Bahamian-registered sailing craft 1935 from British Mercantile list

by Eric Wiberg

Here is a list of all 100+ sailing vessels registerd to Nassau, N.P., Bahamas in 1935. The comprehensive list is some 300+ pages long. It is titled “Alphabetcial List of British Registered Sailing Vessels” for 1935.

It is in 3 seperate PDFs available for free in digital format thanks to Memborial University in Nova Scotia, Canada. This particular document is at the end of much larger (2,000-page) list of all “Steam” vessels under British registry at the time… I have gone through the sailing vessel portion and pulled over 100 vessels, some of them trading schooners, others pleasure craft. The taks of identifying steam vessels (more likely to be mailboats) is in the future.

What is interesting is the full names of the owners, the high concentration of vessels owned on islands such as Acklins, Ragged, Long Island, Bimini, and of course the names of the vessels themselves. Also some individuals own several vessels and a number of them are owned by women.

The list includes Offical Number / Name of Ship and Port of Registry / Rig / Where and When Built / Itnerational Code Signal (Visual) [call sign] / Registered Tonnage / Owner, or Part Owner, and Manager (if recorded).

For the sake of simplicity, in this initial draft list I will only provide the vessel name, owner and owner’s hometown. If readers express an interest in or knowledge about specfici vessels, I can dig deeper:

  1. ASTARTE D., Joshua Darling, Acklins
  2. ATLANTIC B., Otis Benegy, Acklins
  3. BALDWIN, Melvin E. Moxey, Ragged
  4. BLANCH EVA, Uriah T. Knowles, Simms Long Island
  5. BRIGHT EYES, Benjamin Bethell, Williams Town, Little Exuma
  6. C.E.M.L., Granville Lockhart, Ragged
  7. CAIRO, Abraham Michael, Matthew Town, Inagua
  8. CITY TRAIN, Joshua R. Darling, Acklins
  9. COBBESSECEONTEE, Horace A. Wilson, Ragged
  10. COMFORT J., Maxwell Johnson, Chester’s, Acklins
  11. DAUNTLESS, John W. Roberts, Nassau
  12. DEFENCE, John A. Levarity, Bimini
  13. DELIGHTFUL, Castell R. Hanna, Acklins
  14. GO ON, Rev. William W. Maycock, Ragged
  15. EMPHATIC, Albert E. A. Smith, Nassau
  16. ENA K., Ena K. Company Limited, Nassau
  17. EUREKA, Mrs. Leonora A. Griffin, Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera
  18. EVA W., Prince A. Saunders, Moss Town, Exuma
  19. F. A. MARIE, Allan H. Kelly, Nassau
  20. FANNIE E. PRESCOTT, Daniel S. D. Moseley, Nassau
  21. FOREST BIRD, Didymus Smith, North End, Long Island
  22. G. J. WISDOM, Jonathan J. Lockhard, Ragged
  23. GALVANIC A., George Tucker, Nassau
  24. HERSHAL MONARCH, Herschal W. Whylly, Long Cay
  25. HOME COMFORT, Henry Martin, Mastic Point, Andros
  26. HURON A., John Albury, Marsh Harbour, Abaco
  27. IDA E. MOORE, Rufus H. Ingraham, Nassau
  28. INFLEXIBLE, Harman B. Roberts, Nassau
  29. IVA EULAH, John S. Maycock, Ragged
  30. J. H. L., John Lockhart, Ragged
  31. JOAN MARIE, Trading Company Limited, Nassau
  32. JOINT HEIR, Rev. William W. Maycock, Ragged
  33. JOSEPH W. PINDER, Joseph F. Kemp, Nassau
  34. KETHRONA, Randal Saunders, Bimini
  35. LADY HENNESSY, William H. H. Maura, Nassau
  36. LADY MAXINE, James R. D. Moss, Crooked
  37. LAURA LOUISE, William D. Weech Jr., Bimini
  38. LILLIAN O., Oswald A. Nottage, Acklins
  39. LILLY SMITH, Bruce S. Smith, North End, Long Island
  40. LINDOE, Lerman B. Lowe, Nassau
  41. LOUISE F., Carib Shipping Company Limited, Nassau
  42. MANOLA, Lewis P. Hall, Rock Sound, Eleuthera
  43. MARCO I, Sir Roland T. Symonette, Nassau (ex-VALENTINNA, carried mail)
  44. MARIE H., James A. Sands, Nassau
  45. MARIETTA, William Hilton, Nassau
  46. MARMADUKE, David A. M. Smith, Nassau
  47. MARY SANDS, Horatio Newbold, Bimini
  48. MASCOT, William H. H. Maura, Nassau
  49. MERLIN F., Frederick J. Smith, Nassau
  50. MIDINETTE, John N. Albury, Nassau
  51. MONOMA, Henry S. Black, Nassau
  52. MONA ADEL, John N. Albury, Nassau
  53. MRS. MAYCOCK, Nehemiah Maycock, Ragged
  54. NASSUVIAN, Mrs. Gladys D. Johnson, Nassau
  55. NELLY B. NORA, Dionisio J. DeGregory, Nassau
  56. NONESUCH, Mrs. Mary Jane Black, Mayaguana
  57. PATRICIA K., Kelly’s Limited, Nassau
  58. PETREL, Charles R. Arteaga, Nassau
  59. PETTEE, William T. Pettee, Harbour Island (Capt. Pettee skippered the ENA K.)
  60. PIECES OF EIGHT, Harold L. Albury, Harbour Island, Eleuthera
  61. R. E. C., Richard E. Cartwright, Deadman’s Cay, Long Island
  62. REAPER S., Curtis T. Malone, Nassau
  63. RECEIVE, George Cooper, Forbes Hill, Exuma
  64. REGULATOR D., Jophus Darling, Chester, Acklins
  65. RENOWN, James R. C. Young, Nassau
  66. REPEL, Horace A. Wilson, Ragged
  67. RESCUER, James K. A. Kelly, Nassau
  68. RETURN, James E. Seymour, Nassau
  69. RIGHT AWAY D., Abraham Darling, Chester, Acklins
  70. ROSALIE C., George Cooper, Forbes Hill, Exuma
  71. ROSEBUD MAY, Richard A. Albury, Great Guana Cay, Abaco
  72. RUTHIE MELROSE, Wilbert B. Griffin, Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera
  73. SAALE, Alonzo F. Hepburn, Ragged
  74. SAY I., Thomas H. Dames, Pure Gold, Andros
  75. SEARCHER, Thomas H. Dames, Pure Gold, Andros
  76. SHOLKA R., W. W. Richardson, Inagua
  77. SNUG, Douglas E. Hawkins, Nassau
  78. SPANGLE, James Brown, Mayaguana
  79. STRUGGLE, David W. Pinder, Eight Mile Rock, Grand Bahama
  80. SUCCEED M., Isaac Monroe, Ragged
  81. TEMPTER, Lorenzo C. Brice, Nassau
  82. TUNA FISH, James T. Farrington, Nassau
  83. VERA H., Richard N. Holbert, Nassau (ex-LORNA, ex-ANTELOPE)
  84. WATER BIRD, Harry B. Trew, Nicolls Town, Andros
  85. WHISPER, William Heastie, Spring Point, Acklins
  86. YOJANNA, William F. Nuly, Nassau

At the end of the listings the “Foreign Agencies” for Nassau was listed as Robert H. Curry & Co.

SOURCE: The references are Digital Archives Initiative Maritime History Archive – Mercantile Navy list and Maritime directory, at the following website:

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/mha_mercant&CISOPTR=17518&REC=20