Palmer List of Merchant Vessels

ST. DENIS (1848)

"Packet St Denis, Capn Alonzo Follansbee". Watercolor. 40,6 x 57,8 cm. Signed, l.r., "Frédéric Roux, 1852". Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, M8796. Bequest of Horance Follansbee, 1955. Source: Philip Chadwick Foster Smith, The Artful Roux, Marine Painters of Marseille; Including a catalogue of the Roux family paintings at the Peabody Museum of Salem (Salem, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum, 1978), p. 50, no. 93. To request a larger copy of this scan, click on the picture.

The U.S. ship ST DENIS was built at New York by Jacob A. Westervelt & William Mackey, and launched in 1848. 959 tons; 161 feet 4 inches x 36 feet 1 inch x 21 feet 2 inches (length x beam x depth of hold). She spent her entire career of 8 years sailing in the Second Line of packets between New York and Le Havre. During this period, her westbound passages averaged 35 days, her fastest being 25 days, her longest 52 days. On 6 January 1856, 2 days out of New York for Le Havre, she foundered 180 miles east of Sandy Hook, Capt. Follansbee and 34 passengers and crew losing their lives; both mates and 9 seamen escaped in a boat

Voyages:

According to the New York Tribune, the ship ST DENIS, [Alonzo] Follansbee, master, arrived at New York on 6 April 1854, from Le Havre 24 February, with merchandise and 526 passengers, to Boyd & Hincken; microfilm copy of passenger manifest, dated 7 April 1854, National Archives Microfilm Publication M237, roll 137, list #263 for 1854.
The St. D has had calms and head winds the entire passage. March 4, lat 49 53, lon 16 35, exchanged signals with ship J. ROGERS, bound W. March 11, lat 48, lon 38, had a very severe hurricane from N.N.E., which lasted 12 hours, with a very heavy sea, attended with snow and rain; carried away fore and main-topsail sheets, split fore-topsail and fore-topmast staysail; ship lying to under bare poles. March 15, heavy gales from N.W., with snow and a very heavy sea; was 3 days without a fore-topsail. No date, lat 45, 40, lon 46 to lat 44, lon 50, saw large quantities of ice. March 20, lat 44, lon 49, encountered large quantities of ice, which carried away lower part of cut-water; was 11 days between the lon of 50 and 60. April 2, saw a large steamer steering W. Took a pilot from boat Mary Taylor on 5th inst[ant].

[15 Mar 1999]

ST HELENA (1852)

The British ship ST HELENA, was built at St. John, New Brunswick in 1852. 847 tons; 152.6 x 35 x 19 ft (length x beam x depth of hold). She belonged to Curry & Co., and was registered in Belfast as late as 1866.

Sources: Lloyd's Register of Shipping, annual volumes for 1853/54-1862/63; Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston, Wallace Ship List, quoting Frederick William Wallace, Record of Canadian shipping; a list of squarerigged vessels, mainly 500 tons and over, built in the Eastern Provinces of British North America from the year 1786 to 1920 (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1929).

[13 Jun 1997]

ST JAMES (1835)

The U.S. ship ST JAMES was built at New York by Webb & Allen, and launched in 1835. 641 tons; 113 feet 9 inches x 32 feet 8 inches x 20 feet 5 inches (length x beam x depth of hold). She was employed in the Red Swallowtail Line of New York-London packets, serving from 1835 to 1848, during which time her westbound voyages averaged 36 days, her shortest voyage being 26 days, her longest 46 days. In 1848, she was sold to parties in Boston, and on 20 November of that year was wrecked on the Irish coast.

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. 282-283.

[29 Nov 1997]

ST LOUIS (1854)

The side-wheel steamship ST LOUIS was built at New York by Jacob A. Westervelt & Co for the Pacific Mail Steamship Co, and was launched on 1 February 1854. 1,621 tons; 270 feet 2 inches x 35 feet 2 inches x 25 feet 7 inches; clipper stem, round stern, 2 decks, 1 funnel, 2 masts (fore topsail schooner rig); wood construction, 2 walking beam engines (Morgan Iron Works, New York), 50 inch bore by 10 foot stroke; paddle wheels 30 feet in diameter with 28 floats 9 feet wide by 16 inches deep; service speed 10 knots; bunker space for 550 tons of bituminous coal, consumption 25 to 38 tons per day; accommodation for 160 passengers in 1st class, 600 to 700 in steerage; cost $271,000.

