S.S. Coconada (2)

S.S. Coconada (2) was built by Barclay Curle & Company Glasgow; Propulsion: steam, triple expansion, 3300 ihp, 14 knots, twin screw. Launched: Friday, 23/09/1910; Tonnage: 3958 grt; Length: 390.5 feet; Breadth: 50.2 feet.

Originally owned by the British India Steam Navigation Company, the Coconada along with her sister Chilka were built for the Coromandel Coast Rangoon service. She became an Indian Expeditionary Force Transport from August of 1914 to July of 1916 in the main trooping the Meeruts Karachi - Marseilles and Karachi - Suez. In May of 1917 she came under the Liner Requistion Scheme and served as an Expeditionary Force Transport from November 1918 until November 1919 where she spent sometime in the Pacific sailing from Vancouver to Hong Kong via Japan. She was sold on the 1st of September 1933 to the Scinda Steam Navigation Company of Bombay and renamed Jaladurga. She was requisitioned once more for war duties in February of 1941 and at War's end was transferred to the Singapore - Bangkok trades, it was whilst on these trades that she sank in Bombay. She was successfully raised and repaired and continued on her normal services before being finally called to the colours once more when she carried Indian trorops to Korea in 1953. She was finally sold for scrap in 1954 and work commenced at Bombay in the following year after an incredible 44 years of service. Merchant Navy Officers

Lowry refers to the ship in his novel Under The Volcano when the Consul reminds his brother Hugh that; "I have perhaps acted as a father: but you were only an infant then, and and seasick, upon the P. and O., the erratic Cocanada." (Pg. 83) and “When you were an infant, ' the Consul's teeth chattered. 'On the P. & O. boat coming back from India.. The old Cocanada." (Pg. 178).

 Frederick Asals suggests that Lowry may have been attracted by the canada’ in ‘Cocanada’.(The Making of Malcolm Lowry's 'Under the Volcano'. Pg. 178). British India Steam Navigation Company were part of the P&O Lines hence Lowry's reference to the company. It is possible that Lowry noted the ship on his voyage to the Far East in 1927. There is no record that the ship sailed on the India to England service as indicated by the Consul's remarks.

S.S. Leeway

The S.S. Leeway was launched on 03/03/1897 originally named SS Sahara built by Alexander Stephen & Sons Glasgow; Ship Type: Cargo Vessel, Tonnage: 4089 grt, Length: 370.1 feet (BP), Breadth: 48 feet. Propulsion: Steam, triple expansion, single screw. The ship was renamed several times; 1920 Marshal French, 1922 Leeway, 1925 Charterhurst and finally Bianca Bianchi in 1927. The ship had several owners: Glasgow Nav. Co. (Maclay & McIntyre), Glasgow, 1915 Houlder, Middleton & Co., London, 1919 Saint David's SN Co., Cardiff, 1922 St. Mary SS Co., Cardiff, 1925 Charter Shipping Co., Cardiff 1927 G.R.Bianchi, Genoa. The ship was scrapped on 17/07/1928.

Lowry refers to the ship in his novel Ultramarine; "One of those bloody St Mary Axe Boats; the Leeway is knocking around here. Only its wings aren't clipped." (Pg. 33), "Then we were standing on the wharf, looking up at the soaring stern of the S.S. Leeway from Swansea which had docked forward of the Martensen." (Pg. 101); "He spat; the spittle landed on the "Y" of Leeway and dribbled down slowly into the harbour." (Pg. 102).

Lowry's reference to the ship is probably due to members of the crew of Pyrrhus, on which Lowry sailed to the Far East, being familiar with South Wales where the Leeway had been based and the fact that the former owners St. Mary SS Co. were being investigated by the authorities for the loss of one of their ships the SS Eastway co-owned with Mr. Watkin James Williams. (See St Mary Axe Boats).

St Mary Axe Boats

Lowry uses the phrase "St Mary Axe Boats" in his novel Ultramarine; "One of those bloody St Mary Axe Boats; the Leeway is knocking around here. Only its wings aren't clipped." (Pg. 33).

Lowry's seems to be using a slang/colloquial phrase perhaps used by sailors to refer to the Baltic Exchange which was located at 30 St Mary Axe in London.

