The steamship BELGENLAND was built for the Red Star Line by the Barrow Shipbuilding Co, and launched on 24 December 1878. 3,692 tons; 122,79 x 12,25 meters/402.9 x 40.2 feet (length x breadth); straight stem, 1 funnel, 4 masts; iron construction, screw propulsion, compound engines, service speed 14 knots; accommodation for 150 passengers in 1st class, and 1,000 in steerage.

30 March 1879, maiden voyage, Antwerp-Philadelphia. 20 May 1879 - 6 July 1895, Antwerp-New York. 31 July 1895 - 17 October 1903, Philadelphia-Liverpool, chartered to the American Line (150 passengers in second class, 1,000 in steerage). November 1903, resumed Antwerp-Philadelphia service for the Red Star Line (steerage only). 7 December 1904, last voyage, Philadelphia-Antwerp. 1905, VENERE (Italian). 1906, scrapped.

Source: Noel Reginald Pixell Bonsor, North Atlantic Seaway; An Illustrated History of the Passenger Services Linking the Old World with the New (2nd ed.; Jersey, Channel Islands: Brookside Publications), vol. 2 (1978), p. 851.

The British ship BENGAL MERCHANT was built at Calcutta, India, in 1812. The 1820 edition of Lloyd's Register (the only edition before 1834 to which I have direct access) indicates that she was 464 tons, her master's surname was Gordon, she belonged to Boehm & Co., she drew 18 feet when loaded, she was last surveyed at London, at that at the time of publication her intended voyage was to Bengal. Between 1829 and 1832, the BENGAL MERCHANT made two voyages between India and Great Britain as an "Extra Ship" for the Honourable East India Company. The annual volumes of Lloyd's Register from 1834/35 through 1855/56 give the following information):

Tonnage: 503

Master:
     1834/35-1842/43 - Campbell
     1842/43-1844/45 - Ross
     1844/45-1847/48 - Thornhill
     1848/49-1851/52 - P. Lowen
     1852/53-1855/56 - Faldo

Owner:
     1834/35-1839/40 - J[oseph] Somes
     1839/40-1855/56 - Haviside

Port of Registry:  London

Port of Survey (1834/35-1853/54):  London

Destined Voyage:
     1834/35-1839/40 - New South Wales
     1839/40-1842/43 - [not given] [*]
     1842/43-1844/45 - Madras
     1844/45-1847/48 - Calcutta
     1848/49-1851/52 - Bombay
     1852/53-1853/54 - Adelaide
     1854/55-1855/56 - [not given]

[*]

The BENGAL MERCHANT sailed from Greenock on 30 October 1839, with 160 passengers and dropped anchor off Petone Beach, Wellington, New Zealand, 21 February 1840. Ian Hawkins Nicholson, Log of logs; a catalogue of logs, journals, shipboard diaries, letters, and all forms of voyage narratives, 1788 to 1988, for Australia and New Zealand and surrounding oceans, Roebuck Society Publication Nos. 41, 47 (2 vols; Yaroomba, Qld: The Author jointly with the Australian Association for Maritime History, [1990]-1993).

The BENGAL MERCHANT was last surveyed in 1852. The last voyage of the BENGAL MERCHANT for which I have a record departed from London 1 April 1852, arrving at Melbourne on 2 September; she cleared for Adelaide 22 October, sailed 28 October, and arrived 1 November 1852 [Marten A. Syme, Shipping Arrivals and Departures; Victorian Ports, vol. 2: 1846-1855, Roebuck Society Publication No. 39 (Melbourne: [Roebuck Society], 1987), p. 122]. The entries for the BENGAL MERCHANT in Lloyd's Register for 1854/55 and 1855/56 give only her master and owner, but omit her port of registry, port of survey, and destination, often a sign that the vessel in question had ended her sailing career and had been either lost, broken up, or hulked. It is therefore possible that this 1852 voyage from London to Melbourne was her last.

I have no picture of the BENGAL MERCHANT, but I know that at least one representation of her exists, since there is a modern wall drawing of the BENGAL MERCHANT, by Roger Palmer, modelled after a contemporary engraving, in the Portfolio Gallery, Edinburgh. Contact in the first instance the ANMM in Sydney, which maintains several indexes to pictorial representations of vessels that sailed in Australian waters. If the ANMM has no record of a picture of the BENGAL MERCHANT, contact the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, http://www.nmm.ac.uk/, which also has an extensive collection of prints and drawings, as well as copies of surveys undertaken by Lloyd's Register of Shipping.

The steamship BERLIN, the first of four vessels of this name owned by Norddeutscher Lloyd, was built by Caird & Co, Greenock (yard #140), and was launched on 1 October 1867. 2,334 tons; 86,87 x 11,89 meters/285 x 39 feet (length x breadth); clipper bow, 1 funnel, 2 masts; iron construction, screw propulsion, low pressure, single-expansion engine, 1000 hp, service speed 10 knots; accommodation for 84 passengers in first class and 600 in steerage; crew of 61 to 79.

The BERLIN was built for the Baltimore Line, a service jointly owned by Norddeutscher Lloyd and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co; the vessels were operated by Norddeutscher Lloyd, which became sole owner of them in 1878. April 1868, maiden voyage, Bremen - Southampton - Baltimore. Winter 1874, laid up during depression. 1876-77, in view of disappointing passenger numbers, forward cabin replaced by extra cargo hatch. 1879, first voyage, Bremen-South America. 1882, given compound engine and new boilers by AG Weser, Bremen; 1225 hp, service speed 12 knots. 3 March 1894, last voyage, Bremen-South America. June 1894, sold to F. K. Raben; resold 23 June 1894 to M. Bruzzo, Livorno, for breakup in Italy. En route to Italy the ship was damaged in a storm and returned to Germany. 1895, scrapped in Vegesack.

Sources: Arnold Kludas, Die Seeschiffe des Norddeutschen Lloyd, Bd. 1: 1857 bis 1919 (Herford: Koehler, c1991), p. 18 (photograph); Edwin Drechsel, Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen, 1857-1970; History, Fleet, Ship Mails, vol. 1 (Vancouver: Cordillera Pub. Co., c1994), p. 47, no. 19 (photograph); Noel Reginald Pixell Bonsor, North Atlantic Seaway; An Illustrated History of the Passenger Services Linking the Old World with the New, vol. 2 (2nd ed.; Jersey, Channel Islands: Brookside Publications, 1978), p. 546; Noel Reginald Pixell Bonsor, South Atlantic Seaway; An illustrated history of the passenger lines and liners from Europe to Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina (Jersey, Channel Islands: Brookside Publications, c1983), p. 240.