The steamship NECKAR was built by Caird & Co, Greenock, Scotland, for Norddeutscher Lloyd, and was launched on 11 October 1873. 3,120 tons; 107,67 x 12,19 meters (length x breadth); straight stem, 1 funnel, 2 masts; iron construction, screw propulsion (compound engine), service speed 13 knots; accommodation for 144 passengers in 1st class, 68 in 2nd class, and 502 in steerage; crew of 100.

18 April 1874, maiden voyage, Bremen-Southampton-New York. 3 January 1886, last voyage, Bremen-Southampton-New York. 1886, rebuilt at Bremerhaven for the East Asia Imperial Mail service; passenger accommodation altered to 50 in 1st class, 21 in 2nd class, and 574 in steerage. 28 July 1886, first voyage, Bremen-Suez Canal-Far East. 14 February 1894, first voyage, Naples-New York. 23 March 1895, last voyage, Naples-New York (9 roundtrip voyages). 15 June 1895, first voyage, Bremen-New York. August 1895, last voyage, Bremen-New York (2 roundtrip voyages). October 1896, sold; December 1896, scrapped in Genoa.

Sources: Arnold Kludas, _Die Seeschiffe des Norddeutschen Lloyd_, Bd. 1: 1857 bis 1919 (Herford: Koehler, c1991), pp. 26-27 (photograph); Edwin Drechsel, _Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen, 1857-1970; History, Fleet, Ship Mails_, vol. 1 (Vancouver: Cordillera Pub. Co., c1994), p. 71, no. 44 (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. 2 (1978), p. 550.

The steamship NECKAR, the second of the name owned by Norddeutscher Lloyd, was built by J. C. Tecklenborg, Geestemünde (yard #172), and launched on 5 December 1900. 9,835 tons; 157,71 x 17,72 meters; 1 funnel, 4 masts; twin-screw propulsion (quadruple-expansion engines), service speed 14 knots; accommodation for 148 passengers in 1st class, 116 in 2nd class, and 2,500 in steerage; crew of 177.

4 May 1901, maiden voyage, Bremen-New York. 8 October 1901, 1 roundtrip voyage, Bremen-Suez Canal-Australia; returned carrying German troops returning from the East Asiastic (Boxer) Expedition. 12 May 1902, first voyage, Naples-New York. 19 June 1902, first voyage, Bremen-Baltimore; subsequently Bremen-New York and/or Baltimore or Mediterranean-New York. 1905, passenger accommodation altered to 369 in 2nd class, 217 in 3rd class, and 2,865 in steerage. 27 May 1910, last voyage, Naples-New York (22 roundtrip voyages). 16 May 1912, first voyage, Bremen - Philadelphia - Baltimore. 2 July 1914, last voyage, Bremen-Baltimore (arried 14 July). In Havana when war broke out; loaded with supplies for, but was unable to find, either SMS KARLSRUHE or the merchant raider KRONPRINZ WILHELM. 19 September 1914, arrived Baltimore, and interned. July 1916, dormitory ship for the crew of the merchant submarine U-DEUTSCHLAND. 6 April 1917, seized by the U.S. Government at Baltimore; renamed ANTIGONE. September 1917-September 1919, U.S. Navy transport. 1919-1921, laid up by the U.S. Shipping Board. 20 March 1921, 1 roundtrip, New York - Bremen - Danzig, for U.S. Mail Steamship Co; 200 passengers in cabin, 550 in 3rd class. 5 May-10 August 1921, 2 1/2 roundtrip voyages as POTOMAC, New York - Bremen - Danzig, for U.S. Mail; 3 September 1921-1 March 1922, 4 1/2 roundtrip voyages for U.S. Line (successor to the U.S. Mail), Bremen-New York. 1927, sold to P. E. Ittmann, New York, then resold to Union Shipbuilding Co, Baltimore. 2 September 1927, arrived Baltimore for scrapping.

