Balclutha at her mooring in San Francisco.
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Namesake: | Balclutha, New Zealand or Baile Chluaidh (Gaelic) |
Builder: | Charles Connell & Co. Ltd. |
Launched: | 6 December 1886 |
In service: | 15 January 1887 |
Status: | Museum ship since 1954 |
General characteristics | |
Type: | Three-masted full-rigged ship |
Tonnage: | |
Displacement: | c. 4,100 tons |
Tons burthen: | 2,650 tons (2,692 tonnes) |
Length: | 301 ft (92 m) |
Beam: | 38.6 ft (11.8 m) |
Height: | 145 ft (44 m) |
Draught: | 20.3 ft (6.2 m) |
Depth of hold: | 22.7 ft (6.9 m) |
Propulsion: | sail |
Sail plan: | rigged with royal sails over double top & single topgallant sails; 25 sails in all |
Complement: | 26; under the APA flag ~ 210 |
Notes: | |
Balclutha (square-rigger)
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Location | Hyde Street Pier, San Francisco, California |
Coordinates | 37°48′35.5″N 122°25′21″W / 37.809861°N 122.42250°WCoordinates: 37°48′35.5″N 122°25′21″W / 37.809861°N 122.42250°W |
Built | 1886 |
Architect | Charles Connell |
NRHP Reference # | 76000178 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | 7 November 1976 |
Designated NHL | 4 February 1985 |
Balclutha, also known as Star of Alaska, Pacific Queen, or Sailing Ship Balclutha, is a steel-hulled full rigged ship that was built in 1886. She is the only square rigged ship left in the San Francisco Bay area and is representative of several different commercial ventures, including lumber, salmon, and grain. She is a U.S. National Historic Landmark and is currently preserved at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park in San Francisco, California. She was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 7 November 1976.
Balclutha was built in 1886 by Charles Connell and Company of Scotstoun in Glasgow, Scotland, for Robert McMillan, of Dumbarton, Scotland. Her namesake is said to be the eponymous town of Balclutha, New Zealand, but her name also refers to her first homeport, Glasgow, Scotland, which is a "City on the Clyde" - the meaning of her name derived from the Gaelic Baile Chluaidh. Designed as a general trader, Balclutha rounded Cape Horn 17 times in thirteen years.
During this period she carried cargoes such as wine, case oil, and coal from Europe and the East Coast of the United States to various ports in the Pacific. These included Chile for nitrate, Australia and New Zealand for wool, Burma for rice, San Francisco for grain, and the Pacific Northwest for timber.