Built as an iron cargo vessel under yard No 4 by J.Priestman & Co., Sunderland, U.K. for account Perry, Raimes & Co., West Hartlepool, U.K.
23 December 1882 launched under the name ACASTER. Christened by Mrs. Cundall.
Tonnage 1.450 grt. 823 net, 2.000 dwt., dim. 251 x 34.6 x 17.5ft.
One compound steam engine and two single ended boilers operating at 80lbs/sqin pressure, supplied by N.E. Marine Engineering Co., Sunderland, 157 nhp. Service speed 10 knots.
One deck, four bulkheads, well deck.
December 1882 delivered to owners, register port West Hartlepool ON No 86946.
1883 Sold to W.E. Bagshaw, West Hartlepool.
1884 Sold to J.Wood & Co, West Hartlepool (it looks that Wood also was the manager from completion.)
Wood & Co was a tramp company formed in the early 1882).
The ACASTER made in 1894 the following voyage: 2 November sailed from Quebec to Leith with grain, and passed 18th November Dunnet Head, still bound for Leith.
By 1896 Wood owned seven vessels trading mostly N.E. English ports to the Baltic or Mediterranean with coal out.
1896 A other company was formed; J.A. Wood with head-office in London and new tonnage was registered with them.
1908 The company closed doors.
1889 Sold to Livingstone, Conner & Co., Hartlepool, not renamed.
1899 The company name changed to R. Livingstone & Co.
This company were also “tramp” ship owners in Hartlepool. Originally trading in North East England to Baltic but later turned to general tramping.
In 1916 the company ceased trading when the owner Livingstone retired.
But before the ACASTER was already sold.
1895 Sold to A/S Ganger Rolf (Bertrand Heyerdahl) renamed JEANNE D’ARC, with port of registry Christiana, Norway.
1900 Sold to Ganger Rolf Shipping Line (Fred. Olsen).
1908 Sold to A/S Kerguelen a sealing and whaling company, managed by Storm, Bull & Co., Kristiania (Oslo).
During 1908 French businessmen, the Boissiere Brothers who had a contract with the French Government to employ the Kerguelen, and they granted a license for whaling operations to the Norway company Storm. Bull & Co.
The company bought the JEANNE D’ARC and thereafter fitted the ship out as a supply vessel for the expedition to the Kerguelen to construct a whaling station at port Jeanne d’Arc.
25 August 1908 sailed out from Tønsberg under command of Theodor Ring with on board equipment and stores for the new the built whaling station, on board were also 300 Norwegian workers under the leadership of Mr. Ellefsen, and she sailed via the Tyne Dock near South Shields, U.K. for coaling and stores.
After she sailed from Tyne Dock she proceeded via St Vincent and Durban for coaling, when sailed from Shields there were also on board two Iceland ponies, twenty sheep, four pigs a number of hens for breeding purposes on Kerguelen Island.
In Durban, South Africa an other 60 white and 24 black men joined the ship, which got a 2 year contract to work on the Kerguelen.
October 1908 the whaling station commenced operation with two catchers, but whaling proved disappointing, only the hunt for Elephant seals which were plentiful on the islands did give a profit.
1911 Whaling was abandoned; only 442 whales were taken between 1908 and 1911, which produced 13.760 barrels of oil.
1912 Sold to D/S A/S Granli (Thygo Sørensen & Briger Lie), Kristiania, Norway, renamed in GRANLI.
1913 Sold to A/S P.O.Haavik (Andreas Simonsen), with port of registry Haugesund, Norway, renamed in P.O. HAAVIK.
22 February 1914 she grounded on the island of Ibiza, Spain while laid up awaiting a cargo of salt.
A hurricane force storm blew in and her stern lines broke and she was close to be driven ashore.
Some crew members still on board fired up the boiler, heave in the anchor and tried to sail out to open water, but her steering gear failed, and they were again forced to anchor. But even with anchors out and full power ahead, with her head in the wind she drifted on shore, and became a total loss.
French Southern and Antarctic Territory 2009 4.00 Euro, sg?, scott?
Sources Lloyds Registers of Shipping. Lloyds List newspapers. Scotsman, newspaper archive. Times, newspaper archive. Leith Burgh’s Pilot newspaper archive. Leith Commercial List newspaper archive, all via John Stevenson. Dan Rodlie. http://ca.geocities.com/ventures0@roger ... and27.html
http://www.lardex.net/oslo/kerguelen/Sk ... nedarc.htm