Palmer List of Merchant Vessels

SILESIA (1869)
PACIFICA [1887]
CITTÀ DI NAPOLI [1889]
MONTEVIDEO [1891]

[Left] Photograph of the SILESIA. Source: Arnold Kludas and Herbert Bischoff, Die Schiffe der Hamburg-Amerika Linie, Bd. 1 (Herford: Koehler, 1979), p. 29. To request a larger copy of this scan, click on the picture.

[Right] Photograph of the SILESIA. 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. 1 (1975), p. 352. To request a larger copy of this scan, click on the picture.

[Left] Picture of the SILESIA with the VANDALIA (1871) visible in the left background. Collection of HAPAG-Lloyd. Source: Clas Broder Hansen, Passenger Liners from Germany, 1816-1990, translated from the German by Edward Force (West Chester, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Pub., c1991), p. 32. To request a larger copy of this scan, click on the picture.

The steamship SILESIA, the first of two steamships of this name owned by the Hamburg-America Line, was built by Caird & Co, Greenock (yard #150), and was launched on 14 April 1869. 3,142 tons; 103,62 x 12,26 x 10,22 meters (length x breadth x depth of hold); straight stem, 1 funnel, 2 masts; iron construction, screw propulsion (single-expansion engines), service speed 12 knots; accommodation for 90 passengers in 1st class, 120 in 2nd class, and 520 in steerage; crew of 120.

Captains: 1869-1872 - H. H. D. N. I. Trautmann 1872-1875 - C. Hebich 1877-1880 - C. B. R. Ludwig 1879 - H. F. Schwensen 1880-1882 - A. Albers 1882-1883 - C. Kördell 1883 - H. Vogelgesang 1883-1886 - H. Barends 1884,1885 - W. Lübbe 1886 - C. Kaempff 1886 - C. Droescher 1886-1887 - H. C. Bauer

23 June 1869, maiden voyage, Hamburg-Havre-New York.

Voyages: 1869 - New York (5 x) 1870 - New York (6 x) 1871 - New York (7 x) 1872 - New York (7 x) 1873 - New York (8 x) 1874 - New York (6 x) 1875 - New York (2 x)

24 February 1875, last voyage, Hamburg-Havre-New York. March 1875, laid up. 1877, compound engines.

Voyages: 1877 - West Indies 1878 - West Indies (5 x) 1879 - New York (7 x) 1880 - New York (6 x) 1881 - New York (8 x) 1882 - New York (8 x) 1883 - New York (6 x) 1883 - New York/Veracruz 1884 - New York (2 x) 1884 - New York/West Indies 1884 - West Indies 1885 - West Indies (4 x) 1886 - West Indies (3 x) 1887 - West Indies

1887, given to Armstrong & Mitchell, in partial payment for the new vessels COLONIA and ITALIA; sold in turn to H. F. Swan, Newcastle, and renamed PACIFICA. 1888, sold to A. Albini, Genoa. 1889, sold to Fratelli Lavarello, Genoa, and renamed CITTÀ DI NAPOLI. November 1889, first voyage, Genoa-South America. 1890, acquired by the La Veloce Line. 1891, renamed MONTEVIDEO. 2 December 1899, wrecked off Lobos Island, on the River Plate; refloated and broken up.

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. 1, p. 192; Arnold Kludas and Herbert Bischoff, Die Schiffe der Hamburg-Amerika Linie, Vol. 1: 1847-1906 (Herford: Koehler, 1979), p. 28 (photograph); 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. 1 (1975), pp. 352 (photograph) and 390; 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), pp. 281 and 308-309.

Voyages:

Hamburg-America Line steamship SILESIA, Capt. Trautmann, arrived at New York on 19 June 1871, from Hamburg 7 June, via Leith 10 June, with merchandise and 837 passengers, to Kunhardt & Co. "Had light variable winds, moderate weather and a high westerly swell during the passage."

[27 Aug 1999]

SIR ISAAC NEWTON (1839)
ROMANOW [1849-1850]

Water-colour, unsigned, undated. Source: Jürgen Meyer, Hamburgs Segelschiffe 1795-1945 (Norderstedt: Egon Heinemann, 1971), p. 17. Also oil painting by L. Petersen & P. Holm Gebr., undated, of vessels commanded by Capt. P. E. Jörgensen. 142 x 85 cm. 1968 in the possession of the firm of Rob. M. Sloman Jr, Hamburg. Black and white reproduction in Ernst Hieke, Rob. M. Sloman Jr., errichtet 1793, Veröffentlichungen der Wirtschaftsgeschichtlichen Forschungsstelle e.V., Hamburg, Band 30 (Hamburg: Verlag Hanseatischer Merkur, 1968), opposite p. 120.

The Hamburg bark SIR ISAAC NEWTON was built at Lübeck by the shipwright Hans Jacob Albrecht Meyer, for the Hamburg shipowner Robert Miles Sloman, in 1839 [Bielbrief (certificate of registry), 25 April 1839]. 149 Commerzlasten; no measurements given.

