A picture of Osaka
History
United Kingdom
NameOsaka
OwnerKillick Martin & Company, London
BuilderWilliam pile, Sunderland
Launched12 July 1869
United Kingdom
OwnerThomas Roberts and Sons, Llanelly, Camarthenshire
Acquired30 March 1885
United Kingdom
OwnerMöller & Co, Shanghai
Acquired1895
FateWrecked 14 September 1904
General characteristics
Class and typeComposite barque
Tonnage546 GRT
Length165 ft (50.3 m)
Beam30.2 ft (9.2 m)
Depth17.3 ft (5.3 m)

Osaka, A composite barque, built by William Pile, Sunderland, at Yard No.[1] 179 for Killick Martin & Company, the company founded by Captain James Killick and launched on 12 July 1869. William Pile also built Osaka's sister ship Miako, for Killick Martin & Company launched on 15 April 1869.[2]

William Pile also built City of Adelaide the world's oldest surviving clipper ship, of only two that survive — the other being the Cutty Sark.[3]

Osaka's dimensions were 50.33×9.21×5.28 meters [165'0"×30'2"×17'3"] and 546 GRT, 527 NRT.[3]

Under Killick Martin & Company's ownership Osaka had three captains. The first was Captain John Lawrence Leslie from 1869 to 1872, then Captain William Anderson Davidson between 1872 and 1873, and finally Captain Robert Lowe from 1873 to 1885. Captain Robert Lowe's son James Lowe was also a sea Captain for Killick Martin & Company commanding Agnes Muir, clipper between 1875 and 1885.[4]

Osaka's maiden voyage was to Tasmania, Yokohama, Hong Kong, Saigon, Kobe, Bangkok, Hong Kong, New York, then back to London.[4]

Throughout her life she continued to make varied passages visiting an incredible range of ports from those listed above, to Adelaide, Guam, Anjur, Manila, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Sydney, St. Helena, Calcutta, Rangoon, Canton, Whampoa, Osaka, and Queenstown carrying cargoes of coal, rice, sugar, coconut oil, coffee, and hemp.[3]

Osaka was sold on 30 March 1885 to Thomas Roberts, Llanelly, Carmarthenshire, and then in 1895 to N.E. Moller & Sons, then Moller Bros, Shanghai.[3]

She was wrecked on 14 September 1904 on Kuril Islands on a voyage from Tsingtao to Nicolaieosk with general cargo.[3]

References

  1. ^ Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping. Cox and Wyman, printers. 1869.
  2. ^ Lubbock, Basil (1984). The China clippers. London: Century. ISBN 0712603417. OCLC 60012071.
  3. ^ a b c d e MacGregor, David R. (David Roy) (1983). The tea clippers : their history and development, 1833–1875 (2nd ed., rev. and expanded ed.). London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 203–204. ISBN 0851772560. OCLC 9997008.
  4. ^ a b MacGregor, David R. (David Roy) (1986). The China bird : the history of Captain Killick, and the firm he founded, Killick Martin & Company (2nd rev. ed.). London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 102–104. ISBN 0851773818. OCLC 15024735.

External links

Clipper ships
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1904
Categories