The Frank Guy

The New Zealand Maritime Record - The Frank Guy

Displacement: 195 tons
Length: 38 metres
Ship's company: 9
Type: Three masted schooner or barquentine

1875 August: Built by Francis or Frances Guy at Batemans Bay, New South Wales and first registered at the port of Sydney.

1875 October 15: Under the command of  Edwin Cain, the two months old vessel with a cargo of timber was stranded on Waikanae Beach on the South West coast of New Zealand's North Island.  A Court of Inquiry found that the master did not take sufficient pains to ascertain his true position when running in for an anchorage. Both Cain and the first mate were warned to be more cautious in future. She subsequently had a long career as a timber carrier in New Zealand waters.

1876: In the book Down the Bay, (about Otago Harbour) it is stated that the new steamboat Balclutha towed the schooner Frank Guy from Dunedin to Port Chalmers on 22nd September, 1876.

1881: Registered at the Port of Napier, she was later registered at Auckland and then Dunedin.

1929: The date of this vessel's arrival in Lyttelton is unknown, but she was converted to a coal hulk in 1929.

1932 or 1936:  Beached at Quail Island in Lyttelton Harbour.

Note: There is some possible doubt over the correct identity of this vessel. The vessel at Quail island has an all metal hull not wooden as stated for the 1875 vessel built in Batemans Bay, NSW. The only wood James Turner found on her was along the top guard rail.

The Frank Guy, oil on board

Painting of sailing ship with a ensign flying at the top saying "FRANK GUY." Landscape, or head of a bay, in the background.

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