The Baltic Exchange is the world's only independent source of maritime market information for the trading and settlement of physical and derivative contracts. Read more on Wikipedia. 

Lowry's reference may also have an ironic link in that the Leeway had been part owned by the St Mary's Steam Ship Co. Lowry's reference to the ship is probably due to members of the crew of Pyrrhus, on which Lowry sailed to the Far East, being familiar with South Wales where the Leeway had been based and the fact that the former owners St. Mary SS Co. were being investigated by the authorities for the loss of one of their ships the SS Eastway co-owned with Mr. Watkin James Williams. The case was reported in the Times and a full report can be read here.

Lowry's reference may refer to the idea that the Leeway maybe being set up to be "lost" as an insurance scam though this was not a conclusion of the inquiry into the loss of the Eastway. Lowry may have heard of  "death ships" - any boat so decrepit that it is worth more to its owners over-insured and sunk than it would be worth afloat. Lowry later would become familiar with B.Traven's novel The Death Ship, about such ships, originally published in 1926 but not translated into English until 1934 when Lowry probably read the novel as his German was poor.

MV British Motorist

MV British Motorist was a 6,891 ton tanker, built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Newcastle upon Tyne in 1924 for the British Tanker Company.

While under charter to the merchant navy, she was in port in Darwin, Australia when on 19 February 1942, she was hit by two bombs during the Japanese air raid on Darwin and was sunk. Read more

Lowry refers to the ship in his incomplete novel La Morida: "it were eponymous, and certainly not so unimaginative as the beautiful horrible romantic old freighter he'd seen in the Indian Ocean, the British Motorist — the ship has a cargo of rolls of rusty barbed wire. Ugly ships. Possibly she'd done yeoman service in the war. Had oil-tankers got souls? Could their captain love these diesel-engined monstrosities to the extent, like his grandfather, of going down with them?" Pg 188

We can assume that Lowry saw the MV British Motorist on his Far East voyage in 1927 while sailing across the Indian Ocean.

Belfast Fishing Smack

A smack was a traditional fishing boat used off the coast of England and the Atlantic coast of America for most of the 19th century, and even in small numbers up to the Second World War. It was originally a cutter rigged sailing boat until about 1865, when smacks had become so large that cutter main booms were unhandy. From then on, cutters were lengthened and re-rigged and new ketch-rigged smacks were built, but boats varied from port to port. Some boats had a topsail on the mizzen mast, while others had a bowsprit carrying a jib. Large numbers of these boats could be seen operating in fleets from places such as Brixham, Grimsby and Lowestoft. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to a smack on the River Mersey in his novel Ultramarine; "A dirty Belfast fishing smack , very low in this tide and under a modest spread of brown sail, suddenly careens as she slips through the lapping choppiness of the viscuous Mersey, her patched brown sail bellying slightly out to leeward, leaning, leaning, till her curved gunwale is almost under. 'Oh, look, Dana look, its going right over, its going to capsize, look!' 'Good lord, no,' he gently reassures her with the pressure of his arm. 'It's intended to do that...' But what does anything matter except their love? The fishing smack continues merrily and confidently upon her course down the Mersey." (Pg. 131)

Hall Line Shed, Birkenhead

The Hall Line shed stood on the Wallasey side of the Great Float in Birkenhead Docks near to the Duke Street swing bridge.

Robert Alexander started shipowning in the 1850s and in 1868 founded the Sun Shipping Co., Liverpool which operated cargo and passenger services. The ships were named _____HALL, the company became known as the Hall Line, and in 1899 the name was officially changed to Hall Line Ltd. The company was purchased in 1901 by John Ellerman and continued operating as part of the Ellerman Group as Ellerman's Hall Line. Below is a photograph of a Hall Line ship The City Of Cairo built in 1915 and which would have been a familiar sight at the Hall Line sheds in Birkenhead during the 1920's

Lowry refers to the sheds in his novel Ultramarine; "And there had been nothing that mattered, save only themselves and the blue sky as they scampered like children past the Hall Line shed to the harbour wall just in time to see the Norwegian tramp steamer Oxenstjerna pass through the gate of the inner dock, while a scratch four paused on their oars watching her entrance steadfastly, their striped singlets dancing in the afternoon sunlight. (Pg. 28).

