The U.S. ship MEDIATOR was built at New York by Jacob A. Westervelt & Roberts, New York, in 1836, and registered at New York on 5 December 1836. 660 tons; 138 feet 4 inches x 32 feet 6 inches x 21 feet (length x beam x depth of hold). The MEDIATOR served in the Black X Line of sailing packets between New York and London from 1837 to 1848, during which time her average westward passage time was 36 days, her shortest being 25 days, her longest 54 days. In 1848, because of her small size and her age, she was transferred from the prestige transatlantic packet service to the New York & New Orleans Line of coastal packets, where she served until 1860; during this period her average passage between New York and New Orleans was 16.9 days, her shortest being 12 days, her longest 22 days. I have no information on her later history or ultimate fate.

Sources: Robert Greenhalgh Albion, Square-riggers on Schedule; The New York Sailing Packets to England, France, and the Cotton Ports (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1938), pp. 39, 45, 68, 126, 137, 282-283, 294, 316, 332, 333, 340, 342; William Armstrong Fairburn, Merchant Sail (Center Lovell, ME: Fairburn Marine Educational Foundation, [1945-1955]), II.1147, 1148, 1149, 1158, 1206, 1212, 1224, 1295; V.2780, 2797; Carl C. Cutler, Queens of the Western Ocean; The Story of America's Mail and Passenger Sailing Lines (Annapolis: United States Naval Institute, c1961), pp. 391, 512, 517, and 526; Forrest R. Holdcamper, List of American-flag Merchant Vessels that received Certificates of Enrollment or Registry at the Port of New York, 1789-1867 (Record Groups 41 and 36), National Archives Publication No. 68-10, Special Lists No. 22 (Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1968), p. 471.

The Prussian bark MERCUR was built at Elbing, East Prussia, in 1833, and on 30 August of that same year was purchased from Dieckmann, of Elbing, by the Hamburg firm of Joachim Dav. Hinsch & Co, who renamed her MARIANNE. Dimensions (1841): 102 Commerzlasten; 99,8 x 27,6 x 15,1 Hamburg Füße (1 Hamburg Fuß = .28657 meter), length x beam x depth of hold, zwischen den Steven. The MARIANNE ex MERCUR was sold Norwegian in 1854.

Masters:
     1833-1839 - A. K. Voigt
     1838-1845 - H. C. Bock
     1845-1854 - N. J. Ries

Voyages:
     1833/34   - Bahia
     1834/35   - Bahia/intermediate ports/Bahia
     1835      - Bahia
     1835/36   - Bahia
     1836      - Bahia
     1837      - Rio de Janeiro/intermediate ports/Rio de Janeiro
     1837/38   - Bahia/intermediate ports/Bahia
     1838/39   - Bahia/intermediate ports/Bahia
     1839/40   - Bahia
     1840/41   - Bahia/intermediate ports/Bahia
     1841/42   - Lisbon/Bahia
     1842/43   - Bahia
     1843      - Rio de Janeiro
     1843-1845 - Freetown/intermediate ports/Sierra Leone
     1845      - St. Thomas/Puerto Plata, Santo Domingo
     1845-1847 - Newcastle-upon-Tyne/intermediate ports/Rio de Janeiro
     1847      - Sierra Leone
     1847-1849 - West Africa/intermediate ports/Cape Palmas, South Africa
     1849/50   - Pernambuco/Maceio, Brazil/Mayo
     1850/51   - Cape Verde Islandsd/Rio de Janeiro
     1851/52   - Bahia/intermediate ports/Antwerp
     1852/53   - Santos
     1853/54   - West Africa/Bahia

Source: Walter Kresse, ed., Seeschiffs-Verzeichnis der Hamburger Reedereien, 1824-1888, Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte, N. F., Bd. 5 (Hamburg: Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte, 1969), vol. 1, pp. 240-241.

The U.S. ship MERCURY was built at New York by Jacob A. Westervelt & William Mackey for Boyd & Hincken's Second Line of sailing packets between New York and Havre, and was launched on 3 September 1851. 1,350/1,156 tons (old/new measurement); 193.6 x 38.10 x 22.2 feet (length x beam x depth of hold); 2 decks, draught 21 feet. The MERCURY was the largest vessel in the Havre Second Line, and the fastest (she is often considered a "medium clipper"): in the 18 years (1851-1869) in which she sailed in the line, her westbound passages, from Havre to New York, averaged 33 days, her fastest passage being 23 days, her longest being 49 days. I have no information on her history after 1869 or her ultimate fate.

Sources: Robert Greenhalgh Albion, Square-riggers on Schedule; The New York Sailing Packets to England, France, and the Cotton Ports (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1938), pp. 286-287, 299; William Armstrong Fairburn, Merchant Sail (Center Lovell, Maine: Fairburn Marine Educational Foundation, [1945]55]), II.1176, 1190, 1198, 1199, 1201, 1202, 1206, 1226, 1271, 1292, 1301, 1304; V.2780, 2781, 2799, 2816; Carl C. Cutler, Queens of the Western Ocean; The Story of America's Mail and Passenger Sailing Lines (Annapolis: United States Naval Institute, c1961), p. 321.

The Bremen ship META was built at Vegesack/Grohn by Johann Lange, for the Bremen firm of H. H. Meier & Co, and was launched on 9 May 1842. 200 Commerzlasten / 521 tons register, 35,4 x 9,0 x 5,6 meters (length x beam x depth of hold). 20 June 1842, maiden voyage from Bremerhaven to New York, Jürgen Meyer, master, with 10 cabin passengers and 206 in steerage. Meyer was succeeded as master of the META in 1846 by Christoph de Harde, of Bremerhaven.

In 1857, the META was sold to Gerhard Ihlder jr. and Hilderich Ihlder, both of Bremen, who placed her under the command of, in turn, Johann Jaburg, of Vegesack, and Georg August Theodor Hartmann, of Bremerhaven. In 1862, the META was sold to Norwegian interests in Arendal. Her last owner was H. Aalholm, of Arendal, her last master G. M. Halvorsen. She was scrapped in 1896.

Source: Peter-Michael Pawlik, Von der Weser in die Welt; Die Geschichte der Segelschiffe von Weser und Lesum und ihrer Bauwerften 1770 bis 1893, Schriften des Deutschen Schiffahrtsmuseums, Bd. 33 (Hamburg: Kabel, c1993), p. 204, no. 171.