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Ship ARCHIBALD RUSSELL

Date1905

Object numberANMS0416[098]

NamePhotograph

MediumSilver gelatin print

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from the Estate of John Watt

Terms

DescriptionA black and white photograph depicting a port side view of a four masted sailing ship with sails unfurled. The name on the hull at bow indistinct but printed in blue ink below the image is "ARICHIBALD RUSSELL 1905'. Built in 1905, the vessel was originally owned by J Hardie & Co and then by Gustaf Erickson. It was converted to storage hulk during WWII. HistoryBuilt in 1905 by Scott Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. the ARCHIBALD RUSSELL was one of many ships carrying wheat for John Hardie & Son, Glasgow. In 1906 the ARCHIBALD RUSSELL, with a cargo of 4000 tons of wheat, made the fastest passage of the season from Sydney to Falmouth in 93 days. In December 1923 the ship was sold to Gustav Erickson, Mariehamn, and it continued to do the wheat run between Australia and Europe for its Finnish owners until 1939. The ARCHIBALD RUSSELL was one of the last square riggers or windjammers to be used for commercial purposes. It was part of the largest great deep water sailing fleet in history which was operated by Gustav Erikson in the 1920s and 1930s. Erikson chose the only remaining market in which sail still possessed clear advantages over steam: the Australian grain trade. South Australia was one of the world's largest grain growing areas but its shallow waters and lack of facilities made it uneconomical and hazardous for deep-draft steamers. Grain was the ideal cargo for windjammers, being light, easy to handle and once harvested, almost imperishable. The schedules of the farmers and the carriers dovetailed perfectly. The farmers could only produce one harvest a year and the carriers could only make one round trip per year. So between 1928 and 1939 Erikson's vessels 'raced' back to Britain with grain from Australia. After World War I there was a limited number of ships on which to train young sailors, so Erickson took on paying apprentices as crew. This assisted in making these ships economical to run. By the late 1930s a series of wrecks reduced Erickson's fleet. While he struggled through World War II, his death in 1947 signalled the end of the great windjammers as his company quickly changed to using steamers. The ARCHIBALD RUSSELL was detained by the British government in 1941 and was used as a store ship by the Ministry of Food. It was broken up by King and Co., Gateshead - on Tyne in 1949. SignificanceThe four masted barque ARCHIBALD RUSSELL made annual voyages to Australia from 1924 to 1939 and was particularly active in the grain trade from South Australia.