The iron-clipper BARON ABERDARE performed her duties and voyages over a long and story-filled career, even if some tales were of the sort her first owner, James MacCunn, the Liverpool owner of the New Zealand Shipping Company would have rather not heard. Constructed in William Watson's Liverpool yard, the 1874-built 259' clipper ship had a beam of 39'98" and a 23'5" depth. Running primarily in the Emigrant service to Australia and New Zealand, BARON ABERDARE called on San Francisco occasionally as well. She was sold in 1886 to a Bremen, Germany merchant who named her KATHARINE and later sold again to Norwegian interests in the 1890's and renamed AKERSHUS.
This builders half-model is the original plan for the ship, and is finished quite nicely, especially with its foremost flourish- the carved woman figurehead- leading the way. It has painted illusionary gunports and some on deck details, with a hand rubbed lacquer finish overall. Her name is quite visible, in scale with the model's large size.
The clipper made some extremely fast voyages, and is the ship of record for hundreds of British families and individuals starting new lives "Down Under" in the Southern Hemisphere. BARON ABERDARE's most historic moment was an unfortunate occurance while at anchor in London. Against her captain's request, the resident Dock Master had her moved and she capsized between the Royal Victoria and Albert Docks in December 1883. After blocking the channel for a week, they removed her masts and refloated her to the yard to be refitted. The ship was still sailing 20-plus years after this mishap.
