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The 3 masted Barkentine Tam O’Shanter c.1875 was a sister ship to the Clipper ship Western Shore c.1874. Both ships were built by Master shipbuilder John Kruse at the Simpson Brother’s shipyard at North Bend, on Oregon’s Coos Bay. It had been thought until recently, that the Tam O’Shanter operated on the Pacific coastal run. However, a recent finding by the National Archives of the ships records for the Tam O’Shanter, show that right after her launching, Captain Asa M. Simpson had her go the New York, registering her at Portland, Maine. The ships crew list below, not seen in 130 years, lists all of the crew, their countries of origin, city of residence, etc. It seems most all of these ships had Chinese cooks, several deck boys and in some cases stewardesses. In 1875 an able bodied seamen was paid $30 per month.
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North Bend II c.1920
The four masted schooner North Bend II would be the last tall ship built on Oregon’s Coos Bay and the last commercial ship of sail her size built on the west coast. Recently the ships records for the North Bend II have come to light (thank you National Archives), revealing exactly what life was like on one of Coos Bay finest built tall ships. The North Bend II would go down in Maritime History when in 1929 she ran aground entering the Columbia River, and thought to be a total loss. However over the next 13 months, with high and low tides, the Norht Bend II would re-float herself, according to Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, the only ship in history to re-float herself.
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These documents are an example of the 700+ documents just unboxed by the National Archives, and are shown here for the first time in 130 years. Listed are the crew of a typical 3 masted Barkentine (Tam O’Shanter c.1875) of the mid 1800’s, what they were paid, where they came from, their ages and where they lived.
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These are part of the recently unearthed records of the four masted Schooner North Bend II, built by the Kruse and Banks shipyard on Oregon’s Coos Bay in 1920. One is the ships crew list on a voyage from Portland to Wanganui, New Zealand in 1924-25. Notice the comment by the Captain that two men jumped ship on her departure from New Zealand, before they cleared the harbor. The other document is part of the ships stores sold to one of the crewmen. Some of the stores sold at sea included: suits of oilskins, rubber boots, tins of tobacco (Velvet, Masters, Chesterfield), smoking pipes, boxes of matches, overalls, hickory shirts, cakes of soap, blankets, pillows and slippers.
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The four masted schooner Echo was launched in 1896 from the North Bend, shipyard of Captain Asa Simpson. She would sail for the San Francisco company until sold in 1919, when she was converted into a floating home off Sausalito, California.
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This painting of the Tropic Bird c.1882 was provided by descendants of John Kruse the ships original builder.
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Four masted Barkentine Echo as a floating home off Sausalito, California c.1940’s
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Tropic Bird c.1882 was built for Thomas McDonald of San Francisco. She was a very attractive three masted Barkentine of 136’ on the keel and 347 gross tons. McDonald operated the Tropic Bird on the south seas trade primarily from San Francisco to Tahiti. The Tropic Bird, here waiting out a squall off Tahiti, was lost in 1907 at Perula Bay, Mexico.
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