Agamemnon
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The
Agamemnon and her two sister ships, Ajax and Achilles, were the first
ships of the Blue Funnel Line and were built at Scotts and Co, Greenock.
Agamemnon was 2,279gt and 309 feet long. Built at a cost of £52,000
and partly funded by the Scott family ensuring further orders for the
yard.
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Powered
by a vertical tandem compound steam engine, an unusual design was that
the propeller was mounted aft of the rudder. The photograph of the model
above shows this (not very clearly). Her importance is in that she sailed
non stop from Liverpool to Mauritious at 10 knots, a distance of 8,500miles.
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Transfered to NMSO in 1897 and demolished in 1899 at Torre Annunziata. |
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The
first Captain of the Achilles was Turner Russell and here is an extract
from his obituary sent to me by his great great grandson, Turner Alan
Russell:
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Of
the different ships he commanded Captain Russell's favorite was the
Achilles. This steamer was barque_rigged, had a crew of sixty_three
and carried a cargo of tea of about 3800 tons. He considered her a great
ship when he got all of his canvas to draw, and often remarked what
a fine sailing ship she would have made if only the engines had been
taken out of her. Her steaming speed was only about nine knots, but
with this steam power and the aid of her canvas Captain Russell achieved
the feat of winning the tea race from Foo Chow around the Cape, beating
the West Indian, a steamer that had been put on this service against
the Achilles, by a fortnight. This was considered a record run. Captain
Russell used to relate that when he wired his arrival at Gravesend the
late Mr. Alfred Holt would not believe it until it was confirmed by
the London agent.
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