''Balclutha'', also known as ''Star of Alaska'', ''Pacific Queen'', or Sailing Ship ''Balclutha'', is a steel-hulled

full-rigged ship A full-rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing vessel's sail plan with three or more masts, all of them square-rigged. A full-rigged ship is said to have a ship rig or be ship-rigged. Such vessels also have each mast stepped in three se ...

that was built in 1886. She is representative of several different commercial ventures, including lumber, salmon, and grain. She is a U.S.

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

and is currently preserved at the

San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is located in San Francisco, California, United States. The park includes a fleet of historic vessels, a visitor center, a maritime museum, and a library/research facility. The park used to be r ...

in San Francisco, California. She was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on 7 November 1976.

History

''Balclutha'' was built in 1886 by

Charles Connell and Company Charles Connell and Company was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Scotstoun in Glasgow on the River Clyde. History The company was founded by Charles Connell (1822-1894) who had served an apprenticeship with Robert Steele and Co before b ...

Scotstoun Scotstoun ( gd, Baile an Sgotaich) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, west of Glasgow City Centre. It is bounded by Garscadden and Yoker to the west, Victoria Park, Jordanhill and Whiteinch to the east, Jordanhill to the north and the River Clyde ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, for Robert McMillan, of

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

, Scotland. Her namesake is said to be the eponymous town of

Balclutha, New Zealand Balclutha ( mi, Iwikatea) is a town in South Otago, lying towards the end of the Clutha River, on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is about halfway between Dunedin and Gore on the Main South Line railway, State Highway 1 a ...

, but her name also refers to her first homeport, Glasgow, Scotland, which is a "City on the

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

" - the meaning of her name derived from the

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

''Baile Chluaidh''. Designed as a general trader, ''Balclutha'' rounded

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...

17 times in thirteen years. During this period she carried cargoes such as wine, case oil, and coal from Europe and the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...

to various ports in the Pacific. These included

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

for nitrate,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

for wool,

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

for rice, San Francisco for grain, and the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

for timber. In 1899 ''Balclutha'' transferred to the registry of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, and traded timber from the Pacific Northwest to Australia, returning to San Francisco with Australian coal. Star of Alaska (BALCLUTHA) under sail

In 1902 ''Balclutha'' was chartered to the

Alaska Packers' Association The Alaska Packers' Association (APA) was a San Francisco based manufacturer of Alaska canned salmon founded in 1891 and sold in 1982. As the largest salmon packer in Alaska, the member canneries of APA were active in local affairs, and had cons ...

(APA). After having struck a reef off of

Sitkinak Island Sitkinak Island is an island of the Kodiak Archipelago of the state of Alaska, United States. It lies south of the southern tip of Kodiak Island in the western part of the Gulf of Alaska. Tugidak Island lies to its west. The two islands are the l ...

near

Kodiak Island Kodiak Island (Alutiiq: ''Qikertaq''), is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. The largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago, Kodiak Island is the second larges ...

on 16 May 1904, she was renamed the ''Star of Alaska'' when bought by APA for merely $500. After extended repairs she joined the

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

fishing trade, sailing north from the San Francisco area to the Chignik Bay, Alaska, in April with supplies, fishermen, and cannery workers, and returned in September with a cargo of canned salmon. For this trade she carried over 200 crew and passengers, as compared to the 26-man crew she carried as the ''Balclutha''. In 1911 the poop deck was extended to the main mast to accommodate Italian and Scandinavian workers. This expansion is called the shelter deck. In the 'tween deck, bunks for Chinese workers were built. Her last voyage in this trade was in 1930, when she then was laid up after her return home. In 1933, ''Star of Alaska'' was renamed ''Pacific Queen'' by her new owner Frank Kissinger. In this guise she appeared in the film ''

Mutiny on the Bounty The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship from their captain, Lieutenant William Bligh, and set h ...

'' starring

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

and

Charles Laughton Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future w ...

. She then eked out an existence as an exhibition ship, gradually deteriorating, and was for a while exhibited as a "pirate ship". In 1954, ''Pacific Queen'' was acquired by the San Francisco Maritime Museum, which restored her and renamed her ''Balclutha'' and moored her at Pier 41 East. In 1985 she was designated a

. and
In 1988, she was moved to her present mooring at

Hyde Street Pier The Hyde Street Pier, at 2905 Hyde Street, is a historic ferry pier located on the northern waterfront of San Francisco, California. Background Prior to the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, it was the ...

of the

. She previously hosted a monthly Chantey Sing in the shelter deck, which has moved to the adjacent ''

Eureka Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...

''.

Image gallery

Image:BalculthaViewAft.JPG, Image:AnchorWindlass.jpg, Image:Balclutha1.jpg, Image:Balclutha2.jpg, Image:Balclutha Figurehead.JPG,

Sources

*, retrieved 23:40 GMT 22 January 2005
Entry in Houghton Mifflin's ''Ships of the World''
(registration required), retrieved 23:50 GMT 22 January 2005

External links

''Balclutha'' - BlooSee.com

Comedian Jonathan Winters Detained In San Francisco
Winters was arrested in 1949, after climbing in the rigging of the Balclutha. {{Authority control San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park Tall ships of the United Kingdom Tall ships of the United States Victorian-era merchant ships of the United Kingdom Museum ships in San Francisco Museum ships in California Individual sailing vessels Windjammers Three-masted ships National Historic Landmarks in the San Francisco Bay Area Sail training ships Ships built on the River Clyde 1886 ships National Register of Historic Places in San Francisco Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in California Full-rigged ships Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco

History

Image gallery

See also

Sources

External links