The steamship CALEDONIA was built for Henderson Bros (known familiarly, and from 1899 officially, as the Anchor Line) by Tod & McGregor, Glasgow, and was launched on 29 October 1863. 1,393 tons; 79,70 x 10,09 meters / 261.5 x 33.1 feet (length x breadth); clipper bow, 1 funnel, 2 masts; iron construction, screw propulsion, 2 cylinder inverted engine, service speed 10 knots; accommodation for 40 passengers in 1st class, 90 in 2nd class, and 300 in steerage.

The CALEDONIA was the second vessel of this name built for the Anchor Line by Tod & McGregor within 18 months. 11 December 1863, maiden voyage, Glasgow - Portland, Maine - New York. 1863-1872, Glasgow-New York service, except 1 roundtrip voyage Feb 1870, Glasgow- Palermo (departed 14 March) - New York - Glasgow. 1872, lengthened to 94,66 meters (310.6 ft); 2,125 tons; compound engines; accommodation for 60 passengers in 1st class and 550 in steerage. 10 July 1872, resumed Glasgow - Moville - New York service. August 1874, first voyage, Glasgow- Genoa (departed 25 August) - Naples - New York - Glasgow (2 roundtrip voyages). March 1875, single roundtrip voyage, Glasgow - Liverpool - Bombay (first voyage of Anchor Line service). 1875-1880, Glasgow - Mediterranean - New York - Glasgow. 1880-1881, 8 roundtrip voyages, London - Halifax - Boston. 1881-1884, resumed Glasgow - Mediterranean - New York - Glasgow service. 1884-1886, 11 roundtrip voyages, London - Halifax - Boston. 1886-1896, resumed Glasgow - Mediterranean - New York - Glasgow service. 6 May 1896, last voyage, Genoa - Naples - New York (arrived 19 June) - Glasgow. 23 April 1897, scrapped in Italy.

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. 451.

The steamship CALIFORNIA was built by William H. Webb, New York (hull #37), for the Pacific Mail Steamship Co; keel laid 4 January 1848, launched 19 May 1848. 1,057 64/95 tons; 199 feet 2 inches x 33 feet 6 inches x 20 feet (length x breadth x depth of hold); 2 decks, 3 masts, round stern, sharp tuck, billethead; wooden construction, side-wheel propulsion, side-lever engine from Novelty Iron Works, NY, diameter of cylinder 1 foot 5 inches, length of stroke 8 feet; draft when fully loaded, 15 feet 8 inches; cost $200,082.

The CALIFORNIA sailed from New York on 5 October 1848, and reached San Francisco on 28 February 1849, the first American steamer to pass through the Straits of Magellan and the first steamship to enter the Golden Gate. The CALIFORNIA operated regularly between San Francisco and Panama from 1849 to 1854, and then served in a reserve capacity until the 1870's, when her engines were removed and her hull sold to N. Bichard, of San Francisco, who rigged her as a bark, and placed her in the coal and lumber trade. In late December 1894/early January 1895, she was wrecked near Pacasmayo, Peru, bound from Port Hadlock, Washington, with a cargo of lumber.

Sources: John Haskell Kemble, The Panama Route, 1848-1869, University of California Publications in History, 29 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1943), p. 218; Edwin L. Dunbaugh and William duBarry Thomas, William H. Webb: Shipbuilder (Glen Cove, New York: Webb Institute of Naval Architecture, 1989), pp. 40, 41, 43-46, 48-50, 69, 109, 122, 171-174, 182.

12 April 1871, maiden voyage, Liverpool - Bahia - Rio de Janeiro - Paranagua - Santa Catharina - Rio Grande do Sul. 1887, became CAMOENS (British). 1888, ORETO (NGI [Italian]). 1914, LOGUDORO (Italian). 1923, scrapped in Italy.

Source: 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), p. 89. See also P. M. Heaton, "The Lamport & Holt Fleet," Sea Breezes (June 1977).

The steamship CAMOENS, the second of two vessels of this name owned by Lamport & Holt, was built by Workman, Clark & Co Ltd, Belfast, and was launched on 23 August 1900. 4,070 tons; 115,20 x 14,47 meters / 378 x 47.5 feet (length x breadth); 1 funnel, 2 masts; screw propulsion, service speed 11 knots.

