JAMES P. CORRY & CO.

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The Fleet

JANE PORTER was built in1860 by Harland &Wolff & Co. at Belfast with a tonnage of 953grt, a length of 200ft and a beam of 32ft. Ship rigged she was the first sailing ship built by Harland & Wolff and named after the wife of William Corry. Jane Porter was a member of the well known Porter family who were leading owners in Belfast and later became equally well known as Iredale & Porter of Liverpool. On completion the ship was placed on the London to Calcutta service via the Cape and in 1871 made her best outward passage time of 93 days. After 29 years service she was sold to Wm. Ross & Co. in 1889 and reduced to a barque rig. In 1890 she was sold to H. Burmester of Hamburg and renamed Nanny. On 1st June 1905 during a voyage from Bombay to East London she was wrecked on the Natal coast.

STAR OF ERIN was built in1862 by Harland &Wolff & Co. at Belfast with a tonnage of 949grt, a length of 200ft and a beam of 32ft. Sister of the Jane Porter she was the first Corry vessel to bear a Star name and set the precedent for naming the ships after countries, Erin being the poetic name for Ireland. She was similarly placed on the London to Calcutta run and made her best outward passage time of 80 days in 1873. In 1889 she was sold to Park Bros. of London, retaining her name, and three years later, in February 1892, she was wrecked on the lee shore in the Forveaux Straits, New Zealand.

STAR OF DENMARK was built in1863 by Harland &Wolff & Co. at Belfast with a tonnage of 988grt, a length of 213ft 2in and a beam of 32ft. She was the first of three ships which were slightly longer than the previous two with a corresponding increase in tonnage. In 1872, having ridden out a cyclone in Saugor Road, she sprang a leak off Madagasgar during her homeward passage from Calcutta and began taking water. In position 20 08S 1.08W, 74 days out from Calcutta, she was spoken to by Marshall's Berkshire but declined assistance. By this time she had taken in over 10ft of water in the holds and was down at the stern. With each rise of the swell her forefoot came out of the sea which made steering difficult but she eventually reached London unaided. In 1877 she made her best passage outward to Calcutta in 96 days. She was sold to F.M. Tucker of London in 1889 and by 1891 was owned by Hine Bros. of Workington with the name Denton Holme and eventually became a total constructive loss.

STAR OF SCOTIA was built in 1864 by Harland &Wolff & Co. at Belfast with a tonnage of 999grt, a length of 212ft and a beam of 32ft 1in. She completed her best passage time to Calcutta of 90 days in 1873. In January 1885 during a passage from Cardiff to Colombo with a cargo of coal she was swept by a heavy sea off Cape Cornwall, the only Cape in England, carrying away the watchkeeping crew, the compass and the binnacle. On 27th April 1887 she left San Francisco on a voyage to Queenstown and London and on 27th June was wrecked on Bull Point, Falkland Islands with the loss of seven lives.

STAR OF ALBION was built in 1864 by Harland &Wolff & Co. at Belfast with a tonnage of 999grt, a length of 214ft and a beam of 32ft 1in. She completed her best passage time to Calcutta of 83days in 1876. On 29th September 1886 the ship had arrived in the Hooghli Delta with a cargo of coal. Having encountered storm clouds for several days it had not been possible to obtain a position fix and the ship inadvertently sailed to the west of Long Sands. She put about hoping to see the pilot brig which should have been on the east side but she was lost when she grounded as she crossed the shallows. In a subsequent enquiry the master was deemed to have hazarded his ship and had his certificate suspended for six months.

STAR OF PERSIA was built in 1868 by Harland &Wolff & Co. at Belfast with a tonnage of 1289grt, a length of 227ft and a beam of 35ft. The first of three larger ships built for the Calcutta run she was faster than anything built hitherto and completed her best time of 79 day to Calcutta in 1876. With a usual cargo of 1850 tons of coal outward and jute on the return she achieved this time on several occasions and was known for her regularity. Much of her success was due to the skill of the master than to the quality of the ship. Once the master knew how to handle the ship in every kind of weather regular passage times were the norm and for that reason owners normally required masters to stay with the same ship for as long as possible. It was not uncommon to complete an entire seagoing career on one ship which was turned into a home often shared with a wife. For example, Capt. J. Smith served on only two Corry ships as master in 29 years. In 1893 the Star of Persia was sold to C.M. Matzen of Hamburg and renamed Edith for their Zanzibar - South America - Portland, Oregon run. She was lost in 1903 when she sprang a leak northwest of New Caledonia during a voyage from Puget Sound, Washington to Port Pirie, South Australia and grounded on the Solomon islands.

