Robert Duncan and Company builtHereward atPort Glasgow, launching her on 14 August 1877.[1] Her registered length was 254.0 feet (77.4 m) her beam was 39.0 feet (11.9 m) and her depth was 23.2 feet (7.1 m). Hertonnages were 1,593 GRT and 1,513 NRT.[2]
On 5 May a storm forced her aground at the north end ofMaroubra Beach,Sydney.[6] All 25 crew members safely got ashore, where they reached a nearby wool scouring works.[7][8][9][10]
The ship was insured for £6,000. After a few months it was sold for £550 to Mahlon Clarke Cowlishaw (1844–1900), of Cowlishaw Brothers, Sydney merchants and ship-owners,[11] who bought the wreck for salvage.[12][13]
On 9 December 1898 it was attempted to refloat theHereward. With the two tugs,Commodore[14] andIrresistible,[15] pulling on cables connected to the anchor 1,000 feet (300 m), and using steam winches aboard, they got the ship into 14 feet (4.3 m) of water. However, as the ship was nearly free, a southerly gale blew up and pushed her back onto the beach, where she was battered by high seas and broken in two.[16]
The wreck was slowly washed out to sea afterwards and by 1937 only a triangle dorsal fin was visible above sea level.[17] In 1950, Randwick Council feared of the danger that the remains posed to surfers and swimmers and had the remains blasted such that by 1967 it appeared that there was nothing left of the ship.[18]
In recent times, on various occasions, swells and sweeping currents have moved large amounts of sand on the sea floor and had exposed extensive portions of theHereward. In March 2013 after large seas, extensive parts of her iron hull, along with mast parts were exposed more than they ever had been before. In 2013 a bronze signalcannon was recovered from the wreck and is now on display in the foyer of the Maroubra Seals Club, across the road from the beach.[19][20][21][22][23][24]
.jpg)
United Kingdom
.jpg)
Media related toHereward (ship, 1877) at Wikimedia Commons
