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The Fleets
Nourse Line
Formed by Capt. James Nourse in 1861 at Greenock, but
transferred to London in 1864. Many of the company's early voyages
were between Calcutta and Australian ports but Nourse soon entered
the India to the West Indies trade carrying indentured labour for the
plantations. Standards aboard the ships were high and the native passengers
were said to be in better health when they arrived than when they left
India. The general route for the fleet was to leave a European port
with a cargo of salt or railway iron for Calcutta. From there a cargo
of rice and a party of coolies were picked up for the West Indies,
followed by a passage to the east coast of North America where grain
or case oil was loaded for Europe. An occasional ship would sail back
direct to Calcutta from the West Indies with coolies who had completed
their contract of employment. Other voyages were made from Calcutta
to Mauritius or to the Fiji Islands with labour for the sugar plantations.
Voyages to Fiji usually returned to Calcutta via Australia with cargoes
of coal. It wasn't until 1904 that the company took delivery of their
first steamship having persevered with sail, mainly for economic reasons
and the lack of coaling facilities between India and the West Indies.
In 1917 P & O Line purchased
a controlling interest in the company, but there was no obvious change.
In 1932 the majority interest passed
to British India S.N. Co., but
by 1955 the entire holding passed back to P & O. The trade between
India and the West Indies gradually declined in the 1950s and several
of the company's ships spent long periods
on charter to other P & O group fleets. By 1965 the company had diversified
into tramp shipping and amalgamated with Hain Line to form Hain-Nourse
Ltd.
Many thanks to Ted Finch for his assistance in collecting this data.
The following list was extracted from various sources. This is not an
all inclusive list but should only be used as a guide. If you would like
to know more about a vessel, visit the Ship
Descriptions (onsite) or Immigrant
Ship web site.
Funnel:
Buff with black top and red neptune's crown
Fleet: |
 |
| |
|
Sailing Ships |
|
| Vessel |
Built |
Years in Service |
Tons |
| Adamant |
1858 |
barque, 1865-1873 chartered from T. O. Harrison,
London. |
815 |
| Allanshaw |
1874 |
ship, 1880 purchased from Lamont & Co., Glasgow,
1893 wrecked on Tristan da Cunha; loss of 3 lives. |
1,674 |
| Arno |
1893 |
ship, 1910 sold to Norway. |
1,825 |
| Avoca |
1885 |
ship, 1895 caught fire at sea and abandoned, later
boarded and scuttled. |
1,703 |
| Avon |
1884 |
ship, ex- Dunolly, 1890 purchased from J. Brown,
Glasgow renamed Avon, 1907 sold to River Plate Shipping Co., Montreal. |
1,549 |
| Bann |
1875 |
ship, 1904 sold to O. D. Ahlers, Bremen renamed
Hildegard. |
1,719 |
| Boyne |
1877 |
ship, 1882 re-rigged as barque, abandoned in heavy
weather in Bay of Biscay, but towed to Falmouth. 1886 stranded
near False Point on voyage Fiji - Calcutta. |
1,403 |
| British Peer |
1865 |
ship, 1883 purchased from British Shipowners Co.,
