142 Years since the first historic shipment of frozen lamb
The Times commented "Today we have to record such a triumph over physical difficulties, as would have been incredible, even unimaginable, a very few days ago...".
Today marks 142 years since the first shipment of frozen lamb left on the SS Dunedin, from Port Chalmers.
From 5 December 1881, a herd of 10,000 Merino/Lincoln and Leicester crossbreed sheep on the Australian and New Zealand Land Company’s (NZALC) Totara Estate near Oamaru was slaughtered at a purpose-built slaughter works close to the railhead there.
The carcasses were sent overnight by goods trains with a central block of ice to be loaded on the Dunedin, where they were sewn into calico bags and frozen. To prove the process, the first frozen carcasses were taken off the ship, thawed and cut.
After 7 days of loading, the crankshaft of the compressor broke, damaging the machine’s casing and causing the loss of the 643 sheep carcasses stowed. It took a month for a local machinist to rebuild the crankshaft and associated machinery.
The frozen carcasses were resold locally during this time, and, encouragingly, they were considered to be indistinguishable from fresh meat.
On 15 February 1882, the Dunedin sailed with 4331 mutton, 598 lamb and 22 pig carcasses, 250 kegs of butter, hare, pheasant, turkey, chicken and 2226 sheep tongues.
Sparks from the compressor’s boiler created a fire hazard.
When the vessel became becalmed in the tropics, crew noticed that the cold air in the hold was not circulating properly. To save his historic cargo, Captain John Whitson crawled inside and sawed extra air holes, almost freezing to death in the process. Crew members managed to pull him out by a rope and resuscitated him.
The Dunedin arrived in London 98 days after setting sail.
Carcasses were sold at the Smithfield market over two weeks by John Swan and Sons, who noted butchers’ concerns about the quality of meat from the experimental transport; “Directly the meat was placed on the market, its superiority over the Australian [frozen] meat struck us, and in fact the entire trade”.
Although crossed with the primarily wool bearing Merino, the well fed New Zealand sheep weighed an average of over 40 kilograms (88 lb), and some exceeded 90 kilograms (200 lb).
Only one carcass was condemned.
The Times commented “Today we have to record such a triumph over physical difficulties, as would have been incredible, even unimaginable, a very few days ago…”.
After meeting all costs, NZALC’s profit from the voyage was £4700.
Photo | Loading sheep carcasses on the SS Dunedin at Port Chalmers, 1882
(Information and photo shared on Historiese Almanak, WhatsApp group)
