Sailing Ship-Herschel
RKLOKOW
1. I am looking for information regarding the sailing ship "Herschel" that
sailed from Hamburg, Germany on 15 March and Arrived in New York on 26 April
1852. The ship carried my ancestor (Johann Klokow) to the United States.
Johann reported the voyage took 6-weeks and ship was demasted during a strong
North Atlantic storm.
2. Is this the same ship that was described in the previous message dtd 29 Jan
1998? The previous message described a ship Herschel that departed Bremmen
and arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1849.
3. The records indicate the 1852 Herschel carried 221 passengers at a tonage
of "598 tons." What does the tons represent? For example, is the listed
tonnage the total dry weight of the ship?...or the weight of the ship and cargo
at time of sailing?
4. Is it possible to obtain a picture of the ship?
5. Is there any log of the ship voyage?
Any help would be appreciated...
Thank You-Randy Klokow
Michael Palmer
On 18 Feb 1998, rkl...@aol.com (RKLOKOW) wrote:
> 1. I am looking for information regarding the sailing ship "Herschel"
> that sailed from Hamburg, Germany on 15 March and Arrived in New York on
> 26 April 1852. The ship carried my ancestor (Johann Klokow) to the
> United States. Johann reported the voyage took 6-weeks and ship was
> demasted during a strong North Atlantic storm.
According to contemporary New York newspapers, the Hamburg ship HERSCHEL,
[J. H.] Jacobs, master, arrived at New York on 25 April 1852, 36 days
from Hamburg, with merchandise and 254 passengers; the passenger manifest
is dated the day after arrival, 26 April 1852.
> 2. Is this the same ship that was described in the previous message
> dtd 29 Jan 1998? The previous message described a ship Herschel that
> departed Bremmen and arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1849.
No, these are different vessels. The HERSCHEL was a 3-masted,
square-rigged ship, built by Christian Bergh, New York, in 1833, as the
ORLEANS, for the Holmes Line of coastal packets between New York and New
Orleans. 599 tons; 127' 3" x 32' 6" x 16' 3" (length x beam x depth of
hold). She sailed in the Holmes line from 1833 to 1847, during which
time her passage from New York to New Orleans averaged 17.1 days, her
short passage being 11 days, her longest 25 days.
On 30 October 1847, the OCEAN was purchased from Barrett & Sears, of New
York, for $15,000, by the Hamburg shipowner Robert Miles Sloman, who
renamed her HERSCHEL, and placed her in the North Atlantic trade, carring
emigrants to New York or New Orleans and returning to Europe with a cargo
of tobacco or cotton.
Master:
1847-1852 - J. C. Wienholtz
1852-1853 - J. H. Jacobs
1853-1855 - J. E. Meier
1855-1856 - O. P. Nielsen
1856 - P. Foppes
1856-1859 - C. Hauschild
Voyages:
1847/48 - from New York/New Orleans
1848/49 - New York/intermediate ports/New York
1850 - New York
1850/51 - New York
1851 - New York (2 x)
1852 - New York
1852 - Quebec
1852/53 - New York
1853 - New York
1853/54 - New York/Charleston
1854 - New York
1854/55 - New York
1855 - New York
1855/56 - New Orleans
1856 - Quebec/London
1856/59 - New York/intermediate ports
She was sold in Surabaja, on Java, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), in
1859, for 20,000 fl. Her later history and ultimate fate are not known
[Robert Greenhalgh Albion, _Square-riggers on Schedule; The New York
Sailing Packets to England, France, and the Cotton Ports_ (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1938), pp. 292-293; Ernst Hieke, _Rob. M.
Sloman Jr., errichtet 1793_, Ver"offentlichungen der
Wirtschaftsgeschichtlichen Forschungsstelle e.V., Hamburg, Band 30
(Hamburg: Verlag Hanseatischer Merkur, 1968), p. 372; Walter Kresse, ed.,
_Seeschiffs-Verzeichnis der Hamburger Reedereien, 1824-1888_, Mitteilungen
aus dem Museum f"ur Hamburgische Geschichte, N. F., Bd. 5. (Hamburg:
Museum f"ur Hamburgische Geschichte, 1969), vol. 2, p. 208].
> 3. The records indicate the 1852 Herschel carried 221 passengers at a
> tonage of "598 tons." What does the tons represent? For example, is
> the listed tonnage the total dry weight of the ship?...or the weight of
> the ship and cargo at time of sailing?
This number does not represent the weight of the vessel, either empty or
loaded, but her carrying capacity, expressed in tons of 40 cubic feet. In
Great Britain until 1854 and in the United States prior to 1865, this
number was obtained by multiplying the length of the vessel (less 3/5 her
beam) by her beam and depth, then dividing by 95. This system, now known
as the "Old Custom House Measurement", generally understated the cargo
capacity, except in the "sharpest" vessels. It was superseded in Great
Britain in 1854, and in the United States in 1865, by the "Moorsom
System", or "New Custom House Measurement", which involved a large number
of separate measurements: the area of several transverse sections, from 6
to 16 according to the length of the vessel, was estimated by measurements
at various depths and then combined with the length. In the case of
vessels with "full" lines, the tonnage was greater under the New Custom
House Measurement than under the Old Custom House Measurement; in the
case of the "sharper" clippers, however, the reverse was true [Albion,
_op. cit._, p. 298; A. Van Driel, _Tonnage Measurement, Historical and
Critical Essay_ (The Hague: Government Printing Office, 1925)].
4. Is it possible to obtain a picture of the ship?
To determine whether there exists a picture of this vessel, either as the
ORLEANS or as the HERSCHEL, contact the following institutions:
Peabody Essex Museum
East India Square
Salem, MA 01970
http://www.pem.org
The Mariners' Museum
100 Museum Dr.
Newport News, VA 23606-3798
http://www.mariner.org/mariner
Mystic Seaport Museum
50 Greenmanville Ave.
Mystic, CT 06355-0990
http://www.mystic.org
Museum f"ur Hamburgische Geschichte
Holstenwall 24
D-20355 Hamburg
Germany
> 5. Is there any log of the ship voyage?
No deck (or sailing) log of this voyage is known to survive.
Michael Palmer
--
Michael Palmer
Claremont, California
mpa...@netcom.com