Cammell Laird

The company was founded by William Laird, who had established the Birkenhead Iron Works in 1824, when he was joined by his son, John Laird in 1828: their first ship was an iron barge. The company soon became pre-eminent in the manufacture of iron ships and made major advances in propulsion.


In 1903 the businesses of Messrs. Cammell and Laird merged to create a company at the forefront of shipbuilding. Johnson Cammell & Co. had been founded by Charles Cammell and Henry and Thomas Johnson: it made, amongst many other metal products, iron wheels and rails for Britain's railways and was based in Sheffield. Between 1829 and 1947, over 1,100 vessels of all kinds were launched from the Cammell Laird slipways into the River Mersey. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to the company in a list of signs on board the ship Oedipus Tyrannus in his novel Ultramarine; "Cammell Laird Shipbuilding Company, Birkenhead" (Pg. 54).

Lowry also mentions the shipbuilders in his poem 'Freighter 1940' (Collected Poetry Pg. 143);

A freighter builds in Birkenhead where rain
Falls in labourers' eyes at sunset. Then 
She's launched! Her iron sides strain as merchants gaze;
A cheer swoops down into titanic ways.

PS Empress Queen

P.S. Empress Queen launched 4-3-1897 Gross Tonnage 1,240. 23 Length (OA) 372ft.  Pass Acc 1st Class 1509. 3rd Class 485 Trial speed 21:75 knots. Named in honour of Queen Victoria’s jubilee.

P.S. Empress Queen  was the largest and fastest paddle steamer built for cross-Channel service. She was the first Isle of Man Steam Packet Company ship to be fitted with wireless and her speed was such that she recorded a voyage from the Rock Light, New Brighton to Douglas Head in 2 hours and 57 minutes. However she was to be the last paddle steamer ordered from a shipyard by the Steam Packet Co She set a trend in design for all. Subsequent Steam Packet Company ships by being fitted with a bow rudder to increase manoeuvrability.

In World War 1 being requisitioned by the Admiralty she served as a troop ship ferrying soldiers between Southampton and Le Havre This beautiful ship met her end on 12-1-1916 when she ran aground in thick fog on the Bembridge Ledge, Isle of Wight, whilst carrying 1300 troops returning to England on leave, attendant destroyers took off the troops safely but an ensuing gale smashed the ship beyond salvage.

In a letter dated 27th July 1912 to Lowry, Florence Bell mentions seeing the PS Empress Queen in the River Mersey from the deck of the RMS Teutonic.

SS Tynwald (III)

SS Tynwald (III) No. 95755, was an iron packet steamer which served with the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, and was the third vessel in the Company to bear the name.

Built by Fairfield at Govan in 1891, Tynwald is of interest as she represented another move forward by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company as she was the first vessel fitted with a triple-expansion engine. Also for the first time in the Company's history, the builders specification included a full installation of electric lighting. She had a certificate for 679 first class passengers and 225 third, a total of 904 in all, and a crew of 50. Read more on Wikipedia

Florence Bell refers to this ship in a letter to Lowry dated 27th July 1912 - "This is something like "Tynwalditis"" - a reference to being sea sick on the boat possibly when she went on holiday with the Lowry family to the Isle of Man in 1910.

Matsuye Maru

Matsuye Maru was built 1921 in Yokohama 7061 grt. for Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), Tokyo. Torpedoed and sunk by the U.S. submarine USS Harder on April 17th, 1944, 350 miles S.W. of Guam Island.

Lowry refers to the ship in Chapter 3 of his novel Ultramarine; "A stern rose up above us: Matsuye Maru - Osaka. It was an old passenger steamer with raking masts and one black smokestack with an O on it in white." (Pg. 83).

