Ethie
Another of the ships built in 1900 was the SS Ethie. The Ethie measured at 155 feet long, 15 feet wide and 13 feet deep. The Ethie serviced Bonne Bay making runs up and down the Great Northern Peninsula and sometimes stopping at Battle Harbour in Labrador. The Ethie also supplied Trinity Bay stopping in communities such as Ireland’s Eye and Old Perlican. The Ethie’s service was short lived having been lost at Martin's Point near Bonne Bay on December 11, 1919.
The Alphabet fleet was set up between the Newfoundland government and the Reid Newfoundland company under Robert G. Reid after the completion of the railway across the Island of Newfoundland in 1898. By 1900 there were 8 vessel's and 4 more were added later.
The Reid family originated in Scotland and all ships were built there, with the names beginning with a letter of the alphabet starting with A and each name had to end with E. The name also had to be from a scottish location. There was no ship named with the letter J as there was no place in Scotland that begins with J and ends with E.