Bangalore

Built by Richardson, Duck and Company at Stockton, England, the handsome Bangalore exemplified nearly the final development of the sailing cargo vessel. Iron construction, double topsails, and double topgallants had been developed in the previous thirty years. The final stage of commercial sail would see only the change to steel, the addition of steam auxiliary machinery, and, in many larger examples, a fourth mast.

Bangalore made some remarkable passages, sailing from Calcutta to New York in eighty-eight days, and from New York to Java in eighty-three days. Her best day's run was 351 nautical miles—an average speed of 14.6 knots. She came into United States ownership after being stranded at Cape Henry, Virginia, and repaired locally in 1900. In 1908 she left Norfolk with a cargo of coal for the United States Navy at Pearl Harbor and was one of two ships that disappeared after being sighted by a third vessel off Cape Horn. The mariner who saw them believed the Bangalore and the Falkenbank had collided and sunk in a squall.

The modelmaker had spent years at sea, including service in the Bangalore's crew, and was described in 1940 as one of America's three outstanding modelmakers. This is one of the finest sailing-ship models in the Museum's collection.

For more information, e-mail collections@MarinersMuseum.org.