“Sir Walter Raleigh.”
The Sir Walter Raleigh, commanded by Captain W. Purvis, was a very well-known and regular wool clipper of the type of Romanoff. I do not think she was quite in the first flight, but she was never very far behind, and in 1880 she shared with Ben Voirlich the distinction of making the best outward run of the year.
The following extracts are from Patriarch’s log, when homeward bound in 1878, 79 days out from Sydney.
Feb. 8.—18° 41′ N., long. 38° 55′ W.—Spoke the Sir Walter Raleigh, Melbourne to London, 77 days out.
Feb. 9.—Sir Walter Raleigh still in company.
Feb. 10.—Sir Walter Raleigh ahead.
Feb. 11.—Sir Walter Raleigh dead to windward.
Feb. 12 to 16.—Sir Walter Raleigh still in company.
In the end Patriarch got home a day ahead, Sir Walter Raleigh making the best passage by a day. Sir Walter Raleigh was probably faster in light and moderate winds than in strong, as I can find no very big runs to her credit.
On the 10th November, 1888, she left Sydney for London, wool-laden, and was wrecked near Boulogne on 29th January, 1889, when only 80 days out and almost in sight of home. Five of her crew were drowned. It was a tragic end to what promised to be the best wool passage of her career.