Barque · Australia
James Craig
A Scottish barque of 1874, awarded for her authentic restoration; today sailing from Sydney.
Technical data
- Rig
- Barque
- Flag
- Australia
- Home port
- Sydney
- Built
- 1874
- Shipyard
- Bartram, Haswell & Co., Sunderland, England
- Hull material
- Steel
- Length
- 70 m
- Beam
- 9.5 m
- Sail area
- 1,100 m²
- Sailing area
- Australian coast
Launched on 18 February 1874 by Bartram, Haswell & Co. of Sunderland as a sailing freighter for the Scottish shipping company of Thomas Dunlop, under the name Clan Macleod.
In 1887 she was sold to Russell & Co. of Glasgow, in 1899 to an owner in Auckland, New Zealand, and in 1905 was renamed James Craig.
In 1912 she was converted into a hulk and used as a store by the British New Guinea Development Company in New Guinea until 1918. She was re-rigged in 1918 and sailed under Henry Jones & Company until 1925, then served as a hulk without sails at Hobart in Tasmania until 1932, storing coal for the Catamaran Coal Mining Company; she then went aground and lay unused for more than thirty years.
In 1972 she was towed to Hobart and partly repaired, and in 1981 towed to Sydney, where a restoration programme began; she was re-rigged as a barque and the project was completed in 2001.
Today she carries tourists on day and weekend sailing trips from Sydney. In 2003 she was awarded the World Ships Trust Medal for authentic restoration.