Steam Navigation Co., its first operations being confined to the
ports of Calcutta, Akyab, Rangoon and Moulmein. One of the two
pioneer steamers, the CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, collided with a P. and
O. steamer and sunk in the Hooghly. Another, the CALCUTTA, of 900
tons, was totally lost off the coast of Wicklow, when on her first
voyage from the Clyde to Calcutta. A fresh contract was entered into
in 1862 with the Indian Government, and in the same year the title
of the Company was changed to the British India Steam Navigation
Co., Limited. The terms of the new contract included the transport
of troops and stores at a mileage rate; a mail service every
fortnight between Calcutta, Akyab, Rangoon and Moulmein; also a
monthly service via the two latter ports to Singapore; a similar
service to Chittagong, and one to the Andaman Islands; as well as
one between Madras and Rangoon; a fortnightly service between Bombay
and Karachi; and a service, once every six weeks, to various ports
in the Persian Gulf. New vessels were built and despatched for these
various services, and the traffic of the Company developed with great
rapidity.
The career of the Company was, however, not an unchequered one. In
addition to the two steamers referred to as lost during the first
year of the Company’s existence, must be added the wreck of the
BURMAH on the Madras coast, the loss of the BUSSORAH on her voyage to
India, and the foundering of the PERSIA on her voyage from Rangoon
to Calcutta, during one of those fearful cyclones which periodically
sweep the Indian Ocean.
The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, which for a time adversely
affected the fortunes of the P. and O. Co., proved beneficial to
the British India Steam Navigation Co. The directors of the latter
Company at once took advantage of the facilities which it offered,
and their steamer INDIA, requiring new boilers, was despatched to
England, and was the first steamer to arrive in London with a cargo
of Indian produce via the Suez Canal. Since that date the Company has
added steamer to steamer until at the present date (1903) its fleet
(inclusive of the British India Association steamers) numbers upwards
of 120 vessels.
In July, 1891, Messrs. Bibby Brothers, of Liverpool (a firm which
was founded in 1807), established a direct service of first-class
and swift steamers between the United Kingdom and Burmese ports. For
half a century prior to 1901 Messrs. Bibby had maintained steamship
communication between Liverpool and all the principal ports of the
Mediterranean. Prior to the construction of the Suez Canal, cargo
from the East was carried by the P. and O. to Suez, thence by rail
to Alexandria, where it was transhipped to the Bibby steamers, which
loaded in Alexandria for Liverpool.[15]
[Illustration: Early Bibby Liner SICILIAN (1859), the first steamer
built by Messrs. HARLAND & WOLFF.]
FOOTNOTES:
[13] Lindsay’s History of Commerce, page 339.
[14] Chartered Steamers belonging to the City of Dublin Co.
[15] A sketch of the history of this important Firm will be found in
Part II. of this Volume.
CHAPTER X.
Steamers on the Pacific.—The TELICA (1825).—P. S. N. Co.,
1840.—Compound Engines adopted, 1856.—Service extended from West
Coast, South America, to the River Plate (1865), and to Liverpool,
1868.—The P. S. N. Co. and Messrs. Anderson Anderson & Co.,
1878.—Gulf Line of Steamers between Great Britain and West Coast,
South America.
The first steamer to trade along the Pacific Coast of South America
was a small steamer, named the TELICA, in 1825. She was owned and
commanded by a Spaniard bearing a Russian name, Mitrovitch. The
venture proved a failure, chiefly owing to the scarcity of fuel,
and the unfortunate man, in a fit of despair, fired his pistol into
a barrel of gunpowder, and blew up his vessel in the harbour of
Guayaquil, destroying himself and all on board, except one man.
The next person to attempt to establish steamship communication along
the Pacific Coast was an American citizen, Mr. William Wheelwright,
born in Newburyport, Mass., U.S.A., in 1798, and appointed United
States Consul at Guayaquil in 1824. Mr. Wheelwright, notwithstanding
the tragic fate of the TELICA and her owner, was convinced of the
importance of steam communication to the development of the rich
resources of the western side of the South American Continent,
spent six years in arranging plans for steam communication between
the different Republics, and at last obtained from the Peruvian,
Bolivian, and Chilian Governments the privilege of establishing and
maintaining a steamship service along their respective coasts for a
period of ten years. In pursuance of this object he came to England,
and secured the co-operation of several wealthy merchants, and on the
17th February, 1840, a charter was obtained for the establishment
of the undertaking known as the Pacific Steam Navigation Company,
together with a small subsidy for the conveyance of the mails. It was
not the intention of the founders of the company to trade elsewhere
than along the Pacific Coast, and for this purpose a capital of a
quarter of a million pounds was thought to be sufficient. The capital
consisted of 5,000 shares, £50 each. Only the amount required to
build two small steamers was called up. These steamers were the CHILI
and PERU, each of about 700 tons gross register, with engines of
about 150 horse-power nominal. They were brig-rigged paddle steamers,
built of wood, by Charles Young and Co., Limehouse, London, and
engined by Miller & Ravenhall.
[Illustration: PERU. Pacific Steam Navigation Co., Ltd.]
Owing in great measure to the scarcity of fuel on the coast, the
company, during the first five years of its existence, sustained a
loss of four-fifths of its paid-up capital, but the shareholders
courageously resolved to persevere with their undertaking. The seat
of management of the company was, however, transferred from London to
Liverpool (1846), and the late Mr. William Just appointed Managing
Director. The following year (1847), the Directors were for the first
time able to declare a dividend, a modest two-and-a-half per cent.
In 1850, having obtained an extension of the Government Postal
contract, the Directors ordered four steamers, at a total cost of
£140,000. These steamers were named the LIMA, SANTIAGO, QUITO and
BOGOTA, and were each of about 1,000 tons gross and 300 horse-power
nominal.
In 1856 the company’s service was re-organised by Mr. Just, who
visited the West Coast specially for that purpose. During the same
year the compound type of engines was adopted in the company’s
steamers, the Pacific Steam Navigation Company being thus one of the
earliest ocean steamship companies to use this type of engine.
A supplemental charter was obtained in 1865, extending the operations
of the company, and authorising steamship communication between the
West Coast of South America, and the River Plate on the East Coast.
As the profits of the company had been steadily increasing for a
number of years prior to 1867, it was resolved at a meeting of
shareholders, held in December of that year, to establish a monthly
line of steamers from Liverpool to the West Coast of South America,
_via_ the Straits of Magellan, and to increase the capital of the
company to £2,000,000.
The first new steamer of the new service was the PACIFIC, 1,630 tons
gross register, 1,174 tons net, with engines of 450 horse-power.
Her principal dimensions were, length 267 feet, beam 40 feet, depth
17 feet. She was built on the Clyde in 1864, by Randolph Elder &
Co., and cost £61,855. After trading for about three years on the
Pacific Coast, she sailed from Valparaiso for Liverpool in May,
1868, as the pioneer steamer of the new mail service. During this
year five steamers of about 3,000 tons each, specially built for the
maintenance of this service, were added to the company’s fleet. These
were the JOHN ELDER, MAGELLAN, PATAGONIA, ARAUCANIA and CORDILLERA.
So profitable was the Liverpool trade to the West Coast, the
Directors determined in 1870 to make the sailings fortnightly, and
in that year they added the steamers CHIMBORAZO, CUZCO, GARONNE,
LUSITANIA and ACONCAGUA to the fleet.
In December, 1871 they recommended a further increase of the
company’s capital to £3,000,000, with a view of making the service
from Liverpool a weekly one. During the year they had greatly
increased the number of the company’s ocean steamers, having built
in 1871 seven steamers, each of about 4,000 tons gross, viz., the
SORATA, ILLIMANI, COTOPAXI, GALICIA, CORCOVADO, PUNO and POTOSI.
In July, 1872, the capital of the company was raised to £4,000,000,
and the steamers VALPARAISO and BRITANNIA were added to its fleet,
and in the following year the IBERIA and LIGURIA.
[Illustration: ORELLANA. Pacific Steam Navigation Co., Ltd.]
In addition to the above steamers, which were all built for the
Liverpool to West Coast service, the Pacific Steam Navigation Company
built during the years 1869 to 1873 inclusive, eighteen steamers for
its Pacific Coast service.
The IBERIA and LIGURIA were the last of the barque-rigged,
clipper-bow type of steamer built for the Pacific Steam Navigation
Company. The succeeding vessels of the fleet have as a rule four pole
masts and a straight stem.
Although the trade between Liverpool and the West Coast of South
America had increased with marvellous rapidity, the increase in the
company’s tonnage had more than kept pace with it. It was found that
the combined passenger and cargo trade would not support a sailing
each week, and the sailings were reduced to two each month. As a
consequence of the reduced number of sailings, as many as nine of the
company’s steamers were at one time laid up for want of employment.
In 1878 the Directors were fortunately able to charter four of their
vessels, the CHIMBORAZO, LUSITANIA, CUZCO and GARONNE, to Messrs.
Anderson, Anderson & Co., who in that year founded the Orient Line
of steamers from London to Australia. In 1882, when the latter
company decided to double its sailings, the Pacific Steam Navigation
Company made arrangements to employ several additional steamers in
the Australian service. Although the Pacific Company was the first
to establish steamship communication between Great Britain and the
West Coast of South America, it has had to share the traffic in
later years with the Gulf Line of steamers belonging to the Greenock
Shipping Company, and with the steamers belonging to Messrs. Lamport
& Holt.
[Illustration: Ships in harbor]
CHAPTER XI.
French-Algerian Expedition, 1830.—Civil War in Portugal.—Loss of the
steamer RIVAL.—Mutiny on a Transport.—Loss of the LORD BLANEY.—The
MARGARET, first screw passenger steamer trading from Hull.
Early in the year 1830, the French Government, fitted out an
expedition against the Dey of Algiers, and an agent of the former
was instructed to contract with the City of Dublin and the St.
George Steam-Packet Companies for the employment of some of their
first-class boats as transports in the expedition. The vessels
chartered were ordered to proceed immediately to Toulon to embark
French troops for service in North Africa. This was the first
instance of steam vessels being extensively engaged in warlike
expeditions. At this date, Portugal was engaged in a prolonged and
sanguinary civil war, in the course of which vessels belonging to
both of the famous Liverpool steamship companies were again employed.
Don Miguel (surnamed the Usurper) had about the year 1826 assumed
the government of Portugal. It is calculated that in the short space
of five years he imprisoned 26,270 of his beloved subjects; 16,000
were transported to various places; 13,000 were forced to fly from
his paternal government; 13,700 perished on the scaffold; and 5,000
were either in concealment or wandering about the kingdom to avoid
a similar fate. Finally, Dom Pedro, Emperor of Brazil, on behalf of
his daughter Donna Maria of Portugal, took active measures to recover
the throne. A number of British steamers were engaged as transports
or privateers in the civil war that ensued. Amongst other vessels was
the “ill-fated steamer”[16] RIVAL, which sailed from Greenock on the
22nd December, 1832, bound for Oporto, with about 400 volunteers for
Dom Pedro, and foundered in Galway Bay, with the loss of nearly 500
lives. Some spars, bedding, and ship’s papers were washed ashore, but
as not one of the passengers or crew escaped, no particulars can ever
be known of the circumstances attending the fatal disaster.
The LORD BLANEY was one of several of the St. George Steam-Packet
Company’s vessels chartered for the same service. It appears from a
record of magisterial proceedings (August, 1831) before Mr. H. Leach,
of Milford, that the agents employed by Dom Pedro hired 200 seamen at
Liverpool, and induced them to ship on board the LORD BLANEY, under a
pretext that they were merely wanted to navigate British transports
across the Atlantic, to convey some regiments of Portuguese from Rio
de Janeiro to Europe; but no sooner had the LORD BLANEY got fairly
into the Irish Channel than the officers threw off the mask, and
acknowledged their destination to be Belle Isle, for the purpose of
manning Dom Pedro’s fleet. Finding themselves thus entrapped, the
seamen exhibited signs of mutiny, and a violent gale of wind having
forced the steamer into Milford Haven for shelter, the whole body
of tars went ashore with bed and baggage, declaring their intention
not to fight under any flag but that of England. After completing
her engagement with Dom Pedro, the LORD BLANEY was placed on the
Liverpool and Newry service, and on the 18th December, 1833, she was
lost with all hands (45) whilst on a voyage from Newry to Liverpool.
