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Mobile - a general history

Official No. 102737: Code Letters PDNH.

Owners: 1895 George Horsley & Son, West Hartlepool: 1900 Horsley Line Ltd (M.H. Horsley) West Hartlepool

Masters: 1897 Wilson: 1899 T Whittingham.

Notes: Named Mobile after the port of that name for Horsley’s liner service between Mobile & Liverpool. On Monday 9th February 1896 the Mobile left the port of Mobile for Europe carrying “the largest & most valuable cargo that has ever left the port”, the cargo included  8,849 bales of cotton, 10,000 sacks of flour, 2,849 Oak staves and 500 loads of timber. A magnificent silver service had been presented to Capt. Wilson two days after the ships arrival & a personal present of a handsome gold locket encrusted with diamonds in the form of an anchor was made to Capt. Wilson.
The Mobile sailed from Fort Morgan with a cargo of grain, cotton and a crew of 26, on 28th December, 1900, bound for Bremen but was not seen again. The Board of Trade Inquiry came to the conclusion that she had been sent to sea in an unseaworthy condition. All 26 lives lost.

Hull Daily Mail, Tuesday, February 19th, 1901:
THE OVERDUE WEST HARTLEPOOL STEAMER. There is still no news of the s.s. Mobile, of the Horsley Line (Limited), West Hartlepool, which is now 26 days overdue in a voyage from the port Mobile to Bremen, and all hopes of her safety are practically abandoned.

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