Ocean Chief (clipper)
Ocean Chief was a clipper ship used in a regular packet service and as a passenger ship for bounty emigrants to Australia between June 1854 and December 1861 at the time of the Australian gold rushes.
 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 UK | |
| Name: | Ocean Chief (1853) |
| Owner: | James Baines & Co. |
| Operator: | Black Ball Line |
| Route: | United Kingdom−Australia |
| Builder: | Joshua C. Morton,[1] Thomaston, Maine, USA |
| Completed: | 1853 |
| Acquired: | 1854 |
| Fate: | Burnt, 1862 Bluff Harbour New Zealand |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Clipper |
| Tonnage: | 1,026 gross register tons (GRT) |
| Length: | 182 ft (55 m) |
| Beam: | 34 ft (10 m) |
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| History | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Name: | Wild Ranger |
| Builder: | J. O. Curtis, Medford, Massachusetts, United States |
| Completed: | 1853 |
| Renamed: | Ocean Chief, 1862 |
| Owner: | James Baines & Co. (1862-1866) |
| Operator: | Black Ball Line (1862-1866) |
| Route: | United Kingdom−Australia |
| Acquired: | 1862 |
| Fate: | Sank off Calcutta in 1872 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Clipper |
| Tonnage: | 930 gross register tons (GRT) |
Original
The original Ocean Chief was built in the United States at Thomaston, Maine, by Joshua C. Morton (born 1789) and his son Charles, one of two clippers that they built.[2] Completed in 1853, she was a fast and consistent sailer and made an average passage of 74 days.
The Black Ball Line (founded 1852 – ceased 1871) owners James Baines & Thomas MacKay, Liverpool[3] purchased the vessel for a regular mail service between Liverpool and Melbourne. She also visited other ports including Hobart, Tasmania, and New Zealand.
In 1862, Ocean Chief arrived at Bluff Harbour, New Zealand, under Captain T. Brown, with a cargo of 4,000 sheep. On the morning of 23 January 1862, the crew burned ship, believing that they could get rich in the nearby Otago Gold Rush.[4][5]
Voyages
| Departed | Date | Arrived | Date | Captain | Passengers | Days | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England (Liverpool) | 23 May 1854 | Melbourne, Australia | 7 August 1854 | Thomas James Tobin | 77 | ||
| Australia | - | England | - | Thomas James Tobin | 86 | ||
| England | 11 January 1855 | Hobart, Australia | 26 March 1855 | Thomas James Tobin | 370 | 75 | |
| Australia | - | England | - | Thomas James Tobin | 69 | ||
| England | 8 October 1855 | Australia | January 1856 | - | 362 | ||
| Australia | - | England | - | ||||
| England | – | Australia | May 1858 | - | |||
| Australia | - | England | - | ||||
| England | – | Australia | February 1859 | - | |||
| Australia | - | England | - | ||||
| England | 5 September 1859 | Australia | 30 November 1859 | William Brown | 109 | 86 | |
| Australia | - | England | - | ||||
| England | 5 July 1860 | Melbourne, Australia | 2 October 1860 | - | |||
| Australia | - | England | - | ||||
| England | – | Melbourne, Australia | 21 July 1861 | - | |||
| Australia | - | England | - | ||||
| England | – | Melbourne, Australia | December 1861 | - | |||
| Burnt New Zealand | 23 January 1862 | T. Brown |
Replacement
Another ship, named Wild Ranger – built in the United States in 1853 by J. O. Curtis at Medford, Massachusetts – was purchased in 1862 as a replacement ship and renamed Ocean Chief. This ship was slightly smaller, being of 930 tons. In 1866, she was sold to E. Angel, Liverpool. She went down in a large storm in the Bay of Bengal off Calcutta, India, in 1872.
References
- "The Ships List". www.theshipslist.com. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- The American Clipper Ships 1845–1920. McFarland and Company P71. 23 January 2014. ISBN 9781476602844. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- "Baines & MacKay / Black Ball Line, Liverpool". www.theshipslist.com. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- "Fate – Fire Afloat". ancestry.com. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- "Destruction of the "Ocean Chief" by Fire at the Bluff Harbour". Otago Daily Times (63). 28 January 1862. p. 2. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
