The “Harbinger.”
The Harbinger was built to lower the colours of the wonderful Torrens in the Adelaide trade, being fitted to carry a large number of passengers. Indeed she was the last sailing ship specially built and fitted for carrying passengers. In more ways than one she was a remarkable vessel, and differed in many interesting details from the stock type of Clyde-built iron clipper.
In her rigging and sail plan, she had various fittings which were peculiar to herself.
To begin with, she was the only iron ship which had the old-fashioned channels to spread the rigging: and in another way she went back many years by never bending a sail on her crossjack yard. Instead of this sail she spread a large hoisting spanker, and she always carried a main spencer or storm trysail, a sail very often seen on down east Cape Horners, who found it very useful when trying to make westing off Cape Stiff.
The famous Cutty Sark was fitted with a spencer yard and sail at her launch, but I doubt if she ever used it; at any rate, Captain Woodget told me he never used it, for the simple reason that he never hove the Cutty Sark to in ten voyages to Australia. I have several of Harbinger’s abstract logs and I can find no instance of her using this sail either.
Harbinger was a very lofty ship, measuring 210 feet from the water-line to her main truck, and, unlike the Hesperus, she always carried her skysail yards crossed. Her jibbooms were of unusual length—I say jibbooms, for outside her ordinary jibboom she carried a sliding gunter or flying jibboom. On these she set a whole fleet of jibs, and, as if they were not sufficient, she had cliphooks for a storm staysail on the fore stay.
“HARBINGER.”
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“HARBINGER.”
Photo lent by F. G. Layton.
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After her first voyage 600 superficial feet of canvas were added to her square-sail area, and even so she was not a bit over canvassed, as she was a very stiff ship and always stood up well to a breeze.
That she did not make more remarkable passages must be put down to the fact that, like the Hesperus, she was never hard sailed; but she could do over 300 miles in the 24 hours without much pressing, and running her easting down 340 knots in a 23½-hour day was about her best. Her best speed through the water, measured by the odometer and the common log, was 16 knots.
With regard to her sea qualities, Mr. Bullen, who served on her as second mate, speaks as follows:—“She was to my mind one of the noblest specimens of modern shipbuilding that ever floated. For all her huge bulk she was as easy to handle as any 10-ton yacht—far easier than some—and in any kind of weather her docility was amazing…. She was so clean in the entrance that you never saw a foaming spread of broken water ahead, driven in front by the vast onset of the hull. She parted the waves before her pleasantly, as an arrow the air; but it needed a tempest to show her ‘way’ in its perfection. In a grand and gracious fashion, she seemed to claim affinity with the waves, and they in their wildest tumult met her as if they knew and loved her. She was the only ship I ever knew or heard of that would ‘stay’ under storm staysails, reefed topsails and a reefed foresail in a gale of wind. In fact, I never saw anything that she would not do that a ship should do. She was so truly a child of the ocean that even a bungler could hardly mishandle her; she would work in spite of him. And lastly, she would steer when you could hardly detect an air out of the heavens, with a sea like a mirror, and the sails hanging apparently motionless. The men used to say that she would go a knot with only the quartermaster whistling at the wheel for a wind.”
It is doubtful if a ship ever sailed the seas with more beautiful deck fittings. They were all of the finest teak, fashioned as if by a cabinetmaker and lavishly carved. In her midship house, in addition to the galley, carpenter’s shop, petty officer’s quarters, donkey engine and condenser, she had accommodation for 30 passengers.
Like the Rodney, she was fitted up with all the latest comforts and conveniences—luxuries they were considered in those robust days. On her forward deck against the midship house were lashed a splendid cowhouse, two teak wood pens to hold 30 sheep, and a number of hen coops which were crammed with poultry, ducks, and geese, the butcher being one of the most important members of her crew.
Her foc’s’le had three tiers of bunks, for she carried a large crew. In 1886 I find that she hauled out of the South West India Dock with 200 passengers and a crew of 51 all told.
She did not stay very long in the Adelaide trade, but from the early eighties was a favourite passenger ship to Melbourne, her commander being Captain Daniel R. Bolt, a very experienced passenger ship commander, who had previously had the Darling Downs, Royal Dane, and Holmsdale. Under him without any undue hurry, she was generally between 80 and 85 days going out, and in the nineties coming home.
