- Argo (1853)
The "Argo" was an iron screw steamer launched in
1853 , and the first steamship to intentionally circumnavigate the earth. [Thepaddle steamer HMS Driver completed the first circumnavigation in1847 .]History
"Argo" was built by C.J. Mare and Company of
Blackwall ,London for theGeneral Screw Steam Shipping Company and launched in 1853. She was a three-masted ship with aclipper bow and a single funnel.She was an early example of a screw propelled vessel, though she also possessed a fully functional sail rig and her screw could be
feathered when she was required to travel under sail. This operation could be conducted within 7 minutes from stopping the engines. The screw could also be raised for inspection while at sea if required. During trials she turned out to be a fine sailer, achieving a speed of convert|10|kn|km/h.cite journal | last = Percy | first = Sholto | authorlink = | coauthors = Perry Fairfax Nursery | title = Trial Trip of the "Argo" | journal = Iron | publisher = Knight and Lacey | year = 1853 | volume = 58 | location = | pages = p. 353 | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=L-k3AAAAMAAJ | doi = | id = | accessdate = ]On
May 8 1853 the "Argo" sailed fromSouthampton , reachingMelbourne in 64 days, with one stop en route at Cape St. Vincent. She returned viaCape Horn in 63 days and received considerable acclaim as the first steamer to circumnavigate the globe."Argo" was sold along with all the other of the General Screw Company's ships in 1857. She was chartered to the
Galway Line in1859 and was wrecked at Trepassey Bay, Newfoundland onJune 28 1859 on her first homeward voyage, after running on a reef in thick fog. There was no loss of life. [Citation | last = Burke | first = Edmund | author-link = | last2 = | first2 = | author2-link = | title = | journal = The Annual Register | volume = 101 | publisher = Rivingtons | issue = | pages = p. 95 | date = 1859 | year = 1860 | url = | doi = | id = ]Notes
References
*
External links
*cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = A SHORT VOYAGE AROUND THE GLOBE | work =
New York Times | pages = | language = | publisher = | date =November 19 1853 | url = http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9403E1DC1131E13BBC4152DFB7678388649FDE | format= PDF | accessdate = 2008-03-02
*
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
