The Bremen ship OLBERS was built at Vegesack/Grohn by Johann Lange for the Bremen firm of F. & E. Delius, and was launched on 1 October 1838. H. W. Exter, of Bremen, was her master for her entire career under the Bremen flag. Her maiden voyage was to New Orleans; among the passengers on this voyage were the "Old Lutheran" pastor Martin Stephan, from Dresden, and approximately 200 of his followers, who later settled in Perry County, Missouri [see, inter alia, Walter O. Forster, Zion on the Mississippi: The Settlement of the Saxon Lutherans in Missouri, 1839-1841 (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953)]. From 1838 to 1848, the OLBERS sailed exclusively between Bremen and North American ports. However, in August 1848, she arrived at Bordeaux, where she stranded entering the Garonne, breaking her keel. She then passed into French hands and was renamed first PERUANA, then, in 1849, after being purchased by the Bordeaux firm of Civrac ainé, ASTRONOME (probably an indication that the firm had some knowledge of Olbers and his contributions to astronomy). In 1853, the vessel was purchased by the Bordeaux firm of Ste. Aure Couperie, which owned her until at least 1856. Her masters under the French flag were F. Giteau and J. Dumoulin. I have at present no information on this vessel's later history and ultimate fate.

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), pp. 193-194, no. 148, and 199 (painting).

The Bremen ship OLBERS was built at Bremerhaven by F. W. Wencke Bremerhaven, for the Bremen firm of D. H. Wätjen & Co, and was launched on 4 March 1851. 554 Lasten; 43,11 x 10,20 meters (length x beam); 2 decks. She was engaged primarily in the transport of emigrants to North America, and in 1861 was sold Swedish. The Focke-Museum in Bremen has an oil painting of her, 56 x 82 cm (height x breadth), unsigned, from the 1850's, as well as a lithograph, published by G. Hunckel, Bremen, in 1853; the former is reproduced in Johannes Lachs, Schiffe aus Bremen; Bilder und Modelle im Focke-Museum (Bremen: H. M. Hauschild, [1994]), p. 127, no. 101.

The Bremen bark OLBERS was built at Bremerhaven by J. C. Tecklenborg for the Bremen firm of D. H. Wätjen & Co, and was delivered to the owner on 23 May 1863. 866/849 tons (gross/net); 48.03 x 10.36 x 6.49 meters (length x beam x depth of hold). On 3 May 1887, the OLBERS was sold for 20,000 marks to Johann Frederic Pedersen, of Christiana. I have at present no information on her later history or ultimate fate.

Sources: Peter Müller, Baunummernliste Tecklenborgwerft (1); Dieter Gerdes, Olbers-Planetarium: Fünf Schiffe nach Olbers benannt.

The steamship OLBERS was built by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg, for the Dampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft Neptun, of Bremen, and was delivered on 19 July 1880. 528,47 tons; 51,4 x 7,5 x 4,31 meters (length x breadth x depth of hold); 1 funnel, 2 masts, rigged as a Gaffelschoner; iron construction, screw propulsion. The OLBERS sank in the North Sea on 27 April 1882.

Source: Dieter Gerdes, Olbers-Planetarium: Fünf Schiffe nach Olbers benannt.

The U.S. ship OLIVER MOSES was built at Bath, Maine, in 1856. I have no information on her early history. However, there should be some information on her in George A. Preble and F. S. Partridge, A complete schedule of vessels built and registered in the district of Bath, Maine, commencing at 1783, giving rig, name, tonnage, where built, first master, registering owner, and hailing port (Bath, ME: Fen G. Parker, 1878), and the

Maine Maritime Museum
243 Washington St.
Bath, ME 04530

may have additional information not available elsewhere.

In 1861 or 1862, the OLIVER MOSES was sold to British interests, and renamed VANCOUVER, under which name she appears in the annual volumes of Lloyd's Register of Shipping for 1862/63-1867/68:

ship VANCOUVER
R. Peck, master
1101 tons, 179.1 x 36.2 x 23.7 feet (length x beam x depth of hold)
built in the United States in 1856
owned by "W de M'ttos" [crossed out in the Register for 1867/68]
registered in London
surveyed at Cardiff
destined voyage Vancouver

It is important to note that as a consequence of the imperfect nature of communications in the 19th century Lloyd's Register often continues to print outdated information on vessels sold abroad for several years after the sale. In fact, on 14 December 1864, the VANCOUVER was sold by Gillespie, Churchill & Co., mortgagees, for £6,500, to the Hamburg shipowner Bernhard Wencke, who in turn ceded her, on 23 December 1864, to the Hamburg shipowner Robert Miles Sloman, who renamed her LEIBNITZ. On 22 April 1865, Sloman sold 1/8 shares in the vessel to J. C. Jörgensen, Fr. L. Loesener, and Bernhard Wencke, for a total of 33,129/4/- Marks Banco, which probably represents a mortgage on the unpaid balance of the purchase price; on 10 May 1867, Sloman re-acquired Wencke's 1/8 share, to increase his share in the vessel to 6/8. The LEIBNITZ was rated in Hamburg records at 446 Commerzlasten, and 192.4 x 34.8 x 23.4 Hamburg Füße (1 Hamburg Fuß = .28657 meter), length x beam x depth of hold. She was renamed LIEBIG on 27 April 1868.

Masters:
     1865-1866 - J. P. M. Stolzenberg
     1867-1870 - H. F. C. W. Bornhold

Voyages:
     1865-1867 - La Plata/intermediate ports/Valparaiso/Baker Island, South Pacific
     1867      - Quebec
     1867/68   - New York/Liverpool
     1868-1870 - Quebec/intermediate ports/Callao
     1870      - Baker Island

On 12 December 1870, the LIEBIG became a total loss at Baker Island.

Sources: 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. 2, pp. 213 and 215; Ernst Hieke, Rob. M. Sloman Jr., errichtet 1793, Veröffentlichungen der Wirtschaftsgeschichtlichen Forschungestelle e.V., Hamburg, Bd. 30 (Hamburg: Verlag Hanseatischer Merkur, 1968), p. 376.