Balclutha (1886)

{{Short description|Steel-hulled full rigged ship that was built in 1886}}

|+Balclutha

{{Infobox ship image

| Ship image = Balclutha 2016.jpg

| Ship image size = 300px

| Ship caption = Balclutha (back) at her mooring next to Eppleton Hall (front) in San Francisco

}}

{{Infobox ship career

| Hide header =

| Ship country = United Kingdom

| Ship flag = File:Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg

| Ship name =

| Ship namesake = Balclutha, New Zealand or Baile Chluaidh (Gaelic)

| Ship ordered =

| Ship builder = Charles Connell & Co. Ltd.

| Ship laid down =

| Ship launched = 6 December 1886

| Ship acquired =

| Ship commissioned =

| Ship decommissioned =

| Ship in service = 15 January 1887

| Ship out of service =

| Ship renamed =

| Ship struck =

| Ship reinstated =

| Ship honours =

| Ship captured =

| Ship fate =

| Ship status = Museum ship since 1954

| Ship notes =

}}

{{Infobox ship characteristics

| Hide header =

| Header caption =

| Ship class =

| Ship type = Three-masted full-rigged ship

| Ship tonnage = *{{GT|1,689}}

{{NetT|1,614}}

| Ship displacement = c. 4,100 tons

| Ship tons burthen = 2,650 tons

| Ship length = {{convert|301|ft|m|abbr=on}}

| Ship beam = {{convert|38.6|ft|m|abbr=on}}

| Ship height = {{convert|145|ft|m|abbr=on}}

| Ship draught = {{convert|20.3|ft|m|abbr=on}}

| Ship draft =

| Ship hold depth = {{convert|22.7|ft|m|abbr=on}}

| Ship sail plan = rigged with royal sails over double top & single topgallant sails; 25 sails in all

| Ship propulsion = sail

| Ship complement = 26; under the APA flag ~ 210

| Ship armament =

| Ship notes = {{Infobox NRHP

|embed=yes

|name=Balclutha (square-rigger)

|nrhp_type=nhl

|image=

|caption=

|location=Mare Island, Vallejo, California

|coordinates = {{coord|38.104|N|122.2715|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = United States San Francisco Bay Area#California#USA

|area=

|built=1886

|architect=Charles Connell

|architecture=

|designated_nrhp_type=4 February 1985

|added=7 November 1976{{NRISref|2008a}}

|refnum=76000178

}}

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 representative of several different commercial ventures, including lumber, salmon, and grain. She is a U.S. National Historic Landmark and is currently preserved as part of San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park in San Francisco, California, although temporarily on display in Vallejo. She was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 7 November 1976.

History

Balclutha was built in 1886 by Charles Connell and Company of Scotstoun in Glasgow, Scotland, for Robert McMillan, of Dumbarton, Scotland. Her name derives from the Gaelic Baile Chluaidh ("City on the Clyde", a poetic name for Dumbarton). 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.

In 1899 Balclutha transferred to the registry of Hawaii, and traded timber from the Pacific Northwest to Australia, returning to San Francisco with Australian coal.

File:Star of Alaska (BALCLUTHA) under sail.jpg

In 1902 Balclutha was chartered to the Alaska Packers' Association (APA). After having struck a reef off of Sitkinak Island near Kodiak Island on 16 May 1904, she was renamed the Star of Alaska when bought by APA for merely $500. After extended repairs she joined the salmon fishing trade, sailing north from the San Francisco area to the Chignik Bay, Alaska, in April with supplies, fishermen, and cannery workers, and returned in September with a cargo of canned salmon.

For this trade she carried over 200 crew and passengers, as compared to the 26-man crew she carried as the Balclutha. In 1911 the poop deck was extended to the main mast to accommodate Italian and Scandinavian workers. This expansion is called the shelter deck. In the 'tween deck, bunks for Chinese workers were built. Her last voyage in this trade was in 1930, when she then was laid up after her return home.

