Pendragon Castle

A four-masted steel barque built in 1891 by Richard Williamson & Son, Workington, as Yard No. 94.
Dimensions: 92,57×12,85×x7,46 meters [303'9×x42'2×24'9], tonnage: 2510 GRT and 2399 NRT.
A flush decked and bald-headed barque, which belonged to the group of six four-masted barques called the Workington Sisters.

1891 February: Launched at the shipyard of Richard Williamson & Son, Workington, for James Chambers & Co., Liverpool.
1891: Captain Wood.
1891: Sailed from Liverpool to Calcutta with a cargo of salt in 93 days.
1891 December 28: In collision with the American four-masted schooner Maria O. Teel south of the Thames entrance and had to undergo lengthy repairs.
1892: Captain Richardson.
1895 December 27 -: Sailed from Elbe to Adelaide with a cargo of cokes in 82 days. 77 days from the Isle of Wight.
1896 August 18 -: Sailed from Newcastle, NSW, to San Francisco with a cargo of 3611 tons of coal in 58 days.
1898 May 27: Sold to Hans Hinrich Schmidt, Hamburg, for £ 14.000 and renamed Lisbeth. Assigned the German signal RKWJ. Captain Bock was given command of the ship.
1898: Sailed from Dundee to New York in ballast in 39 days.
1898: Captain Scharsich.
1898 September 13 - December 8: Sailed from New York to Melbourne with a cargo of mostly case oil in 86 days. The Melbourne Argus reported of the arrival the following day.
1903: Captain Kaak.
1905: Sailed from Tocopilla to Falmouth with a cargo of nitrate in 71 days.
1908: Captain Lorenzen.
1910: Captain Hansen.
1912: Captain Jessen.
1914 June 26 - September 21: Sailed from Port Talbot to Iqique with a cargo in coal in 87 days. Part of the coal cargo was transferred to the German steamer Karnak. Later the Karnak rendevouzed with a German squadron and the coal was transferred to the German cruiser SMS Dresden.
1914: Interned at Iquique during the war.
1920: Captain Look.
1920 October 5 - January 7: Sailed from Iquique to Delfzijl with a caro in nitrate in 94 days.
1920: Assigned to France as war damage compensation.
1920: Laid up at Delfzijl.
1922 April 14: Sold to Bernhard Wilhelm Riedemann, Bremen, for FRF 115.000.
1922 April 26: Sold to Claus Hinrichsen GmbH, Hamburg, for DEM 600.000.
1924: Captain Windhorst.
1924 March 26 - May 16: Sailed from Brügge to Pensacola in ballast in 50 days.
1924 July 1 - August 7: Sailed from Pensacola to Liverpool with a cargo of timber in 38 days.
1927 August 28: Sold to Reederei Frithjof GmbH (H. Andersen), Hamburg, for DEM 80.000.
1927: Broken up at Port Glasgow.

The builder's halfmodel is preserved in the Friesen-Museum, Wyk, Föhr, and the figurehead could be seen in the gardens of the Rockferry Hotels, Cheshire, in the 1930s.

Select Bibliography

Four- and five masted ships, general references.
Burmester, Heinz: Die Viermastbark Lisbeth, ex Pendragon Castle Kauffartei unter Segel bis ins 20. Jahrhundert.
Stalling Verlag, Oldenburg, 1982. 4to, 200 pps, ill. Schriften des Deutschen Schiffahrtsmuseums 15.
Burmester, Heinz: Drei schnelle Frachtsegler und ihre Zeit.
Echardt & Messdorff, Hamburg, 1981. 8vo, 103 pp, ill. Sonderdruck aus "Seewart", 41. Jahrgang (1980), Nrn. 1 bis 6, Nautische Zeitschrift für die deutsche Seeschiffahrt.

Updated 1997-03-18 by Lars Bruzelius.

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