A subscription list was opened for the benefit of the families and
relatives of the crew and passengers. The City of Dublin Steam-Packet
Co., although in active opposition to the St. George Steam-Packet
Co., headed the list with the handsome donation of £100. Two, at
least, of the City of Dublin Steam-Packet Co.’s vessels took part in
the Portuguese war, the LEEDS and the BIRMINGHAM. The latter steamer,
under the command of Captain Beazley, arrived at Falmouth about the
15th July, 1833. She brought despatches from Lagos which contained
intelligence of the most important and decisive nature, nothing less
than the complete defeat and capture of the fleet of the Usurper.
The news was received with the utmost satisfaction in England as well
as Portugal.
The MARGARET steamship sailed from Hamburg to Hull on Friday, 19th
October, 1845, with a number of passengers and a full general cargo.
Shortly after leaving the Elbe she encountered a north-west gale,
and after beating against it for two days, she was driven on to a
dangerous bank called the Memmett, near Juist, at the entrance to the
river Memm. The moment she took the shoal, the sea, which was running
very high, swept several overboard. The long boat was launched and
an attempt made to reach the shore, but owing to it being crowded
it capsized, and every soul in it perished. From advices received,
it appears that altogether sixteen of the passengers and three of
the crew were lost. Those who remained on board the vessel, after
severe privations, were rescued. The MARGARET was owned by Mr. Pimm,
of Hull; was several years old; was about 250 tons burthen, and
was rigged as a three-masted schooner. She was worked by a screw
propeller, and was the first vessel of that description engaged in
the passenger trade from the port of Hull.
[Illustration: Steamship]
[Illustration: Arrival of SIRIUS P. S. at New York, 23rd April,
1838.]
FOOTNOTES:
[16] There is some doubt as to whether this vessel was a steamer or a
sailing brig. “The Liverpool Mercury” speaks of her as the “ill-fated
steamer, RIVAL”; but the “Glasgow Herald” only refers to her as the
“brig RIVAL.”
CHAPTER XII.
Pioneers of Transatlantic steam navigation.—Valentia Transatlantic
S. N. Co. incorporated, 1828.—Dr. Lardner’s famous speech on
Steam Navigation.—The ROYAL WILLIAM, first steamer from Canada
to England, 1833; sold to Spanish Government and re-named YSABEL
SEGUNDA.—The British Queen S. N. Co.—Launch of the BRITISH QUEEN,
1838.—SIRIUS, first passenger steamer from Europe to America,
1838.—GREAT WESTERN, 1838.—Arrival of both steamers at New York on
same day.—The ROYAL WILLIAM, first Atlantic liner from Liverpool to
New York, 1838.—The LIVERPOOL.—The PRESIDENT launched, 1839; lost,
1841.
A Quarter of a century had elapsed since the launch of Bell’s COMET
on the Clyde. In the interval, all the chief ports of Great Britain
and Ireland, and several of the continental ports, had been connected
by steampacket services. So early as 1828 it had been proposed
to establish steam communication between the West of Ireland and
America, and an Act of Parliament for incorporating the Valentia
Transatlantic Steam Navigation Company was obtained. The proposed
capital was £24,000, in shares of £50 each. The first steamer was
estimated to cost £21,000. She was to be a vessel of about 800 tons
burthen, driven by engines of 200 h.p., and was expected to make
six round voyages per annum. She was to accommodate 50 cabin and
50 steerage passengers, and to carry 200 tons cargo, exclusive of
bunkers. It appears from the following extract from the “Liverpool
Albion” of the 14th December, 1835, that although the projectors of
the Valentia Company advertised in 1828 that the company was “to
commence immediate operations,” its first sailing had not taken place
seven years later. The scheme fell through for want of support,
but in 1835 it was started afresh in conjunction with the railway
from London, the Post Office Packets, and the Valentia Railway.
The extract is valuable also as containing Dr. Lardner’s famous
dictum concerning the possibility of direct steam navigation between
Liverpool and New York:—
“Steam Communication with America.
“Dr. Lardner then proceeded to observe that one of the grandest
projects which had ever occupied the human mind was at present in
the process of actual accomplishment. He meant that of constructing
a great highway for steam intercourse between New York and
London—between the capital of the New World and that of the Old.
Part of the highway was in process of formation. It consisted of
several stages—that of the railroad from London to Birmingham;
that from Birmingham to Liverpool, and the steam intercourse with
Dublin; but there was another stage—that from Dublin to Valentia,
which had as yet hardly been thought of. Ireland was a country
which, with all her political disadvantages, was blest by nature
with a vast number of physical advantages, and amongst the rest
he might reckon a vast number of excellent harbours. No country
in the world could boast of so many fine and spacious ports, bays
and roadsteads. She had many harbours on her west coast which
would serve admirably as stations for steam conveyance across the
Atlantic; but Valentia had been selected as the extreme westerly
point suitable for that purpose. It was a fine anchoring ground
by an island of that name on the coast of Munster. The distance
from Dublin to this point was under 200 miles, which might be
traversed in about 8 hours. The nearest point on the continent
of North America to this point of Ireland was St. John’s in
Newfoundland. The distance between the two was about 1,900 miles;
thence to Halifax, in Nova Scotia, there would be another run
of 550 miles, and from that to New York would not exceed the
admissible range; but touching at Halifax would be desirable for
the sake of passengers. The only difficulty would be as to the
run from Valentia to St. John’s; and the voyage from Dublin to
Bordeaux and back, a distance of between 1,600 and 1,700 miles,
with the same stock of coals, came very near this distance. It
must be observed that westerly gales blew almost all the year
round across the Atlantic. They were produced by the trade winds
being the compensating cause that restored the balance which these
served to destroy, according to that beautiful principle in nature
which always provides a remedy for any derangement in the deranging
cause itself. As a last resource, however, should the distance
between Valentia and St. John’s prove too great, they might make
the Azores a stage between, so that there remained no doubt of
the practicability of establishing a steam intercourse with the
United States. As to the project, however, which was announced
in the newspapers, of making the voyage directly from New York
to Liverpool, it was, he had no hesitation in saying, perfectly
chimerical, and they might as well talk of making a voyage from New
York or Liverpool to the moon. The vessels which would ultimately
be found the best adapted for the voyage between this country and
the United States would be those of 800 tons, which would carry
machines of 200 horse-power, and would be able to stow 400 tons of
coal. To supply a 10 horse-power daily required an expenditure of
a ton of coals, and, consequently, 200 horse-power would require
20 tons of coal daily; but if the vessel carried 400 tons of coal
only, it would not be practicable to undertake a voyage which would
require the whole of the quantity. They must make an allowance of
100 tons for contingencies. Thus, in reckoning the average length
of the voyage which might be undertaken by such a vessel, we might
safely calculate upon 300 tons of coal, which would be sufficient
for 15 days, and it might fairly be concluded that any project
which calculated upon making longer voyages than 15 days without
taking in a fresh supply of coals, in the present state of the
steamboat, must be considered chimerical. Now, the average rate of
speed of the Mediterranean packets was 170 miles per day, and the
utmost limit of a steam voyage might be taken at 2,550 miles; but
even that could not be reckoned upon.”
In justice to the memory of Dr. Lardner, it is only fair to state
that, in the eighth edition of his “Steam Engine, &c.,” 1851, pp.
294-309, he denies that he ever stated that “a steam voyage across
the Atlantic was a physical impossibility.”
During the winter of 1832-3, the Quebec and Halifax Steam Navigation
Co. built at Quebec a steamer, which they named the ROYAL WILLIAM.
She was a vessel of 1,370 tons B.M.; length over all, 176 feet;
breadth, outside paddle-boxes, 43 feet 10 inches; inside, 27 feet;
depth of hold, 17 feet 9 inches; draught laden, 13 feet. Her
engines of 180 h.p., constructed in Birmingham by Boulton & Watt,
were forwarded to Canada, and fitted on board the ROYAL WILLIAM
at Montreal, whither she had been towed by the steamboat BRITISH
AMERICA. After trading for several months between Quebec and Pictou,
Nova Scotia, the station for which her owners had built her, she was
advertised to sail for London. In accordance with this announcement
she was despatched from Quebec on the 5th August, 1833, and after
calling at Pictou, N.S., where she took on board a further supply of
coal at 15s. per chaldron, she proceeded direct to Cowes, Isle of
Wight, accomplishing the voyage of about 2,500 miles in seventeen
days. This voyage is remarkable as being the first instance of a
vessel crossing the Atlantic from America by the use of steam only.
After the completion of her trans-Atlantic voyage, the ROYAL WILLIAM
was sold to the Spanish Government, who changed her name to the
YSABEL SECUNDA, and fitted her up as a man-of-war carrying six guns.
She took part in the first Carlist war and, finally, was totally
wrecked on the rocks off the harbour of Santander, Spain.
After strenuous and prolonged efforts, Dr. Julius Smith succeeded
in organising (1836) a Transatlantic Steamship Company, bearing the
title of the British Queen Steam Navigation Co. The capital of the
Company was fixed at £1,000,000 sterling, and its secretary was the
celebrated Mr. MacGregor Laird. The shares were promptly subscribed
for, and the Directors placed a contract with Messrs. Curling and
Young, Blackwall, London, to build their pioneer steamship, the
BRITISH QUEEN. The order for the engines was placed with a Glasgow
firm, Messrs. Claude Girdwood & Co. This firm, however, before
they had finished the work entrusted to them, became bankrupt, and
a new contract was made with Mr. Robert Napier, the famous Clyde
engineer, to supply the engines. It was at first the intention of
the Directors (as stated in their prospectus) to build a vessel
of 1,862 tons burthen, but before the completion of the ship they
decided to increase her size to 2,400 tons. Although contracted for
in the summer of 1836, it was not until 24th May, 1838, that the
BRITISH QUEEN was launched. This unfortunate delay, caused by the
bankruptcy of Messrs. Girdwood & Co., enabled a rival company at
Bristol to build and equip their steamer, the GREAT WESTERN, before
the BRITISH QUEEN could be got ready for her service. In order to
save the prestige of their Company the Directors of the BRITISH
QUEEN chartered from the St. George Steam-Packet Co. the steamer
SIRIUS, and advertised that she “would leave London for New York on
Wednesday, the 28th of March, 1838, calling at Cork Harbour; and
would start from thence on the 2nd April, returning from New York
on the 1st of May.”[17] The sailing from Cork Harbour was, however,
delayed, waiting the arrival of the steampacket OCEAN from Liverpool
with the mails and passengers, until the morning of the 4th of April.
She started on this memorable voyage at 9 o’clock on the morning
of the date named, having on board 94 cabin passengers. Three days
later (7th April, 1838)[18] she was followed across the Atlantic
by the GREAT WESTERN, from Bristol for New York, with goods and
passengers. As the dates of the intended sailings of both steamers
had been conveyed to New York, their arrival at that port was eagerly
looked for. They both arrived on the same day, the SIRIUS early in
the morning of Monday, the 23rd April, and the GREAT WESTERN in the
afternoon. The excitement which prevailed on the arrival of these
steamers was described as follows by the New York Press: —
“At 3 o’clock p.m. on Sunday, the 22nd of April, the SIRIUS first
descried the land, and early on Monday morning, the 23rd, anchored
in the North River immediately off the Battery. Nothing could
exceed the excitement. The river was covered during the whole day
with row-boats, skiffs, and yawls, carrying the wondering people
out to get a close view of this extraordinary vessel. While people
were yet wondering how the SIRIUS so successfully made out to cross
the rude Atlantic, it was announced about 11 a.m. on Monday, from
the telegraph, that a huge steamship was in the offing. ‘The GREAT
WESTERN!—the GREAT WESTERN!’ was on everybody’s tongue. About 2
o’clock p.m. the first curl of her ascending smoke fell on the eyes
of the thousands of anxious spectators, and a shout of enthusiasm
rose on the air.... Thus the grand experiment has been fairly and
fully tested, and has been completely successful. The only question
now in the case is that of expense. Can steampackets be made to
pay?”
[Illustration: BRITISH & AFRICAN S. N. CO.]
[Illustration: BRITISH & IRISH STEAMPACKET CO.]
[Illustration: BRITISH INDIA S. N. CO.]
[Illustration: T. & J. BROCKLEBANK.]
[Illustration: G. & J. BURNS.]
[Illustration: R. BURTON & SON.]
[Illustration: CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY.]
[Illustration: CAYZER, IRVINE & CO.]
[Illustration: CITY OF DUBLIN STEAMPACKET CO.]
[Illustration: CORK STEAMSHIP CO.]
[Illustration: CUNARD LINE.]
[Illustration: DONALD CURRIE & CO.]
[Illustration: ELDER, DEMPSTER & CO.]
[Illustration: J. R. ELLERMAN.]
