The “Ironsides,” First Iron Sailing Ship.
The first vessel to be constructed of iron was launched in 1838, and appropriately named the _Ironsides_. She was built at Liverpool by Messrs. Jackson, Gordon & Co., and in appearance differed very little from wooden ships of that date. She was very short, with heavy stern and low bow, out of which cocked an extremely long bowsprit and jibboom, whilst her masts in contrast to her hull seemed to rake the heavens. However she was the pioneer of the new material and at one time her picture was a common sight in shop windows. It is doubtful if she was altogether a success, and iron ships were still a rarity 20 years later.
In 1853, an iron sailing ship was launched from the yard of John Scott, of Greenock, with intercostal plates and stringers. This was the _Martaban_, of 743 tons register, built for the well-known firm of Carmichael. Her specifications were the product of the brains of Matthew Orr, brother-in-law of the first Thomas Carmichael, and of John Ferguson, who was afterwards a member of Barclay, Curle & Co., the famous shipbuilders. The _Martaban_ was classed nine years A1 at Lloyd’s, being rated equal to a nine years wooden ship.
At that time Lloyd’s had no rules or class for iron ships, so they retained _Martaban’s_ original specification as a basis for their rules concerning iron ships. That the _Martaban_ was a success is proved by the fact that she received £4 a ton for a cargo of coffee and cotton from Bombay to Havre, and was offered a Diplomé d’Honneur at the local exposition for delivery of her cargo in perfect condition.
[Illustration: Mr. THOMAS CARMICHAEL, of A. & J. Carmichael.]
It was in the Australian trade that the iron passenger ship was to be seen in her perfection. She succeeded the great Liverpool clippers and the little Blackwall frigates, and she was as beautiful and perfect as any of her wooden sisters.
In the sixties, seventies and even eighties thousands of emigrants were carried from the Old Country to Australia and New Zealand in these magnificent iron clippers. They also took out blood stock of every description from racehorses to pedigree bulls and rams; and a nice time some of these animals must have had when the clippers were carrying on running their easting down.