Gananoque (ship)

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Gananoque
History
NamesakeGananoque, Canada
Owner
Port of registryUnited Kingdom Quebec, Liverpool, London, Newcastle, St John's, Belfast[1][2]
RouteNew Zealand Packet (1860s)
BuilderGeorge T. Davie & Sons, Lauzon[2]
Launched1857
Completed1857[1]
In service12 February 1858 (London)
IdentificationBritish ON 33377[1]
FateSunk
General characteristics
Tons burthen785[1]
Length158.1 ft (48.2 m)[3]
Beam32.6 ft (9.9 m)
Draught19 ft (5.8 m)[3]
Depth of hold21.1 ft (6.4 m)
Sail planFull-rigged clipper ship,[4][5] later Barque
Noteswood-hulled

Gananoque was a wood-hulled clipper ship of 785 tons, built in Quebec in 1857, that made a number of emigrant voyages to New Zealand. She had two serious collisions with icebergs in the North Atlantic, the second of which caused her loss.

History[edit]

Gananoque was built at Lauzon, Quebec in 1857 by George T Davie & Sons[2] and sold the following year to Thomas Bailey of Newcastle upon Tyne.[1] In May 1858 he sold a one-eighth share in the ship to Archibald Morris who became her commander.[6]

New Zealand trade[edit]

She made four voyages to New Zealand in the 1860s under contract to the provincial governments.[7] The ship was first chartered by Willis, Gann & Company for a voyage from London to New Zealand in 1860 and then for three more by Shaw, Savill and Company. The first three carried government immigrants; the fourth voyage was solely with cargo:

  • 9 February 1860 departing London, arriving Lyttelton on 9 May 1860.[8]
  • 7 July 1861 departing London, arriving Auckland on 18 October 1861.[9]
  • 7 December 1862 departing London, arriving Port Chalmers, Otago on 12 March 1863.[10]
  • 16 May 1864 departing London, arriving Port of Bluff on 5 September 1864.[11]

Later history[edit]

In 1867 Gananoque was sold to William Johnson of Newcastle upon Tyne. On 11 July 1874, on a voyage from Quebec to Newcastle, she struck an iceberg off Cape Race. Crew abandoned ship and all but one were rescued.[12][13] However, the ship did not sink, was found abandoned and taken derelict to St John's, Newfoundland,[13][14]

She was subsequently repaired, re-sheathed and re-rigged as a barque, and was offered for sale in 1876.[15]

Gananoque again collided with an iceberg on 10 May 1881 four miles off Bird Rocks, Magdalen Islands on a voyage from Belfast to Miramichi and sank quickly.[13][16] The crew landed on Bird Rocks, and were picked up from there on 12 May.[13]

Case law[edit]

The first voyage to New Zealand resulted in a High Court of Admiralty case "The Gananoque", a dispute between the ship's captain Archibald Morris and the other owners over contract payment terms. The judgement was "The law will presume that the terms of a master's engagement for one voyage extent to a succeeding voyage performed without a new agreement express or clearly implied."[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Mercantile Navy List 1858–1880". Crew List Index Project. Archived from the original on 6 January 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  2. ^ a b c "Ship Information Database". Canadian Heritage. Retrieved 27 December 2012.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ a b "American Lloyd's Register 1869–1881". Mystic Seaport Museum. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  4. ^ "Advertising". The Argus. Melbourne. 20 December 1858. p. 1. Retrieved 29 December 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "Advertisements". Lyttelton Times. Christchurch, New Zealand: National Library of New Zealand. 30 May 1860. p. 1. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  6. ^ a b Lushington, Vernon (1864). Reports of cases decided in the High Court of Admiralty of England, and on appeal to the Privy Council : 1859–1862. Vol. 1. London: Butterworths. p. 448. Retrieved 27 December 2012. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  7. ^ Brett, Henry (1924). White Wings Fifty Years of Sail in the New Zealand Trade, 1850 to 1900. Vol. 1. Auckland, New Zealand: The Brett Printing Company Limited. p. 154. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  8. ^ "Shipping News". Lyttelton Times. Vol. 13, no. 783. 12 May 1860. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  9. ^ "Port of Raglan". Daily Southern Cross. Vol. 17, no. 1446. 22 October 1861. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  10. ^ "Shipping Intelligence". Otago Daily Times. No. 383. 13 March 1863. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  11. ^ "Shipping Summary". The Southland Times. Vol. 1, no. 47. 17 September 1864. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  12. ^ "Title unknown". Glasgow Herald. 6 August 1874. p. 6. Retrieved 27 December 2012. (subscription required)
  13. ^ a b c d "Ship Collisions". Institute for Ocean Technology, Canada. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  14. ^ "Title unknown". York Herald. 23 July 1874. p. 7. Retrieved 27 December 2012. (subscription required)
  15. ^ "Advertisements & Notices". Liverpool Mercury. 23 November 1876. p. 8. Retrieved 27 December 2012. [auction] ...The Barque GANANOQUE, 785 tons register. Built at Quebec under special survey in 1857, and classed seven years A1 at Lloyd's sheathed with yellow metal in 1874; is well found in stores, carries a good cargo, and requires very little ballast. Dimensions: Length, 158.2 feet; breadth, 32.8 feet; depth, ... [transcription] (subscription required)
  16. ^ "Title unknown". Glasgow Herald. 19 May 1881. p. 7. Retrieved 27 December 2012. (subscription required)

Further reading[edit]

  • Lansley, Belinda (2013). The Voyages of the Gananoque – New Zealand Immigration Ship 1860–1864. Dornie Publishing.