__NOTOC__ ''British Peer'' was a 1428-ton three-masted iron

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships ...

built for the British Shipowners Company at the

Harland and Wolff Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the W ...

yards in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, Ireland, in 1865. She was long, wide and deep. She was bought by the

Nourse Line Nourse is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Alan E. Nourse, (1928–1992), American science fiction author and physician * Alice Nourse (1882–1967), American novelist * Amos Nourse (1794–1877), American medical doctor and Sen ...

in 1883, and was the fastest vessel in their fleet until ''British Ambassador'' was commissioned. In 1878, however, ''British Peer''s sailing power was compromised when alterations were made to increase her tonnage by lengthening her hull by , and she was never as fast again. She carried a crew of 23, including her master. On 13 March 1891, during the

Great Blizzard of 1891 The Great Blizzard of 1891 affected Southern England between 9 and 13 March of that year. Strong winds, cold temperatures and snow which drifted up to high contributed to the deaths of 200 people and 6000 animals. A merchant vessel, the ''Bay of ...

, ''British Peer'' struck the 1222-ton steamer ''Roxburgh Castle'', causing ''Roxburgh Castle'' to sink with the loss of 22 lives; there were two survivors. ''British Peer'', like other Nourse Line ships, was involved in the

indentured labour Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an "indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensation or debt repayment, ...

trade. On 23 April 1892, she carried 527 Indian indentured labourers to

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...

. Two months later, on 11 June 1892, she arrived in

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the nor ...

with Indian indentured labourers. She also repatriated in September 1894 from

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Ameri ...

to India 450 Indians who had completed their indenture. ''British Peer'' had first visited South Africa in 1886, while on a voyage carrying indentured labourers. In November 1894, she again stopped in at the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is ...

, carrying a cargo of salt and 471 Indian indentured labourers. On 8 December 1896, she struck a reef in Saldanha Bay, South Africa, and was destroyed; there were only four survivors. A Court of Enquiry, held on 7 January 1897, found that "the loss of the ship was occasioned by reckless navigation on the part of the master"."The Grave in the Dunes"
Route 27 West Coast South Africa. Retrieved 12 May 2013. The wreck of ''British Peer'' itself still lies in about of water in Saldanha Bay.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:British Peer (Ship) Ships built in Belfast History of British Saint Lucia History of Suriname Indian indenture ships to Fiji Shipwrecks of the South African Atlantic coast Maritime incidents in 1891 Maritime incidents in 1896 Victorian-era passenger ships of the United Kingdom 1865 ships Ships of the Nourse Line

See also

References

Bibliography