The British ship WELLESLEY (Official No. 308; International Signal Code: HCJN), was built at Blackwall, London, by Richard & Henry Green in 1844. 1014/1102 tons (old/new measurement); 162 x 36.5 x 23.1 feet (length x beam x depth of hold). The annual volumes of Lloyd's Register of Shipping for the years 1844/45-1881/82 give the following additional information:

Owner:
     1844/45-1869/70 - R[ichard] Green
     1869/70-1872/73 - Little & Co
     1876/77-1881/82 - Vallee Gooloo, of Calcutta

Master:
     1844/45-1847/48 - W. Toller
     1848/49         - Arrow
     1849/50-1850/51 - not given
     1851/52-1858/59 - Parish
     1859/60-1862/63 - Smith
     1862/63-1866/67 - J. Smith
     1866/67-1869/70 - Wigney
     1870/71-1881/82 - Stadden

Port of Registry:
     1844/45-1872/73 - London (crossed out in 1872/73)
     1873/74-1874/75 - not given
     1875/76-1881/82 - Calcutta

Port of Survey:
     1844/45-1881/82 - London

Destined Voyage (omitted from the Register after 1873/74):
     1844/45-1850/51 - Calcutta
     1851/52         - Madras
     1852/53         - not given
     1853/54         - Madras
     1854/55-1848/59 - Calcutta
     1859/60         - not given
     1860/61-1863/64 - Australia (crossed out in 1863/64)
     1864/65-1865/66 - not given
     1866/67-1869/70 - Australia
     1869/70-1871/72 - India
     1871/72-1873/74 - West Indies

I do not know the later history of ultimate fate of the WELLESLEY.

The U.S. ship WELLINGTON was built at New York by Christian Bergh & Co, and launched in 1837. 726 tons; 144 ft 3 in x 33 ft 4 in x 20 ft 6 in (length x beam x depth of hold). She was employed in the Red Swallowtail Line of sailing packets between New York and London from 1837 to 1850, during which time her westbound voyages averaged 34 days, her shortest being 19 days (one of the shortest westbound passages between London and New York by a sailing vessel in the 19th century), her longest being 60 days. In 1850 she was shifted to the coastal packet service between New York and New Orleans, where she served until 1859, during which time her passage from New York to New Orleans averaged 18.7 days, her shortest passage being 14 days, her longest 25 days. I do not know her later history or her ultimate fate.

Source: 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 and 294-295.

The steamship WERRA was built for Norddeutscher Lloyd by John Elder & Co, Glasgow (yard #263), and was launched on 4 July 1882. 4,815 tons; 131,06 x 14,02 meters (length x breadth); straight stem, 2 funnels, 4 masts; iron construction, screw propulsion, compound engine, service speed 16, maximum speed 17, knots; accommodation for 190 passengers in 1st class, 144 in 2nd class, and 868 in steerage; crew of 156.

12 October 1882, maiden voyage, Bremen - Southampton - New York. 1884, fitted with electricity. 9 November 1891, last voyage, Bremen - Southampton - New York. 4 January 1892, first voyage, Genoa-New York. 10 November 1898, last voyage, Genoa-New York. December 1898-Summer 1899, chartered to Cia Trasatlantica to repatriate Spanish troops. 1899, with Norddeutscher Lloyd steamships FULDA and EMS, chartered to the Beaver Line (British) for her service to Canada; the Beaver Line went bankrupt, and the vessels were returned to Norddeutscher Lloyd. 24 September 1899, sailed Bremen - Southampton - New York - Naples - Genoa. 28 August 1901, last voyage, Genoa - Naples - New York. September 1901, scrapped at Genoa.

Sources: Arnold Kludas, Die Seeschiffe des Norddeutschen Lloyd, Bd. 1: 1857 bis 1919 (Herford: Koehler, c1991), pp. 30-31 (2 photographs); Edwin Drechsel, Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen, 1857-1970; History, Fleet, Ship Mails, vol. 1 (Vancouver: Cordillera Pub. Co., c1994), p. 86 (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. 552.

The steamship WESER, the second of four vessels of this name owned by Norddeutscher Lloyd, was built by Caird & Co, Greenock (yard #137), and was launched on 19 March 1867. 2,870 tons; 99,05 x 12,19 meters / 325 x 40 feet (length x breadth); clipper bow, 1 funnel, 2 masts; iron construction, screw propulsion (tandem low-pressure single-expansion engine, 800-1,500 horsepower), service speed 11 knots; accommodation for 60 passengers in 1st class, 120 in 2nd class, and 700 in steerage; crew of 74 to 105.