Sources: Arnold Kludas, Die Seeschiffe des Norddeutschen Lloyd, Bd. 1: 1857 bis 1919 (Herford: Koehler, c1991), pp. 26-27 (photograph); Edwin Drechsel, Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen, 1857-1970; History, Fleet, Ship Mails, vol. 1 (Vancouver: Cordillera Pub. Co., c1994), p. 242, no. 161 (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. 2 (1978), p. 564.

The steamship NEDERLAND was built for the International Navigation Company of Philadelphia (better known from its houseflag as the Red Star Line) by Palmers Shipbuilding & Iron Co, Jarrow-on-Tyne, and was launched on 23 June 1873. 2,839 tons; 100,33 x 11,76 meters/329.2 x 38.6 ft (length x breadth); straight stem, 1 funnel, 2 masts; iron construction, screw propulsion, compound engines, service speed 13 knots; accommodation for 70 passengers in 1st class and 800 in steerage.

The NEDERLAND was registered to the Red Star Line's Belgian subsidiary, the Sociètè Anonyme de Navigation Belge-Amerèricaine. November 1873, maiden voyage, Antwerp-Philadelphia. 31 May 1877, first voyage, Antwerp-New York. 1877-1896, Antwerp-New York or Philadelphia. Approximately 1895, passenger accommodation altered to steerage only. 26 November 1896, last voyage Antwerp-New York; subsequently Antwerp-Philadelphia, except for 11 April 1905, last voyage, Antwerp-New York. May 1906, 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. 2 (1978), p. 850.

The Bremen ship NEPTUN was built at Vegesack/Grohn by Johann Lange, for the Bremen firm of J. F. W. Iken, and was launched on 19 October 1850. 307 Commerzlasten / 690 tons register; 38,1 x 9.7 x 5,9 meters (length x beam x depth of hold); International Signal Code: QCGF. The NEPTUN was owned in 1862 by the Bremen firm of E. Iken & Co, from whom she was purchased in 1863 by F. Tecklenborg, also of Bremen; in 1867, she was purchased by Frerk Balleer, from Vegesack, who owned her until 1875. Masters of the NEPTUN between 1850 and 1875 were H. Hilken, Martin, Bahle, F. A. Brundorf, Johann Moritz Hirdes, and from 1867 to 1875, Joh. Hinr. Zinke. From 1875 to 1882, the NEPTUN was owned by Daniel Isaac Milberg, of Hamburg, and was commanded by F. M. A. D. Struve (1875-1877) and C. W. Kling (1877-1882). In 1882, the NEPTUN was sold Norwegian, and sailed under the command of H. B. Johannesen, from Tönsberg. The NEPTUN, re-rigged as a bark, was wrecked in 1894,

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. 219, no. 209.

The U.S. ship NEW YORK was designed and built at New York by William H. Webb, working as a sub-contractor for his father's shipbuilding firm of Webb & Allen, for C. H. Marshall's Black Ball Line of sailing packets between New York and Liverpool, and was launched on 24 October 1839. 862 tons; 152 ft 6 in x 35 ft 4 in x 22 ft (length x beam x depth of hold). She was considered an exceptionally handsome vessel. The NEW YORK served in the Black Ball Line from 1839 to 1854, during which time the average time of her westbound passage from England to New York was 37 days, her quickest passage being 22 days, her longest 73 days. By 1854, after 15 years of service, the NEW YORK was considered too small and outdated for the Black Ball Line, and she was sold as an immigrant ship, continuing to sail between England and New York. On 21 December 1856, approaching New York with 300 passengers, the NEW YORK was wrecked on Island Beach, New Jersey; the master, Alexander McKinnon, was nearly killed endeavoring to protect his passengers from the brutalities of his crew.

Sources: 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. 276-277; Carl C. Cutler, Queens of the Western Ocean; The Story of America's Mail and Passenger Sailing Lines (Annapolis: United States Naval Institute, c1961), p. 330; Edwin L. Dunbaugh and William DuBarry Thomas, William H. Webb: Shipbuilder (Glen Cove, New York: Webb Institute of Naval Architecture, 1989), p. 27.