Name Ganges Acquired 1904 Fate Sunk 28 May 1917 Length 74 m | Owner Nourse Line Renamed Asters Launched 25 March 1882 Draft 6.86 m | |
Builder Osbourne, Graham & Company, Sunderland | ||
Ganges was the second Nourse Line ship to be named Ganges. The first Ganges was built in 1861 and wrecked in 1881. Ganges was a 1529-ton iron barque, built by Osbourne, Graham & Company of Sunderland and launched on 25 March 1882. She was 241 feet (73 m) long, 37.2 feet (11.3 m) wide and 22.5 feet (6.9 m) deep.
Ganges made three trips to Fiji, the first on 27 June 1885 carrying 523 Indian indentured labourers. She arrived next on 3 September 1899, carrying 464 Indian indentured labourers and finally on 21 June 1900, carrying 554 passengers. She also made voyages to the West Indies, arriving in Trinidad on 25 November 1890 carrying 568 passengers and arriving in Suriname on 23 April 1889.
She was sold to Norwegian owners in 1904 and renamed Asters. During World War I, she was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean on 28 May 1917 by the Imperial German Navy submarine SM UC-55 150 miles (240 km) northwest of the Isles of Scilly while on a voyage from Le Havre, France, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with a cargo of oil and wax. All on board Asters survived.