The Torrens, photographed on arrival at Port Adelaide, after having collided with an iceberg. The ship's company is gathered about the bow of the ship, which displays damage from the accident.

The fine sailing ship Torrens, arriving at Port Adelaide, 5 February 1899 after having collided with an iceberg. The ship's company is gathered about the bow of the ship, which displays damage from the accident. Torrens would be repaired at Fletcher's Slip: during this work stones were found wedged in the wood of the stern, which gave rise to suspicions as to whether it had struck an iceberg or a cliff.

Torrens was one of the most popular ships in the England/Australia passenger trade. She was fast, well proportioned and comfortable. Built in 1875 in Sunderland her tonnage was 1,276 with a length of 222 feet by 38 feet beam and depth of 21.5 feet. Torrens was especially designed for the passenger trade and was owned by AL Elder & Co.

Torrens could sail 300 miles a day with her best run 336 miles in the 24 hours; the fastest speed was 14 knots. The average length of the voyage from Plymouth to Port Adelaide was 74 days. Torrens was one of the last sailing ships to carry passengers. She was rivalled by Sobraon, another composite ship built in 1866 and owned by Devitt & Moore.

In 1893 the mate of the Torrens was Joseph Conrad, the later noted writer.

Ritter, Ron. Triumph, tragedy and Port Adelaide [Para Vista, S. Aust.]: Ronald C. Ritter, 2005

Couper-Smartt, John. Port Adelaide: tales from a "commodious harbour" Port Adelaide: Friends of the South Australian Maritime Museum, 2003

Parsons, Ronald, Southern passages: a maritime history of South Australia Netley, S. Aust.: Wakefield Press, 1986

Lubbock, Basil. The colonial clippers Glasgow: Brown, Son & Ferguson, 1955