Rhone (ship)
Encyclopedia
The Rhone, formerly known as Gilroy, was a 1,768 ton, iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
sailing ship
Sailing ship
The term sailing ship is now used to refer to any large wind-powered vessel. In technical terms, a ship was a sailing vessel with a specific rig of at least three masts, square rigged on all of them, making the sailing adjective redundant. In popular usage "ship" became associated with all large...
with a length
Length
In geometric measurements, length most commonly refers to the longest dimension of an object.In certain contexts, the term "length" is reserved for a certain dimension of an object along which the length is measured. For example it is possible to cut a length of a wire which is shorter than wire...
of 259.2 feet, breadth of 39.9 feet and depth of 23.2 feet.
History
| Destination | Date of arrival | Number of passengers | Deaths during voyage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiji Fiji Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island... |
15 May 1890 | 585 | n/a |
| Trinidad Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in... |
9 October 1891 | 677 | 16 |
| Trinidad | 23 October 1892 | 666 | 4 |
| Trinidad | 28 October 1893 | 653 | 4 |
| Trinidad | 4 October 1894 | 662 | 8 |
| Trinidad | 16 October 1895 | 690 | 109 |
| Fiji | 11 May 1897 | 653 | n/a |
| Tinidad | 10 November 1898 | 652 | 3 |
| Suriname Suriname Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as... |
10 January 1903 | n/a | n/a |
| Suriname | 8 November 1905 | n/a | n/a |
The Rhone was built by John Elder of Glasgow, Scotland in 1875 for Gilroy, Sons & Company of Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
. The Nourse Line
Nourse Line
The Nourse Line was a shipping company formed by Captain James Nourse in 1861. After taking delivery of his first ship, the Ganges, in 1861, Nourse went on to build up one of the last great fleets of sailing ships.- Early life of James Nourse:...
bought the ship in 1889 and renamed it the Rhone after the River Rhone. She was primarily used by the Nourse Line for the transportation of Indian indentured labourers
Indian indenture system
The Indian indenture system was an ongoing system of indenture by which thousands of Indians were transported to various colonies of European powers to provide labour for the plantations...
to the colonies.
She was also used to repatriate 132 former labourers from St Lucia
Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 620 km2 and has an...
back to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
The Rhone was regarded as a fast ship. She made the run from Trinidad to Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
in 45 days and on 4 November 1894 travelled to Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
from Trinidad in just 24 days.
Her last voyage was eventful, for her captain died while carrying rice from Calcutta to British Guiana
British Guiana
British Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana.The area was originally settled by the Dutch at the start of the 17th century as the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice...
. On reaching her destination, she got stuck in the mud and some rice had to be thrown overboard before she could be re-floated. After unloading the remainder of the rice, she sailed for Philadelphia but found five stowaways on board. The captain only managed to disembark the stowaways in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
after signing a bond and paying for their passage to the West Indies. In Philadelphia she loaded case oil, but the river was frozen and an icebreaker was used to clear a passage and tugs got her to sea. Her troubles were not over as she experienced minor flooding due to a burst pipe and pumps had to be used for 48 hours to clear the water. At the end of this voyage, in 1905, she was sold to Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and renamed Dybvaag.
See also
- Indian indenture ships to FijiIndian indenture ships to FijiBetween 1879 and 1916, a total of 42 ships made 87 voyages, carrying Indian indentured labourers to Fiji. Initially the ships brought labourers from Calcutta, but from 1903 all ships except two also brought labourers from Madras. A total of 60,965 passengers left India but only 60,553 arrived in...
- Indians in FijiIndians in FijiIndo-Fijians are Fijians whose ancestors came from India and various parts of South Asia, South-East Asia and Asia itself. They number 313,798 out of a total of 827,900 people living in Fiji...
- Indian indenture systemIndian indenture systemThe Indian indenture system was an ongoing system of indenture by which thousands of Indians were transported to various colonies of European powers to provide labour for the plantations...