The SOBRAON was built by Hall of Aberdeen and was launched in November 1866. She is reputed to have been the largest composite ship ever built. She was 2131 net registered tons and had a burden of 3500 tons. She was built of Indian teak on iron frames. Her lower masts were made of wrought iron and her topmasts and lower yards were made of steel.
On her first two voyages she carried skysails and in the 1830s she was fitted with double topgallants. Originally she was designed as an auxiliary steamship and because of this she was built with an aperture for a propeller but this was blocked in with wood before she was launched. Overall she was 317 feet long, between her perpendiculars she was 272 feet, her beam was 40 feet and her depth of hold 27 feet. She had a sharp clipper bow and was built with fairly fine lines which made her a swift ship. She was never pushed to make record runs but she often made a days run of over 300 nautical miles. On one occasion she sailed 1,000 miles in three days. Her best days run was 340 miles, and her fastest passages out were 68 days to Melbourne and 73 days to Sydney.
On her first voyage she was commanded by Captain Kyle but after this Lt. J.H. Elmslie R.N.R. took over command and remained so for 24 years (1867-1891). As a rule she carried a crew of 69 and she could carry at least 130 passengers. On one occasion she carried (outward) 90 first class and 40 second class passengers.
She had a distinctive appearance through having a long forecastle and a short poop (some passengers were accommodated on the lower deck). She was always in the Australian trade; until 1870 she was on charter to Devitt & Moore who then bought her outright in that year.
In 1891 she was sold to the Government of New South Wales for £12,000 and for a further £8,000 she was converted into a training ship to replace the reformatory ship VERNON. In 1912 she became the naval training ship H.M.A.S. TINGIRA and was permanently moored (at this time she was listed as being 1,800 tons). She was decommissioned in 1928 and was sold about this time to a ship-breaking firm. There was something of a public outcry about this so either she was not sold to the breakers or she was purchased back from them and for a year or so she was used as a floating hostel (or home) for men who were out of work.
About 1930 she was again destined for the breakers and to save her from this fate she was bought by a Mr W.M. Ford who had her moored in Berry's Bay and there she remained deteriorating until the death of Mr Ford, when the executors of his estate sold the ship to the breakers in 1936. Work began on breaking her up but before this had progressed very far it was stopped and she was left as a broken hulk until late 1940 when the breaking up was resumed and she was finally no more in 1941.
Log Book July 1984
Australia SG913