SS ''Patna'' is a fictional ship in the novel ''

Lord Jim ''Lord Jim'' is a novel by Joseph Conrad originally published as a serial in '' Blackwood's Magazine'' from October 1899 to November 1900. An early and primary event in the story is the abandonment of a passenger ship in distress by its crew, ...

'' by

Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the Eng ...

, originally published in ''

Blackwood's Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by publisher William Blackwood and originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine'', but quickly relaunched as ''Blackwood's Edinb ...

'' from October 1899 to November 1900. Though never confirmed by the author, the ship is based on the real ship . The fictional ''Patna'' used steam and sail in combination. There was also a real three-master rebuild to use steam and sail in combination, the

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

named SS ''Patna'' built by

William Denny and Brothers William Denny and Brothers Limited, often referred to simply as Denny, was a Scotland, Scottish shipbuilder, shipbuilding company. History The shipbuilding interests of the Denny family date back to William Denny (born 1779), for whom ships a ...

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

, and launched on 21 April 1871. She was a single-screw passenger ship owned by British India Steam Navigation Company Glasgow & London and scrapped at Bombay in 1901. 1764 tons gross. Length: 298 feet, beam: 33 feet. Whether or not Joseph Conrad partially based his fictional ''Patna'' on this ship is unknown. The fact that he had a merchant-marine career in France and 15 years in Great Britain means that probably he heard of or even had seen the real SS ''Patna''. At least two groups of

White Fathers The White Fathers (), officially known as the Missionaries of Africa (), and abbreviated MAfr, are a Roman Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right (for men). They were founded in 1868 by Charles-Martial Allemand-Lavigerie, who w ...

(second and fourth caravan from Zanzibar) have travelled on the real SS ''Patna'' from

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

on their way to

Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...

, on the way to the later ''Heart of Darkness''. In the second caravan there was Adolphe Loosveldt, a former pontifical zouave. His correspondence was published in 2010. Loosveldt mentioned the name Patna in June 1879 in three letters; in his letter of 25 June 1879, he mentioned that the steamship Patna was a three-master with a length of 120 m. In the fourth caravan there was the Flemish White Father Amaat Vyncke, also former pontifical zouave, on his way to

Kibanga Kibanga, formerly called Lavigerieville, is a settlement in the South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The White Fathers founded the first mission station on the west of the lake at Mulweba in 1880, and founded the mission a ...

who was on board the ''Patna'' from 23 April 1883 to 10 May 1883. In his letter of 24 April 1883 he mentioned that the second caravan of White Fathers had also been on the same ship.Amaat Vyncke, ''Brieven van een Vlaamsche missionaris in Midden-Afrika, Tweede Reeks: Reis van Algiers naar Zanzibar'' (Letters from a Flemish missionary in Central-Africa; second series: Voyage from Algiers to Zanzibar), Karel Steyaert-Storie, Brugge, 1885 p. 9. There is no doubt about being this ship because in the same letter, Father Vyncke mentioned it was a three-master and steamer length of 300 feet with capacity of 1800 tons - company: British India Company.

Allusions and references from other works

The ''Patna'', is also mentioned in

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...

' short story " The Immortal." In the ''

Alien 3 ''Alien 3'' (stylized as ''ALIEN3'') is a 1992 American science fiction horror film directed by David Fincher and written by David Giler, Walter Hill, and Larry Ferguson, from a story by Vincent Ward. Starring Sigourney Weaver reprising her ...

'' novelization by

Alan Dean Foster Alan Dean Foster (born November 18, 1946) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction. He has written several book series, more than 20 standalone novels, and many novelizations of film scripts. Career ''Star Wars'' Foster was the ghost ...

, the "rescue" ship that Bishop II arrives in is called the ''Patna''.

Notes

External links

* {{gutenberg, no=5658, name=Lord Jim.
"Stephen Crane as a Source for Conrad's Jim"
Nina Galen, ''Nineteenth-Century Fiction'', vol. 38, no. 1 (1983).
Clyde Built Ships Database
Fictional ships