The ''Mersey'' was a 1,829 ton iron-hulled

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 ...

with a length of , beam of and depth of . She was built by Charles Connell and Company of

Glasgow 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 pop ...

, named after the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed par ...

in north-western

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and launched on 18 May 1894 for the Nourse Line. Nourse Line used her primarily to transport 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 British colonies, a so called, ''Coolie ship''. Details of some of these voyages are as follows: In 1908 the ''Mersey'' was sold to the

White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between ...

for use as a training ship for 60 cadets, making six voyages to Australia as a White Star training ship, traveling around the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is ...

outbound and

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramí ...

inbound. In 1910 she became the first sailing ship to be equipped with a radio. She was also the first sailing ship aboard which an operation for

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a r ...

was performed on a cadet. In 1915 the White Star Line gave up their training scheme due to the war and sold the ''Mersey'' to Norwegian owners. She changed hands a number of times and her name was changed to ''Transatlantic'' then to ''Dvergso''. She was scrapped in 1923.

References

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External links

Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild: Suriname
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mersey History of Suriname Indian indentureship in Trinidad and Tobago Indian indenture ships to Fiji Victorian-era passenger ships of the United Kingdom Individual sailing vessels 1894 ships

See also

References

External links