The Hamburg bark WIEDEMANN was built at Hamburg by the shipwright Wencke, for the Hamburg firm of Tietgen & Robertson, in 1854 (Bielbrief [certificate of registry] dated 25 October 1854). 151 Commerzlasten; 119,3 x 29,9 x 16,6 Hamburg Füße (1 Hamburg Fuß = .28657 meter), length x beam x depth of hold.

Master:
     1854-1861 - T. Kalcklöser

Voyages:
     1854/55   - Melbourne/Akyab
     1856/57   - Sydney/intermediate ports/Emden
     1858-1860 - Dona Francisca/intermediate ports/Abo

The WIEDEMANN was sold on 24 January/23 February 1861 to the Hamburg firm of Joachim Reimers, and renamed VORSETZEN.

Master:
     1861-1866 - H. J. J. Soost
     1866-18.. - A. H. A. Mann

Voyages:
     1861/62   - Liverpool/intermediate ports/Amsterdam
     1862/63   - Cardiff/intermediate ports/Altona
     1863-1865 - Altona/intermediate ports/London
     1866-1870 - Antwerp/intermediate ports/London (1868)/intermediate ports ...

On 28 November 1870, the bark VORSETZEN ex WIEDEMANN was captured by French warships, and condemned as a prize of war. In 1872, she appears as the MINES DE SOUMAH No. 5, registered at Algiers.

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. 131 and 250.

The steamship WIELAND was built for the Adler (Eagle) Line by Alexander Stephen & Sons, Glasgow (yard #171), and was launched on 16 June 1874. 3,504 tons; 114,4 x 12,2 meters/375 x 40 feet (length x breadth); straight stem, 1 funnel, 2 masts; iron construction, screw propulsion, service speed 13 knots; accommodation for 90 passengers in 1st class, 100 in 2nd class, and 800 in steerage; crew of 110.

The WIELAND never ran for the Adler Line. The Adler Line, which had been founded in 1873 in direct competition with the Hamburg-America Line (HAPAG), was purchased by the latter company for 11,400,000 Reichsmarks on 7 May 1875, and on 25 June 1875, the WIELAND was transferred to HAPAG control. 7 July 1875, maiden voyage, Hamburg - Havre - New York. 1882, rebuilt; higher superstructure, 2 funnels. 29 August 1894, last voyage, Hamburg-New York. 6 October 1894, 1 roundtrip voyage, Naples-New York. 1895, sold to Ph. A. Lieder, Hamburg and Shanghai; transport in the Chinese-Japanese War. 15 October 1895, seriously damaged by fire at Shanghai. 3 January 1896, sent to Singapore for scrapping.

Sources: Arnold Kludas and Herbert Bischoff, Die Schiffe der Hamburg-Amerika Linie, Bd. 1: 1847-1906 (Herford: Koehler, 1979), pp. 34-35 (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. 392.

The Hamburg ship WILHELMSBURG was built at Reiherstieg, Hamburg, by J[ohann] C[esar] Godeffroy & Sohn for their own account; Bielbrief [certificate of registry] Hamburg 27 April 1853. 424 Commerzlasten / 940 tons; 144 x 35,9 x 28,4 Hamburg Füße (1 Hamburg Fuß = .28657 meter), length x beam x depth of hold.

Masters:
     1853-1862 - J. C. H. Muller
     1862-1863 - E. C. Kross

Voyages:
     1853-1855 - Melbourne/Sydney/intermediate ports/London
     1855-1858 - Sydney/Hobart/intermediate ports/Bombay/Cochin
     1858-1862 - Cape of Good Hope/East London/intermediate ports/Callao
     1862/63   - East Indies/London
     1863      - Moreton Bay

On 27 November 1863, the WILHELMSBURG sailed for Queensland, but on 3/4 December was wrecked off Terschelling, with the loss of 247 emigrants.

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. 169; Ronald Parsons, Migrant Sailing Ships from Hamburg (North Adelaide, South Australia: Gould Books, 1993), p. 27; E. and R. Kopittke, Emigrants from Hamburg to Australia, 1863-1864].

The steamship WILLEHAD was built for Norddeutscher Lloyd by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg (yard #101), and was launched on 21 March 1894. 5,003 tons; 122,22 x 14,03 meters (length x breadth); straight stem, 1 funnel, 2 masts; steel construction, twin-screw propulsion (2 triple-expansion engines; 2,500 horsepower), service speed 12 knots; accommodation for 1,196 passengers in steerage (from c. 1900: 105 passengers in 2nd class and 1,009 in steerage); crew of 65-70.

24 May 1894, maiden voyage direct to New York. 10 November 1894, first voyage, Bremen-South America. 4 December 1896, first voyage, Bremen - New York - Baltimore. The decision to have her lengthened together with the WITTEKIND was never carried out. 22 August 1900-30 April 1901, hospital ship during the Boxer rebellion. 23 May 1903, last voyage, Bremen-South America (12 roundtrip voyages). 3 May 1904, Stettin - Helsingborg - Gothenburg - Christiansand - New York (3 roundtrip voyages). October-November 1904, evacuated more than 1,000 Japanese from Manchuria and the Liaotung Peninsula. From February 1905, ran Sydney-Hong Kong. 21 December 1906, left Sydney for Manila - Java - Dunkirk - Antwerp - Bremen, to rejoin the North Atlantic service. 16 April 1909, Hamburg - Quebec - Montreal, opening the Norddeutscher Lloyd / Hamburg America Line / Holland America Line joint service to Canada. 4 January 1912, first voyage, Bremen-Philadelphia. 31 December 1912, last voyage, Bremen - Philadelphia - Baltimore. 19 July 1914, last voyage, Hamburg - Quebec - Montreal (24 roundtrip voyages). August 1914, took refuge at Boston. 24 August 1916, arrived at New London, Connecticut, in tow, to serve as a dormitory ship for the crew of the U-Boot DEUTSCHLAND during her second call in the U.S. 6 April 1917, seized by the U.S. Government; transport, renamed WYANDOTTE. Laid up after the war. 1924, scrapped at Baltimore.

