James Craig (barque)
The Clan Macleod - 1905 James Craig - is a barque ( three masted sailing ship), which was built in 1874 in England and was used until 1911 in the field of cargo shipping, most recently from Australia. In the following years the ship fell into disrepair until it was restored from 1972 to 2001. Since then, the bark is used by Sydney mainly for day trips. Today it is the oldest sailing ship propelled Australia.
Ship history
The Clan Macleod was built by the shipyard Bartram, Haswell & Co. in Sunderland in steel for the shipowner Thomas Dunlop of Glasgow, Scotland. After its launch on February 18, 1874 on its maiden voyage took them to Peru. 26 years it was used for freight journeys and thereby to circumvent the dreaded 23 times because of its difficult weather conditions Cape Horn (see also Section Hoornier ). In 1883 Dunlop them to Sir Roderick Cameron, also of Glasgow, which it established a 12 - member crew from New York to New Zealand. On August 15, 1899 acquired a resident of Auckland New Zealand J. J. Craig, which they renamed James Craig on December 14, 1905. Under its new ownership it was used for trips between Australia and New Zealand. Since the steam ships over the years have been profitable on the routes for which the James Craig was employed as sailing ships, the barque was launched on 19 June 1911. The masts of the ship were removed and it was used as the Hulk in New Guinea for the storage of coconut meat.
After the First World War there was a shortage of cargo, which is why the James Craig was bought in 1918 by Henry Jones & Company. She was towed from New Guinea to Sydney ( arrival August 30, 1918 ), overhauled and re-equipped. Again she went as a cargo ship, ran into difficulties due to their age and condition, however, several times at sea in trouble. When it was difficult to use a freighter profitable, the ship was sold in November 1925, the Catamaran Coal Mining Company and used again as the Hulk, this time for the storage of carbon in the search Bay in Tasmania. In the early 1930s, the mine was closed and abandoned the ship in 1932. After the James Craig had broken loose from its anchor in a storm, she was stranded; order not to let them become a risk for the shipping, it was then a - hole blown in the hull, and the ship lay in shallow water - about three feet wide.
In 1972, members of the Sydney Heritage Fleet hid the hull and dragged him to Hobart. According to preliminary repairs to the hull was towed to Sydney and in 1981 further there thoroughly restored. In 1997 the hull was re- launched, after a further four years, the James Craig ran in February 2001 for the first time under full sail. Since then the ship with homeport Sydney is mainly used for day and weekend trips with tourists. In 2003, the ship, the World Ships Trust Medal, which was awarded, inter alia, to the Vasa, the Cutty Sark and the Constitution, as an award for its authentic restoration.