Everything about Star Of India Ship totally explained
» The article is about the ship "Star of India". For other items of the same name, please see Star of India.
Star of India was built in 1863 as
Euterpe, a full-rigged iron
windjammer ship in
Ramsey,
Isle of Man. After a full career sailing from
Great Britain to
India then to
New Zealand, she became a
salmon hauler on the
Alaska then to
California route. After retirement, she was restored and is now a seaworthy
museum ship ported in
San Diego. The ship is both a
California and
National Historic Landmark, and is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places.
History
As Euterpe
Named for
Euterpe, the muse of music, she was a full-rigged
ship (a ship that has 3 masts and squaresails on all 3 masts) built of iron in 1863 by
Gibson, McDonald & Arnold, of
Ramsey, Isle of Man,
British Isles, for the
Indian
jute trade of
Wakefield Nash & Company of
Liverpool. She was launched on
November 14, 1863, and assigned British Registration No.47617 and signal VPJK.
Euterpe's career had a rough beginning. She sailed for
Calcutta from Liverpool on
January 9,
1864, under the command of Captain William John Storry. A collision with an unlighted, hit-and-run
Spanish brig off the coast of
Wales carried away the jib-boom and damaged other rigging. The crew became mutinous, refusing to continue, and she returned to
Anglesey to repair; 17 of the crew were confined to the Beaumaris
Gaol at hard labor. Then, in 1865,
Euterpe was forced to cut away her masts in a gale in the
Bay of Bengal off
Madras and limped to
Trincomalee and Calcutta for repair. Captain Storry died during the return voyage to
England and was buried at sea.
After her near-disastrous first two voyages
Euterpe was sold, first in 1871 to David Brown of London for whom she made four more relatively uneventful voyages to
India, then again (displaced by steamers after the opening of the Suez Canal) in 1871 to
Shaw, Savill & Company of
London. In late 1871 she began twenty-five years of carrying passengers and freight in the
New Zealand emigrant trade, each voyage going eastward around the world before returning to England. The fastest of her 21 passages to New Zealand took 100 days, the longest 143 days. She also made ports of call in
Australia,
California, and
Chile. A baby was born on one of those trips en route to New Zealand, and was given the middle name Euterpe.
In 1897, after 21 round-the-world trips,
Euterpe was sold, first to
Hawaiian owners, then in 1899 to the
Pacific Colonial Ship Company of
San Francisco, California and from 1898 to 1901 made four voyages between the Pacific Northwest, Australia and Hawaii carrying primarily lumber, coal and sugar. She was registered in the
United States on
October 30,
1900
As Star of India
In 1901,
Euterpe was sold to the
Alaska Packers' Association of San Francisco, who re-rigged her as a
barque (converting the square-rigged aftermost mast to fore-and-aft) and in 1902 began carrying fishermen, cannery workers, coal and canning supplies each spring from
Oakland, California to Nushagak in the
Bering Sea, returning each fall with holds full of canned
salmon. In 1906, the Association changed her name to be consistent with the rest of their fleet, and she became
Star of India. She was laid up in 1923 after 22 Alaskan voyages; by that time, steam ruled the seas.
In 1926,
Star of India was sold to the
Zoological Society of
San Diego, to be the centerpiece of a planned museum and
aquarium. The
Great Depression and
World War II caused that plan to be canceled; it wasn't until 1957 that her restoration began.
Alan Villiers, a
windjammer captain and author, came to San Diego on a lecture tour. Seeing
Star decaying in the harbor, he publicized the situation and inspired a group of citizens to form the "
Star of India Auxiliary" in 1959 to support the restoration of the ship. Progress was still slow, but in 1976,
Star of India finally put to sea again. She currently houses exhibits for the
Maritime Museum of San Diego, is kept fully seaworthy, and sails at least once a year. With the many other ships now in the Museum, she hosts frequent docent-led school tours (over 6,000 children a year) and also a Living History Program in which students "step back in time" and are immersed in history and teamwork activities during overnight visits.
The 1863
Star of India is the third oldest ship afloat in the United States, after the 1797
USS Constitution and 1854
USS Constellation, and is the oldest ship in the entire world that still sails regularly. Unlike many preserved or restored vessels, her hull, cabins and equipment are nearly 100% original.
Location
The
Star of India is currently home-ported at the
San Diego Maritime Museum, just south of
Lindbergh Field (San Diego International Airport), on the west side of Harbor Drive at approximately Ash Street - all within the
Port of San Diego tidelands. This location is slightly west of downtown San Diego, California.
When she sails, the
Star of India often remains within sight of the coast of San Diego County, and usually returns to her dock within a day. She is sailed by a skilled volunteer crew of Maritime Museum members, who train all year for the honor of taking her to sea.
General characteristics
- Displacement:
- 1197 tons gross, 1107 tons under deck (as Euterpe)
- 1318 tons gross, 1247 tons net (as Star of India)
- Length: 62.5 m (205 ft 5 in) waterline, 84.8 m (278 feet) sparred length
- Beam: 10.7 m (35 ft 2 in)
- Draft: 6.6 m (21 ft 6 in) fully loaded
- Height:
- Full-rigged: 7.1 m (23 ft 4 in)
- Barque rig: 6.5 m (21 ft 6 in)
(note that these heights refer to the railing of the weather deck, not mast height)
- Mast height: 38.8 m (127 ft 4 in) mainmast above deck
- Main yard length: 22 m (72 ft)
Further Information
Get more info on 'Star Of India Ship'.
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