RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d 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 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d 52 T. J. LINDSAY TABLE I TIME TAKEN HANKOW TO LONDON Year Vessel Transit Time 1870 Erl King ... 1871 Enterprise 61 days 1872 Deccan 56 1873 Venetia 50 1874 Glenartney 50 1875 Glenartney 49 1876 Glenartney 46 1877 Loudon Castle 46 1878 Gleneagles 41 1879 Glencoe 40 1880 Glencoe 40 1881 Glencoe 38 1882 Sterling Castle 39 1883 Sterling Castle 32 1884 Glenogle 31 1885 Glengarry 37 1886 Glenogle 45 1887 Moyunc 37 Sources: 1870-1879 China Mail 1880 3. 7. 1879 24. 8. 1880 1881 19, 7. 1881 1882 Hong Kong Telegraph 28. 6. 1882 1883 3. 7. 1883 1884 North China Daily News 21. 7. 1884 1885 China Mail 8. 7. 1885 1886 5. 7. 1886 1887 4. 8. 1887 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d TABLE II List of VESSELS MENTIONED AS PROBABLY LOADING TEA AT HANKOW FREIGHT RATES ASKED OR OBTAINED AND CARGO CARRIED ARE GIVEN WHERE KNOWN NOTE: The cargo has sometimes been given in space tons, piculs or lbs. Tea is taken as stowing at 3 space tons per ton weight and figures converted. Such converted figures are given in brackets. THE HANKOW STEAMER TEA RACES Year Vessel Freight Rate Per Space Ton. Cargo Carried Vessel Freight Rate Per Space Ton. Cargo Carried 1877 Braemar Castle £4/- /- 5/-/- Loudon Castle £5/10/- Glenartney Hankow 5069 (space) Stad Amsterdam Clippers Gleneam Gleneagles 5/10/- Tartar i cu. ft. Cutty Sark John Worcester 4/5 /- 1878 Afghan Coriolanus 3231 (space) Cairnsmuir Cutty Sark 1077 weight Loudon Castle Ocean King Radnorshire 3831 (space) Fleurs Castle Sarpedon Feronia Stad Haarlem Glenartney Viking Gleneagles 5/10/- ? 1277 weight Clippers Ambassador 4/10/- 3510 (space) 1190 weight 4/10/- 3525 (space) 1175 weight £4 per 4/-/ 5. J 4/-/- per 50 53 ================================================================================