One of the last full-rigged ships
Launched December 9, 1886, Balclutha is one of the last 19th Century full-rigged ships still afloat. Built in the shipyard of Charles Connell & Co., her name is an anglicized Gaelic word for “Town of Clyde River.”
She spent 13 years of her career as a British merchant ship, rounding Cape Horn 17 times. In 1899 she was sold to American Herbert Charles Oswald, and then sold again to L.D. Spencer, who registered her in Hawaii, and put her to work in the Pacific Coast lumber trade. She was sold again in 1900 to Pacific Colonial Ship Co., a San Francisco corporation. In 1901 she received U.S. Registry.
In 1902 she began working the Alaskan salmon trade. Just two years later she was wrecked off Chirikof Island, Alaska. Her captain deemed her unsalvageable, but William Munn bought her for $500 and with temporary repairs, returned her to San Francisco for full restoration. In 1906 her name was changed to Star of Alaska. She sailed north to Alaska ever year until 1929.
After years of being exhibited as a pirate ship, in 1953 ownership passed to the San Francisco Maritime Museum. Restoration began the next year. In 1955 she was opened to the public and was an immediate success. In 1978 she became the property of the National Park Service. She remained at Pier 43 until 1988 when she was moved to Hyde Street Pier to be near the other historic ships of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.
Balclutha was recorded in 1987-88 as part of the Historic American Engineering Record, a project of the National Park Service. The drawings were delineated by Laura E. Salarano, Robin L. Jackson, T. Paul Bates, Mark T. Bittle, C. Jean Case, Deborah J. Cooper, David G. Frisch, Ty T. Tagami, and Chang K. Yi.