Atrato I

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shipstamps
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Atrato I

Post by shipstamps » Thu Sep 25, 2008 5:08 pm


First and most important of five ships launched for the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company during 1853-4, the Atrato was also the first iron ship built for the company and was remarkable for the fact that her size was determined by a set of engines built for another ship, the Demerera of 1851. They were never installed, but left in the workshops of Caird and Company, of Greenock. The Atrato was given the same breadth as the Demerera so that she could take the engines intended for that ship.
Unfortunately for the Royal Mail Company, the boilers intended for the Demerera, also lying unused, had become out of date, so the Atrato was given a new boiler installation of considerably higher steam pressure. The iron ship was also considerably larger than any of her wooden contemporaries, measuring 350 ft. overall and vastly superior to them in every way.
The Atrato had four decks, her spar deck being flush from stem to stern in accordance with her owners' usual practice. Nine pieces of iron formed the keel, and the stem and stern posts were cast in one piece, a revolutionary process in those days and a real masterpiece of engineering. The hull was divided into seven watertight compartments by strong iron bulkheads. She had a gross tonnage of 3,467, her speed was 14 knots and accommodation was provided for 224 first-class passengers.
Launched by Lady Octavia Shaw on April 26, 1853 from Caird's yard at Greenock, the Atrato was the finest ship in the Royal Mail fleet for some years. Commanded by Capt. F. Woolley, she sailed from Southampton on her maiden voyage to the West Indies on March 17, 1854. She was one of four Royal Mail ships to take part in the Naval Review held at Spithead on St. George's Day, April 23, 1856 as part of the peace celebrations after the Crimean War.
In 1866, after the formation of the Panama, New Zealand and Australian Royal Mail Company to carry mail and passengers from England to the Antipodes, via Panama, with transit across the isthmus by rail, the Atrato took the first sailing from Southampton, with through transit to New Zealand, via Australia, on June 2, 1866. The company proved unsuccessful and suspended operations in 1869 before going into voluntary liquidation,
Another incident in the career of the Atrato occurred on January 24, 1857. While homeward bound from St. Thomas, she fell in with an abandoned full-rigged ship. Her sails were in shreds, masts and rigging lay over her sides, her decks were awash and boats gone. After a boat had been lowered from the Atrato with her chief officer in charge, it was found that the derelict was the Rovers Pride, of St. John, N.B., a vessel of about 1,000 tons. She was left to her fate.
Later the same year the Atrato played a part in another sea drama. As she bore down on a sailing vessel, the Sarah and Dorothy, distress signals were hoisted from this ship. The sailing ship was
running short of rations, having three days earlier taken off the master, two mates, crew and passengers of the American ship Harkaway, which had caught fire and was destroyed after leaving Charleston on August 17, 1857.
This vessel had blazed for two days before being sighted by the Sarah and Dorothy and her whole complement saved. The rescue ship was severely overcrowded and was running short of provisions when the Atrato appeared and gladly relieved her of her burden.
Throughout her career of 17 years under the Royal Mail house-flag the Atrato proved to be a popular and successful ship. However with the advent of screw propulsion, few of the paddlers ran their full time of service and the Atrato was broken up in 1870. Her name was revived in 1888 with the appearance of a steel screw steamer built by R. Napier at Glasgow, which remained in service until 1912.
The stamp, by the way, shows her funnels as red, although at that particular period in the history of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company the funnels of its ships were black.
In the August issue of Sea Breezes I stated that the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company's paddle steamer Atrato was broken up in 1870, my authority for the statement being the official centenary history of the company. It would seem however that this is not correct. Possibly the author assumed that she was broken up because there were no further records of her in the company's archives or perhaps he intended to say that she was sold out of the company's service in 1870.
A search through the successive editions of Lloyd's Register from the year the paddle steamer was built until she ended her service with the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company reveals no mention of the Arrato. She first appears in the Register in 1872, under the ownership of J. Morrison, of London, and it would seem that she was not classified until then. Morrison sold her in 1879-80 to H. T. Horn, who in turn sold her to Adamson and Ronaldson a year later, when her name was changed to Rochester. According to the 1872 Register her dimensions were 335 ft. 9 ins, by 42 ft. 4 ins, by 31 ft. 9 ins., and her tonnages were: gross 3,184, net 2,051 and underdeck 2,324 tons. She had four decks.
A comparison with the information given by Mr. Bushell in his book shows that he described the Atrato as having four decks and her overall length was increased to 350 ft. This tallies with the dimensions given in 1872, which give registered length as distinct from overall length. The Atrato mentioned in Lloyd's from 1872 onwards was built at Caird and Company's yard, Greenock, in 1853, and it seems obvious that there were not two vessels of the same name built at the same time in the same shipyard.
At some time in her career she was converted from paddle to screw propulsion and Lloyd's show the machinery as built by J. Watt and Company, London. The fact that her engines were changed would account for the difference in gross tonnage, 3,467 as a paddler to 3,184 as a screw steamer.
SG203 Sea Breezes 8/66 and 10/66

D. v. Nieuwenhuijzen
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Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2010 7:46 pm

Re: Atrato I

Post by D. v. Nieuwenhuijzen » Thu Feb 22, 2018 7:39 pm

On June 25th, 1884, the British passenger/cargo ship ROCHESTER, built in 1853 by J. Caird & Co. and owned by Adamson & Ronaldson, was wrecked on Stag Rock, Spring Bay, Patagonia (?).
(internet)
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