Watercolour illustration of SS 'Calcutta' anchored in Port Louis harbour, Mauritius, 1852
By Commander John Vine Hall. (Ref. LOG/M/61)
The SS Calcutta was a barque-rigged, screw steam ship built in 1852 by C. J. Mare & Company of Canning Town, London for the General Screw Steam Shipping Company. She weighed 1272 tonnes and was fitted with 300 horsepower engines, and was constructed by Maudsley, Sons & Field. After launching in July of that year, she sailed on her first voyage from Plymouth on Friday, 15 October 1852, bound for the Cape of Good Hope and Calcutta.
The logbook was written and illustrated by Calcutta’s commander, John Vine Hall, and records many aspects of the ship’s voyage, with details of weather conditions, speed trials of the steam engines, and volumes of coal used. The log also includes: a plan of the ship (side elevation); dimensions of the vessel and spars; a watercolour chart showing prevailing winds in different localities of the Indian voyage; and a list of the ship’s company and passengers. Hall updated the passenger list as travellers disembarked and boarded the ship at various points during the voyage, including at Mauritius, Table Bay at the Cape of Good Hope, Madras and Calcutta, when the ship put in at port to coal and deliver, or take on board, mails.
Hall recorded the health and welfare of the ship’s passengers in his log. On Wednesday, 17 November 1852, he writes that two boys were ill with fever, and that one of them died at noon the same day. Both boys were believed to have contracted the illness after missing the boat at St Vincents and sleeping ashore for one night. On a more cheerful note, he logged the birth of a daughter to Reverend and Mrs Murphy on board ship on Christmas Day, 1852.
Commander Hall also recorded the condition of the ship, problems encountered and repairs made to the superstructure. After anchoring at Mauritius on Sunday, 12 December 1852, the crew of Calcutta examined the engines and 'found the screw had feathered itself, and we could not get the clutch in its place again’. The next day, they fabricated a new collar for the clutch gear that had worn so much as to be inoperable. The Commander also decided to take on additional fuel to compensate for their detention during the repairs. Hall painted the above illustration of the Calcutta in the bay of Port Louis during this sojourn in Mauritius.
When the ship put in at Madras on 3 January 1853 to take on passengers, and deliver and receive mails, the crew found water accumulating in the engine room. Pumps were used to extract the water. The leak may have been as a result of damage incurred by the ship in a severe gale blowing hurricane force that she had encountered on 20 December at latitude 51.51 South, longitude 55.15 East. Hall recorded that the leak had caused alarm amongst some of the passengers but the ship sailed safely from port for Calcutta on Wednesday, 5 January. Having coaled and taken on passengers and mail at Calcutta, the vessel began her return voyage to England on Thursday, 20 January 1853, anchoring in Southampton at 15.20 on Wednesday, 30 March 1853.
After sailing the India service, the Calcutta made a single round voyage between Southampton, Port Philip and Sydney in 1854, before being transferred to the South America service three years later. In 1859, she was sold to the Anglo-Luso-Brazilian Royal Mail Steam Navigation Company and renamed the Portugal. She was employed on the Milford Haven (later Liverpool) South America service via Lisbon until she was sold in 1861. She was then renamed the Calcutta, her engines were removed and she was re-rigged as a ship, and later renamed again as the Darling Downs. After a successful career as a passenger ship to Sydney, she sank in a collision near the Nore lightship on 12 May 1887.
- For more details regarding the library and manuscripts collection, please see our online catalogue.
- If you are interested in viewing the manuscript mentioned above, please contact the Manuscripts Department at: manuscripts@rmg.co.uk.
- Copies of this image can be ordered via the Picture Library. Visit their webpages to find out how to order and the costs involved or contact: Tel:+44 (0)20 8312 6600. E-mail: picturelibrary@rmg.co.uk. Please quote the reference number displayed under the image.