- See also
- References
- External links
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}{{Infobox ship image| Ship image = | Ship caption =
}}{{Infobox ship career | Hide header = no | Ship country = United Kingdom | United Kingdom|civil}} | Ship name = Elbe | Ship owner = Nourse Line | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Russel & Co | Ship original cost = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = July 1887 | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = | Ship decommissioned = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship renamed = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship honours = | Ship captured = | Ship fate = Sold, Dec. 1907 | Ship status = | Ship notes =
}}{{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = Iron-hulled sailing ship | Ship tons burthen = 1,693 tons | 257|ft|abbr=on}} | 38.2|ft|abbr=on}} | 23.1|ft|abbr=on}} | Ship draft = | Ship hold depth = | Ship propulsion = | Ship sail plan = Three masts | Ship complement = | Ship armament = | Ship notes =
}} | Elbe, was a 1,693 ton, three-masted, iron sailing ship with a length of 257 feet, breadth of 38.2 feet and depth of 23.1 feet. She was built by Russel & Company in Glasgow for the Nourse Line, named after the River Elbe the longest river in Germany and launched in July 1887. She was primarily used for the transportation of Indian indentured labourers to the colonies. Details of some of these voyages are as follows:| Destination | Date of arrival | Number of passengers | Deaths during voyage |
|---|
| Suriname | 23 November 1889 | n/a | n/a | | Fiji | 13 June 1896 | 615 | n/a | | Trinidad | 12 November 1897 | 545 | 5 | | Fiji | 26 July 1900 | 604 | n/a | | Trinidad | 17 December 1901 | 613 | 3 | | Fiji | 5 August 1903 | 590 | n/a | | Trinidad | 19 October 1906 | 597 | 0 |
Elbe{{'}}s third trip to Fiji was historic because it brought the first labourers from Madras to Fiji for the first time. Most South Indians were Tamil speakers but other languages such as Telugu and Malayalam were also represented. Conditions on board were good for the time, with regular nutritious food, plenty of exercise and an on-board hospital, and as a result there was a mortality of less than one percent. Elbe was also used for the transportation of cargo, arriving in London from Sydney, in March 1896 with a cargo of wool. The journey took 75 days. Elbe was sold in December 1907. See also - Indian indenture ships to Fiji
References
| last = Lubbock
| first = Basil
| title = Coolie ships and oil sailors
| publisher = Brown, Son & Ferguson
| date = 1981
| isbn = 0-85174-111-8
}} External links - Tall Ships In Fiji's Past
- Genealogy.com
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20111002234018/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/nourse.htm The Ships List]
- Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elbe}} 6 : Indian indenture ships to Fiji|Victorian-era passenger ships of the United Kingdom|Individual sailing vessels|1887 ships|Ships built in Glasgow|1887 establishments in Scotland |