1 June 1867, maiden voyage, Bremen - Southampton - New York. 1881, compound engines by Caird & Co; 1,300 horsepower, with reduced coal consumption. 13 June 1895, last voyage, Bremen-New York-Baltimore. 3 August 1895, first of two voyages, Bremen-South America. June 1896, sold to Italy for scrapping; delivery voyage as SERAVALLE (Italian flag); August 1896, scrapped at Genoa.

Source: Arnold Kludas, Die Seeschiffe des Norddeutschen Lloyd, Bd. 1: 1857 bis 1919 (Herford: Koehler, c1991), p. 14 (photograph); Edwin Drechsel, Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen, 1857-1970; History, Fleet, Ship Mails, vol. 1 (Vancouver: Cordillera Pub. Co., c1994), p. 39, no. 17 (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. 545.

The British ship WESTERN BRIDE was built under Lloyd's Register of Shipping Special Survey at Kingston, New Brunswick, in 1854, by William P. Flewelling. 1066/1121 tons; 176.4 x 31.7 x 22 feet (length x beam x depth of hold); owned by Fernie Brothers, and registered at Liverpool [Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston, Wallace Ship List, quoting Frederick William Wallace, comp., Record of Canadian shipping; a list of square-rigged vessels, mainly 500 tons and over, built in the eastern provinces of British North America from the year 1786 to 1920 (Toronto: Musson Book Co., c1929); Canadian Ship Information Database, quoting National Archives of Canada, RG 42, Vol. 1349 (original Vol. = microfilm reel C-386), Page 12, and Lloyd's Register of Shipping Survey, microfilm reel A-439, Survey 51; Lloyd's Register of Shipping, 1856/57-1857/58].

The WESTERN BRIDE had a very short career. On 21 June 1855, A. [or J.] Sinclair, master, she sailed from Liverpool for Melbourne, where she arrived on 26 September 1855, with 8 passengers, 377 assisted immigrants, and salt; on 3 November 1855, she cleared for Callao, in ballast [Marten A. Syme, Shipping arrivals and departures; Victorian ports, vol. 2: 1846-1855, Roebuck Society Publication No. 39 (Melbourne: [Roebuck Society], 1987), p. 332]. On 5 February 1856, she sailed from the Chincha Islands, with a cargo of guano, bound for Queenstown; on 8 March 1856, she struck a sunken rock about two miles from Baranca Point, in the Straits of Magellan, and sank. The following is an account of the sinking, taken from the Times (London), 4 September 1856, p. 5f:

DREADFUL SHIPWRECK. - The following particulars of the loss of the ship Western Bride are from the pen of Mr. Arthur Newson, a passenger: "The Western Bride left the Chincha Islands, coast of Peru, laden with guano, on the 5th of February, 1856, bound for Queenstown, Ireland. On the 26th we had strong winds with heavy seas from the south-west, in latitude 40 degrees south, longitude 78 degrees west. The ship then became very leaky, so that the pumps were obliged to be worked every hour; and when under double-reefed topsails the crew were kept constantly at the pumps. On the 27th the foreyard was carried away; strong gales still prevailing with very high seas and ship very leaky, it was thought advisable to bear up for the Straits of Magellan as the nearest place of refuge, which we entered on the 2d of March with a fresh gale from the west-north- west; weather thick and rainy, with sleet at times. At sundown attempted to anchor, but found no bottom, both anchors dragging with 75 fathoms of chain, blowing a hurricane, and a strong current carrying us down to the narrowest part of the Straits, as we thought to destruction. We were obliged to let go one anchor and chain, the vessel having twice touched the rocks during the night. Daylight at last came to our relief, and we proceeded onward to Port Famine, where we remained two days repairing in the harbour. We continued our voyage until the 8th at 2 p.m., when the ship struck on a sunken rock about two miles from Barranca Point, the wind then blowing very hard and sea high. The ship continued to strike very heavily until 4 30 p.m., when the force of the wind and the sea had driven her over the bank, and she floated again. On sounding the pumps we found 7 feet water in the well. The pumps were immediately manned, but the water gained so fast there was not even time to run the ship ashore, in which case part of the vessel might have been saved and our baggage also, there being barely time to launch two boats, in which we saved our lives with great difficulty. At 7 p.m. the ship sunk in 24 fathoms as soon as we were clear of her. At 9 p.m. dark, wet, cold, thirsty and hungry, we reached Baxa Point, on the Fuegian side of the Straits, having only a few soaked biscuits, no water, and the weather bitterly cold. We feared to light a fire lest we should attract the attention of the natives, who are well known by South Sea voyagers as cannibals of the worst description. In this wretched locality we remained five days, when seeing nothing but starvation before us, the sea having abated, we took to our boats, and rowed across the Straits, and after several days suffering the greatest agony from protracted hunger and the most excruciating thirst we reached a small Chilian settlement in Patagonia. The governor, a Dane, received us very kindly and did everything in his power with his limited means to make us comfortable, and his attention to our wants will ever be remembered with gratitude. On the 15th of May the United States' war brig Bainbridge, cruising in the Straits in search of the crew of the lost ship Manchester, having seen part of the wreck, and understood from the Patagonian Indians we were at the settlement, arrived and agreed to take us up to Montevideo, River Plate, having learnt that the crew of the Manchester had all perished but two. Our best thanks are due to the Chilian Government for their assistance to British subjects, and especially to the governor for his kindness, and also to the United States' Government for the assistance rendered by their vessel to us and to the officers of the brig for their kindness." Mr. Newsom has just arrived in Norwich.

