Common ships

For an overview of maritime plaques, click on the Maritime heading above. Click on images to enlarge.

Common ship transfers

By common, I mean I've seen more than seven plaques with these transfers over the last 10 years, and considerably more plaques with the first three transfers. There are other factors which have a bearing on rarity, e.g. Scott's of Southwick plaques are more common than their Moore & Co counterparts.

Contents of this page:

The Austrailian Clipper-Ship Marco Polo (unidentified pottery, Carr)
Northumberland 74 (Garrison)
Duke of Wellington – 131 Guns (Scott, Moore & Co)
la Bretagne – 140 Guns (Scott, Moore & Co)
Euryalus (Scott, Moore & Co)
The Great Eastern Steam-Ship (Scott, Moore & Co)
Victoria and Albert Yacht (Scott, Moore & Co)
Unidentified common ships

The Australian Clipper-Ship Marco Polo

The Marco Polo was a three-masted wooden clipper ship, lauched in 1851 in New Brunswick (Canada). She was 184 feet long and had three decks. In 1851 the Marco Polo sailed to Liverpool, making the crossing in just 15 days. The next year she was purchased by the Black Ball Line and converted for passenger service between England and Australia. She made the first recorded round trip in less than 6 months (5 months 21 days). The illustration above presumably shows her triumphant return. In 1867 she was converted back to cargo use. On a trip from Quebec In July 1883, she sprung a leak north of Prince Edward Island and was deliberately grounded by her crew. A gale the following month caused her to break up. Today the wreck is a National Historic Site.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo_(ship)

This transfer appears on smaller unmarked plaques, and larger plaques with rounded corners attributed to John Carr's pottery, Newcastle (top centre). The popularity of these plaques plummeted when the marketplace was flooded with similar modern reproductions titled 'Agamemnon' (bottom right). Sadly these repros are often passed off as 19th century originals. See the Reproductions page to find out more.

Northumberland 74

HMS Northumberland was a 74-gun third rate ship, built in Deptford and launched on 2 February 1798. She suffered heavy casualties in the Battle of San Domingo, 1806. On 22 November 1810, she, with HMS Armada, captured the French ketch La Glaneuse. In 1815, Northumberland transported Napoleon to captivity on the Isle of Saint Helena. She was broken up in 1850.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Northumberland_(1798)

Henrywood writes that this is probably the most common transfer of a named ship. Northumberland is much older than most of the named ships on plaques. The top left plaque has the 'Dixon, Phillips & Co' anchor mark (c1834–c1850) and the top centre has the 'Dixon Co' mark (c1851–c1865). The transfer, or an earlier variation of it, first appears on plates (bottom right) marked 'Dixon, Austin, & Co' (1820–26). I haven't seen this transfer on plaques with other factories' marks. The local connection might partly explain its popularity, Sunderland being in the county of Northumberland.

Duke of Wellington - 131 guns

HMS Duke of Wellington - a wooden screw steam ship of 700 HP - was built in Pembroke Yard (Wales), and launched on 14 September 1852, the day the Duke of Wellington died. Originally christened the Windsor Castle, she was afterwards renamed in the Duke's honour. Her length was 240 ft 6 ins, breadth 60 ft 3 ins, and speed 10.675 knots. She was twice the size of Nelson's Victory, and on paper the most powerful warship in the world, until La Bretagne was launched in 1855. On 25 February 1854, she became the flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Napier and served in the Baltic, and in February 1855, the flagship of Rear-Admiral Richard Dundas. Because of structural problems (she was originally designed as a sail ship, but adapted during construction to incorporate a steam engine) she saw no active service after the Crimea, and was paid off in 1856.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Duke_of_Wellington

Henrywood lists this as perhaps the second most common named ship transfer. It was probably first used in 1855 to meet popular demand for Crimean War-related pottery, and pairs with LA BRETAGNE – 140 GUNS. It appears on later plaques with orange lustre borders, so was popular for a long period.

La Bretagne - 140 guns

The Bretagne was a fast (12.6 knots) three-decker of the French Navy, designed by engineer Marielle, and launched on 17 February 1855. Though built after the Napoleon (the first purpose-built steam warship, launched in 1850), she was originally designed as a sail ship. Like the Duke of Wellington, a steam engine was added during construction. The Bretagne took part in the Crimean war in 1855. She was renamed to Ville de Bordeaux in 1880, and scrapped the same year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Bretagne_(1855)

The above (centre) illustration of the Duke of Wellington, appears to be the source for the La Bretagne transfer. Perhaps images of the French warship were difficult to come by. The transfer, c1855, pairs with the DUKE OF WELLINGTON – 131 GUNS. It appears on later plaques with orange lustre borders, so was used over a long period.

Euryalus

HMS Euryalus was a fourth-rate wooden-hulled screw frigate, with a 400 HP steam engine, which could make over 12 knots. Launched at Chatham in 1853, she was 212 feet long, and had a complement of 515 men. She arrived at Yokohama on 14 September 1862, the date of the Namamugi Incident. She served as Admiral Sir Augustus Kuper's flagship during the bombardment of Kagoshima in August 1863 and the bombardment of Shimonoseki in September 1864. At that time she carried 35 guns, and approximately 16 carronades. Euryalus was paid off at Portsmouth on 23 September 1865, and broken up in 1867.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Euryalus_(1853)

Though this plaques is untitled, the pennant flag on the centre mast bears the name Euryalus in small letters (see right above).

The Great Eastern Steam-Ship

The SS Great Eastern was an iron sailing steam ship designed by the great engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Designed to carry 4,000 passengers, she was by far the largest ship ever built at the time of her launch in 1858. Her length was 692 feet, and her maximum speed 13 knots. In an ill-fated maiden voyage, she was damaged by an explosion. After repairs, she worked for several years as a passenger liner between Britain and America. In 1865 she worked as a trans-Atlantic cable-laying ship. She finished her life as a floating music hall, and was broken up in 1889. For more information, click on the links below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ss_great_eastern

http://www.brunel200.com/ss_great_eastern.htm

http://www.atlantic-cable.com/Cableships/GreatEastern/

The plaque shows the foreshortened view used on the Great Eastern's promotional material (above right). It seems likely that this transfer dates from 1858. It was used over a long period and appears on later orange-bordered plaques.

Victoria and Albert Yacht

HMY Victoria and Albert II, was the second royal yacht to be steam powered, and took the name of her predecessor when she was launched on 16 January 1855. She was a 338 ft, wood-built paddle vessel, had a 240 crew, and her 600 HP engines could make 17 knots. Owned by the Navy, she was Queen Victoria's Royal Yacht until 1900, and scrapped around 1904.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMY_Victoria_and_Albert_II

Unidentified common ships

The three larger plaques attributed to John Carr's Low Lights Pottery, North Shields (read more here). The drawing of the ship is similar to that on rare plaques titled 'Gudrun', produced by Galloway and Atkinson at the Albion Pottery (1864). See the rare ships page.

An example of the above plaque came up at auction with an impressed crown mark. Ian Sharp suggests that this mark was used by Fell.

These plaques attributed to John Carr's Low Lights Pottery, North Shields (read more here). More rarely this transfer appears in reverse (see top centre), and sometimes paired with the more usual left pointing ship.