[Illustration: FLETCHER, WOODHILL & CO.]
[Illustration: GREENOCK SHIPPING CO.]
[Illustration: T. & J. HARRISON.]
[Illustration: ALFRED HOLT.]
[Illustration: SAMUEL HOUGH.]
[Illustration: HOULDER BROS.]
During the early part of her voyage westwards, the SIRIUS experienced
strong head winds, during which she only steamed 4 to 5 knots per
hour. During the latter portion, the weather was favourable, and she
made good progress, averaging 9½ knots. She sailed from New York
as advertised on the 1st of May, and reached England on the 18th
idem after a voyage of sixteen days. The GREAT WESTERN left New
York on the 7th of May and arrived at Bristol on the 22nd, being
fourteen days on the passage. There was a remarkable difference in
her consumption of coal on the two voyages, accounted for, probably,
first by the stormy weather referred to as experienced by the SIRIUS
on her outward voyage, and secondly by the prevailing westerly winds
on the homeward run. On the voyage Bristol to New York, the GREAT
WESTERN averaged per day 208 knots, or 8·2 knots per hour, with a
total consumption of 655 tons of coal. On her homeward voyage she
averaged 213 knots per day, or nearly 9 knots per hour, with a total
consumption of only 392 tons of coal. Fuller details of the SIRIUS
will be found in the History of the Cork Steamship Co. in Part II.
of this work. It is but fair to state that she was only half the
size, and had only half the power of her famous rival. The principal
dimensions of the two vessels were as follows:—
Gross
Length. Breadth. Depth. Tonnage. Engines.
GREAT WESTERN 236 ft. 35·4 ft. 23·3 ft. 1340 750 h.p.
SIRIUS 178 ft. 25·6 ft. 18 ft. 703 320 h.p.
They were both paddle-steamers, built of wood, the former designed by
Brunel, and engined by Maudsley, Sons & Field, and the latter built
by Menzies, of Leith, and engined by Wingate & Co., of Glasgow. For
upwards of eight years the GREAT WESTERN continued to sail regularly
between Bristol and New York, on which station she was very popular
with passengers. She was sold in 1847 to the Royal Mail Steampacket
Co., in which service she was also a favourite for several years. In
1857 it was the opinion of the Directors that she could not compete
profitably with modern boats, and she was therefore broken up at
Vauxhall.
About the date of the despatch of the SIRIUS from Cork, the Directors
of the City of Dublin Steam Packet Co. had under consideration the
formation of a Transatlantic Steam-Packet Co., with sailings to
and from Liverpool. The steamers of this Company were amongst the
largest and most famous afloat. A meeting of Directors was held in
the Committee Room, Water Street, Liverpool, at which it was decided
to open up the new service by the despatch of the P.S. ROYAL WILLIAM
as soon as she could be got ready for the voyage. The ROYAL WILLIAM
was practically a new steamer, having been built in 1836, being
one of four steamers built to compete with the Admiralty steamers
for the mail service between Liverpool and Kingstown. She proved
herself to be faster than any of the Government mail steamers, and
when placed on the Dublin and London station, made a passage from
Falmouth to Kingstown, 260 miles, in 23 hours. She was built by
Wilson, of Liverpool, and engined by Fawcett & Preston, of the same
city. Her length was 175 feet (being 3 feet less than the SIRIUS),
beam 27 feet, depth of hold 17 feet 6 inches. Her capacity was 817
tons burden, and she was propelled by engines of 276 h.p. Her coal
consumption was about 17 tons per 24 hours, and in fairly smooth
water her speed was 11½ knots per hour. She had cabin accommodation
for eighty passengers. She sailed from the Prince’s Pier on Thursday
evening, 5th July, 1838, having on board thirty-two passengers.
Sixty-four years afterwards the present author had several interviews
with Mr. Brownrigg, the City of Dublin Co.’s Customs Clerk, who took
out the Customs clearance for the ROYAL WILLIAM, and who in spite of
his great age remembered clearly the appearance of the vessel as she
steamed down the River Mersey on that midsummer evening so long ago.
Although she carried no cargo on that voyage, she was so deeply laden
with coal for fuel—coal that filled her bunkers, her holds, and even
her well-deck—that her paddles were buried six feet, her sponsons
were submerged, and it was possible by leaning over the bulwarks to
wash one’s hands in the water that surged at the vessel’s sides.
Naturally it was an event in which the townspeople of Liverpool and
the residents on the Cheshire side of the river took the deepest
interest. As she began to move she was greeted with enthusiastic
cheers from thousands of spectators who crowded the piers and lined
the river side, whilst cannon were fired from Woodside, Monks Ferry,
Rock Ferry, and from the steamboats on the river. The ROYAL WILLIAM
completed the passage from Liverpool to New York in nineteen days,
and the homeward passage in fourteen and a half days.
[Illustration: ROYAL WILLIAM P. S. in Mid-Atlantic, 12th July, 1838.]
Amongst those who were present at the meeting held in the Water
Street Committee Room was Sir John Tobin, who had a large steamer
nearing completion on the stocks. It was agreed that this vessel
should sail alternately with the ROYAL WILLIAM between Liverpool
and New York. At her launch, Sir John Tobin’s steamer was named
the LIVERPOOL. She was a vessel of 1,150 tons, with engines of 404
h.p. She started on her first voyage on the 20th October, 1838,
but experienced such bad weather that she put back to Cork on the
26th, after having accomplished about one-third of her voyage. She
remained at Cork for ten days, and again proceeded to sea on the
6th November, arriving at New York on the 23rd, after a passage of
sixteen and a half days. It was on board this steamer that Mr. Samuel
Cunard crossed the Atlantic, for the purpose of inducing British
capitalists to take up his scheme of mail steamers between Liverpool,
Halifax and Boston.
After making a few voyages to and from Liverpool and New York, the
LIVERPOOL was lengthened, her capacity being increased by 393 tons,
and at the same time her name was changed to the GREAT LIVERPOOL. Her
new owners, the P. and O. Co., employed her in their mail service
between Southampton and Alexandria. Her career as a Royal Mail
steamer was a short one, as she was lost off Cape Finisterre on the
4th February, 1846.
The first great disaster in the Transatlantic steamship trade
occurred in the spring of 1841. On the 12th March of that year, the
steamship PRESIDENT sailed from New York, bound for Liverpool, with a
full list of passengers. She was a new steamer, having been launched
fifteen months previously (7th December, 1839) by Messrs. Curling &
Young for account of the British and American Steam Navigation Co.,
of Bristol. The PRESIDENT was one of the largest and most powerful
steamships of her day, her register tonnage being 2,366 tons, and
her engines indicated 540 horse-power. On her first voyage, she
sailed from Liverpool for New York at 2 p.m. on the 1st August,
1840, arrived at New York 2 p.m. on the 17th idem; sailed from New
York 2 p.m. on the 1st September, and arrived at Liverpool 2 p.m.
on the 17th of the same month, being exactly sixteen days on both
her westward and her eastward passage. She apparently lay up for
the winter, and resumed her sailings in the spring of the following
year. She left New York for Liverpool on her third homeward voyage on
the 12th March, 1841, having on board 136 passengers. After leaving
New York she disappeared, with all her living freight, from human
ken. As day after day passed, the utmost anxiety arose, both in the
mercantile world and amongst the relatives of the passengers and
seamen, as to the cause of her detention. Other steamers and ships
reported very heavy weather in the Atlantic, and the presence of
unusual quantities of ice in very low latitudes. The newspapers
of the period were filled with references to the ill-fated vessel,
with suggestions that her engines had broken down, and that she had
drifted out of the track of homeward bound steamers. Multitudinous
and conflicting rumours passed into circulation of her wreck having
been seen in various places, and a thousand speculations as to the
cause and certainty of a catastrophe, and the subsequent fate of
those on board, kept alive the agony of those interested in her. Her
fate remains one of the sad mysteries of the ocean, as no trace of
her wreck was ever discovered, nor a single survivor from the tragedy.
[Illustration: New Brighton Lighthouse River Mersey]
FOOTNOTES:
[17] The “Annals of Liverpool” section in “Gore’s Directory”
erroneously states: “1838. The steamship SIRIUS sailed from London to
Cork, 27th March, and from Cork to New York, 2nd April.”
[18] This date is incorrectly quoted in “Gore’s Liverpool Directory”
as the 8th April.
Chapter XIII.
Mr. Cunard’s tender for the carriage of the British and North
American Mails accepted, 1839.—GREAT BRITAIN launched, 1843.—Sails
from Bristol for London, 23rd January, 1845.—Visited by H.M. Queen
Victoria.—Sails for Liverpool, June, 1845.—For New York, July,
1845.—Stranded Dundrum Bay, September, 1846.—Floated off, August,
1847.—Sails to New York, 1852.
In October, 1838, the British Government, being convinced of the
superiority of steamships over sailing brigs, advertised for tenders
for the conveyance of the North American Mails by steamers.
Amongst the tenders sent in, that of Mr. Samuel Cunard, of Halifax,
was accepted as being the lowest, and in many other respects the most
favourable for the public.
With a view of carrying out his scheme for establishing a mail
steamship service between England and North America, Mr. Cunard
came to London and called upon Mr. Melville, Secretary to the East
India Company, to whom he was personally known. From Mr. Melville
he received a letter of introduction to Mr. Robert Napier, the
celebrated Clyde engineer and shipbuilder, by whom he was introduced
to Mr. George Burns, of Glasgow, and Mr. David MacIver, of Liverpool.
Both these gentlemen favourably regarded the proposals of Mr. Cunard,
and interested themselves so energetically in the matter that in a
very short time the whole of the requisite capital for the formation
of the Trans-Atlantic Mail Steamship Company was subscribed. A sketch
of the history of this famous Company (afterwards known as the Cunard
Company) will be found in the second part of this volume.
Although the BRITISH QUEEN had proved an entire success, and was a
great favourite with transatlantic travellers, her owners resolved
to build a second ship, which would not only exceed her in size,
but which should also include all the latest improvements the art
of naval construction could then command. This was the famous GREAT
BRITAIN. She was the first Western Ocean steamship constructed of
iron, and the first and only one for several years that was propelled
by a screw propeller instead of paddle-wheels. She was considered
a colossal steamer in her time, and excited quite as much public
interest as did the GREAT EASTERN at a later period. Her principal
dimensions were, length of keel 289 feet, between perpendiculars
296 feet, over all 322 feet, her breadth was 51 feet, depth of hold
32 feet 6 inches, her measurement 2,984 tons, and her engines 1,000
h.p. She originally carried six masts, two of which were forward
and four aft of the funnel. She was built at Bristol, from plans
furnished by Mr. Patterson of that City, who also had designed
the GREAT WESTERN. Her engines and boilers were constructed in,
and fitted on board the vessel at, the Company’s own works, as no
outside engineers would undertake the contract. But, owing to an
extraordinary oversight on the part of the consulting Engineer, it
was then found that she was imprisoned in the dock, being so deeply
immersed by the weight of her machinery as to be unable to pass out.
Although she was launched on the 19th July, 1843, owing to the above
unfortunate mistake, she was not ready for sea until December of the
following year. On her passage from Bristol to London she encountered
a severe storm which thoroughly tested her seagoing qualities, and
through which she passed triumphantly. Her arrival in the Thames was
awaited with great interest by the public, whose curiosity had been
excited by the numerous references to the vessel published in the
daily and illustrated papers. A long and interesting account of this
trial voyage, from which the following particulars are taken, was
published in the “Illustrated London News,” under date of the 1st
February, 1845. From this article it appears that the GREAT BRITAIN
left Bristol for London at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 23rd January, 1845.
At the time the ship got under weigh, it was blowing a fresh breeze
from the S.S.W., which at 3 a.m. on Friday had veered to the N.W.
and increased to a gale, and there was a counter swell from the
Irish Channel, causing a disagreeable and heavy cross sea. The
gale continued to increase, and was for a considerable time on her
starboard bow; yet, notwithstanding this, in the face of the gale,
and a heavy head sea with a strong ebb tide, she made five and a half
knots per hour. At twenty minutes past twelve, when about fifteen
miles to the westward of Lundy, she was struck on the starboard bow
by a tremendous sea, which must have contained two or three thousand
tons of water. The shock for a moment seemed to paralyse the vessel
and to bring her to a standstill; this, however, was but for one
moment; the vessel recovered the shock instanter, and continued to
brave the gale as though nothing had happened to check her progress.