The ST LOUIS and her sister, SONORA, were built under the supervision of Capt. William Skiddy, and were unusual in that their boilers were aft of their engines (and the funnels therefore aft of the paddle wheels), British style. Both vessels were intended for the Pacific Mail's Pacific Coast service and were built with overhanging decks extending out to the guards, large ports for ventilation in tropical waters, and a dining saloon on deck where the windows could be opened to keep it cool. The interior paneling consisted of polished oak with white panels and gold decorations. First class accommodation included a nursery.

Before the ST LOUIS could be placed in service on the Pacific, she was chartered by the New York & Havre Steam Navigation Co as a replacement for their steamship FRANKLIN, which had been lost on 17 July 1854, and to make her more suitable for the stormy North Atlantic the overhanging decks were removed and the ports closed up.

1 August 1854, maiden voyage (Capt. Asa Eldredge), New York - Southampton - Havre. August 1855, purchased from the Pacific Mail by the U.S. Mail Steamship Co for $250,000. 22 November 1855, last voyage for the New York & Havre Steam Navigation Co, Havre - Southampton - New York (6 roundtrip voyages). 10 December 1855, special voyage, New York - Old Point Comfort, Virginia (where she took on 860 officers and men of the 9th Regiment, U.S. Infantry) - Aspinwall (Colon). 21 January 1856, first regular sailing, New York-Aspinwall; thereafter kept as a spare. October 1857, single voyage, New York-Aspinwall, replacing the CENTRAL AMERICA ex GEORGE LAW, which had foundered in a hurricane. December 1857, single voyage, New York-New Orleans, chartered to William Nelson & Sons. 1858, 3 voyages (March, July, December), New York-Aspinwall, and 1 voyage (September), New York-New Orleans. 5 April 1859, single voyage, New York-Aspinwall, in place of the ILLINOIS, incapacitated by an engine breakdown. 1859, when the U.S. Mail ceased operations, reacquired by the Pacific Mail. 1860, 2 voyages (February, May), New York-New Orleans. 22 November 1862, New York - Rio de Janeiro - Strait of Magellan - Valparaiso - Panama - San Francisco (arrived 9 February 1863). 21 February 1863, first voyage, San Francisco-Panama. Remained in San Francisco-Panama service until 1866, when she was replaced by newer and larger steamships. 1873, listed on the Pacific Mail's Panama-Acapulco operation; not listed in 1874. 1877, sent to Panama Bay as a storehouse and workshop. 1879, still at Panama Bay as a dormitory for the Pacific Mail's stevedores.

Sources: Cedric Ridgely-Nevitt, American Steamships on the Atlantic (Newark: University of Delaware Press, c1981), pp. 176-177, 274-275; John Haskell Kemble, The Panama Route, 1848-1869, University of California Publications in History, 29 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1943), pp. 244-245; 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. 216.

[04 Mar 2001]

ST NICHOLAS (1841)

The U.S. ship ST NICHOLAS was built at New York by Jacob A. Westervelt & William Mackey, and launched in 1841. 797 tons; 148 feet x 34 feet 6 inches x 21 feet 5 inches (length x beam x depth of hold). The ST NICHOLAS sailed in John J. Boyd and Edward Hincken's Second Line of packets between New York and Le Havre from 1841 to 1859, during which time her westward passages averaged 38 days, her shortest being 23 days, her longest 63 days. The ship ST NICHOLAS, Bragdon, master, bound from Havre via Portsmouth for New York, in ballast, was lost on Sable Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia, on 16 April 1861. 14 members of the crew were saved, but the captain and the remaining 8 were lost.

