An rare photo of the New Northland initiating cruise services to Miami for the Clarke Steamship Company. The caption reads:
Clarke’s eight-month-old s.s. New Northland arriving at Palm Beach on January 10,
1927, to begin the first program of weekly cruises ever offered from Florida”
Source: http://clarkesteamship.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/chapter-4.pdf
MAILBOAT NAME: SS New Northland
PAST NAMES: none
DIMENSIONS: 3,445-tons, 302′ LOA, 47′ beam, 24.5′ depth, draft 17′, 2,000 tons deadweight,
CONSTRUCTION: Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd of Newcastle upon Tyne
YEAR BUILT: 1926
EARLY CAREER: from Gulf of St. Lawrence ports and Newfoundland, Canada up to 1927 then from 1931 to 1934. Not sure if she returned to Canada after 1939, presumably. She was laid up for at least 2 years between southern deployments.
BAHAMAS CAREER: Miami-Nassau run 1927-1931, and then 1935-1939
CAPTAINS: not known
FATE: not known
OWNERS:
Kevin Griffin writes; “An excerpt from my upcoming book, “St Lawrence Saga: The Clarke Steamship Story” follows below. Clarke operated the 3,445-ton New Northland between Miami and Nassau in 1927-31 and again in 1935-39, plus the much smaller 640-ton Jean Brillant in 1942-46. Their 888-ton North Gaspé and 1,205-ton North Shore also operated between West Palm Beach and Nassau for the West India Fruit & Steamship Company in 1946-48.”
He continues: “There is provision for 142 first-class passengers, 76 third-class passengers, and a crew of 58 – a full complement, that is, of 276 – and the accommodation has been very carefully designed for the St Lawrence service in which the vessel will be engaged. Nearly the whole of the upper deck is devoted to first class passengers in cabins which leave very little to be desired in
respect of either comfort or artistic beauty.
Two-thirds of the passengers are provided for in large cabins, none of
which has a less area than 108 sq ft. Forty-five of the rooms are two berth
cabins, while none of the remainder contains more than three
berths. In twenty-six, cot beds are fitted, and adjoining twelve are
bathrooms. The latter rooms are cabins de luxe and are in pairs in
different styles of internal decoration with furniture to match. They
have dressing tables and easy chairs.”