2021–v1 Alexander Hall & Co., Shipbuilders, FOOTDEE, Aberdeen. the 1860’s BOOM TO BUST STANLEY BRUCE Alexander Hall & Co., Shipbuilders, Footdee, Aberdeen, The 1860’s. Stanley Bruce 2021-v1. Due to the age of the photographs and drawings in this book they are all considered to be out of copyright, however where the photographer, artist or source of the item is known it has been stated directly below it. For any stated as ‘photographer unknown’ I would be very happy for you to get in touch if you know the artist or photographer. Cover photograph: the 3-masted ship ‘Herradura’ (612 tons), launched in 1868, painted by William Foster. This book has been published on an entirely non-profit basis and made available to all online free of charge as a pdf. The aim of the book is to make the history of vessels built by Alexander Hall & Co. available to a wider audience. There is much available on the internet, especially on www.aberdeenships.com which gives much more details from many newspapers not stated in this publication. However, what’s currently available is scattered and doesn’t readily give the full picture when looking at the perspective from each shipbuilding company. If you have any comments regarding this book, or any further information, especially photographs or paintings of vessels where I have none. It would be historically good to show at least one for each vessel, and since this is an electronic edition it will be possible to update and include any new information. I can be contacted at [email protected] If printing this book, it is best printed as an A5 booklet. 1 Alexander Hall & Co., Shipbuilders, Footdee, Aberdeen, The 1860’s. Stanley Bruce 2021-v1. ALEXANDER HALL & Co., Shipbuilders, FOOTDEE, Aberdeen. THE 1860’s. BOOM TO BUST. Written to commemorate 30-years since I left A&P Appledore (Aberdeen Ltd. (aka Hall, Russell’s) and joined DNV(GL). (Hall, Russell & Co. and DNV were both founded in 1864). 2 Alexander Hall & Co., Shipbuilders, Footdee, Aberdeen, The 1860’s. Stanley Bruce 2021-v1. © Stanley A. Bruce, 2021. Copyright Terms You are free to digitally distribute or display this book in whole; or as individual pages, subject to the page header being retained on each page. Whilst I have taken great care in preparing this publication, I have of course relied on some previous historic information by others. Where conflicting information was found, I have added what seemed the most credible, at least to my mind, I therefore accept no responsibility for any errors or omissions. Please treat all dimensions as approximate. 3 Alexander Hall & Co., Shipbuilders, Footdee, Aberdeen, The 1860’s. Stanley Bruce 2021-v1. ALEXANDER HALL & Co. , Shipbuilders, FOOTDEE, Aberdeen. THE 1860’s. BOOM TO BUST. By Stanley Bruce 4 Alexander Hall & Co., Shipbuilders, Footdee, Aberdeen, The 1860’s. Stanley Bruce 2021-v1. Contents. Page Introduction. 7 Aberdeen Shipbuilders of the 1860’s. 10 1860’s Aberdeen Shipbuilding Tonnage Built. 11 Key Dates in the History of Alexander Hall & Co. (1809 to 1957). 11 Some Length to breadth Comparisons. 14 1860’s Timeline. 15 Abbreviations. 27 Hall’s Ships (poem). 28 Vessels Built by Alexander Hall & Co. in the 1860’s. 29 Ocean Mail (1860). 34 Chaa-Sze (1860). 36 Flying Spur (1860). 39 Chepica (1860). 42 Pegasus (1861). 44 The Murray (1861). 46 Adam Sedgwick (1861). 48 Colleen Bawn (1861). 50 Emily (1862). 51 Clara Sayers (1862). 52 Coulnakyle (1862). 54 Star of China (1862). 57 Vanda (1862). 59 Natal Star (1862). 60 Reindeer (1863). 62 Celaeno (1863). 64 Black Prince (1863). 66 Yang-Tsze (1863). 69 Fy-Chow (1863). 75 Tugela (1864). 77 Goolwa (1864). 79 Edward P Bouverie (1864). 82 Devanha (1864). 85 Admiral (1865). 88 Darra (1865). 89 John Williams (1865). 92 Ada (1865). 113 Douglas (1865). 116 Unkown Barge (1865). 119 5 Alexander Hall & Co., Shipbuilders, Footdee, Aberdeen, The 1860’s. Stanley Bruce 2021-v1. Contents. (Continued). Page Sobraon (1866). 120 Brucklay Castle (1867). 127 Electra (1866). 129 Taiwan (1866). 131 Eclipse (1867). 133 John Wesley (1867). 137 Nicoya (1867). 140 Illovo (1867). 142 Whalsay (1867). 145 Kwang Tung (1868). 146 Helen Black (1868). 149 Commissary (1868). 151 Ho Sho Maru (1868). 152 Frederick (1868). 155 Samoa (1868). 156 Herradura (1868). 158 Jho Sho Maru (1869). 165 May Queen (1869). 171 Caliph (1869). 174 Barranca (1869). 179 Bibliography. 181 Acknowledgements. 181 Websites. 181 Further Reading. 181 Appendices A Gravestone of Alexander Hall and Elizabeth Cochar. 182 B Gravestone of James Hall and Christina Wilson. 183 This book was researched and written in 2020 during the COVID-19 Pandemic. 