The Jhelum arrived in Stanley harbour in August 1870 while sailing from Callao to Dunkirk. She arrived in the harbour distressed and leaking, with a badly stored cargo of guano. Her crew had so little faith in the ship’s ability to complete her voyage that they refused to put to sea in her again and in September the Jhelum was pronounced unseaworthy.  The ship was sold locally to Dean & Co. and scuttled to serve as a jetty head and workshop area.

The ship seems to have been unfortunate in her crews – her last master, Captain Beaglehole described two of his men as: “…the most useless and ignorant men, of an able seaman’s duty, fit only for an ordinary rating and scarcely deserving that.” The crew was replaced twice.

The Jhelum was not built to be particularly fast or glamorous, she was a workhorse and this is perhaps what has made her so fascinating, as a very real and evocative link to our past… “a ship that deserves to be famous for being ordinary.” (Mike Stammers, John Kearon “The Jhelum”).

Over the years the Jhelum has deteriorated seriously, battered by weather and tides and suffering from gribble and teredo worm infestation. Despite this, she is the most intact of the wooden ships in the Stanley area and commands the western view of the harbour, making the ship a very popular and well-photographed feature.

Stabilisation and recording work was carried out on the ship by the Merseyside Maritime Museum in conjunction with the F.I.M.N.T. and the Falkland Islands Foundation between 1987 and 1990. From this work the Merseyside researchers were able to gather enough information to re-create construction and section plans of the ship, which can be seen in Mike Stammers’ and John Kearon’s excellent book – “The Jhelum, A Victorian Merchant Ship”.

No contemporary photographs are known and the original plans no longer exist, but the Liverpool museum has created a small model of the ship that gives an idea of how the Jhelum would have looked. While it is hoped that the Jhelum can be protected - and so avoid the fate of her harbour-mate, the Charles Cooper – this would be a hugely expensive operation and the funds may never be found.