What is the name of the ship in 'The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire'?

The ship named in “The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire” is Matilda Briggs.

The name appears in the story’s opening exchange, when Holmes receives a letter concerning an alleged vampire case. The correspondence reminds him of his earlier successful action in “the case of Matilda Briggs.” Holmes immediately clarifies that Matilda Briggs was not a woman but a ship associated with the legendary giant rat of Sumatra, a mystery he says the world is not yet prepared to hear.

This is a deliberately playful reference to an adventure that Conan Doyle never fully narrated. The giant rat of Sumatra is one of the most famous “untold cases” in the Holmes canon, mentioned only in passing. The Sussex Vampire story itself concerns Robert Ferguson, his family, and suspicions that a vampire is attacking his young son; the ship is part of Holmes’s remembered background rather than the main investigation.

Norah Creina and Gloria Scott are also ships connected with Sherlock Holmes stories, which makes them tempting choices. Gloria Scott is the vessel in “The Adventure of the Gloria Scott,” while Aurora appears in The Sign of the Four. Matilda Briggs is therefore the unique answer to this particular reference.