1896 wrecked in Saldanha Bay; loss of 14 lives. |
1,230 |
| Clyde |
1894 |
ship, 1906 sold to M & G. R. Clover, London after
grounding damage on Cape Hatteras, resold to Norway. |
1,813 |
| Danube |
1890 |
ship, 1892 went missing on voyage Guadeloupe - New
York. |
1,459 |
| Elbe |
1887 |
ship, 1907 scrapped. |
1,693 |
| Ems |
1893 |
ship, 1910 sold to Tonsberg Whaling Co, Norway. |
1,829 |
| Erne (1) |
1886 |
ship, 1908 sold to River Plate Shipping Co, Montreal. |
1,692 |
| Forth |
1894 |
ship, 1910 sold to Norway. |
1,829 |
| Foyle (1) |
1874 |
ship, 1903 sold to Norway renamed Jarlen. |
1,662 |
| Ganges (1) |
1861 |
ship, 1881 wrecked on Goodwin Sands off Kent; loss
of 3 lives. |
839 |
| Ganges (2) |
1882 |
barque, 1904 sold to Norway. |
1,529 |
| Grecian |
1868 |
ship, 1883 chartered from W. Orr and others, London,
1889 re-rigged as barque, 1896 wrecked off Montserrat (1 survivor) |
1,332 |
| Hereford |
1869 |
ship, 1882 purchased from Currie,
Thomson & Blythe,
Melbourne, 1898 sold to Norway. |
1,510 |
| India |
1861 |
ship, 1865 purchased from Cowie & Co., Liverpool,
1874 sold to R. M. Dunlop & Co., Glasgow. |
912 |
| Indus (1) |
1866 |
ship, 1873 went missing at sea with cargo of rice
and party of coolies. |
966 |
| Jorawur |
1849 |
ship, 1873 chartered from Fleming & Mair, London,
1886 arrived Port Elizabeth having been dismasted at sea, sold
and hulked. |
1,788 |
| Jumna (1) |
1867 |
ship, 1898 sold to Norway. |
1,048 |
| Lee |
1878 |
ship, 1882 wrecked on Areas Island, West Indies. |
1,485 |
| Lena |
1875 |
ship, ex- Baron Colonsay, 1891 purchased from J.
Neill, Greenock renamed Lena, 1906 sold to Italy. |
1,709 |
| Liffey |
1876 |
ship, 1877 wrecked on Maldive Islands. |
1,402 |
| Main |
1884 |
ship, 1908 laid up at Hamburg, 1910 sold to Norway
renamed Vanse. |
1,691 |
| Mersey |
1894 |
ship, 1908 sold to White
Star Line for use as a cadet training ship. |
1,829 |
| Moy |
1885 |
ship, 1905 went missing on voyage Demerara - Liverpool. |
1,697 |
| Neva |
1869 |
ship, 1887 went missing at sea on voyage Banjoewangi
to Lisbon.
|
1,173 |
| Rhine |
1886 |
ship, 1907 sold to R. C. Williams, Sackville, New
Brunswick. |
1,691 |
| Rhone |
1875 |
ship, ex- Gilroy, 1889 purchased from Gilroy, Sons & Co.,
Dundee renamed Rhone, 1905 sold to Norway renamed Dvbvaag. |
1,768 |
| Shannon |
1883 |
ship, 1885 went missing on voyage London - Calcutta. |
1,690 |
| Stockbridge |
1869 |
ship, 1872 purchased from G. Stanton, London, 1880
abandoned off Cornish coast. |
1,539 |
| Syria |
1868 |
ship, 1884 wrecked off Suva with heavy loss of life. |
1,072 |
| The Bruce |
1866 |
ship, 1880 purchased from British Shipowners Co,
1889 re-rigged as barque, 1891 capsized in New York harbour, salvaged
and became a coal hulk. |
1,200 |
| Volga (1) |
1887 |
ship, 1890 wrecked in Torres Strait. |
1,698 |
| Volga (2) |
1891 |
ship, 1893 wrecked St. Lucia. |
1,817 |
| |
|
Steamships |
|
| Vessel |
Built |
Years in Service |
Tons |
| Betwa (1) |
1917 |
1927 sold to Bank
Line (Andrew Weir & Co), Glasgow
renamed Surat. |
3,819 |
| Betwa (2) |
1950 |
1965 sold to British
India S.N. Co. renamed Sirsa. |
