Torrens (clipper ship)
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | Torrens |
| Owner: | H. R. Angel |
| Operator: | Elder, Smith and Co. |
| Builder: | James Laing, Sunderland |
| Cost: | £27,257 |
| Launched: | 1875 |
| Out of service: | 1906 |
| Fate: | Broken up in Genoa, 1910 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: | 1276 tons |
| Length: | 222 ft (68 m) |
| Beam: | 38 ft (12 m) |
| Draught: | 21 ft 6 in (6.55 m) |
| Sail plan: | Clipper |
| Notes: | Passenger ship; 1st and 2nd class cabins only |
Torrens (1875 – 1910) was a clipper ship designed to carry passengers and cargo between London and Port Adelaide, South Australia. She was the fastest ship to sail on that route, and the last sailing ship on which Joseph Conrad would serve before embarking on his writing career.
She was built by James Laing of Sunderland, largely to the specifications of Captain Henry Robert Angel (1829 – June 1923). She was jointly owned by Captain H.R. Angel and the Elder Line, but Captain Angel was her principal owner. She was of composite construction (i.e. steel-framed) with teak planking; 222 feet long, a beam of 38 feet and depth 21 feet 6 inches, registered as 1276 tons. She was "heavily sparred and carried a main sky sail yard, and for many years she was the only vessel with studding sail booms running in the Australian trade". The Captain's elder daughter, (Emily) Flores Angel (1856–1948), performed the traditional breaking of the bottle at the launching ceremony.
It is likely that the vessel was named in honour of Colonel Robert Torrens, a principal exponent of the economic benefits of nineteenth-century colonial trade.
The Torrens was clearly aimed at the upper end of the market – accommodation was first and second class passengers only. Apart from the crew, she carried "a surgeon, a stewardess and a good cow". The outward journey to Adelaide was via the Cape of Good Hope; Captain H. R. Angel customarily entered Port Adelaide via the Backstairs Passage rather than through Investigator Strait, and on the return voyage she stopped at Cape Town and St. Helena and Ascension.
She carried any number of notable passengers, but one in particular deserves a mention: Rev. C. W. Evan, first minister of Stow Memorial Church, died on board 22 August 1876, just as she was nearing London. His wife had recently died, he was in poor health and returning to England in the hopes of a recovery.
She was managed by Elder, Smith & Co. and skippered by Capt. H. R. Angel who, as Commodore of the fleet, flew a version of the company flag with a red crescent and two stars on a white field rather than white on red. Captain Angel had previously commanded the Glen Osmond and the Collingrove on the same route for Elders. His time with the Torrens was a remarkably happy one: fifteen voyages to Adelaide without serious incident; her fastest time from Plymouth to Port Adelaide was 65 days and the slowest 85, with an average of 74 – far better than any other ship of the period.
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