Some idea of the force of the concussion may be formed from the
damage done to the vessel. Three of her starboard bulls eyes were
stove in, together with their frames, the diagonal bends of her
forecastle deck were bent, the woodwork started two inches upwards,
a portion of the carved figurehead carried away, also the wooden
fittings of her bulkhead, the iron sheathing of both bows split
above deck in two places. The gale continued until 5-30 p.m., when
it became more moderate. At 8-45 p.m. the GREAT BRITAIN rounded the
Land’s End, and at 10-40 was off the Lizard proceeding up the Channel
at the rate of 10½ knots per hour. The Captain (Lieut. Hoskin, R.N.),
was of opinion that neither the GREAT WESTERN, nor any other Royal
Mail (Paddle) Steamer, could have made such headway under the same
circumstances by at least from one to one and a half knots per hour.
[Illustration: GREAT BRITAIN S.S. (1845), from an old Engraving.]
On Saturday, 25th January, at 12-10 a.m., she was abreast of
Falmouth, and proceeded up channel, with light winds from the S.W.
at an average speed of 12 knots per hour. At 12-45 p.m. she entered
the Needles passage, and when off Cowes, at 2-15, the engines were
stopped to land despatches. At 2-18 again proceeded on her course.
Upon arriving at Spithead, Captain Hoskin took his vessel under the
stern of H.M.S. APOLLO, fired a gun, and gave her three cheers, which
were returned by the crew and troops on board. At 1-40 a.m. on Sunday
(26th), the GREAT BRITAIN came to an anchor in the Downs, having ran
from the time she rounded the Land’s End, three hundred and fifty
miles at an average speed of twelve knots per hour.
At 7-45 a.m. the vessel was got under weigh again from the Downs, and
upon rounding the North Foreland, and steering through the Queen’s
Channel, encountered a stiff gale from the W.N.W. The GREAT BRITAIN,
however, met it in gallant style, and made nine and a half knots
against it. As she steamed up the river, the crews of every vessel
she passed ran on deck to obtain a view of her, her great length, and
her singular appearance with six masts, rendering her an object of
considerable attraction. She arrived at Woolwich at 3-30 p.m., and
at Blackwall a few minutes later. At both these places there was an
immense concourse of people assembled to witness her arrival.
She remained at her anchorage at Blackwall nearly five months, during
which period she was inspected by many thousands of the public. On
the 22nd April H.M. Queen Victoria, accompanied by Prince Albert and
suite, paid her a visit.
The GREAT BRITAIN left Blackwall on Thursday afternoon, 12th June,
1845. On passing Woolwich it seemed as if the whole population had
turned out to behold her. The Dockyard was lined with the Naval
and Military officers connected with that depôt, whose cheers were
loud and continued. She had on board about eighty passengers, who
had embarked for a trip round the coast. After calling at several
ports she arrived in the Mersey about 9 o’clock on the evening of
Thursday, 3rd July, on which occasion she was anxiously looked for
by thousands, the pierheads and every available point on the river
being densely crowded. The GREAT BRITAIN sailed on her first voyage
from Liverpool to New York on Saturday, 26th July, at 3 o’clock in
the afternoon, taking forty-five passengers, and arrived out on
the 10th August, at noon. On her return voyage she left New York
on the 30th August, having on board fifty-seven passengers and 600
tons general cargo, and arrived at Liverpool on the 15th September,
at 8 a.m. She continued to trade regularly between the two ports,
her passenger list steadily increasing, until the 22nd September,
1846, when she stranded in Dundrum Bay, Ireland. She was, at the
time of the stranding, on a voyage from Liverpool to New York with
185 passengers. Fortunately the mishap was accompanied by no loss
of life. The cause of the disaster is explained by the following
resolution passed by the Directors of the Company:—“With respect
to the occurrences which preceded the stranding of the unfortunate
ship, as explained now by Captain Hoskin, and by the Report of
Captain Claxton to the Secretary, the Directors are of opinion that
the ship was stranded in consequence of an error in judgment, into
which it appears the Captain was betrayed through the omission of a
notice of St. John’s light in the chart of this year, by which he
was navigating, and of the want of knowledge on his part of such a
light having been established, it being to the Directors obvious that
had the light been laid, Captain Hoskin would have known that the
judgment which led him at 8 o’clock to put his ship in the proper
course for the North Channel, ought to have been persevered in.”
The GREAT BRITAIN remained stranded for over eleven months, but on
the 25th August, 1847, she was floated off and towed to Liverpool
for repairs. After the completion of the repairs she lay in the
Liverpool Dock for about five years, and then made one trip to New
York, sailing from Liverpool on the 1st May, 1852. She sailed from
New York on the 5th June, and after a rapid passage of 10 days 23
hours arrived in Liverpool on the 16th of that month. From that date
she ceased to be connected with the Transatlantic Trade, and her
subsequent history is sketched in the chapter devoted to the account
of steam communication with Australia.
[Illustration: Sailboat near land]
CHAPTER XIV.
Steam communication with the West Indies.—Royal Mail Steampacket
Co. incorporated 1841.—Commences with a fleet of fourteen
steamers.—Heavy loss of first year’s working.—Generous concession
from Government.—Rapid increase of trade.—The “TRENT affair.”—First
screw steamers for Company, the TAGUS and MOZELLE.—The
TASMANIAN.—Gross tonnage of present fleet.—The Imperial Direct West
India Mail Service, Ltd., established 1901.
Nine months after the despatch of the first Cunarder from Liverpool
to Halifax, the Admiralty accepted a contract from a newly-formed
steampacket company, to convey the mails between England, the West
Indies, and the Gulf of Mexico. This company, which bore the title
of The Royal Mail Steam Packet Co., had an authorised capital of
£1,500,000, in fifteen thousand shares of £100 each. It commenced
operations on an exceptionally large scale, no less than fourteen
large and powerful steamers being at once ordered to be built for
the service. The steamers were to be each of 400 horse-power, and
to be capable of carrying guns of the largest calibre then in use
on H.M. war steamers. Like all other ocean steamers of the period,
they were constructed of wood, and were propelled by paddle-wheels.
Upon the complete delivery of these vessels to the Company, the
contract required one of them to sail twice in each calendar month
from England via Corunna and Madeira to the various islands in the
West Indies, specified in the contract, and back “to such port in
the British Channel as the said Commissioners of the Admiralty shall
direct.” The scheme also embraced other places in the West Indies,
the Spanish Main, and the United States, for which mails were to be
carried. For the performance of these services, the Company was to
receive a subsidy at the rate of £240,000 per annum in quarterly
payments, the contract to commence on the 1st December, 1841, or if
possible earlier, and to continue in force for ten years, subject
to twelve months’ notice from either party for its termination.
Notwithstanding this large subsidy, the operations of the Company
during the first year resulted in a heavy loss, the Directors’
balance-sheet, presented at the first meeting of the shareholders,
showing a deficit of £79,790 16s. 8d. Before this meeting was held,
one-half of the capital had been paid up, and another call of £10
per share was sanctioned at the meeting; but as it was found that
even this was insufficient for the requirements of the Company, the
Directors appealed to Government for further assistance. In response
to this appeal the Government generously consented to reduce the
annual mileage to be traversed by the Company’s ships, which by the
original contract was 684,816 miles, to 392,976 miles, without any
reduction of the annual subsidy of £240,000. This liberal concession
was estimated by the Directors to effect a saving to the Company
of £125,000 per annum. Unfortunately during the second year of its
existence, the Company lost two valuable steamers, which more than
counterbalanced the bonus it had obtained from Government. Trade,
however, increased so rapidly and profitably, that in the following
year (1843) the Company had recouped its losses, and had a surplus
of receipts over expenditure amounting to £94,210, and in 1844 to
£147,749.
In 1850 the Government made a fresh contract with the Royal Mail
Steam Packet Co. for a further term of ten years from the 1st
January, 1852, the subsidy being raised to £270,000 per annum, but
the Company were required to undertake the additional expense of a
monthly service to the Brazils, which increased the mileage to be
performed annually from 389,448 to 547,296 miles, and at the same
time reduced the mileage from 12s. 3d. to 9s. 10d. per mile. The
Company was also required to increase the speed of its steamers on
the West Indian line from 8 knots to 10 knots per hour, and to add
five new steamers to its fleet, each of 2,250 tons burden and 800
horse power. This second contract was altered in 1857, and its period
of currency extended two years, one condition introduced being of
an extraordinary nature. It had reference to an amalgamation with
the European and Australian Mail Company, for the conveyance of the
mails via Egypt, to and from Australia. This arrangement proved a
great failure, owing to the complete collapse of the latter Company.
A second condition required the acceleration of the mails between
England and Rio de Janeiro. The Company was also required to provide
three new steamers of 3,000 tons burden and 800 horse-power for the
Atlantic West India service, and a fourth of smaller dimensions to
ply between Rio and the River Plate.
[Illustration: CLYDE. Royal Mail Steampacket Co.]
In 1864 the second contract expired, and fresh arrangements were
made, reducing the annual subsidy to £172,914. At the same time it
was stipulated that the speed of the steamers in the West India
Transatlantic service should be increased to 10½ knots per hour.
The postal contract was again renewed in 1874; but in consequence of
adverse articles and letters which had appeared in the public press,
and because several members of Parliament had insisted that the
service should be thrown open to public competition, the Directors
of the Royal Mail Steam-Packet Co. found themselves compelled either
to abandon the service altogether, or to accept a much smaller
subsidy than they had hitherto received for carrying the mails.
They adopted the latter alternative, and undertook the conveyance of
the West India mails for an annual payment of £84,750—being about
one-third of the amount of the first subsidy. The company in addition
received the sum of £2,000 per annum to cover the cost of the
steamers calling at Plymouth to land the mails instead of carrying
them on to Southampton, the final port of destination.
[Illustration: NILE. Royal Mail Steampacket Co.]
On and from the 1st of January, 1875, the mails were carried on
an entirely fresh basis. The contract with the Government was for
a service twice a month from Southampton: payment to be according
to the weight of postal matter conveyed by the steamers, and the
contract was terminable by six months’ notice given by either party
to the contract.
Although on the North Atlantic screw steamers had been employed
in rapidly increasing numbers since 1850, it was not until twenty
years later that the Directors of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Co.
substituted screw steamers for paddle-wheel steam packets in their
service.
The first fleet of the Company consisted of vessels built of wood,
but so indeed were the pioneer steamers of the Cunard, P. & O.,
and other historical steamship companies. The course taken by the
Company’s vessels was free from the dangers from ice and fogs, such
as are encountered by steamers engaged in the North Atlantic trades,
yet during the first eight years of the Company’s operations it lost
no fewer than six of its steamers. The ISIS struck on a reef off the
coast of Bermuda and sank on the 8th October, 1842. The SOLWAY was
lost 20 miles west of Corunna on the 15th April, 1843. The MEDINA was
wrecked on a coral reef near Turk’s Island on the 12th May, 1844. The
TWEED was totally lost on the 12th February, 1847; and in 1849, the
FORTH was wrecked on the same reefs that had caused the destruction
of the TWEED. The ACTÆON was lost in 1850 on a shoal near Carthagena;
and in 1852 there was lost by fire the AMAZON.
[Illustration: R.M.S. PORT ANTONIO leaving Avonmouth for Kingston,
Jamaica.]
An event occurred on the 8th November, 1861, which occasioned
considerable public excitement, both in Great Britain and in the
U.S.A. It was during the struggle between the Northern and Southern
States, and two of the Commissioners of the Confederate States were
forcibly removed from the Royal Mail steamer TRENT, while on their
way to Europe, by the officers and crew of the Federal man-of-war
SAN JACINTO. This high-handed action, which was not repudiated by
the Federal Government, was inexcusable, and the tone adopted by a
great portion of the press of the Northern States was ludicrous, and
unworthy of a great people.
In 1871 there was launched from the yard of Messrs. John Elder & Co.
two splendid screw steamers to the order of the Royal Mail Co. These
steamers were the TAGUS and the MOZELLE, both steamers being 3,252
tons gross register and 600 nominal horse-power. On her official
trial trip the TAGUS attained an average mean speed of 14·878 knots
per hour, a result which was slightly surpassed by her sister ship
the MOZELLE, the average mean speed of the latter on her trial trip
being 14·929 knots per hour.
At the same time Messrs. Elder & Co. effected an extraordinary
improvement in the TASMANIAN, an iron screw steamer the Royal Mail
Co. had purchased from the unfortunate European and Australian Steam
Navigation Co. This vessel was fitted with compound engines, and on
her first voyage afterwards from Southampton to St. Thomas, occupying
14 days 2 hours, she consumed 466 tons of coal, against her former
consumption of 1,088 tons on a voyage occupying 14 days 13 hours.
