Served until scrapped in 1951 mainly on the Harwich – Antwerp route.^[4][5]

Seized in Hamburg in August 1914 and used by Germany as an accommodation ship for pilotage services on the River Jade.
Towed to Grimsby in January 1919 and returned to her owners in good condition.
After a re-fit she took up the GCR service from Grimsby to Rotterdam.
Transferred to AHL in 1935 for a service to Hamburg.
In 1941 she was taken over by the Admiralty for work with 2 of her sisters as a convoy rescue vessel.
Returned to AHL service in 1946 on the Hull-Rotterdam service.
Withdrawn in May 1958 and towed to Nieuw Lekkerkerk for breaking up.^[6]

The first vessel in a series of five sister ships which were all built by Earle's Shipbuilding at Hull
Acquired by LNER in 1923.
Passed to AHL in 1935 and was converted to a Convoy Escort Vessel during the war.
She returned to service post-war in late 1945 on the Harwich – Antwerp route with sister vessel Accrington replacing tonnage lost during the hostilities by the Harwich fleet.
Passed to British Railways in 1948 she was finally withdrawn from service in January 1959 and was scrapped in May of that year.^[4][9]

Resumed Grimsby – Antwerp service in 1919 and acquired by the LNER in 1923.
Transferred to AHL in 1935. Resumed service in 1945 between Goole or Hull to Antwerp or Rotterdam.
Passed to British Railways in 1948 and served until scrapped in 1958.^[4][10]

Remained on commercial service from 1914 to 1918 and then did repatriation work in 1919 working for the Great Eastern Railway to Harwich.
Transferred to the LNER in 1923.
Converted to a convoy rescue ship in 1941 but subsequently lost in a torpedo attack in February 1943 whilst on passage to Iceland with survivors from an earlier convoy sinking. All on board were lost.^[6]

Sold in 1936 to Far Eastern interests and renamed Houlee. Sunk by enemy action in 1938.^[11]

Following fall of Netherlands she operated in coastal convoys until conversion to a convoy rescue ship in 1941, but a grounding whilst on delivery voyage, including being struck by a mine whilst stranded, caused severe damage which, but for war scenario, would have been terminal.
Was re-floated and repaired at Aberdeen and finally took up service in February 1942.
Resumed Hull-Rotterdam service in March 1946.
Renamed Melrose Abbey II in April 1958 to release name for a newbuilding.
Withdrawn and laid up in January 1959. Sold to Greek cruising and ferry company Typaldos Bros and renamed Kriti.
Served until 1966 when owners were liquidated and laid up in Piraeus where she was broken up in 1984.^[12]

Scrapped in 1955.^[13]

Withdrawn in 1956 when owners replaced her with a new ship of the same name.^[13]

Scrapped in 1958.^[14]

Transferred to L.& N.W.R. and L.M.S in 1922 and 1923 respectively.
Joined AJL in 1935.
Sold out of lay-up and scrapped in Fife during 1954.^[16]

Sold for scrapping in 1959.^[18]

After D-Day in 1944 acted as an army meat supply ship between London and Rouen and Ostend, and transferred to similar work to and from the Mediterranean in 1946.
Eventually sold and broken up in 1957.^[19]

During World War II escaped serious consequences when on passage from Leith to Iceland she was bombed and the device failed to explode, and was removed safely in Reykjavík. Served as meat carrier between Malta and Italy in 1944-5 and was eventually sold for scrapping in November 1958.^[19]

Requisioned by the Admiralty in 1940 with the Goole fleet.
In 1945 chartered by Bristol Steam Shipping Company to supplement their fleet.
Returned to Goole-Antwerp service in 1946.
Grounded off River Elbe in February 1947 and suffered rudder and propeller damage. Suffered damage following an accident whilst in dry dock in Immingham in January 1953.
Withdrawn in 1959 and sold for scrap.^[19]

