Garston

A steel full-rigged ship built in 1883 by R. Williamson & Son, Workington. Dimensions 81,44×11,93×7,20 meters [267'0"×39'1"×23'6"] and 1852 GRT, 1812 NRT and 1733 tons under deck.

1883 September: Launched at the shipyard of R. Williamson & Son, Workington, for R.W. Leyland & Co., Liverpool. Assigned the official British Reg. No. 87891 and signal HWRN.
1884 December 22: Collided with the steam ship Creadon one mile out of Cardiff on voyage with coal for Bombay. The Garston had to be taken back to Cardiff for repairs and eventally sailed for Bombay in June 1885.
1889 July 17: Wrecked on a reef three miles off Starbuck Island on voyage from Newcastle, NSW, to San Francisco. The crew left the ship in three boats, of which the gig was separated from the two lifeboats during the night. The two lifeboats were soon picked up by a passing steam boat while the nine men including the captain in the poorly provisioned gig sailed 2000 miles in 23 days to the Wallis Island before they were saved.

References:

Square-rigged ships, general references.
Walker, David: Champion of Sail. R.W. Leyland and his Shipping Line.
Conway Maritime Press, London, 1986. 4to, 191 pp, ill.

Updated 1997-05-15 by Lars Bruzelius

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