Duncan Dunbar
.png) "The clipper Duncan", by Ferdinand II of Portugal
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name | Duncan Dunbar |
| Owner | Gellatly, Hankey & Sewell |
| Builder | Sunderland, Tyne and Wear |
| Launched | 18 May 1857 |
| Homeport | London |
| Fate | Wrecked, 7 October 1865 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Clipper |
| Tonnage | 1,447 tons |
| Tons burthen | 2,500 tons bm |
| Length | |
| Beam | 36 ft 3 in (11.05 m) |
| Depth of hold | 23 ft (7.0 m) |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
The Duncan Dunbar was a clipper constructed for Duncan Dunbar & Company in 1857. It was shipwrecked at the Rocas Atoll off the coast of Brazil on 7 October 1865 on the way to Sydney, Australia.
Ship history
The ship was launched on 18 May 1857 from the yard of
father of the same name.[2]
Under Dunbar's ownership the ship was engaged in the passenger and cargo trade between England and Australia. After Duncan Dunbar's death in 1862, the ship was sold to Gellatly, Hankey, Sewell & Co.[2]
Sinking
A contemporary report states:
- The ship left London, under Captain Swanson, on 28 August 1865 and Plymouth on 2 September 1865, with passengers and cargo for Sydney. On 7 October 1865 she was wrecked on the reef Las Roccas 03°52′S 33°45′W / 3.867°S 33.750°W, on the coast of Brazil. She struck about 20:30. The Captain went in one of the boats to take puncheons were lost, being stove-in by debris or having drifted away. There were 117 persons on the reef. For the first two days they had a pint of water each in temperatures of 112 °F (44 °C) degrees. A tent was constructed for shelter. The islet was infested with land-crabs and various vermin. They stayed on the islet for 10 days and during that period had recovered from the wreck sufficient water and stores to serve a hundred people for a hundred days. Captain Swanson had left, in the lifeboat, on 11 October 1865, to sail towards Pernambuco. After making 120 miles he was picked up by the American ship Hayara and dropped 15 miles from his destination. There, he procured the assistance of the Oneida, Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, which came to the island and took all hands safely to Southampton. The Captain remained in Pernambuco.[3]
A different ship named the Dunbar was wrecked near Sydney in 1857. There is a description of the shipwreck of the Dunbar in Following the Equator, by Mark Twain.[4] Twain incorrectly refers to the ship as the Duncan Dunbar.
References
- ^ "Launch of the "Duncan Dunbar". The largest ship yet built on the Wear". The Sydney Morning Herald. 14 September 1857. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
- ^ a b Searle, Peter (2012). "Laing's Shipbuilders". The Sunderland Site. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
- ^ "Duncan Dunbar". RootsWeb: TheShipsList-L. 2001. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
- ^
Mark Twain, (Samuel Clemens) (18 August 2006) [First published 1897]. "Chapter 9: It is your human environment that makes climate.". In Widger, David (ed.). Following the Equator (EBook #2895 ed.). Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
The Loss of the Duncan Dunbar
External links
- Dunbar-Nasmith, David. "Duncan Dunbar & His Ships". Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2012.