In 1933, Star of Alaska was renamed Pacific Queen by her new owner Frank Kissinger. In this guise she appeared in the film Mutiny on the Bounty starring Clark Gable and Charles Laughton. She then eked out an existence as an exhibition ship, gradually deteriorating, and was for a while exhibited as a "pirate ship".

In 1954, Pacific Queen was acquired by the San Francisco Maritime Museum, which restored her and renamed her Balclutha and moored her at Pier 41 East.[http://photosecrets.com/balclutha-ship Balclutha - photosecrets.com] In 1985 she was designated a National Historic Landmark.{{cite web

|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1594&ResourceType=Structure

|title=BALCLUTHA

|access-date=2008-06-25

|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing

|publisher=National Park Service

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114222253/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1594&ResourceType=Structure

|archive-date=14 November 2007

}}{{cite web |url={{NHLS url|id=76000178}} |format=pdf |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Sailing Ship Balclutha / Balclutha (ex Star of Alaska, ex Pacific Queen) |date=30 December 1983 |first=James P. |last=Delgado |author-link=James P. Delgado |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=2012-08-23}} and
{{cite web |url={{NHLS url|id=76000178|photos=y}} |format=pdf |title=Accompanying photos, exterior and interior |date=30 December 1983 |first=James P. |last=Delgado |author-link=James P. Delgado |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=2012-08-23}}

In 1988,{{Cite web |url=http://www.dolphinclub.org/about/history/ |title=1988 - Balclutha arrives at Aquatic Park for permanent berthing at the Hyde Street Pier - dolphinclub.org |access-date=21 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190513124222/http://www.dolphinclub.org/about/history/ |archive-date=13 May 2019 |url-status=dead }} she was moved to a mooring at Hyde Street Pier of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. She previously hosted a monthly Chantey Sing in the shelter deck, which has moved to the adjacent Eureka.[http://www.nps.gov/safr/historyculture/chantey-sing.htm Chantey Sing at Hyde Street Pier] Free Admission, call 415-561-7171{{Cite web |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/chantey-sing-san-francisco|title=San Franciscans Sing Sea Chanteys by the Seashore |last=Shoot |first=Brittany |date=2018-03-30|website=Atlas Obscura |language=en |access-date=2019-08-20}} In 2025, she was moved to Mare Island while the Hyde Street Pier is being replaced.{{Cite web |url=https://www.timesheraldonline.com/2025/04/16/mare-island-welcomes-the-balclutha/ |title=Mare Island welcomes the Balclutha |access-date=2025-04-17}}

Image gallery

Image:BalculthaViewAft.JPG|{{center|View aft from foredeck}}

Image:AnchorWindlass.jpg|{{center|Anchor windlass in forecastle}}

Image:Balclutha1.jpg|{{center|Bow and foremast, January 15, 2012}}

Image:Balclutha2.jpg|{{center|Stern and mizzenmast, January 15, 2012}}

Image:Balclutha Figurehead.JPG|{{center|Bow figurehead, and January 15, 2012}}

class=wikitable

|+Deck Plan

160px

Sources

References

{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/safr/local/balc.html |title=National Park Service |access-date=2006-04-06 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050205012218/http://www.nps.gov/safr/local/balc.html |archive-date=2005-02-05 }}, retrieved 23:40 GMT 22 January 2005
[http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/ships/html/sh_009500_balclutha.htm Entry in Houghton Mifflin's Ships of the World] (registration required), retrieved 23:50 GMT 22 January 2005

External links

[https://home.nps.gov/safr/learn/historyculture/balclutha-history.htm Balclutha history] - San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110708073319/http://www.bloosee.com/infopoints/united-states/california/balclutha/ Balclutha - BlooSee.com]
[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19590514&id=sngcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KGUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2494,2755596 Comedian Jonathan Winters Detained In San Francisco]. Winters was arrested in 1959, after climbing in the rigging of the Balclutha.
{{HAER |survey=CA-54 |id=ca1493 |title=Ship BALCLUTHA, 2905 Hyde Street Pier, San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA |photos=142 |color=1 |dwgs=70 |data=235 |cap=10}}