The auxiliary steamer Kersonese [sic] calling for a pilot off Anglesey

Ordered for the short-lived Liverpool, Newfoundland & Halifax Steam Navigation Company, the auxiliary steam clipper Khersonese was built by Robert Hickson & Co. at Belfast and launched on 4th October 1855. The largest ship ever built in Ireland at the time of her completion, she was registered at 1,409 tons and measured 246 feet in length with a 39 foot beam. Constructed of iron and boasting a full ship rig, she was fitted with two geared beam engines by Randolph, Elder & Co. of Glasgow and could make 9 knots under full steam. When completed in April 1856, her owners readily accepted a brief government contract to send her to the Black Sea to repatriate British troops from the Crimea and it was not until 23rd August the same year that she finally cleared Liverpool on her maiden voyage to Maine and the maritime provinces of Canada. Sailing with a large cargo and 240 passengers, she made a very slow crossing only to find, upon arrival back in Liverpool, that she was to be laid up due to her owners' suspension of the service.

Acquired early the next year by the North Atlantic Steam Navigation Company - also of Liverpool - she was put back to work on her previous route and sailed from Liverpool on her first voyage under fresh colours on 4th April 1857. The finances of her new owners were no better than their predecessors however, and after only two round trips, Khersonese was offered for charter as a troop transport to run between Portsmouth and Madras starting that August, following the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny. Thereafter, details of her career become fragmented although she survived until July 1891, by which time she was Dutch-owned, when she was destroyed by fire at Montevideo.