HMS ''Sealark'' was a Royal Navy vessel used primarily for hydrographic survey work. She was originally a luxurious private auxiliary steam yacht#Types, steam yacht for a number of wealthy owners and in 1903 was acquired by the Royal Navy, serving until 1914. She was sold to James Patrick Steamships, James Patrick Steamships Ltd and converted to a merchant ship for the Australian coast and finally Hulk (ship type), hulked in 1924.

History

Built by Robert Steele and Co, Greenock in 1878 for Charles Joseph Lambert as a private yacht named ''Wanderer'' and described as "the most luxurious private steam yacht ever built". She was registered with the Royal Yacht Squadron and became known as RYS ''Wanderer'', based at Cowes, Isle of Wight. On her shake-down cruise in the Bay of Biscay, September 1879, she was dismasted. The crew managed to cut away the broken rigging and she reached Falmouth under her own power. The high pressure steam engines also proved to be so problematic that they were replaced before she went into service with the Lambert family. During the repair works, additional accommodation was added in the form of poop decks fore and aft. In 1880, Lambert, with his family undertook a 2-year world cruise on board, covering almost 49,000 miles and published an account on their return titled ''The Voyage of the "Wanderer"''. In 1888 after a number of cruises around the world, she was sold to the House of Torlonia, Principe di Torlonia and renamed ''Vagus''. In 1896 she returned to the British register at Cowes, and then, had a series of owners including in 1900 the United States, American millionaire William Kissam Vanderbilt who renamed her ''Consuelo'', Consuelo Vanderbilt, his daughter's name.This information conflicts with contemporary sources - see section ''Conflicting source data'', By 1903 ''Consuelo'' was still registered at Cowes, but now owned by the James Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford, Earl of Crawford. Yacht Consuelo ex Wanderer ex Vagus

Yacht Consuelo ex Wanderer ex Vagus Admiralty owned

In 1903, ''Consuelo'' was purchased by the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty and initially commissioned as HMS ''Investigator''. In 1904 after refitting as a survey vessel, at a cost of £20,000, she was renamed HMS ''Sealark'' and sailed from Portsmouth in September 1904 to serve on the China Station. In 1910, she sailed from Penang for the Australia Station. She undertook various hydrographic surveys around Australia and the Oceania, South Pacific between 1910 and 1914. With the beginning of World War I, and the threat of German Empire expansion in the South Pacific, she sailed to Suva, Fiji with a cargo of coastal guns, for a gun emplacement on a hill in Suva. After returning from Fiji via New Zealand to Sydney, she was paid off in 1914. In 1919, Australian shipowner Captain J. H. Patrick purchased her for £2500, converted her into a merchant ship at a cost of £15,000, initially renaming her ''Sealark III'', and then ''Norwest''. She plied the interstate trade for James Patrick Steamships Ltd until 1924, when the English, Scottish and Australian Bank seized her to repay debts owed. After James Patrick Steamships Ltd failed, the bank sold her to William Waugh Ltd., Balmain, New South Wales, Balmain, Sydney for about £500. William Waugh dismantled her and converted her into a hulk.

Figurehead

The Figurehead (object), figurehead was presented to the Royal Australian Navy and was mounted at the Dockyard on Garden Island, New South Wales, Garden Island.

Anchor

Located in Hallsville, New South Wales, next to the main road between Tamworth, New South Wales, Tamworth and Manilla, New South Wales, Manilla, is the anchor from HMS ''Sealark''. Known as the Oxley Memorial, as it is dedicated to the first Surveyor General of New South Wales, John Oxley, who took this route in 1818. The plaque reads that it was "donated by the Naval Board Melbourne". A contemporaneous newspaper article said that "the anchor, which has been on Garden Island since the Sealark went out of commission, was landed at man-o'-war steps and conveyed to Darling Harbour railway station for transport to Tamworth". The memorial was erected in 1926.

Conflicting source data

John Bastock’s book ''Ships on the Australian Station'' is at odds with other reference sources by stating that ''HMS Sealark'' was originally constructed in 1887 by Gourley Bros & Co of Dundee, and attributing ownership of ''Consuelo'', between 1900 and 1903, to W. K. Vanderbilt. Contemporary records, including the Lloyd's yacht registers from 1900 to 1904 and The Mercantile Navy List and Maritime Directories of the same period, confirm that ''Sealark'' was built by Robert Steele and Co. in 1878 as ''Wanderer'', and the registered owners between 1900 and 1903 were Sir Richard Henry Williams-Bulkeley and the Earl of Crawford, not Vanderbilt.

Notes

Citations

References

*Bastock, John (1988), ''Ships on the Australia Station'', Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd; Frenchs Forest, Australia.

External links

* * OldWeather.org transcription of ship's logbooks March to July 1914 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sealark (1903) Survey vessels of the Royal Navy 1878 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Steam yachts