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History
United Kingdom
Name	Loch Ard
Namesake	Loch Ard,Scotland
Owner	General Shipping Co
Operator	James Aitken
Port of registry	Glasgow
Builder	Charles Connell & Co,Scotstoun
Yard number	87
Launched	8 November 1873
Maiden voyage	Glasgow –Melbourne 26 January – 24 May 1874
Identification	official number 68061 code letters WSGD
Fate	Wrecked 1 June 1878
General characteristics
Type	Clipper
Tonnage	1,693 GRT, 1,624 NRT
Length	262.7 ft (80.1 m)
Beam	38.3 ft (11.7 m)
Depth	23.0 ft (7.0 m)
Propulsion	sail, three masts
Sail plan	full-rigged ship
Crew	17
Notes	Gave her name toLoch Ard Gorge, where she was wrecked.

Loch Ard was an iron-hulledclipper ship that was built inScotland in 1873 and wrecked on theShipwreck Coast ofVictoria, Australia in 1878.^[1][2]

Charles Connell and Company ofScotstoun,Glasgow builtLoch Ard for the General Shipping Company, part of theLoch Line ofGlasgow that operated between Great Britain and Australia. Heryard number was 57 and she was launched on 8 November 1873. Her registered length was 262.7 ft (80.1 m), her beam was 38.3 ft (11.7 m) and her depth was 23.0 ft (7.0 m). Her tonnages were 1,693 GRT and 1,624 NRT. She had three masts and was afull-rigged ship.^[3]

Her ownersregisteredLoch Ard in Glasgow. Herofficial number was 68061 and hercode letters were WSGD.^[4][5]

The ship was named afterLoch Ard in Scotland, aloch west ofAberfoyle and east ofLoch Lomond. It means "high lake" inScottish Gaelic. She gave her name toLoch Ard Gorge on the Shipwreck Coast.

Loch Ard was twice dismasted on her maiden voyage from Glasgow toMelbourne. The first dismasting was in December 1873, only days after leaving Glasgow. She was able to turn back and be repaired. On 26 January 1874 she left Glasgow for the second time. On 2 April a gale in theSouthern Ocean broke all three of her masts. On the fourth day after the accident, her crew managed to bale her out and makejury-masts. She reached Melbourne on 24 May.^[1][6]

Loch Ard leftGravesend,Kent on 1 March 1878, bound for Melbourne, commanded byCaptain George Gibb and with a crew of 36 men and 18 passengers, a total of 54 people. She was loaded with a general mixed cargo weighing 2275 tons. On 1 June she was approaching Melbourne. The crew expected to sight land but encountered heavy mist. The inquest determined that, unable to see theCape Otway lighthouse; having faulty chronometers on board; and not having been able to take a reading to establish his exact position due to bad weather conditions over the previous few days, Captain Gibb was unaware how close he was running to the coast. The mist lifted around 4am, revealing breakers and cliff faces. The lookout called “breakers ahead!” Capt Gibb quickly ordered sail to be set to wear ship and get clear of the coast, but they were unable to do so in time, and ran aground on a reef. The masts and rigging came down, killing some people on deck and preventing the lifeboats from being launched effectively. The ship sank within 10 or 15 minutes of striking the reef.

The widespread popular belief that Gibb mistook the opening of the nearby Loch Ard Gorge forPort Phillip Heads has no basis in fact or probability. There is no physical or cartographic resemblance whatever, ships are obliged to stop outside the Heads to take on a pilot, andLoch Ard never entered the Gorge.

The only two survivors of the wreck were Eva Carmichael, who survived by clinging to a spar for five hours, andThomas Pearce, an apprentice who clung to the upturned hull of a lifeboat. Pearce came ashore first, then heard Carmichael's shouts and went back into the ocean to rescue her. They came ashore at what is now known as Loch Ard Gorge and sheltered there before seeking help. Pearce was the stepson of Captain RGA Pearce, Master ofSS Gothenburg, which had been wrecked offQueensland in 1875.

Loch Ard's cargo included various luxury goods, including a grand piano which later washed up in the Gorge, and a large decorative porcelainpeacock made byMinton in England, intended to be displayed in theMelbourne International Exhibition in 1880. The peacock was recovered intact and was eventually able to be displayed a century later for the Victoria Pavilion at theBrisbane 1988 World Exposition. It is now on display at theFlagstaff Hill Maritime Museum inWarrnambool, Victoria, along with other relics of the wreck.

Also recovered was a uniqueGeorgianpocket watch, made in 1814 by theBelfast watchmaker James McCabe, reputedly forDublin Corporation to present to KingGeorge IV in 1814. It was found in the waistband of Eva Carmichael's elder sister Rebecca, whose body was among those recovered and buried after the shipwreck. Eva returned to Ireland, and in 1884 married a Thomas Townsend, to whom she gave the watch.^[7] The watch remained with their heirs until October 2011, when their grandson auctioned it in Australia. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum had the watch designated an "item of national significance", thereby securingfederal government funding to buy the watch for the museum.^[8][9]

Loch Ard's wreck lies at a depth of 25 metres (82 ft). It is a recreationalwreck diving site, rated "Advanced Open Water and beyond".^[10]

Eva and the Cabin Boy by Sheila Dewey, produced at theWarehouse Theatre inCroydon in 1994, concerned theLoch Ard shipwreck.^{[citation needed]}

• List of disasters in Australia by death toll

• Charlwood, DE (1971).The wreck of the Loch Ard: End of a Ship, End of an Era. London & Sydney: Angus & Robertson.ISBN 0-207-12316-0.
• Charlwood, Don (1993).Wrecks & reputations: the loss of the Schomberg and Loch Ard (3rd ed.). Burgewood Books.ISBN 0-646-28006-6.
• Loney, Jack K (1970).The Loch Ard Disaster. Geelong: Marine History Publications.ISBN 0-9599853-1-X.

• Christopher, Peter (2012).Australian Shipwrecks. A Pictorial History (2nd ed.). Stepney, SA: Axiom Publishing. pp. 39–45.ISBN 978-1-8647658-8-5.
• Jacobs, Coleman.The Young Hero. Melbourne: Messieurs Roberts – viaTrove. – score of aschottische dance composed to raise money for theLoch Ard fund, with a photograph of Tom Pearce on the cover
• Lubbock, Basil (1921).The Colonial Clippers (2nd ed.). Glasgow: James Brown & Son. pp. 290,247–250.OCLC 1750412.

• "Shipwreck Discovery Trails:Loch Ard (1873–1878)". Heritage Council Victoria. 11 February 2005. Archived fromthe original on 17 June 2005.
• Interview with the Loch Ard Peacock, by Foundation Expo '88
• "Attachment: Eva and Tom".Grave Tales. – photographs of Eva Carmichael and Tom Pearce

38°38′55″S143°04′19″E / 38.64861°S 143.07194°E /-38.64861; 143.07194

• 1873 ships
• Maritime incidents in June 1878
• Sailing ships of the United Kingdom
• Ships built in Glasgow
• Shipwrecks of Victoria (state)
• Three-masted ships
• Victorian-era merchant ships of the United Kingdom

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