6,722 |
| Bhima |
1939 |
1942 torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine; no
loss of life. |
5,280 |
| Chenab |
1911 |
1930 sold to Khedivial
Mail SS Co., Alexandria,
converted to passenger ship. |
3,549 |
| Dewa |
1913 |
1916 sunk by U-Boat off Malta; loss of 3 lives. |
3,802 |
| Erne (2) |
1962 |
tanker, 1965 transferred to Hain-Nourse Ltd, 1969
transferred to Trident Tankers Ltd. |
14,244 |
| Ganges (3) |
1906 |
1928 sold to F. B. Saunders, London. |
3,475 |
| Ganges (4) |
1930 |
1942 sunk by Japanes planes and warships off Vizagapatam,
India; loss of 15 lives. |
6,246 |
| Ganges (5) |
1950 |
1965 sold to St. Merryn Shipping Co, London renamed
Shirley Christine. |
6,724 |
| Hughli (1) |
1894 |
tug for use on River Hughli, Calcutta. 1908 sold
to R. A. Grech, London. |
513 |
| Hughli (2) |
1913 |
ex-Valencia (Hamburg
Amerika Line), 1920 war reparations renamed Hughli, 1927
sold to Bank Line (Andrew Weir & Co) renamed Tinhow. |
5,232 |
| Hughli (3) |
1943 |
1960 sold to Red Anchor Line, London renamed Nancy
Dee. |
6,589 |
| Indus (2) |
1904 |
1904 captured and sunk by German cruiser EMDEN. |
3,393 |
| Indus (3) |
1940 |
1942 sunk by German raider THOR in Indian Ocean;
loss of 23 lives. |
5,187 |
| Indus (4) |
1954 |
1965 transferred to Hain-Nourse Ltd, 1969 sold to
Panama renamed Spiliada. |
7,049 |
| Jhelum |
1936 |
1941 torpedoed and sunk by U-Boat in Atlantic; loss
of 8 lives. |
4,038 |
| Johilla |
1937 |
1960 sold to Hong Kong renamed Singapore Pearl. |
4,042 |
| Jumna (2) |
1929 |
1940 sunk in Atlantic by German cruiser ADMIRAL
HIPPER; loss of 108 lives. |
6,078 |
| Jumna (3) |
1962 |
1965 transferred to Hain-Nourse Ltd, 1972 transferred
to P & O. |
9,890 |
| Kallada |
1946 |
1964 sold to St. Merryn Shipping Co, London renamed
Merryn Elizabeth. |
6,607 |
| Marjata |
1946 |
1963 sold to Red Anchor Line, London renamed Denny
Rose. |
6,652 |
| Megna (1) |
1916 |
1935 sold to Atlanticos SS Co., Piraeus (Kulukundis
Bros) after grounding damage at Havana renamed Mount Atlas. |
5,603 |
| Megna (2) |
1944 |
1959 sold to Italy renamed Enrico M. |
6,595 |
| Mutlah (1) |
1907 |
1920 sold to Italy after catching fire at Naples. |
3,499 |
| Mutlah (2) |
1947 |
1963 sold to Liberia renamed Delwind. |
6,652 |
| Saugor |
1928 |
1941 torpedoed and sunk by U-Boat in Atlantic; loss
of 59 lives. |
6,303 |
| Sutlej (1) |
1908 |
1929 sold to Sun Shipping Co., London renamed Cape
St. Francis. |
3,549 |
| Sutlej (2) |
1940 |
1944 torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine in
Indian Ocean; loss of 50 lives. |
5,189 |
| Tapti (1) |
1914 |
ex- Ulm (Deutsche-Australische
Line), 1920 war reparations, renamed Tapti, 1937 sold to
Williamson & Co, Hong Kong renamed Leana. |
4,743 |
| Tapti (2) |
1945 |
1951 grounded on Soy Rocks, Hebrides, later slipped
off and sank. |
6,618 |
| |
|
Managed Ship |
|
| Foyle (2) |
1961 |
tanker, 1964 management
transferred to Trident Tankers Ltd renamed Megna. |
24,549 |
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Last updated: May 03, 2006 and maintained by
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