THE ERA OF THE STEAMSHIP
With the "passing" of the sailing-ship much of the poetry and romance
of the sea disappeared. The era of the steamship is more prosaic, but
it brought with it a recognition of the spirit of the times that the
expanding trade of the world and the march of civilisation, demanded
speed and regularity in our sea services for their development, and
what we have lost in romance we have more than made good by the wider
distribution of the world's products which the facilities for travel
and the rapid conveyance of our merchandise have made available. All
parts of the world have been brought within easy reach of the
traveller, and our trade routes have been increased and expanded. We
have opened up new markets for our exports, and new sources for the
supply of food. Our people are now largely fed by supplies of
perishable food which reach us from the far distant Antipodes. It is,
indeed, difficult to say what might have happened if we were still
dependent upon the old sailing-ship. The advent of the steamship was
most fortuitous. Just as in our means of conveyance by land, new means
and forms of transport have been developed with our increasing
population, so it would appear that, as the growth of our population
and the spread of civilisation have demanded it, improved facilities
for travel by sea have been opened up.
The passing of the sailing-ship made very slow progress in the
beginning, for although steamers entered the Atlantic and the East
India trades about 1840, the old-fashioned wooden paddle steamer was
not a serious competitor except in the conveyance of passengers and
mails. It took thirty or forty years to develop improvements in the
design of steamers and to effect the evolution of the marine engine,
and the progress made was gradual. The high-pressure engine, the
compound engine, the turbine, and now the geared turbine were all
steps in the direction of securing the economy and efficiency
necessary to make the steamer an effective competitor in the
conveyance of heavy or bulky cargoes; but once this point was reached,
the sailing-vessel was doomed except in the small coasting trades. The
opening of the Suez Canal also gave the steamer a great advantage, and
perhaps did more than anything else to destroy the position of the
sailing-ship in the long trades. It will be interesting to watch the
effect which dear coals and cost of sailing may have in reviving the
fortunes of the sailing-ship.
[Illustration: SS. "Savannah," 1818]
Steamers are now mostly owned by public companies, which we regret to
say are largely centred in London, and are represented in Liverpool
by managers. A steamer somehow fails to arouse the same enthusiasm as
the old sailing-ship; much of the old romance and sentiment has gone.
The managers have so many steamers to look after that their work
becomes more or less mechanical; they cannot take the same personal
interest in them. The manager of one large fleet boasted that he never
went down to the dock to see his steamers--this he considered was the
business of his marine superintendent.
The shareholders in a limited liability company in the same way have
not the same close touch with their property that the owner of a
sixty-fourth share had in the old sailing-ship. The one was personal,
the other is remote. The subscription lists of our nautical charities
prove this. The Bluecoat School and the Seamen's Orphanage do not
appeal to them as they appealed to the Bryan Blundells, the MacIvers,
the Brocklebanks, Allans, Beazleys, and Ismays and the general public
of fifty years ago.
We cannot dwell upon the many early efforts to apply the steam engine
to the propulsion of a ship. The first steam vessel to cross the
Atlantic was the "Savannah," a vessel 130 feet in length and 26 feet
broad. She was built in New York in 1818; she was an auxiliary vessel,
her paddle wheels being taken off and placed on deck when the wind was
fair. She sailed from Savannah on the 24th May, 1819, and arrived at
Liverpool on the 20th June. The first vessel to steam all the way
across the Atlantic was the "Royal William," built at Quebec in 1831.
She was 830 tons, with side-lever engines of 200 horse power. She
sailed from Quebec to London on the 4th of August, 1833, and after a
stormy passage arrived in the Thames on the 11th September.
A more serious attempt to bridge the Atlantic was made in June, 1838,
when a second "Royal William" of 720 tons was built at Liverpool, and
her paddle engines of 400 horse power were made by Fawcett, Preston &
Co., of Liverpool. She made several successful passages, and was our
first passenger steamer. The Transatlantic Steamship Company, which
had chartered the "Royal William" afterwards built the "Liverpool," of
1,150 tons, and 464 horse power. She made several voyages, averaging
17 days out and 15 days home.
Mr. Maginnis in his very useful and excellent work "The Atlantic
Ferry," claims for the "Sirius" the honour of inaugurating the
Atlantic steamship service. She was owned by the British & American
Steam Navigation Company, of which Mr. John Laird was the Chairman.
She was 703 tons, and sailed on the 5th April, 1838, making the
passage in 16½ days, maintaining an average of 8½ knots, on a
consumption of 24 tons. About the same time the "Great Western," of
1,340 tons, sailed from Bristol, making the outward passage in 13½
days.
[Illustration: SS. "Great Western," 1838]
The British & American Steamship Company encouraged by the successful
voyage made by the "Sirius," built, in 1839, two sister ships, the
"British Queen" and the "President." They were 1,863 tons gross
register, and 700 horse power. The "British Queen" sailed from
Portsmouth, July 12th, 1840, and the "President" on July 17th, 1840.
The "President," after sailing from New York, on March 11th, 1841,
with a small number of passengers, was never again heard of, and in
consequence of this disaster the British & American Steamship Company
ceased to exist.