STAR OF GREECE was built in 1868 by Harland &Wolff & Co. at Belfast with a tonnage of 1289grt, a length of 227ft and a beam of 35ft. The second of the trio she was, again, a fast ship regularly making passages from London to Calcutta via the Cape in 79 days. Although a 'wet ship' in a seaway, leisurely shaking herself free of water after dipping her bow into a wave, she created the record time for the round voyage to Calcutta in 5 months 27 days, 80 days out, 83 days back with 10 days in Calcutta, a time never bettered by another sailing ship. To record this achievement a brass game cock was mounted on the mainmast truck to signify 'Cock of the Route'. Another unique feature of the ship was that she always flew a silk Greek ensign, made by and presented to her by the ladies of the Greek community in Calcutta, on the foremast when in port. On 27th August 1883 she was drenched in ash when the volcanic island of Krakatoa exploded and sailed through a sea of pummice. Although some hundreds of miles away in the Indian Ocean a thunderous bang was heard and the ship was covered within minutes. In 1885 the ship arrived at Hooghli with her cargo of coal smouldering in the battened down hold. As the ship was being towed into port the master leant over the rail an shouted to the tugmaster 'Go like hell the bloody ship's afire'. She came off the India run in 1888 and was sent to Australia. On 12th July she sailed for London out of Adelaide with a cargo of wheat but on the following day in a fierce gale and twenty five miles off course she was wrecked on a reef outside Port Willunga in the Gulf of St. Vincent, South Australia and soon broke in two. Seventeen people including the master and three stowaways drowned with ten people being saved. The master was only 29 and been in command since he was 23; it was his third voyage in her. Although visible from the shore it took the rescue appliances some 14 hours to arrive on the scene by which time it was all over. The wreck was sold for £105, the cargo for £21 and the figure head can still be seen in the Port Adelaide Maritime Museum.
An underwater survey is currently being undertaken on the remains of the ship and aerial photographs of the wreck site can be viewed at http://members.ozemail.com.au/~austerj1/sog.html

STAR OF GERMANY was built in 1872 by Harland &Wolff & Co. at Belfast with a tonnage of 1337grt, a length of 232ft and a beam of 35ft. The last of the trio she served on the India service until 1897 when she was sold to Foley, Aikman & Co. of London who were engaged in the same trade. In 1904 she was sold to Star of Germany Ship Co. of Belfast and managed by W.A. Rainford & Co. until the following year when she was again sold to Acties 'Grid' with A.Bech of Tvedestrand, Norway as managers and renamed Grid. In October 1906 she was dismasted during hurricane weather off Barbados and turned into a hulk. By 1907 she was one of five old sailing ships being used as hulks at Trinidad and in the 1920's was still hulked there but not in use.

STAR OF BENGAL was built in 1874 by Harland &Wolff & Co. at Belfast with a tonnage of 1870grt, a length of 262ft 10in and a beam of 40ft 2in. The first of two larger ships she remained with Corry's until 1898 when she was sold to J.J. Smith of San Francisco. In 1903 she was sold to E.B. Smith of San Francisco who reduced her to a barque rig. She was sold to Alaska Packers Association of San Francisco and converted into a floating fish cannery without a change of name. The new owner added further ships to his fleet which were also given Star of... names. On 22nd April 1908 she left San Francisco for Fort Wrangel, Alaska where salmon commenced. She left Fort Wrangel on 19th September with 50,000 cases of salmon, a crew of 36 and 110 cannery staff under the tow of two towing steamers the Hattie Gage and the Kayak. At 03.50 on 20th September the ship was too close to land and drifting onto Coronation Island. Although crew members on the ship shouted to the towing vessels to steam to starboard they took no notice and as the weather was rapidly deteriorating into a gale they slipped the tow for fear of being dragged ashore. The Star of Bengal dropped her anchors but they dragged and at daybreak four volunteers lowered a lifeboat in an attempt to get a line ashore and rig a breeches buoy. They just managed to jump ashore as the lifeboat was smashed on the rocks but failed to get the breeches buoy rigged. At 09.32 the ship hit the rocks broadside on bringing down the masts. Those still on board the ship were washed overboard by the raging seas, many reaching the breakers but being killed by the swirling wreckage. During the 54 minutes following the stranding 110 persons drowned.

