The iron bark OTAGO, was named for a port on the South Island of New Zealand. Built by Alexander Stephens and Sons of Glascow, Scotland in 1869, she was a pretty 360 ton small clipper bark. For many years, she transported immigrants from the Britsh Isles to New Zealand and returned with bales of wool. In 1897, the OTAGO was the last command of the marine novelist, Joseph Conrad, before his retirement and devotion to his writing career. After the turn of the century, this vessel was sold to Portuguese interest and eventually torpeded during the First World War.
I would like to find more pictures of this lovely ship to scratch build onto a hull of a clipper ship from an old Ideal ship modeling kit. I have plans of this vessel, but no color pictures. Any help would be appreciated.
Montani semper liberi ! Happy modeling to all and every one of you.
Crackers [8-|]
What plans do you have?
I was fairly sure that Alexander Stephen Company (note, Stephen is not plural) plans have not survived before 1903. The company was absorbed by Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Ltd in the 20th century and Glasgow University Archives holds a series of plans from that company dated from 1852. I wonder whether earlier Stephen’s plans were incorporated?
http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_60314_en.pdf
Either way, the definitive answer to whether plans of this ship exist or not will lay with the folks at Glasgow University Archives.
http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/archives/
Finally, there is a poor photo of Otago here http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/conMediaFile.8618/The-Otago-(1869).html
Will
As an enthusiast, I’m sure you’ll find this history interesting too.
http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/wiki/A_Shipbuilding_History._1750-1932_(Alexander_Stephen_and_Sons):_Chapter_1
Now to put a cat amongst the pigeons= is your initial information on the fate of Otago correct? One online source states Otago was sold to Portugese interests and sunk in WWI, but most sources imply she was hulked in Australia. This can be explained becayuse there was actually another ship built by Clyde Shipbuilders Robert Duncan Co in 1869, also called Otago. See here; http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/shipview.asp
I’m sure subsequent historians have got these two vessels confused:
The Otago built by Robert Duncan co in 1869 was sister to James Nicol Fleming. I found a photo of James Nicol Fleming (renamed Napier) here http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=16842. She is very clearly a very large ship rigged vessel with obvious features such as a turtleback deck.
To reinforce this further, all the pictures of (Alexander Stephen) Otago as a hulk in Tasmania conform closely to an iron clipper of 364t. http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=1793
good luck in your search.
Will