Papers of Captain Fred K Klebingat, fl 1909-1965, ship's captain and author, Cape Horn, Chile

Research material relating to the pioneer Hawaiian steamer Falls of Clyde, 1960s.

Falls of Clyde is an iron-hulled, four-masted vessel built by Russell & Co, Port Glasgow, Scotland in 1878  . The ship was one of nine ships designed by the yard for the Falls line of Wright and Breakenridge, Glasgow. Designed to carry bulk cargoes quickly and cheaply, she sailed between Calcutta and Liverpool and to the Far East and Australia, then to the Pacific coast of North America to transport Californian grain. In 1898 she was bought by the Matson Navigation Company, re-rigged as a four-masted bark, and then sailed in the Hawaiian transpacific sugar trade. In 1907  Captain Matson sold her and five other vessels to the Associated Oil Co of California. She was transported to San Francisco and converted into a sailing oil tanker to transport petroleum between California and Hawaii. In 1920  she was sold to G W McNear of San Francisco, then in 1921  to General Petroleum Corporation of San Franciso. In 1922  her masts were removed and she was converted into a fuel barge. Towed to the Alaskan port of Ketchikan she was moored there and served as a floating filling station for fishing boats until 1959  . William W Mitchell of Ketchikan bought her in 1959, towed her to Seattle and laid her up. Captain Fred Klebingat and other concerned enthusiasts tried to save her from being scuttled as a breakwater. After a public fund-raising campaign, including money from Matson Navigation Co, she was purchased in 1963 and towed to Honolulu. Restoration began and she opened to the public in 1968  . She is now preserved in the Hawaii Maritime Centre, Honolulu.

This collection consists of two volumes of copies of research notes compiled by Captain Klebingat concerning the Falls of Clyde. He was a Cape Horn sailor, master, and sailed as mate on the vessel in 1916-1917. The research material consists of notes about the ship's career that he compiled from various sources, newspaper cuttings, photographs, correspondence. They were photocopied and bound into two volumes by Hawaii Maritime Center, Honolulu and given to GUAS because records for building the vessel are within the Russell Lithgow collection, (ref: GD320).

The arrangement of this material reflects the original order in which it was received.

Open

Hawaii Maritime Centre, Honolulu

None.

No known copies

None which affect the use of this material

Applications for permission to quote should be sent to the Hawaii Maritime Centre.

Reproduction subject to usual conditions: educational use and condition of documents.

This material has been appraised in line with standard GB 0248 procedures

Unknown

None expected

Glasgow University Archive Services: GD320/5/1/17 cost book for Falls of Clyde, yard no 17; GD320/8/1/15 ship's papers (agreements, specifications, correspondence) for Falls of Clyde, yard no 17.

This material is original

No known publications using this material

Description compiled in line with the following international standards: International Council on Archives,ISAD(G) Second Edition, September 1999 and National Council on Archives,Rules for the construction of personal, place and corporate names

None

Collection catalogued by Alma Topen, Assistant Archivist, Cataloguing, May 2003. Catalogue converted to Encoded Archival Description by Andrew Thomson, Hub Project Archivist, 18 August 2004. Amendments made by Emma Anthony, Business Archives Cataloguer, 8 January, 2013.