[03 Aug 1998; revised 23 Sep 1999]

British ship ST. PAUL [1863] - See SANKT PAULY (1841)

SALIER (1874)

[Right] Photograph of the SALIER docked in Bremerhaven. HAPAG-Lloyd AG. Source: Otto J. Seiler, Australienfahrt; Linienschiffahrt der Hapag-Lloyd AG im Wandel der Zeiten (Herford: E. S. Mittler, 1988), p. 35. To request a larger copy of this scan, click on the picture.

[Left] Photograph (detail) of the SALIER in the Neuer Hafen, Bremerhaven, about 1887. Source: Arnold Kludas, Die Seeschiffe des Norddeutschen Lloyd, Bd. 1: 1857 bis 1919 (Herford: Koehler, c1991), front endpaper. To request a larger copy of this scan, click on the picture.

The steamship SALIER was built for Norddeutscher Lloyd by Earle's Shipbuilding Co, Hull (yard #185), and was launched on 15 June 1874. 3,083 tons; 107,15 x 12,06 meters (length x breadth); straight stem, 1 funnel, 2 masts; iron construction, screw propulsion, 2-cylinder compound engine; service speed 12.8 knots; accommodation for 142 passengers in 1st class, and 800 in steerage; crew of 80 to 103.

8 September 1875, maiden voyage, Bremen - Southampton - New York. 5 February 1876, last voyage, Bremen - Southampton - New York (4 roundtrip voyages). 1 April 1876, first voyage, Bremen- South America. 2 May 1880-10 April 1886, 30 roundtrip voyages, Bremen-New York. 1886, refitted at Bremerhaven for the Reichspostdienst to Australia. 14 July 1886, first voyage of Norddeutscher Lloyd's Bremen-Suez Canal-Australia service. 1890/91, refitted by AG Vulcan, Stettin; 3,218 tons; triple-expansion engine and new boilers; service speed 13 knots; passenger accommodation altered to 62 in 1st class, 30 in 2nd class, and 641 in steerage. 9 May 1894, last voyage, Bremen-Suez Canal-Australia. 1 December 1894-20 August 1895, 6 roundtrip voyages, Bremen-New York. 10 December 1895, resumed Bremen-South America Service. 7 December 1896, wrecked on the north coast of Spain, near Cape Corrubedo, lat 42 15N, lon 9 5 W, with the loss of 280 lives.

Sources: Arnold Kludas, Die Seeschiffe des Norddeutschen Lloyd, Bd. 1: 1857 bis 1919 (Herford: Koehler, c1991), p. 28 (photograph); Edwin Drechsel, Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen, 1857-1970; History, Fleet, Ship Mails, vol. 1 (Vancouver: Cordillera Pub. Co., c1994), pp. 73-74, no. 47 (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. 551.

[16 Feb 2001]

SAMUEL ROBERTSON (1825)

The U.S. ship SAMUEL ROBERTSON was built at New York by Christian Bergh in 1825. 421 tons; 113 ft 8 in x 28 ft 10 in x 14 ft 5 in (length x beam x depth of hold). She was a transient trader from 1825 until 1834 (in 1831, Augustus H. Griswold, master, she sailed in the Crassous & Boyd New York-London "packet" line), when she became part of the Black X Line of sailing packets between New York and London. At only 421 tons, she was too small a vessel for packet service, and in 1835 she became a whaler, sailing first out of New Bedford, then out of Fairhaven, Massachusetts. She was the first ship from New Bedford district to Hurd's Island, in the Desolation Islands district of the South Pacific. Her 3rd mate and three crewmen were drowned while chasing whales in 1857. She was withdrawn from the whaling fleet in 1859, and spent four years as a transient trader. She was condemned at Pernambuco in 1863

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. 280-281 and 301; 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. 391. Alexander Starbuck, History of the American Whale Fishery, pp. 316, 334, 374, 436, 462, 494, 538. See Stuart C. Sherman, Whaling logbooks and journals, 1613-1927; an inventory of manuscript records in public collections, revised and edited for publication by Judith M. Downey and Virginia M. Adams (New York: Garland, 1986), pp. 316-317.