Below will be found a typical abstract of her log when running the easting down, taken from her outward passage in 1884:—
August 31.—Lat. 38° 00′ S., long. 1° 52′ W. Dist. 242. Moderate steady S.W. wind, rain squalls. Two sail in company.
September 1.—Lat. 38° 57′ S., long. 2° 47′ E. Dist. 226. Strong, unsteady, squally S.W. to west wind, high sea, royals set.
September 2.—Lat. 39° 07′ S., long. 7° 42′ E. Dist. 230. Variable south wind, squally, heavy rollers from S.W.
September 3.—Lat. 39° 40′ S., long. 12° 49′ E. Dist. 241. Westerly wind, fresh and squally, under topgallant sails, heavy rollers.
September 4.—Lat. 40° 06′ S., long. 19° 05′ E. Dist. 288. Strong gale and high sea.
September 5.—Lat. 40° 24′ S., long. 24° 50′ E. Dist. 267. Moderate W. gale, high sea.
September 6.—Lat. 40° 49′ S., long. 30° 44′ E. Dist. 267. Gale moderating and falling to light S.S.E. wind.
September 7.—Lat. 40° 08′ S., long. 35° 15′ E. Dist. 213. South wind variable in force and direction.
September 8.—Lat. 38° 30′ S., long 36° 37′ E. Dist. 116. Variable light E. and S.E wind.
September 9.—Lat. 40° 25′ S., long. 38° 36′ E. Dist. 148. Moderate E.S.E. gale. Sea smooth. P.M., strong N.E. wind, reduced to topsails.
September 10.—Lat. 42° 17′ S., long 42° 18′ E. Dist. 203. Strong gale and head sea. Main upper and three lower topsails. Later, wind dropping.
September 11.—Lat. 42° 10′ S., long. 46° 41′ E. Dist. 196. Light W. wind, variable airs increasing to strong N.W. gale at midnight.
September 12.—Lat. 42° 28′ S., long. 52° 13′ E. Dist. 247. 6.30, wind shifted to west and fell light, then freshened, sea smooth.
September 13.—Lat. 42° 22′ S., long. 58° 06′ E. Dist. 262. Moderate westerly gale and high sea, royals in. Midnight, light winds.
September 14.—Lat. 42° 10′ S., long. 63° 50′ E. Dist. 253. Increasing N.W. wind.
September 15.—Lat. 41° 30′ S., long. 70° 22′ E. Dist. 298. Fresh gale, cross sea from N.N.W., a sea down saloon companion; overcast.
September 16.—Lat. 41° 30′ S., long. 77° 07′ E. Dist. 305. Fresh W.N.W. wind and moderate sea. Bar. 29.70° to 29.60°.
September 17.—Lat. 41° 15′ S., long. 84° 19′ E. Dist. 326. Strong gale and high sea. 7.30 a.m., wind shifted from N.W. to W.S.W. Bar., 30.20°.
Sept. 18.—Lat. 40° 40′ S., long. 90° 00′ E. Dist. 259. Moderate gale W.S.W. to light W. wind, 8 knots. Bar., 30.10°.
September 19.—Lat. 41° 00′ S., long. 95° 01′ E. Dist. 228. Moderate to light W. wind, skysails set. Bar., 29.60°.
September 20.—Lat. 40° 30′ S., long. 100° 44′ E. Dist. 260. Moderate N.W. gale, thick weather, rain.
September 21.—Lat. 40° 04′ S., long. 106° 05′ E. Dist. 248. Moderate gale and high seas.
September 22.—Lat. 39° 28′ S., long. 111° 05′ E. Dist. 230. Moderate S. wind, squally with rain falling to light airs.
On this passage Harbinger was 81 days from the Lizard to Port Phillip Heads; she had very light winds to the line, which she only crossed 31 days from the Lizard. It was, perhaps, a pity that she was not fitted with stunsails and given a chance to go, as there is no doubt that under such conditions she could have given the fastest ships in the trade a very good race.
In 1885 she took her departure from the Start with the little Berean, and beat that little marvel out to the Colonies by six days, being 79 days from the Start to the Quarantine Station, Port Phillip. Harbinger’s best run on this occasion was 310 miles.
In the year 1890 Harbinger was bought, along with the Hesperus, for Devitt & Moore’s cadet-training scheme. She carried a full complement of cadets until 1897, when her boys were turned over to the Macquarie and she was sold to the Russians for £4800, and she was still in the Register in 1905.