ARRIVAL OF THE ELIZABETH MARTIN: Natal Mercury 5 August 1873
On 5 August 1873 the local press announced in eulogistic terms the arrival on the 3rd of the Currie Line steamer Elizabeth Martin (her tonnage varies in the reports) from East London from which she had sailed on the 2nd under Captain DEACON. She carried a general cargo and only 8 passengers viz:
Mr W PALMER
Mr FULLER
Mr and Mrs GARBUT
Mr N GARBUT
Mr STEEL
Mr MACKENZIE
Mr DEARE
Black, Baxter & Co were the agents.
NM 5 August 1873
ARRIVAL OF THE SS ELIZABETH MARTIN
At three o'clock last Sunday afternoon (3rd August) a large steamer was sighted to the westward. She steamed round the Bluff at 3.40 p.m., anchored in the roadstead, and was made out to be the Elizabeth Martin, 906 tons, Captain DEACON (late of the Gothland), of Messrs. Donald Currie & Co's line. The tug went out to her about half past four o'clock, towing a cargo boat. The bar was rough, and the sea outside ran so high that the mails could not be put on board the tug. They were trans-shipped into the lighter, which arrived back in the bay very soon after the tug. There were 33 bags of mails, and our packet of extras, containing the latest European news, to the 25th June.
The Elizabeth Martin is a very fine, handsome, smart, and comfortable steamer. The passengers who have come up in her speak in the highest terms of her steaming capabilities, and of the courtesy and ability of her commander and his officers. She had a head wind all the way up from East London, and yet she made the run in about 24 hours. She was off the Umkomaas about 1 o'clock on Sunday afternoon. We are glad to hear that she is to be kept on the coast until the Florence arrives out, about the end of September.
She has brought up eight passengers, whose names will be found in our shipping column. Amongst them we are glad to welcome back our much-respected fellow-townsman, Mr W PALMER, who has had a pleasant trip through the Transvaal, Diamond Fields, and Cape Colony; whose health, we are glad to say, is thoroughly re-established; and who has many an interesting tale to tell of absent Natalians with whom he met and conversed during his wanderings.
The steamer's mail bags arrived at the post-office in town about six o'clock in the evening, and were delivered about nine o'clock. The steamer has only a small quantity of cargo for Natal, the manifest of which, together with that per Teuton, will be found in our extra. She discharged a great deal of cargo at Algoa Bay and East London. She is to come inside to-day, and all who can should pay her a visit. She is the largest steamer that will have crossed our bar, her gross tonnage being 1260.
Natal Mercury 7 August 1873
The entrance of the Elizabeth Martin into our inner harbour is an event worthy of special notice in the records of our port. This fine steamer is much the largest vessel that has yet crossed the bar. Her burthen is over 1200 tons, her register shows upwards of 800 tons. She is 250 feet long. Nevertheless she entered the harbour safely and easily at dead neap tides. We congratulate both her commander and our Port Captain upon this interesting fact. Some months ago, when referring to the trade of the River Plate, we pointed out that there was no reason why vessels of large tonnage should not be built so as to come inside, and the present incident is proof of the fact. If a permanent depth of 18 feet could be secured on the bar steamers of 2000 tons might ply direct between England and Natal without the drawback of detention at the outer anchorage. It is of the utmost importance however, that the condition of the inner harbour should be improved, and the present channels, which are ever shifting and shoaling, be permanently straightened and deepened. We are glad to hear that Sir Benjamin PINE intends to visit Durban next week, with the especial purpose of inspecting both the harbour and the works.
Natal Mercury 12 August 1873
THE DONALD CURRIE LINE:
LUNCHEON ON BOARD THE ELIZABETH MARTIN
On Thursday last a party of nearly fifty gentlemen including most of the leading merchants of the place, together with several public functionaries, was invited to luncheon on board the Elizabeth Martin, by her Commander, Captain DUNCAN (sic: error for DEACON). The 12 o'clock train took the bulk of the guests to the Point, from whence they were soon aboard. Some was spent in a careful and admiring inspection of the fine vessel, which is much the largest that has yet come across the bar. She lies moored in the Bluff channel, and her lines are so well proportioned that she looks smaller than she really is. The Elizabeth Martin is three-masted, and has a hurricane deck from stem to stern. In the centre, over the offices, the ordinary bridge takes the dimensions of yet another small deck, which affords a commanding outlook over the vessel and the sea. The fittings of the steamer are all in brass and teak, and everything about her gives evidence of first class workmanship. The huge depths of the hold, with a floor as dry as a parlour's, gave proof of large carrying capacity, and we were glad to see 250 tons of sugar being stowed away there. The saloon, though small, is beautifully paneled in polished maple, rose and satinwoods, surmounted by solid and massive gilt cornices. The internal fittings of the staterooms, and all other parts of the ship, are as comfortable as modern ingenuity can secure. We observed that the table crockery, too, was designed with a special view to the exigencies of bad weather.
Note:
The Elizabeth Martin, named after Sir Donald Currie's mother, was built in 1872 in Glasgow and was a sister ship of the Courland. She ran for a few years in the Cape mail service (making the trip from London to Table Bay in 30 days 16 hours & 15 minutes in October 1872) before being transferred to the coast where the 'Betty Martin' soon became a familiar sight.
The itineraries of such coasters as the Elizabeth Martin varied, some running in conjunction with the mail steamers from England, which the coasters met at Cape Town, passengers and freight being transshipped for coastal ports.
During the Ashantee war of 1874 the Elizabeth Martin acted as a transport, subsequently returning to the coastal trade and in September 1875 she inaugurated Currie's service to Port Alfred. The bar there was so rough that she had to continue on to East London with 50 tons of Port Alfred cargo on board. In July 1879 she took the first sailing in a newly established service between Durban and Mauritius. In 1882 she was bought by a Greek company and renamed Athenai. Some ten years later she was renamed Samos, in which guise she remained afloat until 6 October 1916 when she was sunk by a submarine in the Mediterranean.