[23 Oct 1997]

Norwegian bark SANDEFJORD [1859] - See: COPERNICUS (1850)

SANKT PAULY (1841)

The Hamburg ship SANKT PAULY was built at Hamburg by Johann Marbs for his own account, and was launched in 1841 (Bielbrief [certificate of registry] 23 June 1841). 155 Commerzlasten; 33,5 x 8,2 x 5,49 meters (length x beam x depth of hold).

Masters: 1841-1847 - P. Schacht 1847-1849 - A. W. Boljahn 1849-1857 - L. Eckmann 1859-1863 - J. A. F. Jachtmann Voyages: 1841/42 - Setubal/Rio de Janeiro 1842 - Bahia 1842-1845 - Wellington/intermediate ports/Bremerhaven 1845-1847 - Singapore/intermediate ports/Batavia 1847 - Galveston/Havana/Matanzas 1848 - Bahia 1848/49 - Brazil/Bahia 1849/50 - Bahia 1850-1852 - Valdivia/Valparaiso/intermediate ports/Antwerp 1852-1854 - Rio de Janeiro/intermediate ports/Aguadilla, Puerto Rico 1854/55 - Arica/Islay, Peru/Callao 1856 - Matanzas/London 1856/57 - Newcastle upon Tyne/Callao/Chincha Islands, Peru 1857-1859 - laid up 18 months in Hamburg 1859/60 - Arica/Islay/Callao 1860/61 - Cardiff/intermediate ports/Plymouth 1861/62 - Callao/Rotterdam 1862/63 - Valparaiso ...

The SANKT PAULY was sold in 1863 to Marshall, of Blyth, England, and renamed ST. PAUL.

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, p. 34.

[19 Feb 2001]

Italian bark SANNAZARO [c.1880] - See KOSMOS (1849)

Hamburg bark SARAH [18643] - See ELBE (1848)

SARAH & EMMA (1860)

According to the annual volumes of Lloyd's Register of Shipping for 1861/62-1881/82 (the latest available to me), the British ship SARAH & EMMA was built under Lloyd's Register of Shipping Special Survey at Liverpool by T. Vernon & Sons, and launched in September 1860. 1097/1097/1025 tons (gross/net/under deck); 199.6 x 33.8 x 22.9 feet (length x breadth x depth of hold); iron-built, 2 bulkheads. Re-rigged as a bark sometime in 1873/74.

Master: 1861/62-1868/69 - B. Wing'te 1868/69-1870/71 - Sinclair 1870/71-1876/77 - C. Roberts 1876/77-1877/78 - Pritchard 1877/78-1879/80 - J. S. Pike 1879/80-1881/82 - Lewis Owner: 1861/62-1870/71 - Farnw'rth 1870/71-1881/82 - Hughes & Co Port of Registry: Liverpool Port of Survey: 1861/62 - Liverpool 1861/62-1863/64 - London 1863/64-1865/66 - Liverpool 1865/66-1869/70 - London 1870/71 - Liverpool 1871/72-1873/74 - London 1874/75-1877/78 - Liverpool 1878/79-1879/80 - Cardiff 1880/81 - Liverpool 1881/82 - Cardiff Destined Voyage (through 1873/74): 1861/62-1868/69 - India 1868/69-1869/70 - Liverpool 1870/71-1872/73 - India 1873/74 - [not given]

The latest annual volume of Lloyd's Register to which I have access is for 1881/82, and I have no information on the later history or ultimate fate of the SARAH & EMMA.

[20 Nov 1998]

SARAH BOTSFORD (1840)

According to Lloyd's Register of Shipping, the British bark SARAH BOTSFORD, 306/297 tons (old/new measurement) was built at New Brunswick in 1840. She was originally owned by McBrayn, registered in Glasgow, and employed in the Glasgow-Canada trade. The annual volume of Lloyd's Register for 1849/50 gives her master as McDowell; the annual volume for 1850/51 gives the following: master, D. Cameron; owner, Kidston & Co; port of registry, Glasgow; port of survey, Clydeside; intended destination, Pictou. The vessel last appears in the annual volume of Lloyd's Register for 1854/55.

