MAILBOAT NAME: SS Nassau
PAST NAMES: not known
DIMENSIONS: 91′ long, 24 wide, 6.6 deep, 70 net tons, 100 gross tons, 80 hp, “Sc.” or screw ype of propeller, Official # 88124, capable of carrying 33 passengers at least
CONSTRUCTION: wood
YEAR BUILT: 1885 in New York
EARLY CAREER: not know, presumably coastal trade in US and inter-island in Bahamas
BAHAMAS CAREER: Served Harbour Island – Nassau, presumably other islands
OWNERS: John S. Darling, Nassau
CAPTAINS: William Ranger, in 1895
FATE: not known but not listed in the 1900, 1910, 1920 or any other Mercantile Navy Lists
NOTES: From Anne & Jim Lawlor’s “The Harbour Island Story,” MacMillan Caribbean, Oxford, 2008: “On a moonlit night in early May 1893, the SS Nassau, captained by William Ranger, steamed out of Nassau Harbour with 33 pleasure seekers for the round-trip fare of 6 shillings….” (p.249)
“The Harpers New Monthly Magazine of 1874 gives a glowing description of a steamship journey to the Bahamas, with an informative background history and suggestions on what to see while there. The writer includes a description of a trip to the North-Western Out Islands, stressing its safety:
The cruise to Harbour Island and Eleuthera is one of the most interesting within easy reach of Nassau. It can be made in a yacht or in many of the little schooners constantly plying to and fro;; keys are always in sight, and a lee can be made at any time; while one can return by way of Abaco.” (p.249)