Bruce was a 1,200-ton sailing ship built in 1866 by Aitken Mansell of Glasgow, Scotland.

In 1880 the Nourse Line purchased her from the British Shipowners Company.

[citation needed] On 21 May 1886, Bruce carried 458 Indian indentured labourers to Fiji.

On 3 January 1889, she carried Indian indentured labourers to Surinam in the West Indies.

[2] On 11 February 1891, Bruce capsized in Bayonne, New Jersey,[3] was salvaged and used for coal storage.