SS Norseman
Hamburg-America's
Brasilia
was built by Harland & Wolff of Belfast. Launched in November 1901, she made
her maiden voyage from Belfast to New York on
21 March 1898.
She was then placed on Hapag's Hamburg-Baltimore route, making 13 roundtrips on
that route between May 1898 and October 1899.
In
February 1900,
Brasilia
was sold back to Harland & Wolff, who then sold her on to the Dominion Line.
Dominion renamed her Norseman, eliminated the 300 second class accommodations
she had had as
Brasilia,
and had her fitted as a steerage/freight ship for Dominion's North Atlantic
service. (The refitting also included an increase in the number of masts, from
two to four, as shown here.) Her first voyage for Dominion, though, was as a
Boer War troop transport, in February 1900.
From 1910 to
1914, Norseman was chartered to the
Aberdeen Line
and sailed on a London-Cape Town-Sydney route.
On 22 January, while en route
from Plymouth to Salonica with a cargo of mules and munitions, Norseman was
torpedoed by U39 in the Gulf of Salonica; she was towed to Mudros harbor, where
she was again torpedoed and sank (according to Bonsor) or beached (according to
Williams and Kludas). In any event, Norseman remained at Mudros until she was
scrapped in 1920.
From the diary of a passenger on the same ship
comes this description of the voyage.
Source as shown below:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~marcombe/d23.htm
Sources:
Kludas' Great Passenger Ships of the World; Bonsor's North Atlantic Seaway;
Williams' Wartime Disasters at Sea
Postcard from the
ship
Source eBay item
14-Feb-04
"IMMIGRANTS
BY NORSEMAN." The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) 28 Feb 1913: 6.
Web. 27 Jun 2014 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10768905>.
IMMIGRANTS BY NORSEMAN.
DEATH OF TWO CHILDREN.
Her decks crowded with passengers, nearly
all of whom were of the immigrant class, the big Aberdeen liner
Norseman berthed in the Victoria Dock yesterday forenoon,
having arrived in Hobson's Bay from London overnight.. The
exact number of new arrivals on board was 961 men women, and children
of whom 585 were for Victoria the remainder intending to distribute
themselves over New South Wales and Queensland. Included in the liners
human freight were two young fellows
who not possessing the wherewithal to pay their passage "stowed away"
in the coal bunkers. The presence of these unbidden
guests not being discovered until the vessel had proceeded a
considerable distance on her voyage, no option was left with Captain
Berry but to bring them on to Melbourne. They, however, were made to
"work their passages" and, having given a good account of themselves in
this respect, they will in all probability not be prosecuted. Captain
Berry who has had a good deal of experience among immigrants describes
his present contingent as a desirable lot of people. Unfortunately the
voyage was productive of the death of two children (sisters) named
Fisher. One of them aged 5 years, succumbed to heat stroke;
the other, an infant in arms, dying from diptheria, of which disease a
slight outbreak occurred. Otherwise the voyage proved uneventful,
although in its early stages bad weather caused some discomfort and
depression among those on board. Upon leaving the Bay of Biscay,
however, the Norseman met with pleasant conditions, which continued
almost uninterruptedly for the remainder of the passage. Before leaving
for Sydney the vessel will unload 3,000 tons of general cargo.
Among the Norseman's contingent of
immigrants were 27 land-seekers who, with their wives and families,
represent 122 souls and possess a capital of £6,370; 40
farm workers, representing 53 persons and £345;
350 nominated passengers, and six British lads. The work of finding
work for the immigrants in search of employment will be begun today,
and it is expected that nearly all will have been placed by nightfall.
With a view of becoming acquainted with Victorian conditions,
some of the intending land-seekers will probably secure employment on
farms before taking up selections and employers who have
accommodation for and require families to assist them are asked to
communicate with the Immigration Bureau without delay.
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