Since that date all the additions to the Company’s fleet have been
screw steamers, and it now (1903) consists of 22 ocean steamers,
with a gross tonnage of 87,855 tons, in addition to 9 coast steamers
employed as feeders to the mail services.
In the first year of the present century, Messrs. Elder, Dempster
& Co. established a service of mail steamers between Bristol and
Jamaica. A detailed account of this service, which is known as the
Imperial Direct West India Mail Service, Limited, will be found in
the second part of this volume.
CHAPTER XV.
International rivalry in the Transatlantic.—The Collins Line and the
Cunard Co.
For upwards of nine years Great Britain had held a monopoly of the
transatlantic steamship business. America could and did build sailing
vessels that were unsurpassed by those belonging to any other nation;
her Baltimore clippers, Boston packets, and New York liners were all
of them vessels of the highest class and reputation. But apparently
Americans could neither build, nor own ocean steamers that were
capable of successfully competing with British owned steamships.
At least, it is a matter of history that from 1838 to 1847 all the
steamships that crossed the North Atlantic sailed under the British
flag, with one exception.
On the 15th September, 1845, Messrs. Forbes & Co. despatched from New
York their auxiliary steamship MASSACHUSETTS. She was practically
a full-rigged ship, 751 tons O.M., fitted with an engine of 170
horse-power. This engine had two cylinders each 3 feet stroke and
26 inches diameter. Steam was generated in two “waggon boilers,”
each 14 feet long, 7 feet wide and 9 feet high. Her propeller was
made of composition metal, and could be raised out of the water when
not required. Her engine room, boilers, bunkers, &c., were situated
in the lower after hold, and occupied a space equal to one-tenth
of the cubic capacity of the ship. Her engines were capable of
driving her in smooth water at the rate of about 8 knots per hour,
on a consumption of 9 tons anthracite coal per 24 hours. The length
of the MASSACHUSETTS was 161 feet, her beam 31 feet 9 inches, and
her depth of hold 20 feet. She had a full poop, extending to the
mainmast (and consequently forward of the funnel), in which there
was accommodation for 35 first-class passengers. Her entire cost
with machinery complete in all respects was £16,000. She made two
round voyages between New York and Liverpool, and in June, 1846,
was chartered to the U.S. Government to carry troops to the Gulf
of Mexico. The Government were so well pleased with her that they
afterwards purchased her, and she took part in the siege of Vera
Cruz. Subsequently her name was changed to the FARRALONES, and she
continued in the U.S. Navy until about 1870, when she was again sold.
Her new owners removed her machinery and renamed her the ALASKA.
Obviously the MASSACHUSETTS was not intended to compete against
full-powered ocean steamships, and it was not until 1847 that the
first American line of steamers to Europe was established. This was
a line of steamships to run between New York and Bremen, calling
at Southampton. The pioneer steamer of the line, the WASHINGTON,
sailed on her first voyage from New York for Southampton on the
same day (June, 1847) that the BRITANNIA, belonging to the Cunard
Company, sailed for Liverpool. This was the first ocean race between
American and British steamships. Theoretically the American steamer
was incomparably superior to the other. She was much larger and had
double the power; she was new, while her rival had been buffeted
by the Atlantic billows for seven years. Quoth the editor of the
“New York Herald”: “We have to say that if the BRITANNIA beats the
WASHINGTON over (and they both, we understand, start the same day),
she will have to run by the deep mines, and put in more coal.” The
BRITANNIA did not “run by the deep mines and put in more coal,” but
she won the race by two full days.
Great pressure was subsequently brought to bear on Congress in order
to obtain a subsidy for an American mail service to Great Britain.
Those in favour of the subsidy argued that it was humiliating
to their pride as a great maritime people, that foreigners and
commercial rivals should wrest from them the virtual monopoly
of ocean steam conveyance, especially between the United States
and Europe, and they complained that the ocean mails along their
southern coasts had been placed in the hands of foreign carriers,
sustained and protected by the British Government under the forms of
contract to carry the British mails; while the Cunard Line, between
Liverpool and Boston, via Halifax, constituted the only medium of
regular steam navigation between the United States and Europe.
[Illustration: BRITANNIA. Cunard Steamship Co.]
It may be appropriate to state here, that in addition to carrying the
British mails from Liverpool to North America, the Cunard Company,
early in 1850, obtained a contract from the British Government for
the conveyance of the mails between Halifax, New York and Bermuda.
The steam packets employed in this service were the ALPHA, BETA
and DELTA, small vessels each of 350 tons and 80 horse-power, and
fitted with a proper space for mounting an 18-pounder pivot gun. The
arrangements for carrying on the service were as follows:—Twenty-four
hours after the arrival of the packet from Liverpool, one of these
vessels left Halifax for Bermuda; at the same time another left
for St. John’s, while the third conveyed the mails monthly between
Bermuda and New York. The payment for these services amounted to
£10,600 per annum, equal to 3s. per mile, while on the main line it
was 11s. 4d. per mile. The following year the British Government made
another contract with the Cunard Company for a monthly conveyance
each way of the mails between Bermuda and St. Thomas, upon such days
as might be fixed by the Admiralty, the one vessel engaged in it
being in all respects similar to those engaged in the Halifax and
Bermuda service. The amount of subsidy was £4,100 per annum, or equal
to 4s. per mile. This service connected the West Indies with the
United States and the North American provinces.
Following the example of the British Government, the United States
Congress resolved to subsidise a line of American steamships between
New York and Liverpool. The steamers were to be of the highest
class, possessing great speed and superior passenger accommodation,
and capable, besides, of being converted at a small expense into
war steamers. The responsible task of establishing the line was
undertaken by Mr. E. K. Collins, of New York, after whom the line was
named. Mr. Collins had had considerable experience as a shipowner,
being well-known as the head of the Collins Line of sailing packets
between Liverpool and New York. Associated with Mr. Collins in his
later enterprise were many influential American citizens, and their
proposals were favourably received by the American Government, and
ultimately an agreement was entered into, by which Mr. Collins and
his colleagues undertook to provide five first-class steam vessels
and to maintain a weekly mail service between New York and Liverpool,
each vessel performing twenty voyages annually, for which service
they were to receive $19,250 per voyage. It is evident that the
United States Government were prepared to pay most liberally for the
performance of the ocean mail service. At par the subsidy represented
£4,010 8s. 4d. per voyage. Assured of this substantial income, Mr.
Collins sought the assistance of the most competent shipbuilders
and engineers of the United States, and on the completion of the
contract, arrangements were entered into for the construction of four
vessels, to be named the ARCTIC, BALTIC, ATLANTIC and PACIFIC, each
to be about 3,000 tons register and of 800 horse-power. The principal
dimensions of these celebrated steamers were—Length on main deck, 282
feet; depth from the main deck, 24 feet; depth under the spar deck,
32 feet; breadth of beam, 45 feet. They had rounded sterns, three
masts with suitable spars; four decks, viz., lower, main, spar, and
orlop deck, extending from the engine room forward and aft. They were
built chiefly of live oak, planked with pitchpine, and were equal, if
not superior, in strength to any wooden steamers afloat. The timbers,
which were solid and bolted to each other, were further strengthened
by a lattice work of iron bands. All the four steamers were beautiful
models, and the ARCTIC, which was esteemed the finest of the fleet,
was familiarly known as the “clipper of the seas.” She was built by
Mr. W. H. Brown, of New York, under the superintendence of Mr. George
Steers, who modelled the famous yacht America. Her equipment was
complete, and of the highest order, while her cabin accommodation
surpassed in comfort and elegance any merchant steamer Great Britain
then possessed. The engines of the ARCTIC and her sister ships were
of the “side-lever” type, the cylinder having a diameter of 95
inches, with a 9 feet stroke. The boilers of the ARCTIC and BALTIC
were peculiar to the Collins Line, and were designed by Messrs.
Sewell and Faron, chief engineers of the United States Navy. The
latter of these two gentlemen acted as chief engineer of the Company.
The boilers were arranged with double furnaces, and lower water
spaces connected by a row of vertical tubes, around which the heated
gases circulated, with a hanging bridge or plate, which checked their
otherwise rapid flow to the funnel, and rendered the combustion more
perfect. The average consumption per 24 hours by the ARCTIC was 83
tons anthracite coal, attaining an average speed of 316·4 knots per
day. Her maximum consumption was 87 tons, with a speed of 320 knots
in 24 hours.
These vessels were constructed so utterly regardless of expense that
to complete them it was found the cost would be very greatly in
excess of the estimates. The Government was therefore appealed to for
assistance. The appeal was generously responded to. The United States
Government not only made an advance to the Company while the ships
were being built, but also released it from its obligation to build
a fifth vessel as originally contemplated, and increased the subsidy
from $19,250 to $33,000 per voyage. But for these benefits increased
speed was demanded. “We must have speed,” declared Mr. Bayard, during
the debate in Congress, “extraordinary speed—a speed with which they
(the Collins steamships) can overtake any vessel which they pursue,
and escape from any vessel they wish to avoid; they must be fit for
the purpose of a cruiser, with armaments to attack your enemy (if
that enemy were Great Britain) in her most vital part, her commerce.”
Happily the contest was a commercial and not a national one, and
the Collins steamers were never required for the purposes of Mr.
Bayard’s hypothesis. They did, however, engage (and for a time with
apparent success) in a great contest with the Cunard Company for the
commercial maritime supremacy of the Atlantic.
The ATLANTIC, the first of the Collins Line of steamers to cross
the ocean, arrived at Liverpool on the 10th May, 1850. The breadth
of beam of this vessel and her sister ships was so great that they
were unable to enter any existing docks at Liverpool, and a dock
at the north end of the port was constructed specially for their
accommodation. The arrival of the ATLANTIC excited very great
interest, which was increased rather than lessened by the presence
at Liverpool of the ASIA R.M.S., just built for the Cunard Line, and
which left for New York on the following Saturday week.
[Illustration: ASIA. Cunard Steamship Co.]
The following description[19] of the interior decorations of the
ATLANTIC may be taken as a general description of the whole of the
Collins steamers, and will be read with interest:—
Her saloon is 67 feet long by 20 feet wide. Her interior fittings
are truly elegant, the woodwork being of white holly, satinwood,
rosewood, &c., so combined and diversified as to present an
exceedingly rich and costly appearance. In the drawing room the
ornaments consist of costly mirrors, bronze-work, stained glass,
paintings, &c. Between the panels connecting the staterooms are
the arms of the different states of the confederacy painted in the
highest style of art, and framed with bronze-work. The pillars
between are inlaid with mirrors, framed with rosewood, and at the
top and bottom are bronzed sea-shells of costly workmanship. In
the centre of each are allegorical figures representing the ocean
mythology of the ancients, in bronze and burnished gold. The ceiling
is elaborately wrought, carved and gilded. The cabin windows in the
stern are of painted glass, having representations of New York,
Boston and Philadelphia painted on each. There is in addition
another apartment equally beautifully arranged and ornamented, for
the exclusive use of ladies. Both apartments are heated by steam,
an improvement now for the first time introduced in steamships.
The dining room (60 feet long) is furnished in an equally elegant
style with the drawing room. The staterooms, which are light and
airy, are beautifully furnished and ornamented, and combine every
convenience that practical science and experience could suggest. It
would occupy more space than can be spared to detail the magnificence
of the furniture of the ATLANTIC; the carpets are of the richest
description; the table-slabs are of Brocatelli marble. Each
stateroom has an elegant sofa; the berths are of satinwood, and the
curtains of rich damask.
The ATLANTIC left New York on the 27th April, 1850, with nearly
a hundred passengers, and a valuable cargo, under the command of
Captain West. Shortly after leaving Sandy Hook she got entangled
amongst some drift ice, which did considerable damage to her floats.
This mishap was a serious drawback to her, inasmuch as the engines
had to be worked at a reduced rate to prevent the floats from being
torn from the wheels altogether, and the weather was too boisterous
to admit of them being repaired. During the five succeeding days, the
noble vessel continued to prosecute her voyage to the satisfaction of
her captain and all on board. On the 3rd May, however, an accident
of a more formidable nature occurred, one of her condensers giving
way. After a fruitless attempt to adjust the machinery, the vessel
having been hove to forty hours, Captain West decided to pursue his
course, the steam being kept at a low point in consequence, which
considerably retarded the vessel’s progress during the remainder of
her passage.
