The Rhone, formerly known as ''Gilroy'', was a 1,768 ton,

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships c ...

with a

length Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Interna ...

of 259.2 feet, breadth of 39.9 feet and depth of 23.2 feet.

History

The ''Rhone'' was built by John Elder of

Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1875 for Gilroy, Sons & Company of

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

. The

Nourse Line Nourse is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Alan E. Nourse, (1928–1992), American science fiction author and physician *Alice Tisdale Hobart, Alice Nourse (1882–1967), American novelist *Amos Nourse (1794–1877), American me ...

bought the ship in 1889 and renamed it the Rhone after the

River Rhone A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

. She was primarily used by the Nourse Line for the transportation of

Indian indentured labourers The Indian indenture system was a system of indentured servitude, by which more than one million Indians were transported to labour in European colonies, as a substitute for slave labor, following the abolition of the trade in the early 19th cen ...

to the colonies. She was also used to repatriate 132 former labourers from St Lucia back to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The Rhone was regarded as a fast ship. She made the run from Trinidad to

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

in 45 days and on 4 November 1894 travelled to

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Ro ...

from Trinidad in just 24 days. Her last voyage was eventful, for her captain died while carrying rice from

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

. On reaching her destination, she got stuck in the mud and some rice had to be thrown overboard before she could be re-floated. After unloading the remainder of the rice, she sailed for

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

but found five stowaways on board. The captain only managed to disembark the stowaways in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

after signing a bond and paying for their passage to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. In Philadelphia she loaded case oil, but the river was frozen and an icebreaker was used to clear a passage and tugs got her to sea. Her troubles were not over as she experienced minor flooding due to a burst pipe and pumps had to be used for 48 hours to clear the water. At the end of this voyage, in 1905, she was sold to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and renamed ''Dybvaag''.

References

External links

Indian Immigrant Ship List

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhone Indian indentureship in Trinidad and Tobago Indian indenture ships to Fiji Individual sailing vessels Victorian-era passenger ships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of Norway 1875 ships Ships built on the River Clyde

History

See also

References

External links