Southern Cross has been the name of a succession of ships serving the Melanesian Mission of the Anglican Church and the Church of the Province of Melanesia

Church of the Province of Melanesia

The Church of the Province of Melanesia is part of the Anglican Communion, and includes 8 dioceses. The Primate of the Church is the Archbishop of Melanesia The Most Rev'd David Vunagi.- Official name :...

. She succeeded the Undine, a 21-ton schooner built at Auckland and in service from 1849 to 1857. Funds from Charlotte Mary Yonge

Charlotte Mary Yonge

Charlotte Mary Yonge , was an English novelist, known for her huge output, now mostly out of print.- Life :Charlotte Mary Yonge was born in Otterbourne, Hampshire, England, on 11 August 1823 to William Yonge and Fanny Yonge, née Bargus. She was educated at home by her father, studying Latin, Greek,...

's novel The Heir of Redclyffe

The Heir of Redclyffe

The Heir of Redclyffe was the first of Charlotte M. Yonge's bestselling romantic novels. Its religious tone derives from the High Church background of her family and from her friendship with a leading figure in the Oxford Movement, John Keble, who closely supervised the writing of the book. The...

(1854) were devoted to funding the construction of the Melanesian mission vessel.

• Southern Cross No. 1, c. 70-ton schooner in service from 1855 to 1860. Wrecked on the coast of New Zealand.
• Southern Cross No. 2, 93-ton yawl-rigged brigantine in service from 1863 to 1873. Built at Southampton. The ship was involved in the Southern Cross Incident at Nukapu
  Nukapu
  Nukapu is one of the islands of the nation of Solomon Islands. It is in the Reef Islands group in Temotu Province; the easternmost province of the Solomons.The island contains a memorial to Bishop John Patteson who was murdered on Nukapu in 1871....
  
   which resulted in a British expedition
  Nukapu Expedition
  The Nukapu Expedition occurred between October of 1871 and February of 1872 and was a British punitive operation in response to the murder of Bishop John Coleridge Patteson by the natives of Nukapu...
  
   to the island in 1871 and 1872.
• Southern Cross No. 3, three-masted, two-topsail schooner. 180 tons with auxiliary steam power, 24 H.P., in service from 1874 to 1892. Built in Auckland. Cost about £5,000, of which £2,000 was contributed from a fund collected by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in memory of Bishop John Coleridge Patteson
  John Coleridge Patteson
  John Coleridge Patteson was an Anglican bishop and martyr.Patteson was educated at The King's School, Ottery St Mary, Eton and then Balliol College, Oxford. He was ordained in 1853 in the Church of England...
  
  .
• Southern Cross No. 4. British Registry Official Number 98988. Three-masted schooner. Foremast, square rigged; main and mizzen, fore-and-aft rig. 240 tons, with auxiliary steam. In service from 1892 to 1902. Built in Wivenhoe, Essex, England by Forrest & Sons in 1891. Cost about £9,000; contributed by Bishop John Richardson Selwyn
  John Richardson Selwyn
  John Richardson Selwyn was a rower and became the second Bishop of Melanesia and the second Master of Selwyn College, Cambridge. He made significant financial contributions along with others to the construction of the Southern Cross No...
  
   and others. When this vessel was sold her engine was removed and she operated as a cargo vessel around Australia and New Zealand until being lost with all hands off King Island, Tasmania
  King Island, Tasmania
  King Island is one of the islands that make up the state of Tasmania, Australia. It is located in the Roaring Forties of Bass Strait, off the north-western tip of the main island of Tasmania, about half way between Tasmania and the mainland state of Victoria. The southernmost point is called Stokes...
  
   in 1920.
• Southern Cross No. 5, steel three-masted schooner, auxiliary steam engine. Built in Newcastle-on-Tyne by Armstrong Whitworth
  Armstrong Whitworth
  Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...
  
   & Co. £1,000 towards construction contributed by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London. Launched by Bishop Cecil Wilson
  Cecil Wilson
  Cecil Wilson was the third missionary Anglican Bishop of Melanesia from 1894 to 1911 and, subsequently, the second Bishop of Bunbury from 1918 to 1937. Educated at Tonbridge School, Wilson became an 1882 graduate of Jesus College, Cambridge, Wilson served parishes in England before his consecration...
  
   in 1903. Officers in 1914: William Sinker R.N.R. (Captain), H. Burgess R.N.R. (Chief Officer), R. Gardner R.N.R. (Second Officer), W. Pitcher (Chief Engineer) and J. Murray (Bosun).
• Southern Cross No. 6.
• Southern Cross No. 7.
• Southern Cross No. 8.
• Southern Cross No. 9. Built in Australia in 1962 at the request of the Bishop of Melanesia, Alfred Thomas Hill
  Alfred Thomas Hill
  Alfred Thomas Hill, CMG, MBE was the fourth Anglican Bishop of Melanesia.He was consecrated in 1954. Ordained in 1938, he had previously been Headmaster of Boys’ School Pawa, Melanesia.-References:...
  
  . Currently in service after refurbishing and rededication in 2005 by Archbishop Ellison Pogo.

Antarctic exploration

Southern Cross was also the name given to the Norwegian sealing vessel, Pollux, when she was acquired by Carsten Borchgrevink to transport the British Antarctic Expedition

Southern Cross Expedition

The Southern Cross Expedition, officially known as the British Antarctic Expedition 1898–1900, was the first British venture of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, and the forerunner of the more celebrated journeys of Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton...

 1898–1900 to Antarctica. She was 521 tons gross, 146 feet (44.5 m) in length, barque

Barque

A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...

-rigged with auxiliary engines. Southern Cross transported Borchgrevink's party to Cape Adare

Cape Adare

Cape Adare is the northeastern most peninsula in Victoria Land, East Antarctica. The cape separates the Ross Sea to the east from the Southern Ocean to the west, and is backed by the high Admiralty Mountains...

, Antarctica, and in January 1900 carried out an exploration of the Ross Sea

Ross Sea

The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land.-Description:The Ross Sea was discovered by James Ross in 1841. In the west of the Ross Sea is Ross Island with the Mt. Erebus volcano, in the east Roosevelt Island. The southern part is covered...

.

Sources

Taylor, C. (1998). The Brothers Taylor, A Tasmanian Maritime Historyp (Published in the Roebuck Series, No. 50). Canberra: Navarine Publishing. ISBN 0-9586561-4-2

External links

• Last Cruise of the second Southern Cross Serialized account by C. H. Brooke.
• Appeal of the English Committee for a New Mission Ship, 1900.
• Journal of a Voyage to the Western Pacific in the Melanesian Mission Yacht Southern Cross, by J.W. Beattie, 1906.
• By Reef and Shoal: Being an Account of a Voyage amongst the Islands in the South-western Pacific, by William Sinker 1907 account.
• The Wake of the Southern Cross: Work and Adventures in the South Seas, by Cecil Wilson 1932 account.