The Titania, was a composite hulled "tea clipper" built by by Robert Steele & Co. in Greenock, Scotland in 1866 that had a long and storied career.
The Titania, was one of these splendid British clippers and was launched on November 26, 1866. At her launchings, she measured in length, 200 feet; breadth, 36 feet; depth, 21 feet; and despite her size only displaced 879 tons. Her framework was iron, but she still had wood planking. Her masts and spars were also made of iron.
The owners wanted a stiffer boat than ARIEL or SIR LANCELOT and Steele achieved this with a wider beam. The result was a fast boat (among the 'cracks') and one that was easy to handle.
Captain Robert "Bobby" Deas, who was the first to take the Titania from the builder's hands was an experienced old sea-dog and a first-class master mariner. He was extremely cautious and a vastly experience commander but definitely not a racing man and had no experience with a tea clipper.As soon as she was ready for sea she took her departure for China (Shanghai) to compete in the 1867 tea race.
The "Tea Races" as they became known, were very popular in middle of the 19th Century. The clippers carrying cargoes of tea from China to Britain would compete in informal races to be first ship to dock in London with the new crop of each season.
Captain "Bobby" Deas set sail for Shanghai from England on January 12th. He was nearly two weeks out when on January 29th he encountered a fierce gale and storm in latitude 19N off the Cape Verdes Islands.
At around 8 a.m. the Titania was hit by a sudden squall while the man who had been sent up to take in the fore-topgallant stunsail was still aloft. In textbook manner, Deas put the helm up to bring her before the wind.
If Deas had done so in time to get the ship off the wind before the weight of the squall struck her, all would have been well; but he was too late. The squall caught her square on the beam and she went right over until her fairleads were in the water. The topsail yards from the angle of her heel were stuck at the mastheads.
The sailor who had been aloft was fortunate enough to have just scrambled down to the deck before the foremast buckled slightly above the mast coat.
As the mast went over the side it broke again where it smashed in the rail. The Titania's masts were of iron, but for some reason or other the angle irons had been omitted in her case and this was given as the reason why the foremast went. The foremast, maintopmast, mizzen topgallent mast, and all sails spars, rigging, and etc. that were above that had all been carried away. In a just a quick moment the beautiful little vessel was a wreck aloft, but luckily the hull sustained no damage.
All hands were at once called to clear away the wreck and it took the carpenter three whole days cutting through the buckled iron foremast. Saving what he could of the spars, Captain Deas proceeded to rig jury masts and then made the best of his way to Rio de Janeiro for repairs. She was laid up in Rio for several months while a new mast replacement was made of wood.
For the next several years, Titania lead the pack, in 1869 she beat out the Thermopylae, as reported by the London and China Telegraph, on Oct.4 1869, "The clippers were headed by Titania, from Shanghai, in 96 days which is the quickest passage yet achieved from that port against the S.W. Monsoon. The passage of this vessel, now commanded by Captain Burgoyne and owned by Messers. Shaw, Maxton, and Co. attracted more attention from the fact that her previous passages being attended with some accidents which prevented her from doing her best."
In 1871, Burgoyne was succeeded by Captain Joseph Dowdy. This year was considered one of the last great clipper races from China, as all the fastest clippers afloat lined up in Foochow. The Titania was up against the Lahloo, Thermopylae, Cutty Sark and Forward Ho. Titania was, of course, the heroine of the year, and actually passed Thermopylae between Anjer and the Channel, a performance that Captain Dowdy had a just right to be proud of. She made the run in just 93 days from Shanghai.
In 1872, the Titania kept pace with the changing times, and her rigged was reconfigured as a barque to make her voyages more economically feasible by reducing her crew size. The Titania had been built for speed specifically for the tea trade, and her small displacement and cargo capacity relative to her size meant that she was not as well suited as other clippers for other trades such as a bulk coal carrier.
In September, the Titania left Shanghai in good company with Thermopylae leading the pack out of Woosung, and followed by Cutty Sark, Sir Lancelot, and a newcomer Hallowe'en only a few days behind. It re-kindled interest in the tea race of yore.
In 1878, the Titania beat the famous Thermopylae in a N.E. Monsoon, completing the trip in 102 days, compared to Thermopylae's 110 days. However, in 1878 tea freights had dropped so much that even the mighty Thermopylae had a hard time filling her holds.
She made fifteen voyages to the Far East and one to Bribane and Lyttelton from 1867 to 1885.
The tea trade became increasingly uncertain in the late seventies and she had to look for other cargoes e.g. jute from Manila in 1880-81,to Australia and New Zealand in 1882-83 and to Madras for a cargo of dye nuts and cow horns In 1885, she was bought by the Hudson Bay Co with whom she made six voyages beginning in 1886 around the Horn to British Columbia. In 1894 she was bought by Italian owners who placed her in the Mauritius and South Amerian trades. In 1909, she was laid up in Marseilles and broken up in 1910.
The design stamp is made after painting of Jack Spurling.
Grenadines of St. Vincent 2020;(4x3) $
Sources: http://shadyislepirates.com/?q=titania. http://www.spurlingandrouxwatercolours.com/mptc2.html
“TITANIA “(1866 - 1910)- TEA CLIPPER
“TITANIA “(1866 - 1910)- TEA CLIPPER
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