We cannot omit from our brief review of the early history of the
steamship, an allusion to the "Great Britain," the first large iron
steamer. She was 3,270 tons, and was launched at Bristol in 1843. For
very many years she was our largest ship, and considered to be one of
the wonders of the day. She was placed in the Liverpool and New York
trade, and sailed on the 26th July, 1845, on her first voyage. I
remember seeing her pass down the Channel off Seaforth. Her six masts
greatly impressed my child intelligence. She was wrecked the same
night on the Irish Coast, but she was afterwards got off, and had a
very varied and chequered career, and underwent many changes. Her six
masts were reduced to four, then to three. She had new engines, and
was placed by Gibbs, Bright & Co., in the Australian trade. Then she
was converted into a full rigged sailing-ship, and in 1883 was
condemned at the Falkland Islands as no longer seaworthy, and remained
there for many years as a coal hulk.
It cannot be said that these early endeavours to establish a steamship
trade were very encouraging, and the great scientist of that day, Dr.
Lardner, stated that he had no hesitation in saying that the project
announced in the newspapers of making a voyage directly from New York
to Liverpool was perfectly chimerical. They might as well talk of
making a voyage from New York to the moon.
All the more honour to those pioneers who had the courage and the
prescience to go ahead; and to Mr. Samuel Cunard and his partners the
steamship trade must be for ever deeply indebted, for to them we owe
the first serious and successful effort to establish a steamship
service across the Atlantic. They built, in 1840, the "Britannia,"
"Acadia," "Columbia," and "Caledonia,"--the first ships of the now
celebrated Cunard Line.
The Inman Line was founded in 1850, the Guion Line in 1866, and the
White Star Line, which now shares the great Atlantic trade with the
Cunard Company, was established in 1870.
[Illustration: SS. "President," 1840]
The evolution from sail to steam involved changes in the design of the
hull of a ship. At first it was considered that to turn a sailing-ship
into a steamer it was simply necessary to fit a hull designed for a
sailing-vessel with a steam engine. It was soon, however, discovered
that the fine lines and deep keel required to carry sail were not
required in a steamship, and in course of time full-bodied hulls with
square bilges without keels were adopted.
An iron steamer is but a rectangular girder or tank with the ends
sharpened, the co-efficient of fineness varying from 62 to 78 degrees,
according to the speed or deadweight capacity required. In 1860 Sir
Edward Harland, with a view to easy propulsion, introduced steamers
into the Mediterranean trade with a length of ten times their beam.
These were so successful that when he built the fleet for the White
Star Line he carried out the same principle, thereby also securing
steady sea boats. He also introduced central passenger saloons and
cabins, which speedily made the White Star ships very popular. Cabin
accommodation placed in the centre of the ship has now become general.
Some further modifications in design have taken place; ships have,
relatively, now less length and more beam, and the cabin accommodation
is built up citadel fashion in the middle of the ship.
The most notable evolution has, however, been in size and speed. The
"Britannia," built in 1840, was 1,200 tons, with 8½ knots speed. She
was followed by the "Great Britain," in 1843, 3,270 tons; she was,
however, too large for the times, and did no good. The "Great
Eastern," built in 1855, was of 18,915 tons, and 12 knots speed, and
was also a failure, although if she had been given sufficient power
she would probably have hastened the era of large and fast vessels.
The demand for speed was for some years the governing feature in the
design of steamers in the Atlantic trade, and to a smaller extent in
the Eastern trades, in which the carrying of coal for long voyages has
also to be considered. The increase in power required to obtain high
speeds necessitated the adoption of twin screws, and with the still
higher powers required by the "Mauretania," "Olympic," etc. (60,000
h.p.), four propellers are found necessary.
In the Atlantic trade, the "Arizona," built by John Elder & Co. for
the Guion Line, was the first of the "Atlantic greyhounds." She was
quickly followed by the "Alaska" and the "Oregon," the latter being
built in 1882, with a speed of 19 knots. She was the fastest ship of
her time, and became the property of the Cunard Company. She was again
eclipsed by the Cunard ships "Umbria" and "Etruria," in 1885, with a
speed of 19½ knots. In 1888 the "City of Paris" and "City of New York"
had attained a speed exceeding 20 knots. For some years no improvement
in speed was obtained until the advent of the "Campania" and
"Lucania," in 1893, with a tonnage of 12,900 and a speed of 22 knots.
[Illustration: SS. "Britannia," 1840]
Although steamers thus gradually increased in size and power, the
"Oceanic," built in 1899 for the White Star Line, may, I think, claim
to be the pioneer of the great Atlantic liners. She was 16,900 tons
and 704 feet long, and 21 knots speed. She was quickly followed by the
"Lusitania" and "Mauretania," built for the Cunard in 1907, with a
tonnage of 33,000, and a speed of 24½ knots. They were again eclipsed
in size by the "Olympic," "Aquitania," and the "Imperator," all about
50,000 tons; but the "Mauretania" still holds the blue riband of the
Atlantic for speed. It is scarcely safe to say that the last big ship
has been built; size is only limited by commercial considerations and
the depth of water available in our harbours, as an iron ship, being a
girder, her length is limited by the depth which can be given to the
girder. The cost of construction may, however, limit the size of
ships, at all events, for some years.