The wooden side-paddle steamship WESTERN METROPOLIS was a built for George Griswold, A. Benner, William Wall, and others (contemporary reports list her as belonging to the firm of Benner & Brown) by F. Z. Tucker, Brooklyn, and was launched in 1863. 2,269 tons as built (remeasured in 1865 at 2,092 tons); 285 ft 4 in x 40 ft 8 in x 23 ft (length x breadth x depth of hold); draft 16 ft; straight stem, 1 funnel, 2 masts. Her engine (75 inch bore; 12 foot stroke) had been built in 1848 by Merrick & Towne, Philadelphia, and had served two Great Lakes steamers, the EMPIRE STATE, built in 1848, and the WESTERN METROPOLIS, built in 1856--it is from this vessel that she took her name--new boilers, wheels, and general reconditioning by Morgan Iron Works. Described by a contemporary, Capt. George H. Norton, as a "very slow, clumsy, unwieldy, hard steering steamer".

Chartered by the Quartermaster Corps immediately upon completion for $850 per day, and kept in continuous use from December 1863 until late January 1865. First voyage, New York-New Orleans; on the return voyage, seized the steamer ROSITA, with a cargo of munitions and liquor, and towed her prize into Key West on 29 January 1864. Spent most of 1864 ferrying troops and supplies between New York and Hampton Roads, in support of the Union Army's activities in Virginia; northbound, carried hundreds of sick and wounded. December 1864, loaded troops for the attack on Fort Fisher.

20 February 1865, single roundtrip (and first commercial) voyage, New York-Greytown, chartered to M. O. Roberts. April 1865, single roundtrip voyage, New York-New Orleans, chartered to H. B. Cromwell & Co. May-July 1865, New York-New Orleans, chartered by Quartermaster Corps. August 1865, single roundtrip voyage, New York-New Orleans, chartered to W. H. Robson & Co; returned with a record cargo of 3,000 bales of cotton. 30 September 1865, single roundtrip voyage (her only voyage for her original owners, Benner & Brown), New York-Apalachicola, Florida, returning with a cargo of cotton.

November 1865, sold to Ruger Brothers. Originally advertised to sail for the Ruger Brothers' North American Lloyd Line to Bremen via Southampton on 17 March 1866, the WESTERN METROPOLIS did not sail until 28 June 1866. However, she had been refitted with paddle wheels that shed their floats in anything but a dead calm, and the WESTERN METROPOLIS was forced to turn around and put in to Boston, which she reached on 6 July 1866, before all the paddles were lost. After temporary repairs, on 10 July 1866, she sailed for New York (arrived 19 July), unable to continue the voyage to Bremen; laid up.

Late 1866, together with the other vessels of the North American Lloyd Line, sold to Isaac Taylor's New York & Bremen Steamship Co.7 March 1867, first voyage, New York - Cowes - Bremen (arrived after a voyage of 17 days). Continued to make eastbound sailings at approximately eight-week intervals. 24 August 1867, sailed from New York on fourth (and last) voyage for New York & Bremen Steamship Co; 8 September 1867, arrived at Southampton with a broken shaft; repaired at Southampton, and proceeded on to Bremen; on return passage, reached New York 6 November 1867, from Bremen 20 October 1867 and Cowes 22 October 1867, with 921 passengers; there had been 3 deaths on the passage: an infant, a case of delirium tremens, and a case of apoplexy.

