Faces of the Vanduara — The Swansea Crew Captured in Time
Faces of the Vanduara — The Swansea Crew Captured in Time Crew of the Vanduara A Rare Portrait from Swansea’s Age of Sail A rare and evocative crew portrait survives from the four‑masted iron windjammer Vanduara , taken during her proud years as a Swansea‑registered vessel, likely between 1898 and 1909 . The men stand arranged around the ship’s lifebuoy—clearly marked “VANDUARA – SWANSEA” —a simple yet authoritative identifier anchoring the image to a specific ship, a specific era, and a specific port. Officers, able seamen, apprentices, and even the ship’s cats appear in the frame, the latter kept aboard to wage their quiet campaign against rats in the cargo holds. Construction of an Iron Windjammer Built in 1882 at Scotstoun by the renowned Glasgow shipbuilders Connell & Co. , the Vanduara belonged to the final generation of great commercial sailing ships forged of iron rather than timber. At roughly 280 feet in length and over 2,000 gross tons , she was a formidable deep‑water...
