Norway Heritage logo
S/S Rollo (1), Wilson Line Main Page >>

BurdenBuiltShipowner or operator Dimensions
1,437 gross 1870 at Hull, England by C. & W. Earle Wilson Line, Hull, England 260ft x 32.3ft x 19ft 
 YearRemarks
 1870 Launched on Feb. 21st for the Wilson LineAtlantic Journey ID 4165
 1877 June 4. Capt. Pepper from Hull to ChristianiaAtlantic Journey ID 8482
 1879 New boilersAtlantic Journey ID 4166
 1879 lengthened to 274.7 feet, new tonnage: 1613 gross - 1217 under deck and 1057 netAtlantic Journey ID 4167
 1881 Christiania - Christiansand - Hull   
 1882 Feb. 26, run aground the small island of Bastø in Oslo fjord in thick snowfall, northbound. Repaired in HortenAtlantic Journey ID 4963
 1882 April 21. Capt. Pepper from Christiania to Hull with 708 emigrants. Cargo: 276,000kg wood pulp, 10,000kg clothes, 8,475kg butter, 6.200kg shoddy, 2,606liter beer, 2,300kg paper and moreAtlantic Journey ID 4969
 1882 Christiania - Christiansand - Hull   
 1882 Christiania - Christiansand - London   
 1883 Christiania - Christiansand - Hull   
 1884 Christiania - Christiansand - Hull   
 1884 Christiania - London   
 1885 Christiania - Christiansand - Hull   
 1885 June 19, Capt. Pepper from Christiania to Hull with emigrants. Cargo loaded in Christiania: 533,000kg wood pulp, 50,663kg iron, and 12,650kg paper, 11,300kg nails, butter, old metal, clothes, 1,959 liter beer, shoddy and timberAtlantic Journey ID 4962
 1886 Christiania - Christiansand - Hull   
 1887 April 15, Capt. Pepper from Christiania with 602 emigrants, cargo; 402.550-kilo wood pulp, butter, nails, clothes, fresh herring and more.Atlantic Journey ID 8439
 1887 Christiania - Christiansand - Hull   
 1888 Christiania - Christiansand - Hull   
 1889 March 12, Capt. Pepper from Christiania to Hull with 290 emigrants. Cargo: Wood, 11,852kg margarine, 44.000kg matches, 376,300kg wood pulp, 36,200kg paper and moreAtlantic Journey ID 4945
 1889 Christiania - Christiansand - Hull   
 1890 Christiania - Christiansand - Hull   
 1891 July 2, Capt. Chambers from Christiania to London via Christiansand and Harwich. Cargo: 470m³ timber, 120kg margarine, 85077kg tinned milk, 49500kg matches, wood pulp, paper and other woodwork.Atlantic Journey ID 8852
 1892 Bergen - Stavanger - Hull   
 1892 Trondheim - Christiansund - Aalesund - Hull   
 1892 Christiania - Christiansand - Hull   
 1896 Christiania - Christiansand - London   
 1897 Re-enginedAtlantic Journey ID 4168
 1897 Mar. 26 Capt. Crowbrick, route Kristiania - Hull, cargo: 50 Tdr fish oil, 128.000kg wood pulp and 52.000kg paperAtlantic Journey ID 4858
 1897 Bergen - Stavanger - Hull   
 1897 Kristiania - Kristiansand - Hull   
 1897 Kristiania - Kristiansand - London   
 1897 May 28, Capt. Crowbrick from Kristiania to Hull with passengers. Cargo 125 m³ timbers, 158.000kg wood pulp, 23.000kg sewing, 37.000kg paperAtlantic Journey ID 4922
 1897 Dec. 1897; fire onboard while loading in KristianiaAtlantic Journey ID 4828
 1899 Tr.heim - Kr.sund - Ålesund - Bergen - Stavanger - Hull   
 1900 Kristiania - Kristiansand - Hull   
 1908 Kristiania - Kristiansand - Hull   
 1909 Sept; sold to shipbreakers and scrapped at EinswardenAtlantic Journey ID 4169
The information listed above is not the complete record of the ship. The information was collected from a multitude of sources, and new information will be added as it emerges

Details: iron construction single screw steam Schooner, 2 decks, 4 bulkheads and 1 partial bulkhead. She had one funnel, two masts. Propulsion: compound engine with 2 cylinders of 38 & 76 in. diameter respectively, stroke 36 inches, 300 horsepower; new boilers in 1879; engine built by C. & W. giving a speed of 11.5 knots. As built, there was accommodation for 50-1st, 28-2nd and 498-steerage class passengers. Poop 172 feet long and forecastle 29 feet long. She appears to have been the sister ship of the Orlando

The following information (and picture of the Orlando) was printed in the Illustrated London News, April 2, 1870.

