''Cimba'' was a British-built clipper in the Australian wool trade. She sailed between

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

for 20 years, from 1878 to 1898. In 1905, ''Cimba'' set the sailing ship record for a passage from

Callao Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists ...

Iquique Iquique () is a port List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune in northern Chile, capital of both the Iquique Province and Tarapacá Region. It lies on the Pacific coast, west of the Pampa del Tamarugal, which is part of the At ...

, of 14 days.

Construction

''Cimba'' was an iron-hulled ship, built in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

in 1878. Her hull was painted green with gold scrolls, a yellow stripe, white bulwarks and white paint aloft. A

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

was her

figurehead In politics, a figurehead is a practice of who ''de jure'' (in name or by law) appears to hold an important and often supremely powerful title or office, yet '' de facto'' (in reality) exercises little to no actual power. This usually means that ...

. ''Cimba'' was very heavily rigged, with her main lower masts a bit shorter than some clippers at 60 ft., and with heavy lower

yards The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly ...

, the fore and main yards at over 4 tons apiece. She had the reputation of being a "tender" ship, i.e., heeling over easily under sail.

Voyages

''Cimba'' sailed in the wool trade between London and

for 20 years, from 1878 to 1898, and was a regular visitor to

Port Jackson Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta ...

for almost 30 years. Her first captain, J. Fimster, served until 1895, at which time Captain J. W. Holmes took over until her sale to Norwegian owners in 1906. Captain Holmes had served as third mate aboard ''Salamis'', chief mate on the clippers ''

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'' and ''

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'', and commander of the ship ''Leucadia''. Under her Norwegian owners, ''Cimbas chief cargo was lumber. She carried firewood from the Baltic to East Indian Dock in Aberdeen Bay, and made a fast passage from

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

to the St. Lawrence of 14 days.

Loss of the ship

''Cimba'' was stranded in the fog near Pointe Des Monts, 1 mile west, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on 26 July 1915. She was en route to

Matane Matane () is a town on the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec, Canada, on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River at the mouth of the Matane River. The town is the seat for the La Matanie Regional County Municipality. In addition to Matane itse ...

from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, and was the last sailing vessel to be lost in this area.

References

External links

The clipper ship Cimba
from {{coord missing, Atlantic Ocean Clippers Individual sailing vessels Victorian-era merchant ships of the United Kingdom World War I merchant ships of Norway Lumber ships Ships built in Aberdeen Shipwrecks of the Saint Lawrence River Maritime incidents in 1915 1878 ships Wool trade