The American steamers were swifter than their British rivals, and for
a few years were the favourites with the travelling public. According
to a return published in the “New York Herald” on the 1st January,
1853, the number of passengers carried during the eleven months
January to November (inclusive), 1852, were:—
By Collins Line, New York to Liverpool 2,420
” Cunard Line do. do. 1,783
” Collins Line, Liverpool to New York 1,886
” Cunard Line do. do. 1,186
It will be noticed that the majority of passengers carried were from
New York to Liverpool, the explanation of this unusual circumstance
being that it was at the time of the great rush to the Australian
goldfields, when it was no uncommon thing for a Melbourne packet
to sail from the Mersey with from five to six hundred passengers.
Nor were the receipts from passage money the only source of revenue
available for the Collins steamers. They were loyally supported by
American shippers and importers, and the receipts from freight were
large, although the rate on fine goods had been lowered from £7 10s.
to £4 per ton.
Notwithstanding the large income derived from these sources, the
service was only maintained for a period of about ten years. The
heavy disbursements and the numerous casualties which befell the
steamers, especially the loss of the ARCTIC (as narrated in the
following chapter) and of the PACIFIC, with all on board, led to the
collapse of the company.
[Illustration: R.M.S. “Umbria” in Mid-Atlantic]
FOOTNOTES:
[19] “Illustrated London News,” 18th May, 1850.
CHAPTER XVI.
The Loss of the Collins Liner ARCTIC.
On Wednesday, 27th September, 1854, about noon—Cape Race bearing
S.W. by W., 65 miles distant—the steamship ARCTIC, on her passage
from Liverpool to New York, while running through a very thick fog,
was struck on the starboard bow about 60 feet abaft the cutwater by
an iron steamer. The force of the impact made three large holes in
the ARCTIC—two below the watermark, one of which was about 5½ feet
in length and about 1½ feet broad. The fog was so dense that neither
vessel saw the other a minute before they collided.
The passengers on the ARCTIC were at lunch when their vessel was
struck, and they immediately rushed on deck. Through the dense fog
could be seen very indistinctly on the starboard bow a screw steamer,
which was afterwards found to be the French merchant steamer VESTA.
No apprehension of danger was felt by those on board the ARCTIC, and
a boat in charge of the chief officer was sent off to the rescue
of the passengers and crew of the other steamer. On board of the
VESTA no hope was entertained of her ultimate safety, the crew and
passengers relying upon being taken off by the crew of the ARCTIC.
When the collision occurred there were several men on the bow of
the VESTA, presumably on the lookout, one of whom was killed and
the others severely wounded. As it was feared that the steamer was
sinking, a rush was made for the boats, and two were launched. The
first boat was swamped, but the second boat floated, and was at
once boarded by several of the passengers and two of the crew, who,
ignoring the captain’s orders to return on board, cut themselves
adrift, and abandoned their shipmates. While these occurrences were
taking place on the deck of the VESTA the ARCTIC had disappeared
in the fog, those on the VESTA still hoping, however, that she had
not deserted them. Meantime, the officers on board the ARCTIC had
discovered that there was little hope of saving their vessel. Mrs.
Collins, the wife of the managing owner, with their daughter and
son, were passengers, and the captain’s first thought was for their
safety. They and several ladies were placed in a lifeboat, but while
it was being lowered one of its tackles gave way, and all, with the
exception of one lady who clung to a sailor holding fast to the
boat, were cast into the sea and drowned. A second boat was lowered
successfully, and stored with provisions. It was soon filled with
passengers—ladies and gentlemen—but by a strange oversight on the
part of the officer in charge none of the crew accompanied them.
The difficulty and danger of lowering the boats was greatly increased
in consequence of the impossibility of stopping the ship for that
purpose, the pumps having been attached to the main engines in the
attempt to keep the vessel clear of water, which was pouring into
her through the breaches in her side. Cape Race being within about
four hours steaming distance, she was headed in that direction, but
after running about fifteen miles the water had risen so high in
the stoke-hole as to extinguish the fires, and, in consequence, the
engines ceased to work. Almost immediately after the ship stopped,
the remaining lifeboats left the ship. There was one large boat on
deck, which was capable of carrying fifty persons, but there were not
sufficient seamen left on board to launch her, and it is supposed
that she was filled with passengers in the hope that she might float
off when the steamer sank.
In the Annual Register for 1854, it is stated that Captain Luce and
most of his officers exerted themselves with firmness and energy
while a hope remained, and the former probably owed his life to his
remaining at his post. When his steamer sank he clung first to some
floating wood, and afterwards got on a floating paddlebox, on which
eleven others had taken refuge, of whom nine were swept away by the
sea, the three survivors being rescued by the CAMBRIA, of Glasgow.
The captain’s son was killed in his father’s arms by a piece of wreck.
The conduct of Captain Duchesne, of the VESTA, was most praiseworthy.
Finding that the ARCTIC had disappeared in the fog, and that his
own vessel had not sunk under him, he, with the utmost promptitude,
took measures for saving his ship and passengers. He noticed that,
although the steamer’s bows were completely shattered, the forecastle
bulkhead had not given way, and this afforded some hope of safety. He
at once gave orders to lighten the vessel by the head, by throwing
overboard all the fish, cargo, passengers’ luggage, &c., which was in
the forepart of the ship, all of which orders were promptly obeyed,
and by means of which the vessel’s bows were raised considerably. Her
head was raised still more by cutting away the foremast, which had
been damaged by the collision. The captain next ordered about 150
mattresses, palliasses and other effects belonging to the crew and
passengers to be placed abaft the forecastle bulkhead, over which
were thrown sails, backed by boards and planks, the whole being
secured by cables firmly wrapped round all.
These operations occupied two days, after which Captain Duchesne
proceeded under easy steam for the nearest port (St. John’s), which
was entered on the 30th September. Most providentially, considering
the disabled condition of the VESTA, she entered the harbour of
St. John’s before the rising of a severe gale, which sprang up on
the same day. The energy, unwavering perseverance, and superior
seamanship exhibited by Captain Duchesne in bringing his vessel into
port, elicited the admiration and praise of all who visited the ship.
The American Consul at St. John’s made every exertion to procure
vessels to go at once in search of the ARCTIC or her boats. He
succeeded in obtaining the brigantine ANN ELIZA, whose owners
(Messrs. Warren Bros.) generously gave her without charge. She sailed
from St. John’s on the 2nd October, with instructions to cruise in
the vicinity of the catastrophe for three days.
The Right Rev. Dr. Field also promptly placed at the disposal of the
American Consul his yacht, the HAWK, for the same purpose.
The last moments of the ARCTIC are thus graphically described[20] by
Mr. Baahlam, the second officer of the steamer:—
“In about thirty minutes all the lower fires were out, and, at the
least, there were six feet of water in the ship fore and aft. By
this time the confusion amongst the passengers was very great, but
they used all efforts to assist the crew to keep the pumps going,
and in lightening the ship forward for the purpose of getting at
the leak from the inside, which we found to be useless, and numbers
of them got into the boats, which were still hanging to the davits.
In forty-five minutes after the collision I came up from the
forehold, and informed the captain that the water was on a level
with the lower deck beams, and that it was impossible to get at
the leak. I then asked him what he thought would be the probable
fate of the ship, when he stated his belief to me that there was no
hope of saving her. He then told me to see to my boats. On going
to those on the port side I found them completely filled with men
and women, and no possibility of getting near them. I immediately
went to the starboard side and ordered two of the crew to lower
the guard boat, and asked the captain what his intentions were,
who replied that the ship’s fate would be his. I then asked him if
he would not allow his son to go with me, as I intended to take a
boat, but he returned me the answer that he should share his fate.
I then jumped into the boat, and was ordered by the captain to cut
away the tackle falls, and drop under the stern. I did so; at which
time about twenty persons, as I suppose, jumped overboard, of whom
seventeen or eighteen were picked up. I fell in with another boat
which had been lowered from the other side, and lightened her of
part of her complement, leaving nineteen in her, and twenty-six
in my own boat. The last sight we had of the ship her guards were
level with the water, and the surface of the sea strewed with human
beings, who had jumped or fallen overboard—to whom, however, it was
impossible for us to render any assistance; and we soon lost sight
of all, as the fog continued very dense. I then asked the boat’s
crew whether they were willing to be governed by me, which was
unanimously approved, and I was put in complete command of both
boats.
“We were then about sixty miles S.E. of Cape Race. Deeming it my
duty, for the safety of all, I took the nearest course for the
land, and, after pulling forty-two hours, with nothing to guide
us but the run of the sea, which I took to be heaving from the
southward, and in a thick fog which lasted all the time, we reached
Broad Cove, some twelve miles North of Cape Race.”
The ARCTIC, when she sailed from Liverpool on this ill-fated voyage,
had 365 souls on board, of whom only 87 were saved. The hull,
machinery, and equipment of this steamship were insured for £115,000,
as follows:—Underwritten in the United States, £55,000; in London,
£40,000; and in Glasgow, £20,000.
The VESTA, which sailed from St. Peter’s the day previous to the
collision, had 197 persons on board, viz., a crew of 50 men and 147
passengers; of these 13 were reported missing when she arrived at St.
John’s.
[Illustration: Setting Sun]
FOOTNOTES:
[20] “Illustrated London News,” 21st October, 1854.
CHAPTER XVII.
Steamship Companies of the past.—Inman Line.—National Line.—Guion
Line.—Royal Atlantic Steam Navigation Co.
In the early spring of 1850 Messrs. Tod and MacGregor, iron
shipbuilders and engineers, Glasgow, launched the iron screw steamer
CITY OF GLASGOW, a vessel of 1,600 tons and 350 horse-power. During
the spring and summer of that year she made several voyages between
Glasgow and New York, but in the latter part of the year she was
purchased by the Liverpool, New York and Philadelphia Steamship
Company, and sailed from Liverpool to Philadelphia on the 17th
December, 1850. This vessel was the pioneer of what is better known
as the “Inman” Line. This ill-fated vessel left port on 1st March,
1854, with four hundred and eighty persons on board, and was never
again heard of. In 1851 the Inman Company purchased the steamship
CITY OF MANCHESTER, built also by Tod & MacGregor. Her registered
tonnage was 2,125 tons; her length 274 feet, and her breadth 38 feet.
She had a clipper bow and bowsprit, four masts square rigged on the
fore and main masts, with her funnel between the main and mizzen
masts. Other iron screw steamers, all having the beautiful clipper
bow for which this line was noted, were quickly added to the fleet,
comprising the KANGAROO, CITY OF BALTIMORE, CITY OF WASHINGTON, CITY
OF BOSTON, CITY OF BRISTOL, CITY OF LIMERICK, CITY OF LINCOLN, CITY
OF LONDON, CITY OF DURHAM, CITY OF NEW YORK, CITY OF PARIS, CITY OF
ANTWERP, CITY OF BROOKLYN, CITY OF BRUSSELS, CITY OF MONTREAL, CITY
OF CHESTER, CITY OF CHICAGO, CITY OF RICHMOND and CITY OF BERLIN.
During the first five years of its existence, the Inman Company
maintained a fortnightly service between Liverpool and Philadelphia,
but in 1857 it enlarged the area of its operations by making New
York one of its ports of arrival and by establishing a fortnightly
line thither. On the collapse of the Collins Line, Mr. Inman at once
assumed their dates of sailing, and increased the service to once
a week, and was appointed to carry the United States mails between
England and America. Nor were the Inman steamers, though screws, less
swift than their predecessors. Their later steamers far surpassed the
swiftest steamers of the Collins Line, and one of these, the CITY OF
PARIS, in 1869 conveyed H.R.H. Prince Arthur to America in six days
twenty-one hours, the quickest passage (up to that date) ever made to
any port of the New World from Cork.
Mr. Inman specially directed his attention to the conveyance of
emigrant passengers across the Atlantic, and he and Mrs. Inman,
greatly to their credit, made a voyage in one of their earliest
emigrant steamers, expressly for the purpose of ameliorating the
discomforts and evils hitherto but too common in emigrant ships.
The following table shows how successful he was in catering for the
emigrant passenger trade:—
PASSENGERS LANDED AT NEW YORK FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM
IN 1870:—
Cabin
Line. Trips. Passengers. Steerage. Total.
