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The American Lloyd 's Register Essay

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From early 1852 to 1869 the Damariscotta ship was christened the North American and during its career as an American ship hailed from New York. Its owner or consignees were: J.W. Phillips (ca 1857 to 1858) Williams & Guion, (ca 1860 to 1867) and A. Jacquemot (ca 1868) . The ship’s career as a passenger and cargo carrier started with its use in the California Gold Rush. In all issues of the American Lloyd’s Register, it is described as built in 1851, not 1852 or 1853 as often informed. Probably this is the year its keel was laid. A quick search on the internet revealed that it also transported immigrants in the 1860s departing from Liverpool to New York.
Captain Collier is not associated with the North American. Collier’s North America was built in Boston in 1851 and had almost the same dimensions as the North American. In 1859 the Boston ship was owned by Nickerson & Company of Boston.
Similarity and contemporaneity of both ships account for the mixing up of identities. This is even more confusing when the 1866 and 1867 issues of the American Lloyd 's Register were checked: the Damariscotta ship was registered as North America, but the Boston ship had been removed from registers, probably sold or scuttled. It is conceivable that this was a temporary change of name as the name ‘North America’ carried some status with it. In reality, by looking up Lloyd’s registers for the next years, many different types of vessels from full-rigged ships to steamships appeared bearing this

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