6 Alexander Hall & Co., Shipbuilders, Footdee, Aberdeen, The 1860’s. Stanley Bruce 2021-v1. Introduction. The 1860’s, commenced with the sailing ship in it’s prime; the development of the ‘Aberdeen Bow’ invented by the Hall’s in 1839 and first fitted on the top-sail schooner ‘Scottish Maid’ (142 tons) was now adorning every fast sailing ship built in Aberdeen and around the World. These were beautiful vessels, with fine streamlined hulls with a length to breadth ratio of around 6:1, large masts and spars with a huge capacity for sails. Tea Clippers were getting faster, bigger and more stream-lined, as shipowners believed economy was in the scale. Many of Hall’s clippers took part in the China Tea Races, bringing expensive cargoes of tea home from China to London, making a lot of money for their owners. The first teas of the season obtained the highest prices, so there was an incentive to be home first. There was also the glory received by the winning captain and the builder of the fastest ship. A shipbuilder whose ship won the race was virtually guaranteed more work. In 1868, Hall’s neighbour Walter Hood & Co. launched the celebrated tea clipper the ‘ Thermopylae’ (991 tons), the Hall brothers shortly after built the ‘Caliph’ specifically to beat her, but unfortunately, she didn’t get the chance, as the she was lost a mere two years after her launch. It’s a shame they never got to race; I imagine the Hall brother’s were very disappointed about this. The 1860’s was a very busy time for the Hall’s, yet it was the decade where the company went from boom to bust. At the close of 1869 the firm was in sequestration, partly due to losses on some of the ships built, but mainly due to a huge debt from 1863 associated with George Thomson and the firm Messrs Catto, Thomson, & Co., Rope and Sail Manufacturers at the Links, of which the Hall brothers were joint owners. 7 Alexander Hall & Co., Shipbuilders, Footdee, Aberdeen, The 1860’s. Stanley Bruce 2021-v1. In 1864, Hall Russell & Co. was founded in the former Aberdeen Iron Works, York Place, Footdee. The Hall brothers knew that Alexander Hall & Co. due to the huge ropeworks debt from 1863 might not survive as a business so they opened Hall Russell & Co. on the west side of York Place in the former Aberdeen Iron Works as a separate concern initially to build ship engines and boilers. The 1860’s was a time of great change for shipbuilders; in the list of vessels built by the Hall’s in this decade we have conventional wooden carvel-built hulls, diagonal built hulls, composite hulls, iron hulls and steam engines. The change from wood to iron wouldn’t have been an easy one, men required retraining and the purchase of costly new machinery would have been necessary. Hall’s first composite hull the ‘Black Prince’ (750 tons) designed by fellow Aberdonian William Rennie on the lines of the very successful ‘Fiery Cross’ (695 tons) built by Chaloner of Liverpool seems to have taken considerably longer to build than their earlier carvel-built wooden hulls, I guess due to teething problems probably due to the different construction methods used. The 3-masted ship ‘Vision’ (563 tons) launched 31 st December 1853 was Hall’s first diagonal-built hull, however in the 1860’s this method of construction was used by Hall’s on the 3-masted ship ‘Ocean Mail’ (630 tons) and the 3-masted ship ‘Chaa-Sze’ (556 tons). In this decade Hall’s launched the 3-masted ship ‘Sobraon’ (2,131 tons), which was the largest composite ship ever built. A huge crowd gathered at her launch to witness this feat. It must have been quite a sight as she was two to three times bigger based on tonnage than the vessels built at this period. In this decade the Hall’s built three missionary ships, the 3-masted barque ‘Samoa’ (200 tons), 3-masted schooner ‘John Wesley’ (238 tons) and the 3- masted barque ‘John Williams’ (296 tons). These were smaller than the ‘Tea Clippers’, but still good work for the yard. Incredibly the ‘John Williams’ was paid for by Sunday School children who collected what was referred to as "ship half-pennies". 8 Alexander Hall & Co., Shipbuilders, Footdee, Aberdeen, The 1860’s. Stanley Bruce 2021-v1. Fraserburgh born Thomas Blake Glover, who had gained access to Japan in 1859 as a tea merchant aged 21-years, chose Hall’s in his former hometown to build the first warships for Japan; firstly in 1868 the ‘Ho Sho Maru’ (316 tons) and in 1869 the much bigger ‘Jho Sho Maru’ (1,459 tons). 1869 saw the opening of the Suez Canal, this meant that steamships could make passage to the Far East much quicker than any sailing ship, the ‘Age of Steam’ had finally arrived. Hall’s had dabbled with steam in the ‘Gazelle’ (73 tons) built in 1840, the paddle steamer ‘Iris’ (280 tons) built in 1842, the paddle steamer ‘Juno’ (383 tons) built in 1851 and the steam yacht ‘Fox’ (177 tons) built in 1855.