HMS Sealark (1903)

HMS Sealark was a Royal Navy vessel used primarily for hydrographic survey work. She was originally a luxurious private auxiliary steam yacht for a number of wealthy owners and in 1903 was acquired by the Royal Navy, serving until 1914. She was sold to James Patrick Steamships Ltd and converted to a merchant ship for the Australian coast and finally hulked in 1924.[1]

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Sealark.
For other ships with the same name, see HMS Investigator.
Wanderer in 1880
History
UK, Italy
Name: Wanderer
Builder: Robert Steel and Co, Greenock (Yd 180)
Launched: 12 December 1878
Renamed: Vagus (1888), Consuelo (1900)
Fate: Sold 1903
UK
Name: HMS Investigator
Acquired: By purchase 1903
Decommissioned: 1914
Renamed: HMS Sealark (1904)
Australia
Name: Sealark III
Acquired: 1919
Renamed: Norwest (c1922)
Fate: Seized 1924 for debt and converted into a hulk
General characteristics
Tonnage: 900 tons
Length: 185 ft 6 in (56.54 m)
Beam: 29 ft (8.8 m)
Propulsion: Sail, Steam Auxiliary
Armament: 1 x 3-pounder QF gun

History

Built by Robert Steele and Co, Greenock in 1878 for Charles Joseph Lambert as a private yacht named Wanderer and described as "the most luxurious private steam yacht ever built".[2] She was registered with the Royal Yacht Squadron and became known as RYS Wanderer, based at Cowes, Isle of Wight.[3]

On her shake-down cruise in the Bay of Biscay, September 1879, she was dismasted. The crew managed to cut away the broken rigging and she reached Falmouth under her own power. The high pressure steam engines also proved to be so problematic that they were replaced before she went into service with the Lambert family. During the repair works, additional accommodation was added in the form of poop decks fore and aft.[4]

In 1880, Lambert, with his family undertook a 2-year world cruise on board, covering almost 49,000 miles and published an account on their return titled The Voyage of the "Wanderer".[5] In 1888 after a number of cruises around the world, she was sold to the Principe di Torlonia and renamed Vagus. In 1896 she returned to the British register at Cowes,[6] and then, had a series of owners including in 1900 the American millionaire William Kissam Vanderbilt who renamed her Consuelo, his daughter's name.[7][Note 1] By 1903 Consuelo was still registered at Cowes, but now owned by the Earl of Crawford.[8]

Lloyd's yacht register 1902-1903 Consuelo (ex Wanderer, ex Vagus). Owned by Earl of Crawford.
Lloyd's yacht register 1904-1905 Consuelo (ex Wanderer, ex Vagus). Owned by Admiralty

In 1903, Consuelo was purchased by the Admiralty and initially commissioned as HMS Investigator. In 1904 after refitting as a survey vessel, at a cost of £20,000, she was renamed HMS Sealark and sailed from Portsmouth in September 1904 to serve on the China Station. In 1910, she sailed from Penang for the Australia Station.[9] She undertook various hydrographic surveys around Australia and the South Pacific between 1910 and 1914. With the beginning of World War I, and the threat of German Empire expansion in the South Pacific, she sailed to Suva, Fiji with a cargo of coastal guns, for a gun emplacement on a hill in Suva.[1]

After returning from Fiji via New Zealand to Sydney, she was paid off in 1914. In 1919, Australian shipowner Captain J. H. Patrick purchased her for £2500, converted her into a merchant ship at a cost of £15,000, initially renaming her Sealark III, and then Norwest. She plied the interstate trade for James Patrick Steamships Ltd until 1924, when the English, Scottish and Australian Bank seized her to repay debts owed. After James Patrick Steamships Ltd failed, the bank sold her to William Waugh Ltd., Balmain, Sydney for about £500. William Waugh dismantled her and converted her into a hulk.[1]

Figurehead

The figurehead was presented to the Royal Australian Navy and was mounted at the Dockyard on Garden Island.

Conflicting source data

John Bastock’s book Ships on the Australian Station is at odds with other reference sources by stating that HMS Sealark was originally constructed in 1887 by Gourley Bros & Co of Dundee, and attributing ownership of Consuelo, between 1900 and 1903, to W. K. Vanderbilt.[10] Contemporary records, including the Lloyd's yacht registers from 1900 to 1904 and The Mercantile Navy List and Maritime Directories of the same period,[11] confirm that Sealark was built by Robert Steele and Co. in 1878 as Wanderer, and the registered owners between 1900 and 1903 were Sir Richard Henry Williams-Bulkeley and the Earl of Crawford, not Vanderbilt.[12]

Notes
  1. This information conflicts with contemporary sources - see section Conflicting source data,

Citations
  1. The Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday 31 December 1924, p.12.
  2. Demaus, A B (2001). RYS Wanderer: From Aristocrat to Tramp. Stroud: History Press. ISBN 0-7524-2134-4.
  3. "Register of yachts". 1902. Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  4. Demaus, A B (2001). RYS Wanderer from Aristocrat to Tramp. Stroud: Tempus. p. Chapter One.
  5. Lambert, C & S. "The Voyage of the Wanderer". 1883. Macmillan & Co. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  6. Mercantile Navy List. London: Spottiswood. 1897. p. 343.
  7. Bastock, p.145.
  8. Mercantile Navy List. London: Spottiswood. 1904. p. 92.
  9. The Mercury, Monday 23 May 1910, p.4.
  10. Bastock, John (1988). Ships on the Australian Station. Australia: Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd. p. 145. ISBN 0-86777-348-0.
  11. Hall, J Clark (1901–1904). The Mercantile Navy List and Maritime Directory. 54 Gracechurch Street, London: Spottiswoode & Co.CS1 maint: location (link)
  12. "HMS Sealink (1903) (set)". Flickr. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
gollark: Clearly they WANTED us to (re)establish !demote☭palaiaologos☭establish☭python! for some reason. But why?
gollark: Okay. Do so.
gollark: !demote☭palaiaologos☭establish☭python!
gollark: NUMERATE POLYMERS, right?
gollark: We may need to restart... what was the project again?

References
  • Bastock, John (1988), Ships on the Australia Station, Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd; Frenchs Forest, Australia. ISBN 0-86777-348-0

Further reading
  • Lambert, Charles Joseph (1883), The Voyage of the "Wanderer", From the Journals and Letters of C. and S. Lambert; Macmillan and Co., London.
  • Demaus, A. B. (2001), RYS Wanderer, From Aristocrat to Tramp; Tempus, Stroud, United Kingdom. ISBN 0-7524-2134-4
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