''Hesperus'' was an iron-hulled, three-masted,

passenger A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The ...

clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "C ...

ship that was built in

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 ...

in 1874 and scrapped in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in 1923. She was built for Thompson and Anderson's

Orient Line The Orient Steam Navigation Company, also known as the Orient Line, was a British shipping company with roots going back to the late 18th century. From the early 20th century onwards, an association began with P&O which became 51% shareholde ...

service between

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. In 1890 she was converted into a

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classr ...

. In 1899 she was sold to the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

and renamed ''Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna''. In 1921 she was bought by British owners and renamed ''Silvana''.

Building

Robert Steele & Company Robert Steele & Company was a shipbuilder based in Greenock, Scotland, formed in 1815 by Robert Steele (1745-1830) and two sons. It followed dissolution of an earlier shipbuilding partnership between Robert Steele and John Carswell, known as "St ...

built ''Hesperus'' in

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

, Scotland, launching her on 20 November 1873 and completing her in 1874. She was built to replace Thompson and Anderson's clipper , which had been wrecked in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

in 1872.

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

John Legoe, who had been

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

of ''Yatala'', supervised ''Hesperus'' construction. ''Hesperus'' was the first Orient Line ship to have an iron hull. Her registered length was , her beam was and her depth was . Her

tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on ''tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically ref ...

s were and . She had three masts and was built as a

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 ...

. Her first owner was James Anderson of Thompson and Anderson, who registered her in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Her

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

official number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their flag state, country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats hav ...

was 68500 and her

code letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids and today also. Later, with the i ...

were MNDL.

Career

John Legoe was ''Hesperus'' first Master. On her maiden voyage she took 340 migrants to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. On the voyage, someone aboard produced a slim and modest newspaper called ''The Hesperian''. Her last voyage under Captain Legoe brought his wife, daughter and three sons to settle in South Australia. She left London on 18 July 1877 and reached Adelaide shortly before 15 October. Other passengers on that voyage were Colonel Downes, for many years military commandant in Adelaide, and later in Victoria, and C. Angel, later an Adelaide stockbroker. The Orient Line sent Captain Thomas Row Harry to command ''Hesperus'' on her return voyage. He remained master of ''Hesperus'' until 1886. The ship's log book, the last prepared by the captain, was a prized possession of one of Captain Legoe's sons. In 1890 ''Hesperus'' Joseph Moore of Devitt and Moore bought ''Hesperus'', had her converted into a training ship, and registered her in

Aberdeen Harbour Aberdeen Harbour, rebranded as the Port of Aberdeen in 2022, is a sea port located in the city of Aberdeen on the east coast of Scotland. The port was first established in 1136 and has been continually redeveloped over the centuries to provide ...

. Captain John Howard Barrett became her Master. In 1899 the Imperial Russian Government bought ''Hesperus'' as a sail training ship on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

. She was renamed ''

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia (Maria Nikolaevna Romanova; Russian language, Russian: Великая Княжна Мария Николаевна, 17 July 1918) was the third daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Tsarina Alexand ...

'' after the newborn third daughter of

Tsar Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...

and Tsarina Alexandra, and was registered in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

. In 1913 Swan, Hunter & Co on the

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Wate ...

in England re-fitted the ship for her Russian owners. In 1921 the London Steamship and Trading Corporation bought ''Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna'', renamed her ''Silvana'' and registered her in London. She sailed from

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

in merchant service but was commercially unsuccessful. By September 1922 she had been seized for debt. She was scrapped in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

in 1923.

Some other clippers on the England to Adelaide run

* * * * * * * * *

Sister ship

''Hesperus'' had a

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

, ''Aurora'', that Robert Steele & Co launched in 1874. She was lost near the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

in 1875 when her cargo of wool caught fire. Her Master, Adam Johnston, was cleared of blame.

References

External links

*{{cite web , url= http://www.spurlingandrouxwatercolours.com/mpbps.html , title=I. Blackwall passenger ships , work=Ship portraits – the paintings of Jack Spurling and Antoine Roux and his three sons, painters of Marseilles , first1=Roy , last1=Fernandez , author2-link=Jack Spurling , first2=Jack , last2=Spurling , accessdate=13 April 2017 – painting of ''Hesperus'' and some notes on her history 1873 ships Clippers Full-rigged ships Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Sail training ships Sailing ships of the United Kingdom Ships built in Scotland Tall ships of Russia