TRINIDAD 1884

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aukepalmhof
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TRINIDAD 1884

Post by aukepalmhof » Mon Dec 16, 2019 7:47 pm

Bermuda issued in 1980 a 50c stamp which is given by Stanley Gibbons “19th-century onion boat”. By looking on the net for info on the GOLDEN RULE I found the following:
“With its huge and growing popularity, by 1850s the Bermudians became known as Onions and Bermuda as the Onion Patch. By the end of the 19th century, the weekly trip by the ship SS TRINIDAD was carrying more than 30,000 boxes full of onions to the US to cater to the demands of American vegetable importers.”

https://www.miramarshipindex.nz gives a few ships under the name TRINIDAD of which two were in service at the end of the 19th century. The Cunard ship so far I could find has never been in Bermuda, while it looks on the funnel colour that the designer this ship has used for his design. The funnel of the 1884 built was black.

The other was built in 1884 by Laing James & Sons Ltd. on the Deptford yard for the Quebec SS Co. Ltd, London and she was regular used in the service between New York and Bermuda.

Built as a cargo-passenger ship under yard no 240.
04 October 1884 launched as the TRINIDAD.
Tonnage 2,162 gross, 1,390 net, dim. 82.3 (bpp) x 11.3 x 6.03m.
Powered by one 2-cyl steam engine manufactured by North Eastern Marine Engineering Co. Ltd.240 nhp, one propeller, speed>
Accommodation for a few passengers.
1884 Completed.

What is less well-remembered is that the Prince Edward Islands province had direct steamer service to New York for several years early in the twentieth century. The Quebec and Gulf Ports Steamship Line, later the Quebec Steamship Line, had run a service between Montreal, Quebec, and Pictou, stopping at Summerside, Charlottetown and Gaspe for several years. At the same time, the company had regular sailings between New York and Bermuda, a service that had begun in 1874 and continued for more than forty years. One of the vessels used on this route was the steamer TRINIDAD.

The TRINIDAD was built for the Quebec Steamship Company in 1884 at Deptford on the Wear River in northern England. She was 270 feet long and the 2100 ton ship operated primarily as a freight vessel with limited passenger accommodation. She had been built specifically for use on the crossing between New York and Bermuda but also traveled elsewhere in the West Indies. The run was profitable and nine years later the TRINIDAD was sent back to the Wear and was rebuilt in Sunderland. Forty feet were added to her length and tonnage increased to 2600 tons. A new engine was installed and the look of the vessel was significantly changed with the addition of second funnel. More importantly, cabins and saloons were overhauled and renovated and new accommodation added. She was now capable of carrying 170 first-class passengers.

The New York Times stated she looked like a miniature liner.
1893 Lengthened, tonnage 2,592 gross, length 94.5m. re-engined with one triple expansion steam engine 583 nhp, speed 12 knots.

In 1908, the tercentenary of Champlain’s voyage of Quebec the company began a summer service using the TRINIDAD to travel from New York to Quebec stopping at Halifax and Charlottetown. Following the stranding and loss of the CAMPANIA the TRINIDAD took over her duties on the subsidized Quebec to Pictou Service and the further use of the vessel to go to New York was suspended for the rest of the season although it resumed the following year.

A review describing the vessel appeared in the Quebec Chronicle in June 1909
She is] fitted up in the most modern style as a passenger steamer. Her salon, a handsomely furnished apartment is situated amidships, and has accommodation for nearly 200 passengers. Immediately forward of the salon is the ladies sitting room, most tastefully fitted up and furnished …[and aft], a cozy smoking room, where gentlemen can enjoy a quiet smoke of their favorite brand … while discussing topics of the day. There is also a music room in which both sexes can meet and listen to the music of a first-class piano … staterooms are lofty, well ventilated, and comfortably furnished. The passages to them are wide and lofty, being richly carpeted. On the upper or boat deck is a promenade extending nearly the full length of the steamer. This deck is covered with canvas awnings and is well supplied with chairs.
In the winter season the TRINIDAD returned to the Bermuda run which became increasingly popular and the ship turned from being mere transportation to a cruise experience. In 1911, for example, advertising notices appeared such as one in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle touting the Quebec cruise which covered 1500 miles over five days. “The voyage during the summer months is a veritable yachting trip and the rates of passage so low that it is brought within the reach of the most moderate income. “
In fact, there were great differences between the New York Service and the Boston Boat. The former was primarily a cruise line. Charlottetown was a port on the route rather than the terminus and the main business was the tourist. For those wishing to get from New York to Quebec there were much quicker rail connections. The TRINIDAD made the round trip only once every two weeks and only in the high summer season while the Plant Line had a regular weekly or semi-weekly service which began in the spring and extended into the fall. While the Plant Line Steamers did have a major cruise component it was still very much a shipping line. Some Islanders did travel to New York on the TRINIDAD but it never did have the same intimate connection with the Island as the Boston Boat.

In 1913 the Quebec Steamship Company became part of Canada Steamship Lines and the following year the Quebec to New York service was canceled.
.
During the Great War, the TRINIDAD was used to carry supplies across the Atlantic and between England and France. Prior to the United States entering the war in 1917 she was sold to A.W. Duckett & Co, in London not renamed.
The TRINIDAD was known to have traveled under a false name and neutral registry port. The ship was sold in 1917 and was torpedoed in March 1918 while traveling between Rouen and Liverpool and sank in the Irish Sea.

22 March 1918 on a voyage from Le Havre to Liverpool with a cargo of onions she was torpedoed by the U-101 in a position 12 miles East from Codling Light vessel, near the Irish coast
The total crew of 39 men was lost.

https://sailstrait.wordpress.com/2019/0 ... -TRINIDAD/
Bermuda 1981 £1 sg 434, scott?
Attachments
TRINIDAD after lengtening.png
1981 TRINIDAD Onion-shipping-19th-century.jpg

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