The Strait Times June 11th 1927 confirms that Pyrrhus and Matsuye Maru were in port together as seen in the shipping announcements for that day:

To date no photograph of the ship is available. Below is a postcard issued by Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) of their ship Atsuta Maru - a ship of similar size and vintage as Matsuye Maru:

British India Boat

British India Steam Navigation Company was formed in 1856 as the Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company. Under the hand of Lord Inchcape (James Mackay) who had become chairman in 1913, the company became part of the P&O group of companies in 1914 through a complex amalgamation, but continued with its own identity and organisation for another nearly 60 years until 1972, when it was entirely absorbed into P&O.

As one of the largest shipowners of all time, the company owned more than 500 ships and managed 150 more for other owners. At its height in 1922, BI had more than 160 ships in the fleet, many built on Clydeside, Scotland. The main shipping routes of the line were: Britain to India, Australia, Kenya, Tanganyika. The company ran services from India to Pakistan, Ceylon, Bay of Bengal, Singapore, Malaya, Java, Thailand, Japan, Persian Gulf, East Africa and South Africa. BI had a long history of service to the British and Indian governments through trooping and other military contracts.

Lowry refers to the company in his novel Ultramarine; "Outside, I found the crowd watching a ship come into the harbour. "P.& O. boat over there" - these comments provoke an argument over whether it is a P.& O. boat or a "British India boat". (Pg. 79).

P&O Boat

The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which is usually known as P&O, is a British shipping and logistics company which was founded in 1837. Mail contracts were the basis of P&O's prosperity until the Second World War, but the company also became a major commercial shipping line and passenger liner operator. In 1914, it took over the British India Steam Navigation Company, which was then the largest British shipping line, owning 131 steamers. In 1918, it gained a controlling interest in the Orient Line, its partner in the England- Australia mail route.Further acquisitions followed and the fleet reached a peak of almost 500 ships in the mid 1920s. In 1920, the company also established a bank, P&O Bank, that it sold in 1927. At this time it established a commercial relationship with Spinney's of Haifa, that developed into a major regional high-end grocery store chain, which eventually provided shipping services access to much of the Middle East. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to the company in his novel Ultramarine; "Outside, I found the crowd watching a ship come into the harbour. "P.& O. boat over there" - these comments provoke an argument over whether it is a P.& O. boat or a "British India boat". (Pg. 79) and "another dispute about a P.& O. boat.." (Pg.110).

Petropavlovsk

The Petropavlovsk was the lead ship of the Petropavlovsk class of pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy. She displaced 11,854 long tons (12,044 t) at full load and was 369 feet (112.5 m) long overall, and mounted a main battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns in two twin turrets. Petropavlovsk participated in the Boxer Rebellion, and during the Russo-Japanese War was the flagship of the First Pacific Squadron, taking part in battles against the Imperial Japanese Navy. On 31 March 1904, the battleship was sunk after striking two mines near Port Arthur. 652 men and 27 officers died, including the Fleet Admiral Stepan Makarov and renowned war artist Vasily Vereshchagin. The loss of Petropavlovsk and Makarov greatly hindered the Russians in the war.


Lowry mentions 2 famous warships docked in Dairen in Chapter 3 of Ultramarine which would have been impossible for Dana to have seen including the Petropavlovsk ; "We came to another wharf, passing slowly other great ships: Petropalovsk, Erzherzog, Franz Ferdinand -" (Pg.84).A rare exception to Lowry's usually accurate references without an immediate explanation other than she sank near Dairen.

Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand

SMS Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand was an Austro-Hungarian Radetzky class pre-dreadnought battleship commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy on 5 June 1910. She was named after Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The first ship of her class to be built, she preceded Radetzky by more than six months. Her armament included four 30.5 cm (12 in) guns in two twin turrets, and eight 24 cm (9.4 in) guns in four twin turrets.

She participated in an international naval protest of the Balkan Wars in 1913, during which she helped enforce a blockade of Montenegro. She was also one of the first ships to deploy seaplanes for military use. During World War I, she saw limited service in the 2nd Division of the 1st Battle Squadron, including mobilization to assist the escape of the German ships SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau and the bombardment of Ancona in 1915. At the end of the war, she was ceded to Italy as a war prize and was eventually scrapped in 1926.

