Ganges was the first of a number of Nourse Line ships named for the river in northern India regarded as holy by the Hindus. She was followed by a number of other ships of the same name. The first Nourse Line ship was the 839-ton sailing ship, Ganges built by William Pile of Sunderland and launched on 9 July 1861. The 192 feet (59 m) long, 33.2 feet (10.1 m) wide and 20.6 feet (6.3 m) deep Ganges was considered a large vessel for her time and had a figurehead beneath the bowsprit represented Mother Ganges a symbol of fertility. She was the first of many Nourse Line vessels to be named after rivers. Immediately after being built, the Ganges sailed to India to commence trading between Calcutta and Australia where James Nourse hired her out to Tinne & Company which were involved in the transpo