Jones, and one Arthur Cook. George Holt died in 1896 after more than 50 years in the business. Between 1898 and 1902 a dozen new steamships were completed for LB&SP. Five of these were designed to carry livestock on the hoof from Argentina to the UK. The smallest, the Romney completed in 1899, was built by Sir Raylton Dixon and Company on the River Tees. The other four were built by D. and W. Henderson and Company on the River Clyde. They included the sister ships Raeburn and Rosetti, both completed in 1900, which at and respectively were the largest ships in the Lamport and Holt fleet. All five of the livestock carriers had names beginning with "R", and although they were not all sisters they became called the "R-class". In 1902 Furness Withy put a pair of modern cargo liners up for sale. Alexander Stephen and Sons had built Evangeline in 1900 and Loyalist in 1901. Lamport and Holt bought them for the LB&SP fleet and renamed them Tennyson and Byron respectively. The pair had more passenger berths than was usual in the LB&SP fleet, so Lamport and Holt put them on the route between New York and the River Plate. V-class liners The increase in passenger capacity on the route was a commercial success, so Lamport and Holt ordered four new liners with even more passenger capacity and refrigerated cargo space. Sir Raylton Dixon completed the Velasquez in 1906. Workman, Clark and Company of Belfast completed the Veronese in 1906 and Verdi in 1907. Later in 1907 D&W Henderson completed the Voltaire, which at was Lamport and Holt's largest ship yet. All five of the new liners had names beginning with "V", and although they were not all sisters they were the first of what became the "V-class". The route included calls in the Caribbean and at Salvador, Rio de Janeiro and Santos. Tennyson and Byron tended to work only as far south as Santos, while the "V-class" continued to the River Plate. On 16 October 1908 Velasquez was heading north with 137 passengers and a cargo of coffee and mail. After leaving Santos she ran into a high sea and thick fog and struck rocks off Ponta da Sela near Ilhabela in Brazil. Her passengers and crew were successfully transferred to her lifeboats, which stood off from the wreck until daybreak. They then took everyone ashore at