''Ticonderoga'' was a , 4-masted

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 displacing 1,089 tons, launched in 1849 and wrecked in 1872.

History

''Ticonderoga'' was launched in 1849 at Williamsburg, New York (United States). She was infamous for her "fever ship" voyage in 1852 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 ...

(England) to

Port Phillip Port Phillip (Kulin languages, Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped bay#Types, enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, ...

, Victoria (Australia) carrying 795 passengers, arriving on 3 November 1852. It was a double-decker ship, overcrowded, and with more than her recommended load of 630. Many passengers were small children, as the restrictions on the number of children per family had been lifted. Most came from the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

of Scotland under the auspices of the Highland and Island Emigration Society, but there were other families from

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

on board. The ship was not designed well for passenger carrying: sanitary provisions were totally inadequate, and the surgeons were soon overwhelmed, and the senior surgeon, Dr Sanger, caught typhus leaving the junior surgeon on his first voyage to deal with hundreds of sick and dying people by himself, with supplies running dangerously low. The decks were never swabbed properly and there was no cleaning undertaken below decks; contemporary accounts mention the dreadful smell and the lack of sanitation. Bodies were bundled into mattresses in tens and thrown overboard during the voyage. During the voyage, 100 passengers died of what was later determined to have been

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

. When the ship arrived in Port Phillip, flying the yellow flag, it was initially moored off

Point Nepean Point Nepean (Boonwurrung: ''Boona-djalang'') marks the southern point of The Rip (the entrance to Port Phillip) and the most westerly point of the Mornington Peninsula, in Victoria, Australia. It was named in 1802 after the British politici ...

. The headland became a makeshift a quarantine station, where many more passengers died and were buried, haphazardly, in shallow graves. In 1992, a memorial was erected at the site by descendants of the survivors. After a press furore about the unsanitary conditions on the ship, double-decker ships were no longer used for emigrants and the restrictions on the numbers of children allowed were reinstated. In 1872, ''Ticonderoga'' was wrecked off India. ''Hell Ship'', a history of the 1852 voyage of the ''Ticonderoga'', was published in 2018 by actor and writer

Michael Veitch Michael Veitch (born 29 November 1962 in Melbourne) is an Australian author, actor and broadcaster, best known for his roles on the sketch comedy television shows '' The D-Generation'', '' Fast Forward'' and '' Full Frontal'', as well as for hi ...

, who also developed a one-person play based on it.

References

Notes

Online sources

* * {{1872 shipwrecks Clippers History of immigration to Australia Ships built in Brooklyn Age of Sail merchant ships of the United States Victorian-era passenger ships of the United Kingdom Quarantine facilities Maritime incidents in Australia Maritime incidents in 1852 Maritime incidents in 1872 1849 ships Shipwrecks of India Maritime history of Scotland Scottish emigration