A piece of history

This is the James Craig.  It was open for visitors today and was moored just near the Maritime Mu-sea-um that I blipped on Monday.    I walked over to Pyrmont at lunch time today to take this shot.

Read on if you are interested in her history.

James Craig , launched as Clan Macleod, was built by Bartram, Haswell & Co. in Sunderland, England in 1874. Her name was changed to James Craig in 1905. For 26 years she plied the trade routes of the world carrying general cargoes during which period she rounded Cape Horn 23 times.

In 1900 she was purchased by Mr J J Craig of Auckland, New Zealand, who used her on trans-Tasman trade routes as a general cargo carrier. In 1911 she was laid up because increasing competition from steam ships made sailing vessels uneconomical. She was then stripped and used as a copra hulk in New Guinea.

After the First World War there was an acute shortage of cargo ships and she was bought by the well-known Australian jam manufacturer, Henry Jones IXL. This gave James Craig a new lease of life after being towed from New Guinea to Sydney for re-fitting. Her return to service was brief because in 1925 she was reduced to a coal hulk at Recherche Bay, Tasmania. In 1932 she was abandoned and became beached after breaking her moorings in a storm. She remained beached until 1972 when volunteers from the Sydney Heritage Fleet re-floated her.

In 1973 she was towed to Hobart where temporary repairs were carried out. She was towed to Sydney in 1981 and restoration work commenced. James Craig‘s restored hull was re-launched in February 1997.

My old boss sailed in her from Sydney to Newie probably after she was re-launched.  She is owned now by the Sydney Heritage Fleet.  You can sail off Sydney Heads in her twice a month.

Thank you to Freyjad for hosting WW this week.