The four-masted steel barque Elginshire had a length of 87m and was registered at 2160 tons. Photo: George Schutze (Brodie Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library Victoria)
Soon after the pilot boarded the Elginshire on Tuesday, August 23, 1921, violent winds and heavy seas made it impossible to pass through the Heads into Port Phillip. The four-masted barque had left Auckland on July 20 with case-oil – kerosene in square tins protected by a wooden case – as ballast. Taking nearly five weeks for the passage was regarded as a fine performance for a sailing vessel in ballast in mid-winter. Driven away from Port Phillip by the severe weather, the Elginshire drifted in Bass Strait for the remainder of that week. When the wind eased at the weekend the Elginshire again headed for Port Phillip, and after being towed through the Heads by a tug, she moored at the Railway Pier in Williamstown on August 30.
Loaded with a cargo of nearly 50,000 bags of wheat weighing more than 4000 tons, she sailed from Melbourne on September 27 towards Falmouth for orders. Her passage time of more than 120 days was slow but not uncommon. Ordered to Queenstown, Ireland, she ran aground on February 16, 1922, but was successfully towed off. Her working life, however, had almost reached its end, as she was broken up in the early months of 1923.
By the second decade of the 20th century the days of the great sailing ships had passed, but large steel four-masted barques like the Elginshire continued to find profitable employment until World War II. All were old vessels of little financial value and were worked by small crews in the transport of bulky cargoes that did not have to be moved quickly. These cargoes were coal, guano or nitrate, and wheat or barley, all loaded in hessian bags. Shippers were not concerned if such cargoes arrived after an extended time but the slow loading involved did not suit steamship owners. For a steamer, annual profit came from carrying as many paying cargoes as possible each year.
The Elginshire was launched in 1889 at Dumbarton, Scotland, for the Shire Line of T, Law & Co. Built for the Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia trades, she served the same owner for more than 30 years.
MAURIE HUTCHINSON
President, Peninsula Ship Society
The Peninsula Ship Society meets at Hastings Yacht Club on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 10am. Visitors are welcome.
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