Inman 68 3,635 40,465 44,100
National 56 2,442 33,494 35,736
Guion 55 1,115 27,054 28,569
Anchor 74 1,637 23,404 25,041
Cunard 70 7,638 16,871 24,509
Of the vessels named in the preceding page the CITY OF WASHINGTON and
CITY OF BOSTON met with the sad fate that overtook the PRESIDENT and
the PACIFIC. They sailed, but never reached the desired haven, and in
course of time were posted “missing.” Two of them, the CITY OF LONDON
and the CITY OF LIMERICK, were sold to Messrs. W. H. Ross & Co., and
sailed for some time between London and New York. The CITY OF ANTWERP
was purchased by Messrs. William Johnston and Co., who changed
her name to THANEMORE and employed her for several years in their
Liverpool and Baltimore trade. By a strange fatality, each of the
three steamers last named, sailed from its respective port and was
never afterwards heard of. The first two disappeared in 1881, and
the third in 1890. The CITY OF RICHMOND was sold to a firm who were
the first to employ ocean liners for ocean pleasure cruising, and
for two or three summers she sailed from Newcastle to the Norwegian
fjords.
Upon the death of Mr. William Inman, which occurred in 1881, the
management of the line was taken over by Messrs. Richardson, Spence &
Co. Since then it has undergone several changes. Its title of Inman
Line was discontinued, and that of “American” Line adopted, and its
British headquarters transferred from Liverpool to Southampton. It is
now (1903) one of the group of Atlantic steamship companies included
in the “Morgan” combine.
In 1863, a number of Liverpool merchants and shipowners, anticipating
a large trade would arise between this country and the Confederate
States of North America on the termination of the civil war then
raging, formed themselves into a company under the title of the
National Steam Navigation Co., with a capital of £700,000. It was
the intention of the promoters of the company to establish a regular
service of first-class steamships between Liverpool and the Southern
States. The requisite capital was quickly subscribed, and three
steamships were promptly acquired; but, alas! the hoped-for peace
did not arrive as soon as the promoters anticipated. Under these
circumstances the Directors decided to enter into competition with
the Cunard and Inman Companies for a share of the passenger and
goods trade to and from the Northern States. The pioneer vessel of
the new company was the LOUISIANA, which vessel sailed on her maiden
voyage from Liverpool to New York in the year 1863. She was followed
by the VIRGINIA and the PENNSYLVANIA, each of these vessels being
between 3,000 and 3,500 gross tonnage, and consequently they were the
largest cargo carriers afloat at that time. During the following year
(1864) three new steamers of still larger tonnage were added to the
fleet. These were named respectively THE QUEEN, ERIN and HELVETIA.
So successful were these vessels that twelve months later (1865) two
more steamers were built for the Company, viz., the ENGLAND and
DENMARK, both of 3,723 tons gross, and these were followed in 1866 by
the FRANCE, a vessel of about the same tonnage.
A great advance in the size of the Company’s steamers was made in
1868, when the ITALY, a steamer of 4,300 tons, was placed on the
line. Not only was the ITALY the largest transatlantic liner at that
date, but she was also the first in which compound engines were
fitted. A somewhat smaller steamship, the HOLLAND, of 3,847 tons
gross, was built in 1869. The following year two very large and
powerful vessels were added to the fleet. These were the EGYPT, of
4,669 tons gross, and the SPAIN, of 4,512 tons; both steamers were
built on the Mersey, the former by the Liverpool Shipbuilding Co.,
and the latter by Messrs. Laird, of Birkenhead.
The Company now possessed a sufficiently large fleet to maintain a
regular weekly service between Liverpool and New York, sailing from
Liverpool every Wednesday, and from New York every Saturday; and a
fortnightly service from London to New York, via Havre.
The steamships of this line were good, roomy, comfortable boats,
with lofty ’tween decks. They carried immense cargoes of cotton,
grain, provisions, and other American produce from the United States
to Great Britain, and though they could not compare with the Cunard
or Inman liners in the elegance of the accommodation provided for
saloon passengers, yet they were well adapted for the conveyance
of emigrants, of whom they carried large numbers. As they did not
specially cater for saloon passengers, and carried no mails, they
were not driven at the high rate of speed maintained by the premier
transatlantic steamship companies. It is true that for a time the
National Line held the “Blue Ribbon” of the Atlantic, but this
honourable position was held for a very short time only, and the
vessel by which it was gained was sold to the Italian Government. The
steamer referred to was the AMERICA, built and engined by Messrs. J.
& G. Thomson, Glasgow, in 1883. Her gross tonnage was 5,528 tons,
with compound engines of 1,064 horse-power nominal. Her length was
441 feet 8 inches; breadth, 51 feet 2 inches; and her depth 36 feet.
In less than twelve months from the date of her launch, she was
purchased by the Italian Government, by whom she was equipped as an
armed cruiser, and renamed ITALIA. Prior to the construction of the
AMERICA, the Company had increased its fleet by the addition of the
steamers GREECE and CANADA. On the 31st December, 1889, the ERIN
sailed with seventy-two persons on board, and disappeared without
leaving a trace.
After trading successfully for a number of years, the National
Steamship Company got into financial difficulties. Its vessels were
dispersed; the Liverpool service to New York was abandoned, and
only that from London retained. When the nineteenth century closed
the only steamers sailing under its flag were the AMERICA, EUROPE
and MANHATTAN. These three steamers are built of steel, and each
carries four masts. They are all driven by triple-expansion engines,
and the last-named vessel is a twin-screw steamer. The respective
measurements are as follows:—
AMERICA, 5,158 tons gross, built and engined by Gourlay Brothers &
Co., Dundee, in 1891, is 435 feet long, 46 feet 3 inches broad, and
25 feet 2 inches deep, with engines of 516 nominal horse-power.
EUROPE, 5,302 tons gross, built and engined by Palmers, Limited,
Newcastle, in 1891, is 435 feet long, 46 feet 4 inches broad, and 25
feet 2 inches deep, with engines of 545 nominal horse-power.
MANHATTAN, 8,004 tons gross, built and engined by Harland and Wolff,
Belfast, in 1898, is 490 feet 5 inches long, 56 feet 3 inches broad,
and 25 feet deep, with engines of 478 nominal horse-power.
The National Line, like the Inman Line, has now been absorbed by the
American combine.
For several years prior to 1863, Mr. Stephen B. Guion, of New York,
had established a line of clipper ships between that port and
Liverpool. Finding it impossible to contend against screw steamers in
the ocean trade, he entered (in the year named) into an arrangement
to supply, through his old connections and agents in America, the
Cunard and National Companies with steerage passengers and cargo for
their steamers. This arrangement held good until 1866, when Mr.
Guion, in co-partnery with others, formed a steamship company whose
official title was “The Liverpool and Great Western Steamship Co.,”
but which was popularly known as the Guion Line. The first steamer of
the new line was the iron screw steamer MANHATTAN, which sailed from
Liverpool to New York in August, 1866. This steamer was still afloat
in 1903, being then the property of Messrs. W. H. Ross & Co., by whom
she was renamed the CITY OF LINCOLN. The fleet of the Guion Line was
speedily sufficiently numerous to maintain a regular weekly service
from Liverpool to New York, and within six years of the formation of
the Company it possessed eight first-class iron screw steamships,
each of about 3,000 tons burthen. They were named after the Western
States of America, viz., MANHATTAN, NEBRASKA, MINNESOTA, COLORADO,
IDAHO, NEVADA, WISCONSIN, and WYOMING. In 1874 the MONTANA, of 3,500
tons, was added to the fleet, which was further increased in 1875 by
the addition of the DAKOTA.
None of the vessels named had distinguished themselves by their
extraordinary speed; but in 1879 there was built for the Guion Line,
by the Fairfield Shipbuilding Company, the steamer ARIZONA. She was
an entirely new type of vessel. The older ships, though differing
in their models, might be described generally as brig rigged screw
steamers carrying a single funnel amidships, and having their saloons
aft. The ARIZONA carried four masts, of which the fore and main were
square rigged, and two funnels between the main and mizzen masts. The
saloon was situated amidships, and was superbly furnished. The length
of the ARIZONA was 450 feet, her breadth 45 feet, and her depth 35
feet. She sailed on her first voyage from Liverpool to New York on
the 31st May, 1879, and is at the present date (1903) employed as a
troopship by the U.S. Government, her name having been changed to the
HANCOCK.
A sister vessel to the ARIZONA was built by the same builders
in 1881. She was larger and more powerful than the ARIZONA, and
increased the reputation for speed which that steamer had created.
The ALASKA left Liverpool on her maiden voyage on the 29th October,
1881. On the 12th September, 1882, she sailed from New York, and
completed her voyage to Queenstown in 6 days 18 hours and 38 minutes.
This rapid passage was, however, excelled by the same Company’s
steamer OREGON, which sailed from Liverpool to New York on the 6th
October, 1883, and made the passage from Queenstown to Sandy Hook in
6 days 10 hours and 9 minutes. The OREGON was also built and engined
by the Fairfield Shipbuilding Co. She was 501 feet long, 54 feet 2
inches broad, and 38 feet deep. Her gross tonnage was 7,375 tons; and
her engines developed 13,500 horse-power, giving a speed of 18 knots
per hour. Her career was a brief but brilliant one. Built in 1883,
she sank after a collision with an American schooner on the 11th
March, in 1886.
These three celebrated steamers, the ALASKA, ARIZONA and OREGON were
popularly known as the “Greyhounds of the Atlantic.” As has been
stated, the OREGON was lost after collision, the ARIZONA is still
afloat, and the ALASKA was sold in 1902 for the purpose of breaking
up. After the decease of Mr. S. B. Guion, which occurred on the 19th
December, 1885, the steamers of the fleet were gradually disposed of
to various purchasers. The firm, however, of Guion & Co. is still in
existence, as passenger agents, the business being carried on by Mr.
Frank Ramsden and Mr. I. O. Roberts.
The Royal Atlantic Steam Navigation Company, better known as the
“Galway Line,” was established by a number of English and Irish
gentlemen, who in January, 1859, proposed to the British Government
to carry H.M. mails from Galway to Portland, Boston, or New York, via
St. John’s, Newfoundland, or otherwise, for the sum of £3,000 on the
round voyage. They further offered “to convey telegraphic messages
from the United Kingdom to British North America and the United
States in six days, casualties excepted.” As the Atlantic cable was
not then in existence, the Government was favourably disposed to the
scheme, and on the 21st April, 1859, a contract was entered into with
the said company, based on the terms of the proposals made to the
Government.
On the 10th June following, the Royal Atlantic Steam Navigation
Company contracted with Messrs. Palmer, of Newcastle, for the
construction of two steamships, the cost of each to be £95,000; and
five days later (15th June) they concluded a similar contract with
Messrs. Samuelson, of Hull, for two steamships, to cost £97,000 each.
As the date of the commencement of the postal service, according to
the Government contract, was fixed for June, 1860, the contract with
the builders stipulated for delivery of the vessels within eleven
months from the date of the agreement. It was also a condition of the
contracts, that the ships were to be built according to lines, plans,
and specifications approved by the Admiralty. The four steamships
referred to were almost uniform in model, measurement and equipment.
Each measured about 2,800 tons, with engines of about 850 nominal
horse-power. Their principal dimensions were—Length 360 feet, beam
40 feet, and depth of hold 32 feet. Those built by Messrs. Palmer
were named CONNAUGHT and HIBERNIA, and those by Messrs. Samuelson,
COLUMBIA and ANGLIA. A clause in the Company’s contract with the
builders specified “that each of the said vessels when completed was,
on a fair and proper trial thereof, to accomplish a speed at the
rate of 20 statute miles per hour in smooth water, and to consume
not more than 8,800 pounds of fuel per hour.” In the case of the
CONNAUGHT this condition was not complied with, for on her trial trip
the Government Inspector reported that the speed of this “vessel was
about thirteen knots.”
From its commencement the Company was in difficulties. The second
steamer, the HIBERNIA, on being surveyed by the Government
Inspectors, was found to be leaky. None of the vessels were
delivered within the time agreed upon, and in order to keep faith
with the Government the Company was compelled to charter a steamer
to inaugurate the service. They accordingly hired from the Messrs.
Malcomsons, of Waterford, one of their Liverpool and River Plate
steamers, the PARANA, which sailed from Galway on the 27th June,
1860, and arrived at St. John’s in seven days thirteen and a half
hours, or one day thirteen and a half hours beyond the stipulated
time for delivering the telegraph messages at St. John’s.
The second steamer to sail from Galway was the CONNAUGHT, which
sailed for Boston direct on the 11th July, and was twenty-two and a
half hours over contract time in arriving at that port. This steamer
was totally lost on her second voyage in October of the same year.
The third steamer of the Company sailed from Galway on the 9th April,
1861, and returned in May following in a disabled condition, having
met with ice on the passage. She made the slowest passage outwards
of any of the fleet, having taken ten days seven and a half hours to
reach St. John’s, and seventeen days twenty and three quarter hours
to reach Boston.
