The Wonderful “Torrens.”
Of other ships managed by Elder & Co., the most noteworthy were the Glen Osmond, Collingrove and Torrens. Of these the Torrens requires special mention, as she was without doubt one of the most successful ships ever built, besides being one of the fastest, and for many years she was the favourite passenger ship to Adelaide. She was built in 1875 by James Laing, of Sunderland, and launched in October of that year, her chief measurements being:—
| Registered tonnage | 1276 | tons. |
| Length | 222.1 | feet. |
| Beam | 38.1 | „ |
| Depth | 21.5 | „ |
She was composite built with teak planking and was specially designed for carrying passengers, having a poop 80 feet long.
A beautifully modelled ship and a splendid sea boat, she was very heavily sparred and crossed a main skysail yard. She was also one of the last ships to hold on to fore topmast stunsails; indeed for years she was the only ship with stunsail booms aloft in the Australian trade.
Regarding her capabilities as a sea boat, in easting weather she would drive along as dry as a bone, making 300 miles a day without wetting her decks. But it was in light winds that she showed up best, her ghosting powers being quite extraordinary. The flap of her sails sent her along 2 or 3 knots, and in light airs she was accustomed to pass other clippers as if they were at anchor.
Commander Harry Shrubsole, R.N.R., in a letter to the Nautical Magazine, gives the following interesting reminiscences of her wonderful speed.
Some items of one of her passages are worth noting. Crossed the equator in 15 days from Plymouth; arrived off Semaphore, Port Adelaide, 61 days from Plymouth. The last two days were employed in beating up the Gulf from the western end of Kangaroo Island, I forget the name of the point we made, so 59 days could easily be counted as the passage.
We sighted the Jennie Harkness, obviously American, at daylight right ahead in the S.E. trades; at noon we were alongside her, and our Foo-Foo band played “Yankee-Doodle” as we passed her. She had Jimmy Greens and water-sails, flying jib topsails and what not aloft, and we slid by her as if she was—well—sailing slowly, as she undoubtedly was, compared to our speed. We passed a large ship running the easting down. She was under upper topgallant sails, whilst we were under upper topsails with weather upper and lower stunsails set. The old ship was never driven; she did not need it, neither would she stand it. But she sailed rings round anything sighted. To sight a ship to windward and ahead, on a wind, was to ensure the tautening of the weather braces, an order to sail a bit finer and to see her passing ahead and to windward of that ship by the early afternoon. We did this with a four-master, the Amazon, and I bear a scar on my eyebrow to-day in memory of that ship—merely a small argument about her name. In the case of the Jennie Harkness, I was the “leadin’ ’and” of the Foo-Foo band and can picture the incident now in all its features.
Captain H. R. Angel, who had previously commanded the Glen Osmond and Collingrove, was the chief owner of the Torrens, and had a great say in her design; and after overlooking her building he took her from the stocks and commanded her for 15 voyages. Under him she was a wonderfully lucky ship and a great deal of the credit for her success undoubtedly belonged to Captain Angel.
Her biggest run in the 24 hours was 336 miles; and her fastest speed through the water by the log was 14 knots. Her average for 15 outward passages under Captain Angel was 74 days from Plymouth to the Semaphore, Port Adelaide. Captain Angel always brought her into the St. Vincent’s Gulf via the Backstairs Passage, east of Kangaroo Island, instead of through Investigators’ Straits. On the homeward passage he always took the Cape route, for the benefit of his passengers, calling in at Capetown, St. Helena and Ascension.
To show the extraordinary way in which luck clung to the Torrens as long as Captain H. R. Angel commanded her, I will give the following instance, given me by Captain Angel himself.
On a certain homeward passage, the lamp oil ran short or was lost through some mismanagement. This caused Captain Angel to grow very anxious as the Torrens approached the mouth of the English Channel, in whose narrow crowded waters lights are naturally of the utmost importance. But before soundings were reached a barrel was passed, floating on the water. Angel at once hove his ship to and lowered a boat, picked the barrel up and took it aboard—and, on being opened, it was found to contain oil.
As commodore of the Elder Line, Captain Angel flew a white flag with red crescent and stars at the masthead of the Torrens, instead of the ordinary house-flag with red ground, white crescent and stars.
In the autumn of 1890 Captain Angel retired from the sea and handed over the Torrens to Captain Cope. With the change of captain, the Torrens luck deserted her. On her first passage out under her new commander the Torrens lost her foremast and main topmast in 6° N., 27° W., and put into Pernambuco to refit; and before she was refitted she caught fire. However, the fire was put out, she was remasted and she eventually reached Adelaide 179 days out.
Whilst Captain Cope had her, the Torrens had the honour of having Joseph Conrad as mate for a voyage. This was in 1893, and Conrad made two important literary friendships whilst on the Torrens, for W. H. Jacques made the voyage in her and Galsworthy was a passenger from Adelaide to Capetown.
In 1896 Captain F. Angel, the son of Captain H. R. Angel, took over the command of the Torrens, and again the Goddess of Fortune objected to the change. On his third voyage, young Angel ran foul of an iceberg in the Southern Ocean; and with her bow stove in and partially dismasted, the Torrens managed to struggle into Adelaide, for the second time in her career over 100 days out.
Her last passage, also, under the British flag was a disastrous one. She left Adelaide on 23rd April, 1903, and before she was clear of Kangaroo island a storm burst on her and she had difficulty in clawing off the land. Then when she got down to the Cape latitudes another heavy gale forced her back towards Mauritius. However, at last she got into Table Bay. She had little cargo from Adelaide on board, and as no cargo was offering at Capetown, she went on to St. Helena, and took in a load of explosives for the British Government—ammunition, etc., returning from the Boer war. But even when the Thames tug had got her hawser, the dangers of this passage were not over, for whilst the Torrens was in tow a vessel tried to pass ahead of her, between her and the tug, and was cut down and sunk by the sharp forefoot of the famous clipper. When the collision was seen to be unavoidable there was almost a panic on the Torrens, owing to her cargo of explosives. However nothing happened, the Torrens was uninjured and Captain Angel was not held to blame.
But old Captain Angel had had enough of it—her cost for repairs since he had given her up had come to more than her original cost to build; and he sold her to the Italians.