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Whinfell | Official Number
44157 |
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Whinfell | Official Number
44157 |
The Whinfell was a wooden full-rigged ship built by Charles Lamport at Workington, and launched from his shipyard at Merchants' Quay in October 1861. From the similarity of her name, tonnage and dimensions, it is likely that she was a sister ship to the tea clipper Scawfell, launched three years previously. The Whinfell was built under cover and under the supervision of Lloyd's Special Survey, and was accorded the highest classification for a wooden vessel, A1 for 14 years. The ship was registered at Liverpool, and seems to have been owned by Charles Lamport and his brother, William James Lamport, founder of the Lamport and Holt shipping line. Unlike other vessels built at the same shipyard, such as the Cathaya, Glaramara and Coniston, it seems that the Whinfell was family-owned rather than company-owned, and she does not appear in Lamport & Holt fleet lists.
The Whinfell immediately entered the China trade, under the command of Capt.John Yeo. She arrived at Foochow from Hong Kong, loaded her cargo of 1,004,130 lbs tea and departed for London on the 15th June 1862. Her voyage took 120 days, and in that tea season only two other clippers achieved a faster passage time. The Whinfell, Scawfell, Ellen Rodger, Falcon and Robin Hood all docked at London on the same day, 13th October. The Scawfell, with 821,900 lbs tea, had made a passage of 123 days from Hong Kong, a shorter distance. So this was a creditable performance from the Whinfell, but it has to be put into context. 1862 was an extremely poor year for the tea clippers, which were delayed by light winds, particularly in the Doldrums. The Fiery Cross, an extreme clipper that won the tea race four times in her career, made a 122 day passage from Foochow to London - in other years she came home in just over a hundred days. And in the previous year the Scawfell had made an 88 day passage from Whampoa to Liverpool. In her later career the Whinfell never achieved a short passage time that promoted her to the ranks of the most famous tea clippers.
The Whinfell sailed from London for Sydney in November, with goods and passengers. This was Capt.Yeo's final voyage, and his death was recorded in the ship's Log as follows:
"Captain John Yeo commanding Whinfell, Monday, 5th January, 1863, at 19.30 hrs -At 7.30 p.m. Captain Yeo left the deck and coming into the cabin appeared to suffer greatly from a severe fit of coughing, and also apparently from spasms. He ordered the steward to bring him a little ??? and shortly after that took 25 drops of laudanum. Neither of these seemed to give him any relief from pain, although the cough had now ceased and going at once to bed he drank a little brandy and water, which, however, he immediately vomited and desired to have 25 drops more laudanum. The steward returning with it, and not having a light, found Captain Yeo (as he supposed) asleep, but on obtaining a lamp it appeared that in the interval of his absence while procuring the last dose of medicine, Captain Yeo had died. Death must have taken place as near as possible at 8.00 p.m."
The Whinfell arrived at Sydney on the 9th February, her master being named as W.J.Whereat, aged only 29 and probably the first mate until Capt.Yeo's death. The vessel had 27 crew and was carrying 14 passengers. The temporary master must have impressed, because an advertisement in the Times in January 1866 named Capt.W.J.Whereat as commander, the Whinfell being at West India Dock, London, loading for Colombo.
The Whinfell operated in the China trade for most of her early career, and from London rather than Liverpool. Newspaper shipping reports record the following voyages: 1862 Foochow - London; 1863 Sydney - Foochow - London; 1864 London - Anjer - Hong Kong - Foochow - London; 1865 Foochow - London; 1866 London - Colombo - London; 1869 Shanghai - London; 1870 London - Shanghai - London; 1872 Cardiff - Sunda Straights.
In about 1873 the Lamports sold the Whinfell to D.Jones & Co. The ship was later reduced to barque rig, a measure taken to allow a smaller crew to operate the vessel, saving costs. The barque operated in general trades, but particularly in the nitrate trade from South America, under the command of Capt.Owen and Capt.Lewis Jones.
The barque Whinfell left Antofagasta with a nitrate cargo on the 14th May 1881, under the command of Capt.Griffith Owen. Taking in water in bad weather, the barque foundered on the night of 6th June, at position 38.10 S, 81.30 W (Pacific Ocean, 400 nm W of the Chile coast). The crew abandoned the vessel, two men drowning when one of the boats capsized. When last seen the following morning, the Whinfell was on her beam ends with her bow under water. The survivors were picked up and taken to Valparaiso. A Court of Inquiry was held at the British Consulate there on the 29th July 1881. It found that the loss of the vessel was not due to any fault of the ship's officers.
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