SCHOMBERG
Statement of Significance
Schomberg was a large clipper ship built for James Baines' famous Black
Ball Line. Schomberg has historical significance as one of the luxurious
ships built to bring emigrants to Australia, cashing in on the gold rush
era. The clipper is one of only three clipper wrecks in Victorian waters
that operated the England to Australia run. While the other two, Empress
of the Sea and Lightening, were built by the famous American
shipbuilder, Donald MacKay, Schomberg was built in Aberdeen. It was an
attempt to build a faster ship than MacKay and a vessel fast enough to
break the sailing record to Australia. Schomberg never got the chance to
break any records, sinking on its maiden voyage to Australia (Heritage
Victoria 2010). Schomberg has interpretative significance as part of the
Underwater Shipwreck Discvoery Trail (Lomdahl 1992) and the land-based
West Coast Historic Shipwreck Trail (Heritage Victoria 1994). The vessel
is badly broken up and the remains are heavily concreted. Schomberg is
not currently the subject of any archaeological or scientific studies.
Significance assessed against criteria defined in Guidelines for the
Management of Australia's Shipwrecks (1994) CRITERION 1: HISTORIC
Schomberg gas great historical significance as a representative example
of a large, fast clipper ship on the England to Australia run, carrying
emigrants attempting to cash in on the Victorian gold rush. CRITERION
2: TECHNICAL When Schomberg was built in 1855, the vessel was one of the
largest clipper ships ever built, during an era of large and fast
clipper ships. In an effort to make the vessel as fast as possible, it
was heavily sparred and carried 16,000 square yards of canvas sail.
Schomberg is representative of the technical advances made to break
sailing records between Europe and Australia. CRITERION 3: SOCIAL
Schomberg's social significance is aligned with its association with
Captain 'Bully' Forbes, one of the most famous - and dangerous -
captains of the era. The vessel also has social significance for its
brief role in carrying passengers immigrating to Australia on a promise
of finding gold. CRITERION 4: ARCHAEOLOGICAL The site is badly broken
up and there are no hull features visible. Railway tracks and large
girders can be seen. The site is heavily concreted. Some small artefacts
such as shoes and belt buckles can be seen cemented into the limestone.
Schomberg is not currently the subject of any archaeological studies.
Last recorded site visit 1986. There are 73 artefacts in Heritage
Victoria's Schomberg artefact collection, including a gudgeon and
pintles. CRITERION 5: SCIENTIFIC Schomberg is not currently the subject
of any scientific research. CRITERION 6: INTERPRETIVE Schomberg has
interpretive significance as part of the "Underwater Shipwreck
Discovery Trail" (Lomdahl 1992:Schomberg) and the land-based
"West Coast Historic Shipwreck Trail (Heritage Victoria 1994).
Schomberg's story is also the subject of shipwreck literature designed
for a general audience (Charlewood 1996 and Loney 1979). CRITERION 7:
RARE Schomberg is a rare example of the fast, luxurious clipper ships
bringing immigrants from England to Australia. There are only two other
examples of Black Ball Line clipper ships in Victorian waters -
Lightening and Empress of the Seas - but Schomberg is the only one built
in Aberdeen using a diagonal design. CRITERION 8: REPRESENTATIVE
Schomberg is representative, not only of the fast clipper ships, but
also the adventure and danger of sailing to the other side of the world
for the chance to find gold.