Euterpe, named for the muse of music, was a full-rigged (royals and double topsails) iron ship built in 1863 by Gibson, McDonald & Arnold, of Ramsey, Isle of Man, Great Britain, for the Indian jute trade of Wakefield Nash & Company of Liverpool. She was launched on November 14, 1863, assigned British Registration No.47617, and signal VPJK.
Euterpes career had a rough beginning. She sailed for Calcutta from Liverpool on January 9, 1864, under the command of Captain William John Storry. A collision with a Spanish brig off the coat of Wales carried away the jib-boom and she returned to Anglesey to repair. During the repairs the crew became mutinous and had to be confined to the Beaumaris Gaol. Then, in 1865, Euterpe was dismasted in a gale in the Bay of Bengal off Madras and had to be repaired at Trincomalee. Captain Storry died during the return voyage to England and was buried at sea.
Euterpe made four more relative uneventful voyages to India, then, in 1867, was sold, first to David Brown of London to be used in the India and South America trade, but then again in 1871 to Shaw, Savill & Company of London. In 1873 she began thirty years of carrying passengers and freight on the New Zealand trade. The fastest of these voyages took 100 days, the longest was 143 days. She also made ports of call in Australia, California, and Chile.
In 1897, after 21 round trips, Euterpe was sold, first to Hawaiian owners, then in 1899 to the Pacific Colonial Ship Company of San Francisco, California. She was registered in the United States on October 30, 1900, and then in 1901, she was sold to the Alaska Packers' Association of San Francisco, who re-rigged her as a barque and operated her in the salmon cannery industry. In 1906, the Association changed her name to be consistent with the rest of their fleet, and she became Star of India.
