46
T. J. LINDSAY
The first leg of the race from Hankow to the Red Buoy at Woosung caused a number of upsets as ships went aground. The trip down could take as little as about 36 to 38 hours, e.g. Glenartney, in 1879, while, by contrast, Loudon Castle was hard aground near Wuhu during the night and had to unload most of her cargo and be dug out of the bank,
From Woosung the next stage was to Singapore. In 1877 the two first ships, Loudon Castle and Gleneagles, arrived in Singapore within one hour and 40 minutes of each other after passing Woosung together. Bunkering speed made all the difference in time spent in port as Gleneagles lost six hours on her rival, although bearing heating may also have held her up for repairs. The Loudon Castle left Singapore at 11 p.m. on 2nd June and docked in London at 6 a.m. on 3rd July, while Gleneagles, leaving Singapore at 5 a.m. on 3rd June, docked at 9 p.m. on 4th July.
The 1878 race, which should have been between the same two steamers as in the previous year, was robbed of its interest when Loudon Castle went aground temporarily below Kiukiang and so lost her chance of competing, arriving in London 5 days after Gleneagles, which only spent 6 hours bunkering in Singapore.
In 1879 Glencoe, a new steamer, had a clear start, spent 84 hours in Singapore loading 950 tons of coal, and arrived in London in 40 days from Hankow. In 1880 she took 39 hours from Hankow to Woosung, after loading 4,100 tons of tea and earned £26,520 in freight. She took 37 days, 22 hours from Woosung to Gravesend, but only did slightly better than the previous year. She was, however, well clear of the other vessels who did not complete loading until several days after she left Hankow. In 1881 she left Hankow at 2 p.m. on 22nd May and arrived in London in 38 days, 15 hours.
1882 was the year of the Sterling Castle, which was built purely for speed. Her dimensions were 436 ft. length, 50 ft. beam and 33 ft. depth. She was about 4,500 tons gross registry and had engines of 6,000 H.P. (although another account gives 8,000 H.P.) with steam pressure of 100 lbs per square inch. The crew numbered over 100 and a double crew was shipped in Shanghai for the voyage home. She carried a doctor, but no stewardess or milking cow. On trials, Sterling Castle did 18 knots and was claimed as the fastest steamer in the world at that time, but she burned 150 tons of coal a day. Sterling Castle loaded some 4,000 tons of tea