Loch Carron, though a very fast ship, was also a ticklish ship to handle, being rather tender, and Captain Clarke always sent down royal yards when in port.
The following are some of her best performances:—
| Melbourne to London | 73 | days. | |
| Adelaide to Glasgow | 75 | „ | |
| Glasgow to Adelaide | 78 | „ | |
| London to Adelaide | 75 | „ | (twice) |
| The Semaphore, Adelaide, to Cape Otway | 48 | „ | |
| Cape Town to Clyde in ballast | 40 | „ | |
| Melbourne to the Horn | 27 | „ | |
| Cape meridian to the Leeuwin | 19 | „ | (twice) |
| Cape Horn to the line | 20 | „ |
On one occasion when abreast of the Crozets, running her easting down in 45° S., she made three consecutive 24-hour runs of 310, 320 and 332 miles. On her maiden trip she went to Sydney, and then for two or three years left the Australian for the Calcutta trade. In 1887 she took case oil from New York to Calcutta in 112 days.
In 1889 Loch Carron had a very nasty experience when rounding the Cape homeward bound from India. It is thus told by Captain Clarke:—
We were bound for London from Calcutta with a cargo of jute and about 500 tons of rice for stiffening purposes. It was new rice and had not been properly dried. When the jute was loaded on top of it, the rice began to get heated and we had to take it out and stow it in the main hatch by itself, boring holes in order to allow the air to enter. This arrangement of the cargo caused the ship to be top-heavy, but it was unavoidable. When we got to the Cape of Good Hope we encountered violent gales, and the vessel could not stand up to them. She was carried right over on her side, although there was very little canvas on her. Her lee side was 5 or 6 feet under water and the crew became so frightened that many of them climbed up the rigging. I let the sails go and sacrificed them in order to save her. She righted herself and we ran before the wind all night, going miles out of our course. Next day we jury-rigged her and I tried hard to make way on the other tack. We tacked for eight days and then the gale again seized her and she turned over once more. We quickly stripped her of sails, but she was so top-heavy and crank that I decided to send the topgallant masts down. This was ticklish work, and I shall never forget the scene, as the men struggled against the seas with the topgallants. The fight against the gales lasted for 30 days and then we got round the Cape, but I had five men down with broken limbs and other injuries. The voyage from Calcutta to London occupied no fewer than 156 days, and was the most exciting in my experience. The Bolan, Glen Padarn and Trevelyan, also bound from Calcutta and Rangoon to London, foundered during the storms and we were lucky to get through with the ship so crank.
In 1904 Loch Carron had a great race home from Frisco round the Horn with the French ship Jules Gommes. Loch Carron hove up her anchor in Frisco Bay on the morning of Christmas Eve, the Jules Gommes leaving in the afternoon. After being six days in company the two ships lost sight of each other. They met again on the equator in the Atlantic; finally the Loch Carron arrived at Queenstown one morning 112 days out, the Frenchman arriving eight hours later at the same port.
On her next passage the Loch Carron had the most disastrous event in her career, in her collision with the Inverkip. The two ships were both outward bound, the Loch Carron from Glasgow to Sydney with general cargo. At 11.20 on 13th August, 1904, the Loch Carron was about 60 miles to the S. and E. of the Fastnet light, going 6 or 7 knots close-hauled on the port tack, with a moderate gale blowing from the S.W., when the red light of the Inverkip was suddenly seen ahead. But it was too late to avoid a collision, and the Loch Carron struck the Inverkip abreast of the foremast, stem on. The latter ship went down in a few minutes, only two men, the carpenter and the steward, being saved out of her ship’s company. These two managed to jump aboard the Loch Carron. Captain Jones of the Inverkip had his wife aboard, and as the ship went down she was seen praying on her knees aft. They were both great personal friends of Captain Clarke, and he was so distressed by the sad accident that his health broke down and he gave up his command for a voyage. The Loch Carron, with a large hole in her bows, her fore topgallant mast and all head gear carried away, besides other damages, managed to make Queenstown.
Her repairs came to £1500, and as she was on the port tack and the Inverkip on the starboard, the Loch Line had to pay over £30,000 damages.
When Loch Carron was again ready for sea, Captain Henderson, of Thermopylae and Samuel Plimsoll fame, took her out. Captain Clarke returning to his command on her return home. As late as 1908 Loch Carron made the run from Melbourne to London in 80 days.