Masters: 1839-1842 - J. Wendt 1842-1844 - J. C. Wienholtz 1845-1846 - P. B. Matzen 1847-1852 - J. H. Niemann 1852-1854 - G. H. Schladetsch 1854-1855 - H. P. Rickleffs 1855-1857 - C. Christiansen 1857-1858 - H. H. Paap 1858-1860 - T. A. Tonnessen (Dahl?) 1860-1861 - F. C. L. Brusch 1861-1862 - P. E. Jorgensen 1862-1864 - J. P. Frahm Voyages: 1839-1849 - New York, exclusively 1849/1850 - New York (as the ROMANOW, under the Russian flag) 1850-1852 - New York (again as the SIR ISAAC NEWTON, under the Hamburg flag) 1852 - New Orleans/Liverpool 1852/1853 - New York/Mobile 1853 - Quebec/Hull 1853/1854 - New York 1854/1855 - New York/Hull 1855/1856 - Sydney/intermediate ports/Batavia 1857 - New York 1857 - New York/London 1858 - New Orleans/Hartlepool 1858/1860 - Dona Francisca/Desterro/intermediate ports/Callao/Cardiff 1860 - New York 1860/1861 - New York 1861 - Quebec/Newcastle 1861/1862 - England/intermediate ports/Newport (Wales) 1862/1863 - Dona Francisca/Bahia 1863 - New York

The SIR ISAAC NEWTON was sold in 1864 to Swedish owners, her new master being Capt. Dieckmann.

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), Bd. 2, S. 207.

[23 Oct 1997]

SIR ROBERT PEEL (1846)

The U.S. ship SIR ROBERT PEEL was built at New York by William H. Webb (hull #28), and launched in November 1846. 940/956 tons (old/new measurement); 160 ft x 35 ft 6 in x 21 ft 6 in (length x beam x depth of hold); 2 decks; 19 1/2 ft draft. She served in Grinnell, Minturn & Co's Red Swallowtail Line of sailing packets between New York and London packets for 34 years, from 1846 until the end of the line in 1880, when she was sold for $8,200 to Nelson Edwards and others, who registered her at Philadelphia. She was removed from the register in 1886/87 for unknown reasons. During the period of her packet service her westbound passages from London to New York averaged 37 days, her shortest passage being 22 days, her longest 56 days.

Source: 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. 272, 282-283, 299; Edwin L. Dunbaugh and William duBarry Thomas, William H. Webb: Shipbuilder (Glen Cove, New York: Webb Institute of Naval Architecture, 1989), pp. 167-168.

[30 Apr 1998]

SIR ROBERT PEEL (1852)

Oil painting [detail] by L. Petersen & P. Holm Gebr., undated, of vessels commanded by Capt. P. E. Jörgensen. 142 x 85 cm. 1968 in the possession of the firm of Rob. M. Sloman Jr, Hamburg. Black and white reproduction in Ernst Hieke, Rob. M. Sloman Jr., errichtet 1793, Veröffentlichungen der Wirtschaftsgeschichtlichen Forschungsstelle e.V., Hamburg, Band 30 (Hamburg: Verlag Hanseatischer Merkur, 1968), opposite p. 120.

The Hamburg ship SIR ROBERT PEEL was built by at Lübeck by Hans Jacob Albrecht Meyer, for the Hamburg shipowner Robert M. Sloman, in 1852. 250 Commerzlasten; 140,6 x 31,3 x 20,6 Hamburg Füße (1 Hamburg Fuß = .28657 meter), length x beam x depth of hold, zwischen den Steven.

Masters: 1852-1854 - J. C. Wienholtz 1854-1855 - J Knudtsen 1855-1856 - L. Visser 1856-1863 - N. J. Jürgens 1863 - P. E. Jorgensen

The SIR ROBERT PEEL served almost exclusively as a regular trader between Hamburg and New York, although she did make voyages to New Orleans in 1852 and 1854, to San Jose (Guatemala) in 1855, to Sunderland (England) in 1861, and to London in 1862. She was lost in the North Sea, near the island of Juist, on 24 November 1863.

Source: Walter Kresse, Seeschiffs-Verzeichnis der Hamburger Reedereien, 1824-1888, Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte, N.F., 5 (Hamburg: Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte, 1969), vol. 2, p. 209.

[10 Jun 1997]

SIR ROBERT SALE (1843)

The British ship SIR ROBERT SALE was built at Moulmein, Burma, in 1843. 741 tons (readmeasured in 1875 to 704 tons); 138.3 x 29.9 x 20.5 feet (length x breadth x depth of hold); poop 48 feet long, forecastle 21 feet 8 inches (1877 readmeasured at 22 feet) long. Re-rigged as a bark in 1867/68. The following information is taken from the annual volumes of Lloyd's Register of Shipping for 1844/45-1881/82:

Master: 1844/45-1850/51 - [not given] 1851/52-1853/54 - W. Loader 1854/55-1860/61 - Santry 1861/62-1867/68 - Lansdown 1867/68-1868/69 - W. Hawkins 1868/69-1875/76 - J. Eales 1875/76-1879/80 - Wake 1879/80-1881/82 - Wooldridge Owner: 1844/45-1853/54 - Gldstanes 1854/55-1874/75 - Teighe & Co 1875/76-1879/80 - J. D. Wake & Co 1879/80-1881/82 - W. Paterson Port of Registry: London Port of Survey: 1844/45-1853/54 - London 1854/55 - Liverpool 1855/56-1881/82 - London Destined Voyage (-1873/74): 1844/45-1846/47 - Madras 1847/48 - Madras 1848/49-1850/51 - [not given] 1851/52-1853/54 - China 1854/55 - Calcutta 1855/56-1857/58 - [not given] 1858/59-1859/60 - India 1860/61 - [not given] 1861/62-1864/65 - India 1864/65-1865/66 - Australia 1865/66-1867/68 - India 1867/68-1869/70 - Australia 1869/70-1870/71 - Kurrache 1871/72-1873/74 - India

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), indicates that the SIR ROBERT SALE made voyages, inter alia, from London to Auckland in 1847, from Plymouth to Melbourne in 1852, and from Plymouth to Geelong in 1852. She was also apparently in the Sunda Strait, and within sight of Krakatoa, when the volcano erupted on 26 August 1883. The latest volume of Lloyd's Register to which I have access is for the year 1881/82, and I have no information on the SIR ROBERT SALE's later history or ultimate fate.

[19 Jan 1998]