Arthur Sewall

Arthur Sewall

A 4 masted Barque/brief timeline

• 1899 
  Built in Bath.
• 3 March 1907 
  Reached Philadelphia from Honolulu and went into drydock.
• 2 April 1907 
  Sailed from Philadelphia with a cargo of coal and, according to some sources, was never heard of again, and according to others, stranded

Description

She was 332 feet long and rigged with double top- and topgallant sails and royal sails. A unique feature was the non-hoisting upper topsail yards.

Life

A four-masted steel barque built in 1899 by Arthur Sewall & Co., Bath, ME, at a cost of $145.000. 
Dimensions: 101,19×13,76×7,75 meters [332'0"×45'2"×25'6"] and tonnage: 3209 GRT and 2919 NRT. Rigged with dubbel top- and topgallant sails and royal sails. A unique feature was the non-hoisting upper topsail yards.

1899 February 23

Launched at the shipyard of Arthur Sewall & Co., Bath, ME, for their own account.

1899-1900

Captain James F. Murphey, late of the same owner's four-masted barque Shenandoah.

1899 May 21 - September 25

Sailed with coal and general cargo from Cape Henlopen (Philadelphia) to San Francisco in 127 days.

1899 November 25 - April 1

Sailed with 4767 tons of wheat from San Francisco to London in 128 days.

1900-1907

Captain Burton Gaffery.

1900 August 23 - January 31

Sailed with case oil from New York to Yokohama in 161 days.

1901 April 18 - August 6

Sailed with 4843 tons of sugar from Honolulu to the Delaware Breakwater for orders in 110 days.

1901 September 27 - February 5

Sailed with case oil from Philadelphia to Kobe in 131 days.

1902 May 10 - September 9

Sailed with 5453 short tons (4869 long tons) of sugar from Honolulu to the Delaware Breakwater for orders in 122 days.

1902 November 10 - March 26

Sailed with case oil from New York to Woosung (Shanghai) in 136 days.

1903 June 30 - November 9

Sailed with 4861 tons of sugar from Honolulu to the Philadelphia Breakwater for orders in 132 days.

1904 February 10 - June 22

Sailed with case oil from New York for Shanghai in 133 days.

1904 December 27 - March 15

Sailed with lumber from Puget Sound to Shanghai in 78 days.

1905 July 7 - November 4

Sailed with 4967 tons of sugar from Homolulu to the Delaware Breakwater for orders in 120 days.

1905 December 12 - May 24

Sailed with 4920 tons of coal from Philadelphia for Manila. Arrived at Anjer on March 19 with the cargo overheated. From there she was towed to Batavia where the overheating of the coal was dealt with. Arrived finally to Manila after 163 days.

1905 October 10 - March 3

Sailed with 4859 tons of sugar from Honolulu to Delaware Breakwater for orders in 144 days.

1907 April 2

Left the Delaware Breakwater with a cargo of 4900 tons of coal for Seattle and was never heard of again. Posted missing by Lloyd's on February 5, 1908.

Probably lost somewhere near Cape Horn. She might be stranded on Middleton Reef, an island in the Pacific However, due to the many wrecks on and around the reef, no one has been able to nail down the validity of that claim.