Falls of Clyde
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the Scottish waterfalls and wildlife reserve, see Falls of Clyde (waterfalls).
 Falls of Clyde at Honolulu Harbor |
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| Career (United States) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | Falls of Clyde |
| Builder: | Russell and Company in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, Scotland |
| Launched: | 1878 |
| Homeport: | Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Fate: | museum exhibit |
| Status: | retired |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1809 tons |
| Length: | 280 ft (85.3 m) |
| Beam: | 40 ft (12.2 m) |
| Draft: | 21 ft (6.4 m) |
Falls of Clyde is the only surviving iron-hulled, four-masted full rigged ship, and the only surviving sail-driven oil tanker in the world. She is presently a museum ship in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 1973 she was entered into the National Register of Historic Places. In 1989 the Secretary of the Interior designated the Falls of Clyde a National Historic Landmark—one of only thirty-three in the state of Hawaii.[1] In 2005 the ship's Priority Level was listed as Threatened (Priority 1).[2]Threatened (Priority 1) indicates NHLs that have suffered, or are in imminent danger of, a severe loss of integrity.[2] The current owner, the Bishop Museum, has plans to sink her by the end of 2008 unless private funds are raised for an endowment for her perpetual care.[3]
She was built in 1878 by Russell and Company in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, Scotland, launched as the first of eight iron-hulled four-masted ships built for Wright and Breakenridge's Falls Line. She was named after the Falls of Clyde, a waterfall up the River Clyde. She was built to the highest standard - Lloyd's Register A-1 - for general worldwide trade. Her maiden voyage took her to Karachi, now in Pakistan, and her first six years were spent engaged in the India trade. She then became a tramp pursuing general cargo such as lumber, jute, cement, and wheat from ports in Australia, California, India, New Zealand, and the British Isles.
After twenty-one years under the Red Ensign, Falls of Clyde was purchased for US$25,000 by Captain William Matson of the Matson Navigation Company, taken to Honolulu, Hawaii in 1899, and registered under the Hawaiian flag. When the Republic of Hawaii was annexed by the United States in 1900, it took a special act of the United States Congress to secure the foreign-built ship the right to fly the Stars and Stripes.
To economize on crew, Matson rigged Falls of Clyde down as a barque, replacing the five yards on her aftermost (jigger) mast with two more easily-managed fore-and-aft sails. At the same time, he added a deckhouse, charthouse, and rearranged the after quarters to accommodate paying passengers. From 1899 to 1907, she made over sixty voyages between Hilo, Hawaii, and San Francisco, California. She carried general merchandise from San Francisco and sugar from Hawaii, and passengers both ways. She developed a reputation as a handy, fast, and commodious vessel; her voyages averaged 17 days each way.
In 1907, the Associated Oil Company (which later became Tidewater Oil) bought Falls of Clyde and converted her to a bulk tanker with a capacity of 19,000 barrels (three million liters, 800,000 gallons). In this configuration she sailed from Gaviota, California, with kerosene, which she discharged in Honolulu at the Oahu Railway and Land Company's Pier 16. On her return voyages, she carried bulk molasses to California, where it was used for cattle feed.
In 1927, the bark was sold to the General Petroleum Company, her masts were cut down, and she served as a floating fuel depot in Alaska until 1959. She was sold to William Mitchell, who towed her to Seattle, Washington, intending to sell her to a preservation group. Mitchell's plan fell through and subsequent efforts by Karl Kortum, director of the San Francisco Maritime Museum, and Fred Klebingat, who had sailed in her as chief mate in 1915, to place her in Long Beach, California, or Los Angeles, California, were similarly disappointed.
In 1963, the bank holding the mortgage on Falls of Clyde decided to sell her to be sunk as part of a breakwater at Vancouver, British Columbia. Kortum and Klebingat aroused interest in the ship in Hawaii, and within days of the scheduled scuttling, raised funds to buy the ship. At the end of October 1963, Falls of Clyde was taken under tow by fleet tug USS Moctobi. In honor of their historic tow, the crew of the tug kept their logs in verse, the first entry reading
- As we sail across the Sea
- The Falls of Clyde keeps us company
- Moctobi's engines grit and grind
- To keep old Clyde close behind.
On 18 November, they arrived in Honolulu, recording
- Today, hauling cargo to Hawaii was seen a proud white ship.
- We couldn't help remembering Clyde and all her similar trips.
- Yes this one is quite differenct than those of earlier times,
- When she carried black oil and molasses to many different climes
- Today the cargo is memories and sea stories yet untold
- Which when moored tomorrow may be brought up from the hold.
- Tomorrow at Honolulu her final trip will end,
- And we will bid aloha to our gallant seagoing friend.
The crew was concerned about the reaction these verses might receive from Commander, Service Force, Pacific Fleet. Upon their arrival at Honolulu they received a message reading
- Your towing debut is finally Pau
- The Clyde's at home forever now.
- Your sitreps were noted with interest each day
- As Moctobi pulled the long, rough way.
- This grand old lady is destined to be
- A memorable relic for all Hawaii
- By your fine effort the task is won.
- Welcome home, and to all a well done.
- -- VADM Roy Johnson, Deputy, CINCPACFLT
In May 1964, on behalf of his crew, the commanding officer of Moctobi, Lieutenant Leo Connolly, accepted the Distinguished Service Award for Community Relations from the Chamber of Commerce of Honolulu.
Falls of Clyde was given to the Bishop Museum and was opened to the public in 1968. The grandson, of the original 19th century designer William Lithgow, assisted in her restoration as a full-rigged ship. Support came from Sir William Lithgow, the shipbuilder and industrialist, whose Port Glasgow shipyard donated masts and other fittings.
The ship was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1989.[2][4]
As of February 2008, the Falls of Clyde is still located at Pier 7, Honolulu Harbor, part of the Hawaii Maritime Center.
[edit] See also
Four other Clyde-built tall ships are still afloat:
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.nps.gov/nhl/designations/Lists/HI01.pdf
- ^ a b c FALLS OF CLYDE (sailing oil tanker). National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
- ^ Falls of Clyde May Have Sinking Fate | KGMB9.com | Said, Collis, Hawaii, Bishop, Museum
- ^ James P. Delgado (July 15, 1988), National Historic Landmark Nomination: Falls of ClydePDF (32 KB), National Park Service and Accompanying 1988 photos, exterior and interior, from 1986, 1988 and undatedPDF (32 KB)
- Jim Gibb, Pacific Square-Riggers (Schiffer Publishing, 1987) ISBN 0-88740-106-6 p. 110
- Heine, Historic Ships of the World
- Klebingat, "Falls of Clyde"
- personal communications of Lieutenant Leo Connolly, commanding officer, USS Moctobi
[edit] External links
- Hawai`i Maritime Center
- Maritime Heritage Program Information for the Falls of Clyde
- Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum
- Falls of Clyde on HawaiiWeb
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