__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 Mast (sailing), masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing Square rig, square-rigged or Fore-an ...

built for the British Shipowners Company at the Harland & Wolff yards in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Ireland, in 1865. She was long, wide and deep. She was bought by the Nourse Line 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, ''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 trade. On 23 April 1892, she carried 527 Indian indentured labourers to

Fiji Fiji, 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 consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

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

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

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

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

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 ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

, carrying a cargo of salt and 471 Indian indentured labourers. On 8 December 1896, she struck a reef in

Saldanha Bay Saldanha Bay () is a natural harbour on the south-western coast of South Africa. The town that developed on the northern shore of the bay, also called Saldanha, Western Cape, Saldanha, was incorporated with five other towns into the 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.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:British Peer (Ship) Ships built in Belfast 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

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