Converted like Mersey as a cable layer for the Post Office in 1915 based at Scapa Flow and laid cables to all the Orkney naval installations from the shore base HMS Imperieuse.
Cable laying work in Pentland Firth area carried out. A special cable was laid to a floating buoy for the Home Fleet flagship which could be slipped when the vessel went to sea.
The vessel's work was considered very important and didn't generally receive the deserved credit. Transferred to L&NWR, LMS and AHL in 1922, 1923 and 1935 respectively.
In 1946 transferred to Holyhead-Dublin service and was finally scrapped in 1956 at Dunstan-on-Tyne by Clayton & Davie.^[16]

Spent much of World War II in Icelandic waters acting as a naval supply ship. Transferred to Larne-Loch Ryan service in 1946 and scrapped 1954 on the River Tyne.^[21]

Seconded to Great Western Railway in 1915 for Weymouth-Channel Islands service but switched to cable laying activity in 1917 following the loss of the Post Office's vessel Monarch.
Both she and Hodder were released back to their owners in 1920 and she was transferred to L&NWR, LMS and the AHL in 1922,1923 and 1935 respectively.
Sunk by a magnetic mine in 1940 off Kent in the English Channel.^[22]

Taken over by Admiralty in 1917 and converted to a Q-ship and renamed HMS Rule.
In the later part of World War I carried stores from Gibraltar to Corfu.
In 1922, 1923 and 1935 transferred to L&NWR, LMS and AHL.
Sunk 8 August 1940 after a collision with SS Rye in convoy.^[16][23]

Delivered with a white hull for the Goole-Copenhagen service. Transferred to L&NWR, LMS, and AHL in 1922, 1923 and 1935 and re-opened the Copenhagen service in October 1945.
Ownership changed again in 1948 to British Transport Commission and finally scrapped in 1956 at Dunstan-on-Tyne by Clayton & Davie.^[16]

Based at Weymouth, Dorset in 1940 which was civil dispersal point for French evacuations.
Whilst taking evasive action during an attack she hit and sank the owners' Ouse.
Was torpedoed off Cromer, Norfolk in 1941 then shelled and lost with all hands.^[19][24]

Sold for scrapping in 1947.^[25]

The ship was ordered by British Transport Commission and transferred to Hull and Netherlands S.S.Co. ownership.
In 1957 ownership was transferred to AHL Ltd.
On closure of Hull-Antwerp service in February 1968 the vessel was laid up and then sold to a company in the Philippines and renamed West Lyte.
In July 1974 she capsized during discharge operations at Manila.
She changed ownership in 1976 and was eventually withdrawn from service in 1990.^[3]

Served on various routes from Goole and Hull but experienced a fire in February 1962 whilst on passage from Bremen to Hull.
The vessel was towed into IJmuiden by Bureau Wijsmuller's tugs Titan, Simson and Stentor but was declared a constructive total loss.^[3]

Entered Goole-Copenhagen service. She had a grey hull denoting refrigerated capacity.
Vessel transferred with the route to Ellerman's Wilson Line Ltd.
In 1965, and again in 1967, she switched to that line's London-Aarhus-Copenhagen service.
Renamed Ariosto in February 1968.
Sold with her sister to Maldives Shipping Ltd. in October 1970, and was renamed Maldive Importer
She was broken up at Gadani Beach in 1983.^[27]

Renamed Angelo in 1968.
Sold with sister to Maldives Shipping Ltd., in October 1970.
Scrapped at Galdani Beach in 1980.^[27]

Lengthened over the winter of 1967/8. Her mast and derricks were removed to improve container intake and handling ability.
Vessel laid up at Hull following closure of the Hull-Rotterdam service in November 1971 and was sold with her sister to Chion Shipping Company in Greece in 1972, and renamed Ionia Express.
Was further renamed Capalonga by Offshore Diving & Financial Inc., of Panama in 1974.
She was converted to a deep diving oil pipeline repair and laying vessel mainly based in the Adriatic during 1975 by new owners Sub Sea Oil Services S.p.a. and finally stripped of her diving equipment and scrapped in 1983.^[28]