Lowry mentions 2 famous warships docked in Dairen in Chapter 3 of Ultramarine which would have been impossible for Dana to have seen including the SMS Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand ; "We came to another wharf, passing slowly other great ships: Petropalovsk, Erzherzog, Franz Ferdinand -" (Pg.84).A rare exception to Lowry's usually accurate references without an immediate explanation.

RMS Teutonic

In the later part of the 1880’s, White Star Line struck a deal with the British Government to help fund the construction of two new ships. The deal was that the Government would help to fund them in return for in time of war the ships being available to be and designed to be easily converted into armed merchant cruisers. The first of these ships completed was RMS Teutonic, followed by a sister ship RMS Majestic.

Teutonic, shipbuilder’s yard number 208, was launched on 19th January 1889 at Harland and Wolff, Belfast. As well as being the first passenger ship designed to be easily converted in to an armed merchant cruiser, she was also White Star’s first twin screw (two propellers) ship and the first to completely abandon sails. Teutonic departed Liverpool for her maiden voyage to New York on Wednesday 7th August 1889. In May 1911, Teutonic was transferred from the Britain to America, Southampton-New York Service to the Britain to Canada, Liverpool- Montréal service. She made her first voyage on this service on 13th May. Teutonic was laid up at Cowes Roads, Isle of White, UK, and was then broken up for scrap at Emden, Germany in 1921.

Florence Melita Bell - Lowry's nanny - sailed out of Liverpool in April 1912 as a steward aboard the RMS Teutonic en route to Montreal. She appears to have only made one return voyage on the ship as she wrote to Lowry and his brother Russell that the she didn't like the sea. Perhaps the Titanic disaster in April 1912 disturbed her. (Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pg. 10)

West Hardaway

West Henshaw

Lowry originally used the name of the ship in an early short story 'On Board the West Hardaway' which was an based on his 1927 voyage to the Far East. The ship re-appears in his first novel Ultramarine; "He watched the oil tanker come right in— she was an American— West Hardaway, Portland, Ore." (Pg. 152)

The West Hardaway was a 5,702 tons steam ship built in March 1919 by Columbia River Shipbuilding Corp, Portland for US Maritime Commission, Washington DC, later laid up as part of the reserve fleet. Owned by Isthmian SS Co, New York during WW2. Sunk by U-502 (Jürgen von Rosenstiel) in 1942 en route Baltimore, Maryland - Hampton Roads - Trinidad - Table Bay - Suez with 7000 tons of war supplies and coal.

At 20.15 hours on 15 Jun, 1942, the unescorted West Hardaway (Master Karl W. Jaenicke) was attacked with a spread of three torpedoes from U-502 while steaming on a zigzag course at 6 knots about 30 miles west of Grenada. One torpedo passed ahead, another astern and the third struck on starboard bow in the #1 hold. Distress signals were sent and the gunners fired five shots at a "slick". The ten officers, 27 crewmen and 13 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, four 20mm and two .30cal guns) abandoned ship in four lifeboats and four rafts, but after 20 minutes the gun crew, the second mate and two crewmen reboarded the vessel. The gunners fired another round at the "slick", but the ship was then hit in the #2 hold by another torpedo and sank about one hour later. All hands survived and made landfall on 17 June at Margarita Island, Venezuela and were three days later landed at Trinidad by the Venezuelan steam merchant. Uboat.net

Note: West Henshaw - same design as West Hardaway but built at Duthie & Co., J. F.Seattle WA.

Jefferson - Seattle

Lowry refers to a US ship in his first novel Ultramarine when Dana Hilliot is walking around the wharves of Dairen; "A second receding stern loomed up before us. Jefferson - Seattle."  An obscene monster, with ashes pouring out of her side." (Pg. 84) and "They were American. Passengers? Yes, obviously - off the Jefferson.(Pg. 110).

Lowry is possibly referring to the Jefferson Myers. A cargo steamer built 1920 7582 grt. Built by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. Ltd. (Bethlehem Steel.Named SS Hannawa owned by US Government 1920-1928. According to Wreck Ships site sold to States Steamship Co. (States Line), San Francisco. Jordan has ship owned by Pacific Atlantic Ship Company in 1939 based in Portland Oregon. Foundered 22/11/1957. By coincidence there was a Jefferson built for Alaska Steamship Company in 1904 by E. W. Heath, Tacoma. Scrapped in Seattle in 1925.

