The Mersey was a 1,829 ton iron-hulled sailing ship with a length of, beam of and depth of . She was built by Charles Connell and Company of Glasgow, named after the River Mersey in north-western England and launched on 18 May 1894 for the Nourse Line. Nourse Line used her primarily to transport of Indian indentured labourers to the British colonies, a so called, Coolie ship.[1] [2] Details of some of these voyages are as follows:
| Destination | Date of arrival | Number of passengers | Deaths during voyage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 April 1896 | 661 | n/a | ||
| 20 October 1897 | 668 | 11 | ||
| Suriname | 28 January 1902 | 678 | n/a | |
| 13 June 1903 | 585 | n/a | ||
| Trinidad | 8 February 1906 | 665 | 5 |
In 1908 the Mersey was sold to the White Star Line for use as a training ship for 60 cadets, making six voyages to Australia as a White Star training ship, traveling around the Cape of Good Hope outbound and Cape Horn inbound. In 1910 she became the first sailing ship to be equipped with a radio. She was also the first sailing ship aboard which an operation for appendicitis was performed on a cadet. In 1915 the White Star Line gave up their training scheme due to the war and sold the Mersey to Norwegian owners. She changed hands a number of times and her name was changed to Transatlantic then to Dvergso. She was scrapped in 1923.