Was similarly lengthened and modified at Smiths Dock Company in North Shields in November 1967. Made final AHL sailing on the Hull-Rotterdam service on 29 November 1971 and was laid up on 1 December.
Sold with sister to Chion Shipping Company and renamed Aegeon Express in 1972 serving until July 1978 when she was again laid up and was towed to Piraeus in August 1980 for breaking up.^[28]

Early 1968 switched to Hull-Antwerp. Sold in 1972 to Medship of Famagusta and renamed Gulf Coast.
Sold on to Taj Shipping also of Famagusta in 1974 and whilst en-route Ipswich-Tema in 1976 grounded, caught fire and suffered an explosion becoming a constructive total loss.^[28]

Performed the final sailing for AHL on the Hull-Antwerp service in November 1971 before being laid up.
Sold to Medship, Famagusta in 1972 and renamed "Gulf Sea", also being sold on to other Famagusta interests in 1974.
Subsequently renamed Orwell Quay in 1975, Star in 1976 and Sirius in 1978.
Sold again in 1982 being renamed Serius and finally went off the register in 1990 and was broken up.^[29]

Laid up in Hull in 1968 and was sold to interests in Singapore in 1969 and was renamed Cherry Bagus.
Sold on in 1972 within Singapore and kept her name.
Broken up in Kaohsiung in 1985.^[29]

In September 1965 she operated from Folkestone to Boulogne in British Railways livery and in 1968 acted as a relief ship on the London Midland Region's Holyhead-Dún Laoghaire and Heysham-Belfast routes.
In 1969 she was based at Southampton until finally returning to her home base in 1970 on the Hull-Antwerp service.
Sold in August 1971 and renamed Gulf Sky by Sky Enterprises Ltd., and registered in Ipswich but managed from Famagusta.
Sold again in 1977 and renamed Abadan, sold one more in 1978 renamed Petros P and finally Ekaterini P also in 1978.
In March 1980 whilst on passage from Rouen to Lattakia her cargo shifted and she took shelter in Brest where she was abandoned.
The French authorities unloaded and sold the cargo to offset port costs.
The vessel was towed to sea on 26 January 1982 and sunk by the French Navy.^[29]

During the winter of 1967/8 she was converted for the carriage of containers and in January 1968 inaugurated the Holyhead-Dublin container service.
In November 1969 she inaugurated a service from Fishguard to Waterford, but was switched back to Holyhead-Dublin in 1972.
Later in 1972 she was sold and renamed Stork, and in 1974 becoming Alouette. On passage from Rochester, Kent to Beirut in 1977 she was abandoned on fire in the English Channel and was towed gutted into Cherbourg.
Later that year she was towed to Piraeus and laid up. She was sold once more in 1978 and renamed Dimitrios and repaired at Perama. Having changed her name to Dimitris under the same ownership she sprang a leak off Crete on 24 September 1981 and sank.^[30]

Converted for container operations in 1968 for Heysham and Holyhead ports.
Moved to Southampton in January 1971 to replace Winchester on the Southampton-Jersey service and in same month grounded and was blown ashore in a gale at London Bay, Jersey.
Towed by tug Meeching to Southampton on 2 February for repairs.
In 1974 sold to Pounds Marine Shipping Co. of Havant and was re-sold later in same year.
Renamed Raven when sold again in 1976 to a company registered in Panama.
Within a year she had changed her name again to Jean R and was towed into Cherbourg whilst on passage from Huelva to Rotterdam with her engine room flooded.
In 1980 she was sold to Greek interests and renamed Victory.
The next 3 years saw her change owners a further two times and was renamed Agios Nikolaos in 1983.
In 1990 she was sold yet again to a Piraeus interest but trace lost after that transaction.^[30]

Performed her final sailing in March 1974 and sold in 1977 and renamed Brighton Belle^[32]

Transferred to Southern Region of British Transport Commission in 1948.
Towed to Hull for Humber service in 1974 by United Towing's Masterman where modifications were carried out before entering service.
Transferred to Sealink UK Ltd. in 1979 and performed last ferry crossing on 26 June 1981 when ferry service closed.^[34]