1883 A boardroom model of the Knight of St

100 A boardroom model of the Knight of St Michael, 1883

Height: 19 ¼ in (49 cm) Width: 90 ½ in (229 cm)

This shipbuilder’s half block model of the four masted steel ship Knight of Saint Michael was built in 1883 by W B Thompson, Glasgow and set in an unusual convex glass and mahogany case with back and end mirrors. The deck fittings are fashioned from gilt metal. The builder’s name and dimensions plaque is written in Dutch and English. Scottish, 1883. The Knight of St Michael was launched at the shipyard of W.B. Thompson, Glasgow, for R.L Greenshields, Cowie & Co., Liverpool. In 1897 she was sold to Ant. Dom. Bordes et fils, Dunkerque, and renamed Pacifique. In the days when ships raced to get their cargoes home before the competition, the crew of the Pacifique were proud to announce that on September 24 1899 they left Iquique in company with the German fourmasted barque Athene bound for Hamburg and arrived at their destination before their rival had passed Beachy Head. Other noteworthy incidents occurred in 1901 when the captain and five crewmen were washed overboard off Cape Horn and in 1907 when she collided with the her sister ship Rhone near the Falkland Islands. Both masters lost their commands on account of the accident. Finally, having been sold for a last time, she disappeared en route to Port Arthur in 1916.