[....]

SARAH SHEAFE (1824)

The U.S. ship SARAH SHEAFE, 401 57/95 tons, was built at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1824, and registered, probably mistakenly, as a brig, at New York on 23 October 1830. From 1825 until 1840 she sailed primarily between New York and either Liverpool or Belfast, with one arrival at New York from Pictou in 1837, and one from Buenos Aires in 1838. From 1840 through 1844, she sailed between New York and Antwerp, from 1842 as part of George F. Gerding's "Regular Line" of sailing packets between New York and Antwerp. She then disappeared from New York until 1849, when, rigged as a bark, she made two arrivals from Le Havre. I know nothing of her subsequent history or ultimate fate.

Sources: 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. 631; National Archives Microfilm Publication M237, rolls 7-82; 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. 397.

Voyages:

Ship SARAH SHEAFE, William Gray, master, arrived at New York on 6 August 1843 (passenger manifest dated 7 August), 40 days from Antwerp, with 5 cabin and 100 steerage passengers, to George F. Gerding.

[11 Dec 1998]

U.S. steamship SARATOGA (1852) - See: CORTES (1852)

SARTELLE (1840)

The U.S. ship SARTELLE, 416 tons, was built at Medford, Massachusetts, in 1840, and first registered at New York on 13 January 1847. In 1845, Solomon Taylor, master, she was advertised as sailing in the Dispatch Line of Boston-New Orleans packets, and in the New Line of coastal packets between New York and New Orleans, and in 1854, prior to her voyage from Antwerp to New York, she was advertised as sailing in the Nelson Line of coastal packets between New York and New Orleans. Ex inf. Gary W. Kaucher, 11 March 1998, the ship was later (1855) rigged as a bark and ultimately was abandoned at sea in 1862. She did not appear to have been strictly an emigrant vessel, as she traded with South America, the East Indies, Singapore, Australia, and the like on other occasions.

Sources: 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. 631; Carl C. Cutler, Queens of the Western Ocean; The Story of America's Mail and Passenger Sailing Lines (Annapolis: United States Naval Institute, c1961), pp. 452, 501, and 502.

[11 Mar 1998]

SAUSER (1845)
MERIMA [1863]
ELIEZER [1866]

[Right] Watercolor, undated, inscribed "Sauser, Capt. J. G. Lange. 1846". 47,5 x 67,5 cm. Focke-Museum, Bremen, Inv.-Nr. 30.30, acquired in 1930 from H. Wiedemann. Source: Johannes Lachs, Schiffe aus Bremen; Bilder und Modelle im Focke-Museum (Bremen: H. M. Hauschild, [1994]), p. 89, no. 63. To request a copy of this picture, contact the Focke-Museum.

[Left] Painted porcelain cup. 9,2 cm high/radius 5.65 cm at top. Focke-Museum, Bremen, Inv.-Nr. B.754c, acquired in 1910 from Frau M. C. Engel. Source: Johannes Lachs, Schiffe aus Bremen; Bilder und Modelle im Focke-Museum (Bremen: H. M. Hauschild, [1994]), p. 104, no. 78. To request a copy of this picture, contact the Focke-Museum.

The Bremen brig SAUSER was the last brig built at Vegesack/Grohn by Johann Lange, and was launched on 11 November 1845. She was owned by the Bremen firm of Gustav Smidt (1/2) and others. Gustav Smidt was the son of the famous Bremen Bürgermeister Dr. Johann Smidt, and "Sauser" was the pet name (Kosename) of Gustav's sister, Mine.

The SAUSER was primarily engaged in the South America trade. In 1863, she was sold to the Hamburg firm of Wm. O'Swald, who renamed her MERIMA and employed her in the West Africa trade. In 1866, she passed into the hands of Capt. H. L. Larsen, of Tönsberg, Norway, who renamed her ELIEZER. She disappeared on a voyage from Laguna de Terminos, Mexico, to Europe in 1887.

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. 208, no. 184.

[30 Apr 1999]