STAR OF RUSSIA was built in 1874 by Harland &Wolff & Co. at Belfast with a tonnage of 1981grt, a length of 275ft and a beam of 40ft 2in. When launched on 12th December 1874 she was Corry's largest sailing ship being marginally larger than her sister the Star of Bengal. Her maiden voyage from London to Melbourne which commenced on 25th April 1875 was completed in 81 days. In 1881 she carried the owner Sir William Corry to Australia. During a gale in 1885 the captain was aroused by a frantic ringing of the ship's bell. On reaching the deck he found only the helmsman; the mate and the other watchkeepers had been swept overboard while handling the head sails. In 1886, although being nearly overwhelmed during a fierce gale, she made her fastest passage from Lizard Point to Calcutta in 74 days. She was sold to Shaw, Saville & Albion and then to J.J. Moore of San Francisco in 1898 and sailed under the Hawaiian flag shortly before the island was annexed to the USA. By 1901 she was owned by the Alaska Packers Association of San Francisco and was, in fact, the ship which set the precedent for prefixing their ship's names with 'Star of'. She made her final voyage from Tacoma to Samoa and the New Hebrides with a cargo of timber in 1926 before being converted into a warehouse by Burns, Philp at Apia, Samoa and renamed La Perouse. She was later moved to Noumea and served as a coal barge. In 1929 she had been moved to Sydney where Sir James Corry went aboard the hulk and found that her hull was still good although nothing else was. She eventually finished up in Port Vila Harbour, Vanuatu, where, stripped of her fine fittings, she was used as a floating warehouse. Sometime later she sank in 35 metres of water just to the north west of the main wharf where she still remains as an attraction to scuba divers.
(Photo: Steve W Lawson)

STAR OF ITALY was built in 1877 by Harland &Wolff & Co. at Belfast with a tonnage of 1644grt, a length of 257ft 1in and a beam of 38ft. With her sister the Star of France she was a tall ship and shared the honour of being the fastest ship in the fleet. Her fastest passage to Calcutta was completed in 77 days during which she snapped nine deck beams. In 1892 she sailed from Cardiff to San Diego with a cargo of coal in 116 days. She was sold to J.J. Moore of San Francisco in 1898 and by 1903 was owned by Pope & Talbot of San Francisco and operated by the California Shipping Co. The following year she was sold to Puget Sound Commercial Co. of Port Townsend, Washington State and in 1906 was purchased by the Alaska Packers Association of San Francisco. In 1927 she was sold to Darling-Singer Shipping & Lighterage Co. of San Francisco and by 1935 she was being used as a hulk at Buenaventura in Columbia where all trace of her was lost.

STAR OF FRANCE was built in 1877 by Harland &Wolff & Co. at Belfast with a tonnage of 1644grt, a length of 258ft and a beam of 38ft. The last sailing ship built for Corry's by Harland & Wolff she was probably their consistently faster ship. Although she held no records her passage times were usually one or two days faster than any other ship in the fleet. In 1899 she was sold to J.J. Moore & Co. of San Franciso, then, in 1903 to Pope & Talbot of San Francisco. In the following year she was sold to the Puget Sound Commercial Co. of Port Townsend and by 1905 was under the ownership of the Alaska packers Association. She was being used to train Sea Scouts at San Francisco in 1928 and in 1932 was sold to Louis Rothenburg of Los Angeles. In 1933 she was re-sold to Capt. J.M. Andersen for use as a fishing barge but was much neglected. She was eventually moored off San Pedro breakwater where she remained until September 1940 when, in thick fog, she was rammed by a Japanese steamship and sank.

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