STEAMERS FOR SWEDEN AND NORWAY
The Orlando and Rollo are two fine new screw-steamers built to the order of Messrs. Thomas Wilson, Sons, and Co., steamship owners, of Hull, expressly for the passenger trade between Hull and Gothenburg. They will make the sea passage in forty hours, which will furnish the shortest and most direct communication with Sweden and Norway. Both these steamers are of the following dimensions: length, 260 ft.; breadth, 32 ft.; and depth, 19 ft; tonnage, by register, 1500 tons. Each vessel has five water-tight bulkheads and a long deck-house, covering the engines and boilers. The saloon and sleeping-berths are well arranged for the comfort of the passengers in the centre of the vessel, so as to avoid the motion of the seas as much as possible. The sleeping-berths are large and comfortable, and mostly for only two passengers in one state-room; but there are also family cabins and ladies' cabins, with every comfort and convenience . These cabins, being all on the upper deck, will have excellent ventilation. The accommodation is forty-two first-class passengers and thirty second-class passengers. The engines are compound, with all the modern improvements, surface condensing, and will work up to 1200-horse power. The vessels and engines were built by Messrs. C. and W. Earle, of Hull, who are building also two other vessels for Messrs. Wilson, suitable for the Suez Canal. These new vessels will increase Messrs. Wilson's fine fleet of steamers to twenty-nine, most of which are nearly new, with engines and boilers of an improved class. Two others are building much larger than the Orlando and the Rollo. In the trial trip of the Orlando, with a company of ladies and gentlemen invited by the owners, down the Humber and outside Spurn Head, the vessel attained a speed of twelve knots and a half an hour. The ease and grace of her movements, the comfort and elegance of her passenger accommodation, and the performance of her steam-engines, were much admired. Messrs. Wier and Co.'s atmospheric telegraph is fitted for steering and for steaming. By this apparatus the captain, while standing on the bridge, without uttering a word, or any action but the movement of a handle, is able to give orders to the man at the wheel or the engineer. By his message repeating itself before him he has instant assurance that his orders have reached their proper destination. This system works admirably, and is capable of useful extension to the lighting and signaling of ships. During the trip the party on board sat down to a bountiful and well-served luncheon. Mr. T.W. Palmer, who proposed success to the Orlando and the owners, said he had visited the Clyde, the Tyne, and the Tees, and had seen many of the finest vessels built on those rivers, but he had never seen a finer or better-fitted ship than the Orlando. He complimented the Messrs. Earle on having produced so fine a ship, and the Messrs. Wilson on this important addition to their fine fleet of ships, which he believed was the largest privately owned fleet of steam-ships in the world. [Illustrated London News, Aril 2, 1870 p. 350]

Emigrants leaving Gothenburg for Hull on the S/S Rollo (1)
Picture of the S/S Rollo
from an old postcard used in 1903. It shows emigrants leaving Gothenburg for Hull.
Support Norway Heritage: Purchase a copy

The Wilson line did not only offer conveyance of emigrants from Scandinavian countries to England. During the passenger season they also offered accommodation for the comfort of tourists, and arranged holiday tours to different parts of Norway. The accommodation was strictly first class in saloons and stateroom amidships, much different from that was offered to the comfort of the emigrants traveling steerage between decks.
Rollo (1), Wilson Line steamship
Rollo (1), Wilson Line steamship
Support Norway Heritage: Purchase a copy

Topics related to this ship in the NorwayHeritage community forums:
-ID 39 The Rollo

ROLLO

Emigrant Ship databases

Agents & Shipping lines
Shipping lines, Norwegian agents, authorizations, routes and fleets.

Emigrant ship Arrivals
Trond Austheim's database of emigrant ship arrivals around the world, 1870-1894.

Norwegian departures
100 Years of Emigrant Ships from Norway - indexed by year 1825-1925
Passenger lists
Norwegian Emigrants 1825-1875 Pre 1875 Norwegian emigrants, passenger lists
Images
Categories:
  >> Steamships
       arranged by shipping line
  >> Sailing ships
  >> Historic Documents
       & passenger lists
  >> The Voyage
  >> Ports - harbors
  >> Yards & Construction
  >> Miscellaneous
  >> Pioneers & Settlements
 
Images added during the last 14 days
You can add images of ships and other related motives by using the "Upload Image" link within the appropriate category.
Articles
A selection of articles dedicated to help you in your genealogy search for your Norwegian ancestors. Transcripts and pictures of historic documents in connection with the ships and emigration. Also including articles about Pioneers & Norwegian Settlements Around the World
Articles about selected ships ships and special events in their history. Descriptions of some of the great maritime disasters involving emigrant ships, like the wrecking of the steamer Atlantic of the White Star Line, sinking of the ocean liner Empress of Ireland and the Thingvalla line steamer Norge disaster. Check this section if you have an interest in shipwrecks.
This section contains articles describing the transatlantic voyage, the condition of the steerage accommodations and the experience of an ocean travel on an emigrant ship. You will find in-depth studies concerning the emigration process, statistics and facts, and information about the immigration processing centers line Castle Garden and Ellis Island.
Forum
10 last postings: