Elissa

Iron barque built in 1877 by Alexander Hall & Co., Aberdeen, Scotland, as No. 294 for Henry F. Watt, Liverpool. Her dimensions are 51,97×8,05×4,94 meters [170'50×26'40×16'20] and tonnage 489 GRT and 391 NRT.

1877: Launched at Alexander Hall & Co.'s shipyard in Aberdeen for Henry F. Watt, Liverpool as the Elissa.
1897: Sold to A/S Fjeld (Bugge & Olsen), Larvik, Norway, and renamed Fjeld. She was kept in the South America trade with Captain H. Andersen as master.
1912 February 22: Bought in Le Havre by Holmström & Co., Torekov, Sweden, for SEK 18.000.
1912 March: Sold to H.A. Höglund & Carl C. Johansson, Kalmar, Sweden, for SEK 19.000 and renamed Gustaf. Captain Gustaf Walfrid Nilsson, Kalmar, became her master. The Swedish measurements were: 49,97×8,56×4,47 meters and 432,17 GRT.
1912: Sold to Stockholm.
1914-1915: Re-rigged to a barquentine during the winter. Captain Victor Eliasson, Oskarshamn, took over as master.
1915 October 26: Bought by Nils Österman & Co., Stockholm, for SEK 40.000.
1916 May 22: Sold to A.G. Mellin, Marstrand, Sweden.
1916 August 9: 90 % of the shares was bought by Rederi AB Åse (B. Egnell), Marstrand, for SEK 72.000.
1917: Laid up at Marstrands Varv.
1918: An Avance oil-engine was installed.
1918 September 27: Sold to the Salén lines, Stockholm, for SEK 423.000.
1919: Sold to Wm. Millar, Gothenburg, for SEK 297.000. Captain Eliasson handed over the ship to Captain Gustaf Bartley, Gothenburg.
1920 April 21: The command of the ship is taken over by Captain Wilhelm Osterman, Levåsa.
1922 July 27: New master Captain Carl Wilhelm Olsson, Ryssby.
1929 September 29: Sold to John Millars Eftr. for SEK 5.500.
1929 October 31: Sold to Erik Nylund, Mariehamn, Åland, for SEK 23.000.
1936: The masts were removed and the sailing ship bow altered in the re-building to a motorship.
1942: Sold to AB P. Molander Oy, Björneborg, Finland, but registered in Sideby.
1950: Transferred to Molander Oy Telmita AB, Kristinestad.
1956: Sold to Rederi AB Gustaf (Hugo Boström), Helsingfors.
1959 December: Sold to A. Kavadas & D. Vassilatos, Piraievs, Greece and renamed Christophoros.
1968: Sold to M. Christidou, P. Konidaris et al., Piraieus, and renamed Achaios.
1970: Seized by Greek authorities.
1970 November: Bought by the marine archaeologist Peter Throckmorton from a Greek ship breaking yard and was renamed (New) Pioneer.
1975 October: Sold to the Galveston Historical Foundation for USD 40.000 who bought the ship with the intention to restore her to sailing order.
1979 July 20: Arrived in Galveston.
1982 July 4: Opened to the public as a floating museum.
1986: Sailed to New York to participate in the Tall Ships' parade.

Presently a museum ship in Galveston, from where she also makes her yearly sailing.

Select Bibliography

Båtologen Vol. 30 (1992), Part 3.

Updated 1996-10-14 by Lars Bruzelius

Sjöhistoriska Samfundet | The Maritime History Virtual Archives.