Panama Canal - Ships

List of ships available during Panama Canal event in **2017** (Jul 25th - Aug 15th).

## Friends

Friends was a 339-ton merchant ship in service mainly in the Caribbean. Later she was used to transporting convicts to Australia. In 1811 she transported 100 female convicts from England to Sydney, Australia.

## Two Friends

Two Friends was a British wooden sailing ship. She served for transporting troops to garrisons across the British Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1805 Two Friends took part on a voyage of a convoy to supply the garrison in Quebec with soldiers. She was wrecked on the coast of Cape Breton Island on 22 October. All but three people were rescued.

## Friendship

Friendship was a merchant brig built in Scarborough, England, and launched in 1784. In 1787 she transported 97 convicts as a part of the First Fleet. The eleven ships left England for Australia to found there a penal colony which became the first European settlement in Australia. In 1788 she left for Canton with the ship Alexander. On the way, many sailors were lost to scurvy. Not enough sailors survived to operate both ships, so it was decided to scuttle Friendship on 28 October 1788.

## Amitié

The Amitié was a French three-masted frigate of approximately 400 tons displacement in the late 18th century. She was one of the seven ships that took part in the exodus of Acadians from France to Louisiana in 1785.

## Vriendschap

Vriendschap was a passenger ship from Netherlands, launched in 1905.

## Alexandre Valley

Alexandre La Valley was a floating crane built by Lobnitz & Company, launched in 1887. It was the first self-propelled vessel to transit the Panama Canal from Atlantic to Pacific on January 7, 1914. It crossed the canal in stages, during the construction.

## SS Cristobal

SS Cristobal was a cargo and passenger ship built by Maryland Steel and launched in 1902 as SS Tremont. She made the first uninterrupted Panama Canal crossing on August 3, 1914. The sailing (not announced to the press) was a test run before the official crossing by the SS Ancon.

## RMS Ebro

RMS Ebro was an ocean liner built in 1914 for the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. During the First World War, she served as an auxiliary cruiser in the Royal Navy. After the war, she served on the New York - Chile route, sailing through the Panama Canal. In 1935 Ebro was sold into Yugoslavian service and re-named Princess Olga. She was serving as a passenger and general cargo ship. In 1940 Princess Olga was bought by the Portuguese company Companhia Colonial de Navegação. She was renamed Serpa Pinto and began her service on the transatlantic routes between Rio de Janeiro and North America. After the outbreak of the Second World War, she helped transport the refugees from Europe to America. She made more crossings of the Atlantic than any other civilian vessel, leading to her being termed the Friendship vessel or Destiny ship. Ebro was scrapped in 1964.

## SS Ancon

SS Ancon was an American cargo and passenger ship launched as SS Shawmut in December 1901. SS Ancon was put into Pacific service operating out of Puget Sound ports for Japan, China, and the Philippines. In 1909 the ship was purchased by the Panama Canal and renamed Ancon. Together with SS Cristobal, she helped to build the canal, bringing workers and supplies. She became the first ship to officially transit the Panama Canal on 15th August 1914. After the end of the First World War, in 1918, she was acquired by the United States Navy and used as a troops transport from France back to the US. After completing the two troop transports, Ancon was returned to the Panama Canal.

## Freundschaft

Freundschaft was a screw driven steamship built in Blasewitz, Germany, and launched in 1864 under the name Remorquer. She served as a passenger ship on the inland waterways. She was renamed John Penn in 1868. In 1875 she was rebuilt to a side-wheel steamer and one of the two funnels was removed due to being redundant. In 1941 she was renamed Herrnskretschen and in 1944 transformed into a kitchen ship for the German army. In 1949 a meeting between Czechoslovak and East German delegation took place in Herrnskretschen and on this occasion, the ship was renamed Freundschaft - PÅ™átelství (Friendship). Freundschaft was transformed into a hospital ship in 1959. She was broken up after 100 years of service in 1964.

## SS Amigo

Steamship with one funnel used in the 19th-20th century.

## SS Amizade

Steamship with one funnel used in the 19th-20th century.