Circé

A three-masted full-rigged iron ship built in 1885 by A. Stephen & Sons, Glasgow, as Yard No. 298. Dimensions 249'0"×39'5"×22'5" and tonnage 1619 GRT, 1481 NRT, and 1501 tons under deck. The forecastle was 27 ft long and the poop 40 ft. Rigged with double top-gallant and royal sails.

1885 November: Launched at the shipyard of A. Stephen & Sons, Glasgow, for A.C. Le Quellec, Bordeaux. Employed in the nitrate trade from Chile to France.
1888: In command of Captain Sevrain.
1901 September 29: The cargo of coal caught fire while off Staten Island, on voyage from the Tyne to Caleta Buena.
1901 October 5: Arrived at Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, where she was scuttled to put out the fire.
1902 January 30 - September 3: Afetr having been raised again, the Circé sailed from Port Stanley to St Nazaire.
1903: Sold to A/S Karmø (O.G. Gjessen & Co.), Skudeneshavn, Norway, for £ 7035 and was renamed Karmø. Assigned the Norwegian signal KBVG.
1903-1916: In command of Captain Johan Falnes.
1916: Sold to A/S Wiborg Seilskipsrederi, Kristiania, for NOK 600.000.
1916-1923: In command of Captain Holger Brun.
1920-1923: Laid up in Hamburg.
1923: Sailed from Fredrikstad to Sydney in 116 days.
1923: Sold to Jerman Oelckers y Cia., Puerto Montt, Chile, and was renamed Calbuco. Assigned the Chilean signal CBBU. Employed in the Chilean guano-trade.
1930-1942: In command of Captain Oskar Vollmer Wahlen.
1942: Sold to United Ship Brokerage Corporation, New York, but registered in Panama.
1942 December 8: Sailed from Sailed from Huasco, Chile, for Montevideo, Uruguay under command of Captain Raul von Bennewitz, but were forced to return due to bad weather.
1942 December 17 - February 11: Was able to continue the voyage to Montevideo which was reached in 56 days and the Calbuco thus became the last full-rigged sailing ship to round the Cape Horn.
1943 October 27: Sailed from Aden for Durban but could not get out of the Gulf of Aden due to the prevailing North East Monsoon and was forced to return to Aden where she arrived after 57 days.
1944 May 8 - August 6: Sailed from Aden to Durban in 90 days. The masts and spars were repaired in Durban after having been strained.
1944 December 9 - January 30: Sailed from Durban to Montevideo in 52 days.
1945-1947: In command of Captain Ingvald A. Pedersen [1884].
1945 August 4 - November 25: Sailed from Buenos Ayres with linseed and flour to Marseille in 111/112 days.
1945 December 24 - February 14: Sailed from Marseille to Lisbon. Had to put into Gibraltar for repairs after having sustained damage to the rig.
1946 April 9 - April 29: Sailed from Lisbon with a grain and general cargo to Marseille and was laid up.
1946: Sold to Johan Gustav Hvide, Bergen, but the purchase was reversed when it was found that the ship was in a poor shape.
1948: Towed from Marseille to Savona to be broken up.

References:

Squarerigged ships, general references.
Lundh, Stephan: En av de allra sista: Calbuco.
Longitude Nr 18, Stockholm, 1982. pp 48-53, ill.
Tandberg, Bjørn: Calbuco. De sista atlantiska åren.
Longitude Nr 35, Stockholm, 1999. pp 70-81, ill.

Updated 2003-03-13 by Lars Bruzelius

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