6 October 1900, maiden voyage, Liverpool - Montevideo - Rosario. 1924, scrapped at Genoa.

Source: 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), p. 97. See also P. M. Heaton, "The Lamport & Holt Fleet," Sea Breezes (June 1977).

The U.S. ship CARAVAN was built at Bath, Maine, by Hall, Snow & Co, in 1855, and was registered at the Port of New York on 27 May 1856. 1,362 tons; 195 ft x 38 ft 10 in x 19 ft 5 in (length x beam x depth of hold).

Sources: William Armstrong Fairburn, Merchant Sail (Center Lovell, Maine: Fairburn Marine Educational Foundation, [1945-55]), V.3199 and 3207; Forrest R. Holdcamper, comp., List of American-flag Merchant Vessels that received Certificates of Enrollment or Registry at the Port of New York, 1789-1867 (Record Groups 41 and 36), National Archives Publication 68-10, Special Lists 22 (Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Service, 1968), p. 104.

The Bremen ship CARL was built at Vegesack/Grohn by Johann Lange, for the Bremen firm of E. C. Schramm & Co, and launched on 2 December 1857. 498 Commerzlasten / 1099 tons; 52,5 x 10,5 x 6,7 meters (length x beam x depth of hold). International Signal Code: QBNS. Masters of the CARL were, in turn, E. Lüdering, Hinrich v. Harten, Christian Friedrich Otten, H. C. Bockelmann, and J. Hashagen. Originally engaged in the "triangle trade" between Bremen, New York, and the cotton ports of the south, she was transferred to the petroleum trade between North America and Europe in the 1870's, when she ceased to carry passengers (vessels engaged in the petroleum trade customarily did not carry passengers). In 1888, the CARL was sold to A. Ménard, of Fiume, then in Austria-Hungary, who first entrusted her to Capt. Michielli, but in 1890 assumed command himself. On 6 August 1892, the CARL stranded off Little Hope Island, Nova Scotia, and became a total loss.

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), p. 234, no. 238.

The British brig CAROLINE was built on the Mediterranean island of Malta in 1833. She appears in the annual volumes of Lloyd's Register of Shipping for 1834/35-1841/42, which give the following details:

Tonnage: 181
Master: Holmes
Owner: Abrahms
Port of Registry: Malta (1834/35-1836/37), Liverpool (1836/37-1841/42)
Port of Survey: London (1834/35-1836/37), Liverpool (1836/37-1841/42)

The CAROLINE does not appear in the annual volumes of Lloyd's Register for 1842/43 or the subsequent years, and I lose track of her until 8 December 1845, when she was registered at the port of Hamburg by her owner, Johann Marbs, who had reconstructed her (i.e., replaced all her timbers), and renamed her WILHELMINE. The reconstructed brig measured 84 x 24.2 x 14.2 Hamburg Fuß (1 Hamburg Fuß = .28657 meter), length x beam x depth of hold, with a cargo capacity of 72 Commerzlasten.

Masters:
     1845-1849 - C. Bähr
     1849-1851 - C. C. Hansen
     1851-1856 - P. R. Stiige

Voyages:
     1845/46   - Liverpool/Havana
     1846/47   - New York/intermediate ports/Hartlepool
     1847/48   - Cape Verde Island/Santos
     1848/49   - Ciudad Bolivar/Bremen
     1849/50   - La Plata/intermediate ports/Buenos Aires
     1851/52   - Buenos Aires/Rotterdam/intermediate ports/Hartlepool
     1852/53   - Buenos Aires/intermediate ports/Rio de Janeiro
     1854-1856 - La Plata/intermediate ports/London

On 12 June 1856, Marbs sold the WILHELMINE to the Hamburg shipowner Jonas Gabriel Lund.

Masters:
     1856-1858 - P. R. Stiige
     1858-1863 - J. H. Schultz

Voyages:
     1856      - Hartlepool (5 x)
     1857/58   - Buenos Aires/intermediate ports/Hartlepool
     1858      - England
     1858/59   - Lagos
     1859/60   - Bahia
     1860-1862 - Newport, Wales/intermediate ports/Trinidad
     1862      - Veracruz/Altona
     1863      - Santo Domingo

Om 1863, Lund sold the WILHELMINE ex CAROLINE on the island of St. Thomas. I know nothing further of her history, or of her ultimate fate.

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), vol. 2, pp. 27-28 and 35.