Success was an Australian prison ship constructed in 1840 at the Nat Moo shipyard in Mawlamyine, Burma, for the firm Cockerell & Co. of Calcutta. Originally a merchant vessel, she displaced approximately 621 tons and measured 117 feet 3 inches in length, with a beam of 26 feet 8 inches and a depth of hold of 22 feet 5 inches. Her early career involved trading around the Indian subcontinent and transporting emigrants from Devon to Australia, including voyages in 1847, 1849, and 1852. Notably, she carried families fleeing the Great Famine and was part of the influx of ships arriving in Melbourne during the Victorian gold rush. In 1852, as prison overcrowding increased, Success was repurposed into a convict hulk, anchored on the Yarra River, where she served as a prison storage vessel for 36 years. During her time as a hulking prison ship, she was involved in a notable incident in 1857 when prisoners murdered the Superintendent of Prisons, John Giles Price. In 1890, Success was acquired by entrepreneurs who converted her into a floating museum aimed at illustrating the horrors of penal transportation, despite her never having served as a convict ship. She was promoted as the oldest ship afloat, although this claim was exaggerated. Her museum venture included a tour with Harry Power, a notorious bushranger, who served as a guide in Sydney Harbour in 1891. The exhibit was not commercially successful, leading to her scuttling in Kerosene Bay. She was later refloated, extensively refitted, and toured Australian ports before crossing the Atlantic in 1912 to serve as a convict museum along the US East Coast and the Great Lakes. Success also appeared in American popular culture, featuring in a 1915 film during the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Briefly resumed as a cargo carrier in 1917, she sank after hitting ice in early 1918 but was salvaged and continued her museum role. By the 1930s, her condition deteriorated, and she was moved to Ohio to be dismantled. While awaiting scrapping, she was sunk by a storm in Sandusky, Ohio. In 1946, a fire destroyed her while berthed in Lake Erie near Port Clinton, with her remains still lying submerged today. A full-hull model of Success is held by the South Australian Maritime Museum, commemorating her multifaceted maritime history.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.