Fife
Measuring the same as her sisters the Argyle and the Clyde, the Fife had the shortest life of all the ships in the Alphabet fleet. Only months after arriving in Newfoundland, the Fife went on a run to the West Coast. There she ran into bad weather and had to stay in St. Barbe for the night. Leaving the harbour the next morning, the Fife struck a shoal at her top speed resulting in the obliteration of the ship’s bottom. The Fife sank quickly into the deep water just past the sharp rocks of the shoal. Reid may have regretted not insuring this boat. Her Captain was later charged with carelessness. Some of the Fife’s furnishings, including the sink and toilet, are on display at the Railway Coastal Museum in St. John’s
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.