Tonnage (net) 1189 tons Tonnage (gross) 1247 „ Tonnage (under deck) 1160 „ Length 232.5 feet Breadth 35.4 „ Depth 22.2 „ Depth moulded 23.5 „ Freeboard amidships (summer) 4.5½ „ Raised quarterdeck 32 „ Robert Duncan’s Six Beautiful Sister Ships. In 1874 Patrick Henderson launched out by ordering six iron passenger clippers from Robert Duncan and two from Scott, of Greenock, and of the big fleet of splendid iron ships built in the seventies there were few more perfect specimens of the shipbuilders’ art than these eight ships. The following are the measurements of the Duncan ships:— +--------------+----------+-------+------+----+-----+------+--------+ | | Date | | | | |Length| Length | | Ship | Launched |Tonnage|Length|Beam|Depth| of | of | | | | | | | | Poop |Foc’s’le| +--------------+----------+-------+------+----+-----+------+--------+ |_Dunedin_ |March 1874| 1250 | 241 |36.1|20.9 | 70 | 35 | |_Canterbury_ |May 1874| 1245 | 239.7|36 |20.8 | 70 | 35 | |_Invercargill_|June 1874| 1246 | 239.7|36 |20.7 | 70 | 35 | |_Auckland_ |July 1874| 1245 | 239.8|36 |20.7 | 70 | 35 | |_Nelson_ |Aug. 1874| 1247 | 239.3|36 |20.7 | 70 | 35 | |_Wellington_ |Sept. 1874| 1247 | 239.8|36 |20.7 | 70 | 35 | +--------------+----------+-------+------+----+-----+------+--------+ [Illustration: “AKAROA.”] [Illustration: “INVERCARGILL,” off Tairoa Heads. _Lent by F. G. Layton._] All these ships, with the exception of _Dunedin_, which went missing when homeward bound with frozen meat in 1889, were sailing the seas in the twentieth century, and until Shaw, Savill sold them in 1904-5 were still making good passages. Even after they had ceased to carry emigrants, their outward passages were constantly under 80 days; and the frozen mutton did not affect their homeward runs as much as one would expect, for I find the _Nelson_ running from Wellington to the Lizard in 1889-90 in 83 days; the _Auckland_ from Wellington to the Lizard in 1899 in 84 days; _Invercargill_ from Timaru to the Wight in 1895, in 85 days, and _Wellington_ from Timaru to the Lizard in 1900 in 79 days. The _Canterbury_ was credited with a run out of 64 days. She was at her best off the wind in a strong breeze. She was still afloat at the outbreak of the war, owned in Tordesstrand, Norway.