30 June 1868, sold for $57,000; her new owner advertised her for sale for the rest of 1868 and all of 1869, without success. 1870, acquired by Merchants' Steamship Co, Frederic Baker, agent, for its New York-New Orleans service. 12 March and 9 April 1870, two roundtrip voyages, New York-New Orleans. 18 May 1870, Capt. H. S. Quick, sailed from New York for Havre - Bremen - Copenhagen - Swinemüunde - Kiel - Christiansand, chartered to Ruger Brothers. Returned by the northern route, arriving New York 7 July 1870, with 954 passengers; from the Shetlands to Newfoundland the weather had been cold and foggy: 3 infants among the passengers died, as did one sailor, of pneumonia. September 1870, returned to New York-New Orleans service. October 1871, port shaft cracked on voyage from New York to New Orleans; shaft replaced at sea. February-August 1873, laid up. 13 February 1875, last voyage, New York-New Orleans-New York (arrived 9 March 1875). March 1875, Merchants' Steamship Co ceased operations. 1875-1878, laid up; several changes of ownership reported; last sale to Cornelius Delamater, who bought her for $15,000. March 1878, at the Delamater Iron Works, on the North River side of Manhattan, where her engine was removed. I have no information on her later history or ultimate fate

Source: Cedric Ridgely-Nevitt, American Steamships on the Atlantic (Newark: University of Delaware Press, [1981]), pp. 329-330.

The U.S. ship WESTMINSTER was built at New York by Christian Bergh & Co, and launched in 1835. 631 tons; 135 ft 3 in x 32 ft 2 in x 20 ft 5 in (length x beam x depth of hold). She served in the Black X Line of sailing packets between New York and London fromn 1835 to 1850, during which period the average length of her westbound passages was 37 days, her shortest passage being 20 days, her longest 56. By 1850, she was considered to small and outdated for the competitive trans-Atlantic packet service, and at the end of the year she was transferred to the New Orleans Louisiana and New York Line of New York-New Orleans packets, where she ran from 1851 to 1857; during this period the average length of her passages from New York to New Orleans was 19.1 days, her shortest passage being 12 days, her longest 33 days. I know nothing of her subsequent history or ultimate fate.

Source: 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, and 294-295.

The steamship WESTPHALIA, the first of three vessels of this name owned by the Hamburg-America Line, was built by Caird & Co, Greenock (yard #144), and was launched on 24 June 1868. 3,158 tons; 103,70 x 12,35 x 10,18 meters (length x breadth x depth of hold); straight stem, 1 funnel, 2 masts; iron construction; screw propulsion, inverted engine, service speed 12 knots; accommodation for 90 passengers in 1st class, 120 in 2nd class, and 520 in steerage; crew of 120.

Master:
     1868-1869 - H. H. D. N. I. Trautmann
     1869-1873 - H. F. Schwensen
     1873-1874 - W. L. Stahl
     1874-1875 - C. Ludwig
     1879-1882 - H. F. Schwensen
     1882-1883 - C. Ludwig
     1883-1886 - H. Barends
     1883      - C. Hebich
     1883      - F. Bornmüller
     1884      - N. C. Franzen
     1886      - C. Dröscher
     1886      - E. Kopff

Voyages:
     1868-1869 - New York (11 x)
     1869      - Leith
     1870      - New York (4 x)
     1870      - Bremerhaven-Leith
     1871-1875 - New York (32 x)
     1875-1879 - laid up in Hamburg;  rebuilt
     1879-1886 - New York (56 x)

16 September 1868, maiden voyage, Hamburg - Southampton - New York. 28 April 1875, last voyage, Hamburg - Havre - New York; laid up. 1877/78, rebuilt by Blohm & Voss; engines compounded; 2 funnels. 30 July 1879, resumed Hamburg - Havre - New York service. 13 November 1882, at night, during a storm, collided with the Belgian steamship ADRIEN DAVID, which burst into flames and sank with the loss of all 25 crewmen, before the boat from the WESTPHALIA could reach her. 19 December 1886, last voyage, Hamburg - Havre - New York. 1887, sold to Armstrong/Mitchell, Newcastle, probably in partial payment for the ASCANIA and COLONIA. 1887, ATLANTICA (H. F. Swan, Newcastle). 1888, PROVINCIA DI SAO PAULO (Gazzo & Schiaffino, Genoa). 1889, MENTANA (C. Schiaffino di Marcello, Genoa). 1890, SUD AMERICA (La Veloce, Genoa). 1901, scrapped at Genoa.

Sources: 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. 1, p. 192; Arnold Kludas and Herbert Bischoff, Die Schiffe der Hamburg- Amerika Linie, Bd. 1: 1847-1906 (Herford: Koehler, 1979), p. 28 (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. 1 (1975), p. 390.