<head>The Ship Hecla , 1873 England to the United States
Written by Fred WARREN in a small leather notebook as below:

May 29th 1873
Left Berkenhead at 1/2 past 6 o'clock and went on board Cunard Steamer "Hecla" bound for Boston. Sailed at 12 o'clock.a fine day and pleasant.And hope it will last.
30th
A beautiful day,called at Queenstown, fine harbor and splendid view of the town etc. In the evening before began to feel the rolling of the Atlantic. All well so far.
31st
A fine day. A great deal of seasickness on board, but escaped myself with headache and giddiness.
(That's all so far...don't know if he wrote more!)

The Ship
Dear Ms Bruso,

Thank you for your recent enquiry concerning the HECLA. I am glad that you found our web site interesting. As you will see from the pag regarding the HECLA we have quite a limited amount of informatio concerning the ship. I am sending a photocopy of acouple of pictures of the ship wehave, today. I am also enclosing an order form should you prefer to have a high photocopy (colour) or photographic print of the picture made.I have also checked the "Ships Passage" books we have here to confirm your Great Grandfathers information. From the details in this book I can confirm that the HECLA left Liverpool on 29 May 1873, called at Queenstown on 30 May and arrived at Boston on 9 June. I hope this information is helpful, Yours sincerely, Tim Garner.Tim Garner, Cunard Archives Universiy of Liverpool P.O.Box 147 Liverpool - L69 3BX

This is one of a suite of pages describing the Cunard Archive held at the University of Li Cunard Archive Welcome Ships index page Hecla (1863) Statistics Career details information in the Universiiy Archives Statistics These statistics are derived from NRP Bonsor, North Atlantic Seaway, 5
vols, David & Charles, 1975-80. Gross Tonnage - 1,785 Dimensions - 84.12 x 11.09m Number of funnels - I Number of masts - 2 Construction - Iron Propulsion - Single screw Engines - Geared oscillating, two Service speed - 10 knots Builder - Robert Napier & Sons, Glasgow Passenger accommodation - 70 I st Class, 800 3rd Class Details of Career The Hecla and Marathon wre both built in 1860 for the atlantic trade. They were run to New York as extra boats, but chiefly to Boston. In time, however, they gave way to larger and more modem boats and were relegated to the Mediterranean service. In this rtrade they became favourites for holiday trips and used to be known as "Maclvers Yachts". The Hecla was launched for the Cunard Mediterranean srevice in 1860 nad made its first trans-atlantic voyage, from Liverpool to New York, on 16 June 1863. This service continued until 1869 and then in 1871 it was lengthened to 103.22 metres, the tonnage increased to 2,42 1, a further mast added and compound engines fitted by J. & G.Thomson, Glasgow. Between 1872 and 1881 it mainly sailed from Liverpool to Boston via Queenstown. In 1881 it was acquired by Laird Bros. as part payment for the Cephalonia. In 1882 it was renamed Claris, in 1888 it was sold to Spain and renamed Conde de Vilana. After running for some years for her Spanish owner it was sold to P.A.Gartland of Buenos Aires in 1892 and became the Pedro Tercero, the Tiempo in 1895 and the Rio Negro in 1897. In 1924 it had a collision with the Highland Loch but was repaired and then became a hulk. It was eventually scrapped in 1954.

Credit for this information goes to the Cunard Archives,Liverpool University,Liverpool, England. They have a great web page,but it is offline until spring!


Note: copy of ship's list from National Archives,WA DC(Hecla)showing Fred Warren's name and picture of Hecla to be added later.
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Copyright�Shirley Bruso 1999.