Sources: Arnold Kludas, Die Seeschiffe des Norddeutschen Lloyd, Bd. 1: 1857 bis 1919 (Herford: Koehler, c1991), pp. 52-53 (photograph); Edwin Drechsel, Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen, 1857-1970; History, Fleet, Ship Mails (Vancouver: Cordillera Pub. Co., c1994), vol. 1, p. 159, no. 89 (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. 558.

The U.S. ship WILLIAM A. COOPER was built at Pittston, Maine, in 1847. 645 tons; 147 x 30.9 x 15.5 feet (length x beam x depth of hold). I know nothing of her history before or after 1848. It may, however, have been short, as her master in 1848, William A. Cutts, was by 1850 master of the ship CHARLES COOPER, also built in Pittston (in 1849), and if not properly a sister ship to the WILLIAM A. COOPER, almost certainly belonging to the same owner(s).

Sources: William Armstrong Fairburn, Merchant Sail (Center Lovell, Maine: Fairburn Marine Educational Foundation, [1945-55]), V.3322; 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. 520.

The U.S. ship WILLIAM D. SEWALL, of Bath, Maine, was built at Bath in 1848, by Clarke, Sewall & Co . 672 tons; 141 feet x 32 feet 5 inches x 16 feet 2 1/4 inches (length x beam x depth of hold) [William Armstrong Fairburn, Merchant Sail (Center Lovell, Maine: Fairburn Marine Educational Foundation, [1945-1955]), V.3195, 3196, and 3261]. She was apparently a transient, following neither a set route nor a set schedule. The only other reference I have to her is the arrival at New York on 4 May 1852 of the ship William D. Sewall, of Bath, Robert Jack, master, from Liverpool 28 March, with 253 passengers (2 deaths) [National Archives Microfilm Publication M237, roll 112, list #468; abstracted in Ira A. Glazier and P. William Filby, Germans to America; Lists of Passengers Arriving at U.S. Ports, vol. 3 (Wilmington, Delaware: Scholarly Resources, 1988), pp. 332-334].

The U.S. ship WILLIAM RATHBONE, 916 tons, was built at Mystic, Connecticut, by George Greenman & Co in 1849. Registered at New York on 13 February 1850.

1849

Joseph W. Spencer, master, advertised as sailing in the Washington Line of New York-Liverpool packets. J. Livermore master in 1853, and J. C. Dowd in 1856.

1851

William G. Spencer, master, advertised as sailing in the Black Star Line of New York-Liverpool packets; also in the Union Line of New York-New Orleans coastal packets.

1857

Jabez Pratt, master, advertised as sailing in the Pelican (Orleans) Line of New York-New Orleans coastal packets.

1858

J. C. Dowd, master, advertised as sailing in the Stanton & Thompson Line of New York-New Orleans coastal packets.

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. 739; Carl C. Cutler, Queens of the Western Ocean; The story of America's mail and passenger sailing lines (Annapolis: United States Naval Institute, 1961), pp. 385, 387, 512, 517, 521, and 522.

The U.S. ship WILLIAM TELL was built at New York by Jacob A. Westervelt & William Mackey in 1850. 1153 tons; 175 feet x 37 feet 10 inches x 29 feet 2 inches (length x beam x depth of hold). She sailed in Boyd & Hincken's Second Line of sailing packets between New York and Le Havre from 1850 to 1861, during which time the average of her westward passages was 36 days, her shortest being 25 days, her longest 60 days.

On the morning of Monday, 2 September 1861, at about 2 AM, the ship WILLIAM TELL, lying in New York City's North river, outward bound for Le Havre, caught fire, and was burned to the water's edge. The passengers and crew were taken off by Capt James Benner, of the Union Ferry Company's boat MONTAGUE. The vessel was beached on the lower side of Governor's Island, and was still burning on the evening of the following day, the fire being forward among some coal. Three streams of water were kept upon it. By 6 September, the wrecking schooners NORMA and RINGGOLD had managed to put steam pumps on board, and on the morning of 8 September she was floated and towed to the Pierrepont stores, Brooklyn, where she discharged what remained of her cargo.

Boyd & Hincken considered the vessel a total loss, and sold her. However, her new owners rebuilt her in 1862, and re-registered her at Boston. Four years later, shortly before 5 January 1866, the ship WILLIAM TELL, Jones, bound from Simons Bay, Cape of Good Hope, for Puget Sound, in ballast, struck a reef of rocks in the Strait of Juan de Fuca (between Vancouver Island and the present state of Washington), and went to pieces; the crew were saved.

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. 286-287; New York Herald, 3 September 1861, pp. 4b and 5f; 4 September 1861, p. 4e; 5 September 1861, p. 5e; 7 September 1861, p. 2c; 9 September 1861, p. 3a; 16 January 1866, p. 8e.