The ''Newcastle'' was a

clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. The term was also retrospectively applied to the Baltimore clipper, which originated in the late 18th century. Clippers were generally narrow for their len ...

ship of the Green Blackwell line that operated on routes from England to India and Australia in the late 19th century. Built in 1857 in Sunderland, England, she was wrecked near the northern tip of

Queensland, Australia Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, ...

, in 1883.

History

The ''Newcastle'' launched in 1857, 1275 tons, was built by W. Pile junior at Sunderland for Richard Green's London to India service. The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich has a bill of sale for the transaction (NMM MS GRN 14). She was designed by the noted

naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners. {{Commons category, Architecture by occupation Design occupations Occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's rol ...

Bernard Waymouth (1824–1890). Waymouth went on to design the

Leander Leander is one of the protagonists in the story of Hero and Leander in Greek mythology. Leander may also refer to: People * Leander (given name) * Leander (surname) Places * Leander, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * L ...

(1867) and the

Thermopylae Thermopylae (; ; Ancient: , Katharevousa: ; ; "hot gates") is a narrow pass and modern town in Lamia (city), Lamia, Phthiotis, Greece. It derives its name from its Mineral spring, hot sulphur springs."Thermopylae" in: S. Hornblower & A. Spaw ...

(1868). He also served as

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited, trading as Lloyd's Register (LR), is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research ...

's senior surveyor for London. The ''Newcastle'' was drawn by the artist William Foster in 1857, and his picture was made into a lithograph that same year by

Thomas Goldsworthy Dutton Thomas Goldsworthy Dutton (1820–1891) was a 19th-century English marine lithographer, drawing, draftsman, watercolourist, marine painting, painter, and etcher. Early life Born in 1820 in London, Middlesex, England, and named after his father, a ...

; she was shown flying the Green Blackwall line House flag on her main mast. Her first commander was R.D. Crawford. During a large part of the 1860s she was a troop carrier between London and Calcutta. After the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 she carried passengers to Melbourne. She served for years on the London to Australia route, carrying mail and cargo. StateLibQld 1 114308 Sailing ship Newcastle

StateLibQld 1 114308 Sailing ship Newcastle

Sometime shortly before June 1883 when underway to

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately ...

to be hulked, she was stranded at

Bushy Islet Bushy Islet is a one-mile-long islet in Queensland, Australia about from Woody Island and from Quoin Island in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park of Queensland, Australia. It is approximately west of Cairncross Island. Bushy Islet is part ...

, in the

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes ( Kalaw Lagaw Ya#Phonology 2, �zen̪ad̪ kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, ...

. She was soon reported as having broken up. The wreck was sold at Thursday Island according to the

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

on 21 June 1883. The

Brisbane Courier ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner norther ...

of 31 July 1883 and

The Queenslander ''The Queenslander'' was the weekly summary and literary edition of the ''Brisbane Courier'', the leading journal in the colony (later state) of Queensland since the 1850s. ''The Queenslander'' was launched by the Brisbane Newspaper Company in ...

of 4 August 1883 tell us that she "remained fast upon the reef". The ''Asteria'', and ''Jemima'', along with several

lighters A lighter is a portable device which uses mechanical or electrical means to create a controlled flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of flammable items, such as cigarettes, butane gas, fireworks, candles, or campfires. A lighter typica ...

arrived at the wreck to recover the cargo. The salvage team employed several of the crew in the task, and the remaining members were transported to Sydney. In July 1883 the cargo was salvaged, the vessel stripped of its copper fastenings and blown up using explosives.

References and notes

External links

1857 ships Ships built on the River Wear Clippers Sailing ships of the United Kingdom {{ship-stub