The second Centurion was launched in the spring of 1869, and measured:—Length 208 ft.; beam 35 ft.; depth 21 ft. Captain Mitchell overlooked her building and was her first commander. She was a very fast ship and he always hoped to beat the Thermopylae with her, but never succeeded.
On her first voyage she went out to Sydney in 69 days. It was a light weather passage and she never started the sheets of her main topgallant sail the whole way. She is stated to have made 360, 348 and 356 miles in three successive days running down her easting, but I have been unable to verify these runs. Captain Mitchell died on her second voyage just before reaching the Channel homeward bound. She also made some creditable tea passages, but was mostly kept in the Sydney trade. In 1871 she went out in 77 days and in 1872 in 78 days.
The “Aviemore.”
The Aviemore was the last of the wooden ships, and at the date of her launch, the first iron ship built for Thompsons, the celebrated Patriarch, had already proved herself such a success as to put all idea of building any but iron ships in the future out of the question.
The Fate of the Early White Star Clippers.
The first Centurion ended her days as a total loss in 1866.
The Walter Hood was wrecked near Jervis Bay Lighthouse, New South Wales, on 27th April, 1870, when bound from London to Sydney with general cargo, her captain and 12 men being drowned.
The Woolloomoolloo ended her days under the Spanish flag and was wrecked in 1885.
The Maid of Judah was sold to Cowlislaw Bros., of Sydney, in 1870. In December, 1879, she left Sydney for Shanghai, coal-laden, with Captain Webb in command, and the following June was condemned and broken up at Amoy.
The Omar Pasha was burnt at sea in 1869, when homeward bound from Brisbane, wool-laden.