Painting by my grandfather's cousin Harry Barrett.
The Isabo was a Trieste registered ship, and she was one of the Martinolich fleet, a sturdy business, with a strong family tradition. They were crewed by men from Lussinpiccolo, the port (then Italian) from which the Isabo hailed. The port is now Mali Losinj. I am slowly researching all of the old steamships of that area,
many of which were purchased second hand from British fleets. Croatian shipbuilders and fleets are now amongst the best in the world. The Martinolich famil began building iron ships in 1885 (71 of them), and then started their steamship company in 1911 with 7 ships. One of their ships was the Carmen, eventually sunk in the Black Sea by destroyer Pronzitelny, a fast ship that I have researched in detail. Jules Verne's private yacht St Michell III (1876) eventually ended up in 1913 owned by Marco Martinolich, when it was named Toto.
