“Marlborough,” “Hermione” and “Pleione.”
In 1876 three very fine little ships were built for Shaw, Savill; these were:—
Marlborough, 1124 tons, 228 feet length, 36 feet beam, 21 feet depth, launched in June from Duncan’s yard.
Pleione, 1092 tons, 209.7 feet, length, 34.6 feet beam, 20.3 feet depth, launched in September by Stephen, of Glasgow.
Hermione, 1120 tons, 219.4 feet length, 35 feet beam, 21 feet depth, launched in October by Hall, of Aberdeen.
The longest of the three was also the fastest, as is the general rule where beam and depth are about the same.
Marlborough was certainly a very fast ship and in 1880, under Captain Anderson, ran from Lyttelton to the Lizard in 71 days.
In 1889 she sailed from New Zealand homeward bound with frozen mutton about six weeks behind the Dunedin, and a great stir was raised in New Zealand when neither ship reached her destination. No trace of them was ever found, though the Wellington which sailed in between the two arrived safely.
Pleione, like so many ships in the New Zealand trade was eventually sold to the Scandinavians, whilst Hermione was bought by the Italians and renamed Mantova. She was broken up at Genoa in 1913.