Meander (1855)

Career
Name:	SS Meander
Owner:	James Moss & Co., Liverpool
Builder:	George Kelson Stothert & Co, Bristol
Laid down:	1854
Launched:	6 Jan 1855
Completed:	1856
Fate:	Chartered to the French Government, 1856
Career
Name:	SS Meandre
Operator:	French Government
Acquired:	1856
Fate:	Returned to James Moss & Co., 1856
Career
Name:	SS Meander
Namesake:	SS Meandre
Owner:	Bibby Line
Acquired:	1857
Fate:	Sold, 1868
Career
Name:	SS Baron Lambermont
Owner:	Cie Generale Maritime, Antwerp
Acquired:	1868
Fate:	Sold, 1877
Career
Name:	SS Orient
Owner:	E. Caillol et H. Saint-Pierre, Marseilles
Acquired:	1877
Fate:	Broken up, 1910
General characteristics
Class and type:	Passenger ship
Tonnage:	622 nrt, 974 grt (as built), 1023 grt (1885)
Length:	239 ft (73 m)
Beam:	27.66 ft (8.43 m)
Draft:	19.03 ft (5.80 m)
Installed power:	200 hp
Propulsion:	2 cyl. Oscillating Engine (Stotherts)
Speed:	8.0 knots
Capacity:	10 passengers 700 troops (as troop ship)

The SS Meander was an iron screw passenger steamship built for James Moss & Co. of Liverpool for the Moss Line.^[1] She was launched on 6 January 1855 by the Bristol yard of George Kelson Stothert & Co.^[2] She had two sisterships built at the same shipyard, the Scamander and Araxes.

History

Soon after completion, James Moss & Co. chartered the Meander with both her sisterships to the French Government for use as troopships in the Crimean War. She was renamed Meandre and returned after the Crimean War ended in February 1856.

She was purchased by Bibby Line the following year and reverted to her original name, although she was still referred to by the French and Lloyds Register as the Meandre. After a decade of service she was sold in 1868 to Cie Generale Maritime of Antwerp and renamed Baron Lambermont for operating out of Belgium. She again changed hands in 1877 when she was acquired by E. Caillol et H. Saint-Pierre of Marseilles and was renamed Orient.

Caillol & Saint-Pierre operated her on the Marseille to Corsica service carrying 10 passengers and 700 troops in the 'tween decks. She was refitted in 1885, when he engine was replaced with a compound engine by Fraissenet & Cie of Marseilles, increasing her tonnage to 1023 grt. This enabled her operation into the 20th century, but by late in her career she was relegated to a cargo ship, operating to Algeria. Meander was eventually broken up in Marseille in 1910.^[3]

She is subject of a print entitled "Launch of the HMS Meander, from the Clifton Works, Bristol, 1855", although she never served in the Royal Navy.

References

1. ^ Farr, Graham. Bristol Shipbuilding in the 19th Century. Bristol Branch of the Historical Association, University of Bristol, 1971 p20
2. ^ Red Duster.co.uk: Bibby Line. Retrieved on 2010-09-17.
3. ^ Armement Adolf Deppe Schepen voor en tijdens WW1: Ships before and during WW1. Retrieved on 2010-09-17.