However, Lowry may have noted the name of an Eastern Steamship Company ship while on his 1928 trip to America as the ship is mentioned in the company's brochure for that year and fits the description of having passengers on page 110:

Eleven Coastwise Services - Boston-New York Boston-Bangor Boston-Portland Boston-St. John,N.B. New York-Yarmouth New York-Portland New York-Richmond New York-Norfolk, From July 1928; includes rates and deck plans of Boston/New York, Belfast/Camden, Governor Dingley, Prince Arthur, Evangeline, North Land, George Washington, Hamilton/Jefferson, Yarmouth and Prince George

S.S. Peleus

"Yis, I was in a typhoon once, in an empty ship, the Peleus it was. She was a proper old bastard, the Peleus, and no frige on her: an icebox, you know. And roll— by crimes we nearly rolled the sticks out of her going across the Western ..." (Ultramarine Pg. 174)

Lowry is most likely referring to a ship sailed by the Blue Funnel Line. Peleus (1) was built in 1901 by Workman, Clark & Co. Ltd. at Belfast with a tonnage of 7441grt, a length of 454ft 8in, a beam of 54ft 1in and a service speed of 10 knots. The first of a new class of four larger ships she started her career badly when she stuck on the ways when she was launched on 23rd February 1901 and it was week before she she completed her launch. On 21st September 1915 she collided with the Marchioness and the tug Flying Wizard near Greenock. After thirty years of service she was sold to Madrigal & Co. of Manila, renamed Perseus and two years later was broken up at Osaka in Japan.

It must be noted that there was another ship with same name - S.S. Peleus was a steam merchant ship built in 1928 by Gray and Company of West Hartlepool. Originally named Egglestone, she was acquired by the Nereus Steam Navigation company later that year and renamed after Pēleús (Greek: Πηλεύς), the mythical King of Aegina, and father of Achilles. She had an uneventful career in peacetime, and later during the Second World War: Then she worked under charter for the British government and operated in the South Atlantic, until her loss in March 1944. Read more on Wikipedia

S.S. Wolfsburg

The Wolfsburg is a ship on which the character Hans Popplereuter, a German sailor is sailing on in Lowry's novel Ultramarine. 


The Wolfsburg 6201grt. was launched in 1916. In 1919, surrendered to Britain as war reparations, 1920 sold to Hogarth Shipping Co, renamed Baron Lovat, 1924 repurchased by Hansa Line.

In 1940, the British cruiser HMS Berwick stopped the Wolfsburg, which was disguised as Norwegian ship Aust, north of Iceland. Wolfsburg was scuttled by her crew of 54, who were all subsequently rescued by Berwick. Berwick sank Wolfsburg by gunfire before departure.

"I am on the Wolfsburg" (Pg. 83); "That is the Wolfsburg." The German pointed. "So". I looked at a silhouette, with a dancing reflection of mast lights in the water." (Pg. 83) "Well what do you say you let the Wolfsburg look after herself for the time being and come into the town?" (Pg. 83); "The Wolfsburg is a tramp ship, though". (Pg. 83); "There was a sustained bass roar in reply, and the Wolfsburg, with her black hull and one large black smokestack, glided by, butting the translucent silver of the bay." (Pg. 152)

D/S Hilda

Delivered in Aug.-1925 from Trondhjems mek. Verksted A/S, Trondheim as Hilda (189) to A/S Djerv (Bachke & Co.), Trondheim. 1236 gt, 670 net, 1875 tdwt, 237' (loa) x 36' 4" x 16' 8", Triple exp. steam engine, 690 ihp.Owner: A/S Djerv Manager: Bachke & Co., Trondheim. Hilda was bombed and sunk by British aircraft on Oct. 21-1941, while in a German convoy, on a voyage from Rotterdam to Gothenburg with a cargo of coal. No casualties.

Lowry refers to the ship in his novel Ultramarine; "Let me tell you this when I was in Belawandelli, it was on a Norwegian bastard out of Trondheim, the Hilda—" (Pg. 128).