallant stunsails set on fore and main and a three-cornered lower stunsail.
Captain MacCallum, though Scotch, had sailed mostly in Yankee ships and was a veritable whale for “kites.”
“Take in that three-cornered stunsail and set a square one,” he ordered, “I want to be alongside that fellow this afternoon.”
At 3 p.m. we were side by side with the Carlisle Castle. She flew no kites, her royal and skysail yards were down and the crossjack unbent. She was taking it easy and arrived in London three weeks after us.
On that same passage Loch Maree put up a remarkably fine spin from abreast of Fayal to the Downs, which distance she covered in 4½ days. On the run we overhauled a fleet of 12 schooners bound from the Azores to England, all bunched together in a radius of 3 or 4 miles. With topgallant stunsails set and everything drawing to a spanking breeze on the port quarter, we rushed through the centre of the group of fruiters, each one of whom was doing her best with topmast and lower stunsails set.
I had often listened to the tales of old sailors, portraying in vivid language the fabulous speed of these little vessels, but alongside a smart 1600 tonner, with a skipper who knew how to crack on, they cut but a sorry figure. The Loch Maree was doing at least 3 knots more than any of them, and in a very short time they were mere silhouettes on the skyline.
Right up the Channel the kites were carried, and when morning broke off the Isle of Wight a sail was discerned ahead, which daylight proved to be a big barquentine rigged steamer under all sail. We had evidently crept up on her unobserved in the darkness, for when the discovery was made that a windjammer was showing her paces astern, volumes of black smoke belched in sooty clouds from her two funnels, as if entering a protest against such a seeming indignity. But, in vain, she fell away in our wake as the fruit schooners had done a couple of days before.
Loch Maree’s times, both out and home, from this date were generally amongst the half-dozen best of the year. Captain Grey, R.N.R., had her on her second voyage and then Captain Scott took her.
In 1878, when homeward bound from Melbourne, the Lizard was sighted on the 68th day out, but the passage was spoilt by hard easterly winds in the Channel.
In 1881, the Loch Maree made Port Phillip Heads on 19th July, 70 days out from the Channel. On 29th October she left Geelong homeward bound. When a day out she was spoken by the three-masted schooner Gerfalcon off Kent’s Group, and that was the last seen of her. It is significant that another big ship, the North American, a transformed Anchor Line steamer, disappeared at the same time, also homeward bound from Port Phillip.