Page 19 - Captain William Strike of Porthleven

seamanship and navigation also depended very much on these abilities. That Strike
was an adept seaman and navigator may also be borne out by the apparent absence
of any significant mishaps and accidents at sea which might have put his ships and
crew at undue risk.

Ready Rhino: a new opportunity

The period of five years in command, and with part ownership of, the ‘Jane’ seem to
suggest that William Strike was at this stage at the height of his career at sea.
Towards the end of his association with the ‘Jane’ there were obviously thoughts of
other sea-going opportunities. These opportunities were realised through the building
of a new clipper schooner, to be named the ‘Ready Rhino’. This rather odd name is
in fact Cornish slang for ‘ready cash’, a not inappropriate name given the need to
drive ships hard in a chosen trade for the purpose of making a working profit.

The ‘Ready Rhino’ was undoubtedly the most important command of William Strike’s
sea-going life. The schooner was built at the Sunderland yard of G W and W J Hall,
situated on the north side of the River Wear. June 29 1860 is recorded as the launch
date. A Sunderland newspaper of the time made the following announcement:

Messrs. Hall … launched the Ready Rhino, an 8 years’ medium clipper
schooner of 127 tons. Sold to Captain Strike and Partners, Penzance.

From the records it is difficult to determine whether the vessel was built to the order –
and specification – of Strike and his partners, or whether she was built speculatively
in the hope that a suitable purchaser would appear. The Sunderland newspaper just
referred to does refer to a number of completed vessels that remained unsold. The
reference to ‘eight years’ was a reference to the quality of the materials used in
construction. Accordingly, the vessel received an eight year insurance classification
with Lloyds, hence the reference to ‘8 A1 at Lloyds’. Although this was not a
particularly elevated classification, it was not unusual in trading vessels like the
‘Ready Rhino’.

The partners in the ‘Ready Rhino’ enterprise were two Porthleven men, including
Captain William Strike, and three Breage men. Strike had 8/64ths while John Pascoe
Thomas had 16. The three Breage men were John Pascoe (another master mariner)
(16), William Carne (a miner) (16) and Samuel Treweeke (another miner) (8). Unlike
the other co-owners, it appears that William Strike was not reliant on a mortgage as
the means by which he raised his share of the capital for this enterprise. Before the
life and career of the ‘Ready Rhino’ is looked at in rather more detail, what of William
Strike’s family?

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