As two of their own steamers were unavailable, the one being lost
and the other disabled, the Directors found it necessary to take up
outside steamers. They therefore chartered the PRINCE ALBERT, and
purchased the ADRIATIC, one of the latest and most famous of the
Collins Line. She appears to have been the only vessel belonging
to the Company capable of carrying out the terms of the Government
Contract. She completed the run from Galway to St. John’s in the
specified time, six days, and to New York in one day fifteen hours
and fifteen minutes less than contract time. On her return she made
the passage from St. John’s to Galway in five days nineteen hours
and three quarters, the shortest passage on record from port to port
across the Atlantic. It is impossible to state what would have been
the result had the steamers built for the Company been equal to the
ADRIATIC, but she was secured too late to retrieve the fortunes of
the Company. Unable under such adverse circumstances to raise fresh
capital, the managers of the Company had no course left but to
abandon their undertaking, and they terminated their contract in May,
1861. This unfortunate enterprise entailed a loss to the Government
of about £15,000, while it is probable that the loss incurred by the
shareholders of the Company was not less than £150,000 during the
short period of its existence.
CHAPTER XVIII.
The ORION wrecked off Portpatrick, 1850.—The steamer NEPTUNE.—A
second “Grace Darling,” 1852.
One of the most convincing proofs of the splendid management of
the several steamship companies which trade between Liverpool and
Glasgow, of the skill and honest workmanship put into the vessels,
and of the great care exercised by the officers who navigate these
ships, is the fact that for upwards of eighty years there has been
but one disaster accompanied by loss of life on this station.
The disaster referred to was described at the time as “a disaster
occasioned by the most culpable carelessness.” It was, unfortunately,
attended with frightful loss of life. The ORION, a splendidly fitted
and powerful steamer, sailed from Liverpool for Glasgow, on Monday
afternoon, 18th June, 1850, with about 170 passengers in addition to
a crew of 40 all told. It was an ideal summer trip; the night was
fine and clear, and the sea perfectly smooth. All went well with the
steamer and those on board until, about a quarter past one on the
Tuesday morning, the sleeping passengers were rudely awakened by the
concussion, as the ship struck violently on the rocks, close to the
Lighthouse at the entrance to Portpatrick Harbour. The vessel, which
was steaming at full speed at the time, filled instantly, and sank in
a few minutes. The night was so tranquil that many of the passengers
had slept on deck, but the majority were asleep in the cabins below
when the catastrophe occurred. The scene of horror and dismay which
followed can be but faintly conceived. A wild rush of crew and
passengers was made to the boats. The first boat lowered to the water
was so crowded instantly with panic-stricken passengers, that she
capsized, and all who were in her were drowned. A second boat was
launched, in which some ladies were placed, and these reached the
harbour safely. One redeeming feature in this tragic narrative is the
splendid heroism displayed by many of the gentlemen passengers. The
second boat when launched was in the first instance filled by men,
but when the officers of the ship suggested to them that their first
duty was to save the women and children, most of the men instantly
left the boat, and assisted females to occupy the places they had
surrendered, who were thus happily preserved.
Shortly after this boat got away the ill-fated ORION sank, and all on
board either went down with her, or were left floating on the surface
of the water, or clinging to floating portions of the wreck.
The Ardrossan and Fleetwood steamship FENELLA passed the scene
immediately after the disaster occurred, and the Captain at once
stopped his ship, lowered his boats, and rendered valuable assistance
in saving lives. The Lighthouse keepers and Coastguards had also
observed the vessel coming too close in shore, and, anticipating
a catastrophe, had awakened the local boatmen. Owing to this,
numerous boats had instantly put off, and these picked up a large
number of those floating. By the continued efforts of the FENELLA’s
crew, and the Portpatrick boatmen, about 150 persons were rescued.
This dreadful catastrophe carried mourning into many of the most
respectable families in Liverpool and Glasgow. Amongst those who
perished were Captain McNeil (brother of the Lord Advocate), his wife
and two daughters; Dr. Burns, one of the most popular men in Glasgow,
professor of Surgery at the University, and brother to the Managing
owners in Glasgow; Miss Morris, his niece; and Master Martin, a
son of one of the Liverpool owners. The trial of the Captain, and
first and second mates of the ORION, for the “culpable bereavement
of the lives of the passengers” who were lost by the wreck of that
steamer, as before narrated, took place at Edinburgh, before the
High Court of Justice, on the 29th August, 1850. It was proved that
during the second mate’s watch, the vessel approached closer to
the shore more than was usual by upwards of a mile, and that this
course was maintained notwithstanding the warning exclamations of the
experienced seamen who were on the look out.
It was further proved that the Captain had come on deck several
times during the second mate’s watch, and each time had observed
both the compass, and the ship’s proximity to the shore, which could
be clearly seen, and yet did not countermand the second mate’s
instructions.
The charge against the first mate was withdrawn, but at the end of
the trial, which lasted two days, the Court sentenced the Captain
to be imprisoned for eighteen months, and the second mate to be
transported for seven years.
It is a relief to turn from this sad story to an incident connected
with the steamer NEPTUNE,[21] of which the heroine was a young
Norwegian girl, who has been appropriately termed “A second Grace
Darling.” During the 25th, 26th and 27th November, 1852, a strong
gale prevailed in the North Sea. About midnight on the last date
the NEPTUNE arrived off the Lighthouse at the entrance to Flekke
Fjord, Norway. She was bound from London to St. Petersburg, and had
the pilot flag flying at her masthead. Just at daybreak the steamer
was observed by a young girl, who immediately called up two of the
boatmen, who, however, were not apparently inclined to respond to the
call.
The girl, however, realizing the urgency of the appeal for a pilot,
reproached the men with being afraid of the weather, and under
the pressure of her taunts they got their boat out to go to the
assistance of the NEPTUNE, the girl accompanying them. When they
got near the ship they found that, owing to the heavy surge, it was
impossible to get close to the ship’s side. A rope was thrown to
them, and caught by the girl, who twisted it round her waist and arm,
then jumped into the sea and was hauled on board the steamer; the two
men thereupon followed her example. This help was most welcome, and
the Captain was the more pleased to receive it owing to his cargo
having shifted. With the assistance of the Norwegians the rest of
the voyage was safely accomplished. There were eight lady passengers
on board the NEPTUNE, who made much of the Norse “Grace Darling,”
provided her with dry clothing, and gave her a handsome donation in
cash. The seamen and firemen also contributed three pounds (£3) for
the same purpose, and on the return voyage she was put ashore at the
place where she embarked, most fortunately with a considerable amount
of cash in her possession, as her master refused to permit her to
return to his service.
[Illustration: Steamship]
FOOTNOTES:
[21] For further particulars respecting this steamer, see the History
of the Waterford Steamship Co. in Part II.
CHAPTER XIX.
The Eastern Steam Navigation Co., Ltd., and the GREAT EASTERN,
steamship.
In the year 1851 a steamship company was promoted in London, under
the title of the Eastern Steam Navigation Company, Limited, for the
purpose of establishing a direct line of leviathan steamers between
England and India, _via_ the Cape of Good Hope.
The services of the most distinguished engineers of the period were
secured, Mr. I. K. Brunel being appointed the consulting engineer
of the company. An order was placed with Messrs. Scott Russell &
Co. for the pioneer steamer, which it was at first the intention of
the company to call the LEVIATHAN, but that name was subsequently
abandoned in favour of GREAT EASTERN. She was to be propelled by
paddle wheels and a propeller. Mr. Scott Russell designed the lines,
and constructed the hull of the vessel, as well as the engines of
1,000 h. p. nom. to drive the paddle wheels. Messrs. James Watt &
Co., of Soho, designed and constructed the engines, of 1,500 h. p.
nom., to drive the screw propeller. As a matter of course, some
considerable time was occupied in preparing the plans for so gigantic
a ship—one which was not only the largest ever built up to that date,
but which remained the largest steamer built to the end of the 19th
century. The necessary plans, specifications and yard preparations
were completed during the spring of 1854, and on the 1st of May
of that year, the construction of the GREAT EASTERN was commenced
by Mr. Scott Russell in his shipbuilding yard at Millwall, on the
north side of the Thames. She was built with a double hull from the
keel to the water line, the inner and the outer skin being of equal
thickness of iron, with a space between of 34 inches. If required
for ballasting purposes, this space could be filled with 2,500 tons
of water. The length of the GREAT EASTERN was 675 feet, her breadth
83 feet, and her depth 60 feet. She was divided into 60 watertight
compartments, each 60 feet long. She carried six masts—the mizzen
mast of wood, and the remaining five of hollow wrought iron. Three
of these masts carried square sails, the other three were fore and
aft rigged. She had five funnels, two of which were placed forward
of the paddle boxes and three aft. Her hull was constructed of
30,000 plates of iron, weighing 10,000 tons, and joined together by
3,000,000 rivets. “Her cylinders, the four largest in the world ...
(each) 18 feet long, 6 feet in diameter, and 28 tons weight, were
successfully cast at the Engineering Works of Messrs. Scott Russell &
Co., Millwall.”[22]
[Illustration: GREAT EASTERN S.S.
_Copied by permission of Messrs C. W. Kellock & Co._
]
In her equipment were included twenty large lifeboats, and it was
intended that she should carry in addition two small steamers, each
100 feet long, to be used for landing and embarking passengers or
luggage.
She was designed to carry 10,000 troops or 4,000 passengers, viz.,
800 first-class, 2,000 second-class, and 800 third-class, in addition
to a crew of about 400, and she was capable of stowing 12,000 tons of
coal.
Although, nominally, the engines which drove the paddle wheels were
of 1,000 h. p., they were capable of working up to 5,000 h. p.,
while the screw engines worked up to 6,000 h. p., or with combined
paddle and screw her engines could develop 11,000 h. p., which it was
estimated would enable her to maintain at sea a speed of 20 knots per
hour, and to accomplish the voyage between England and Australia in
30 days.
“It is a question of much interest to determine what amount of
speed this power will impart to the vessel. Messrs. James Watt &
Co.’s anticipation is that the speed of the vessel will be about
seventeen miles per hour, and from that to eighteen miles seems
to be about the limit engineers have hitherto predicted. But we
believe that these anticipations fall very short of what the real
speed will be, and which we do not hesitate to predict, will turn
out to be between twenty-four and twenty-five miles per hour.”
(“Illustrated London News,” 23rd May, 1857).
On Tuesday, 3rd November, 1857, the first attempt was made to launch
the GREAT EASTERN. The hour named for commencing the launching
operations was 11 o’clock, and was kept fairly punctually. The chief
machinery for moving the hull was boxed off, and nearly altogether
out of sight. The vessel’s name, LEVIATHAN, was given by Miss Hope
(who afterwards became the Duchess of Newcastle), the daughter of
the Chairman of the Great Eastern Steam Navigation Company, and the
name displayed upon a board; the change of name from GREAT EASTERN to
LEVIATHAN occasioning a good deal of surprise. After the customary
bottle of wine was smashed against the vessel’s bow, a “fortissimo
obligate” of sledge hammers resounded above and around—then ceased.
The great ship moved for a few feet, then stopped. The congregated
thousands waited in suspense, when suddenly a terrific report was
heard. One of the powerful drums used in the launch had cracked. An
order had been misunderstood; the after-winch handles were turned the
wrong way; the heavy iron handles revolved wildly, striking down the
men, fracturing their arms and legs, and with a fatal result in one
instance.
A second attempt was made to launch the LEVIATHAN on Thursday, 19th
November, 1857, but the efforts were even less successful than on the
first occasion, for despite all the mechanical power brought to bear
on her she would not move an inch.
On Monday, 11th January, 1858, launching operations were resumed at
Millwall, and the monster ship was moved riverwards to the extent of
20 feet. On Tuesday a further advance was made until a little after
3 o’clock in the afternoon, when, having moved 16 feet 10 inches
aft, and 15 feet 1 inch forward, it was thought desirable to suspend
operations. At high water on the latter day the ship was water borne
to the height of 7½ feet, which had the effect of diminishing the
resistance to the extent of 4,000 tons. The yard and river banks were
crowded with spectators on the following day (Wednesday), in the
expectation that the ship would float, but she was only moved another
2½ inches. On Thursday the LEVIATHAN was pushed down the full extent
of the ways, and there left for the next spring tides.
The completion of the launch of this stupendous and beautiful vessel
took place on Sunday, 31st January, 1858, under the most favourable
circumstances, and unattended with a single accident, the high tide
lifting the vessel clear off the ways.
It is incomprehensible how so eminent an engineer as Brunel should
have made such a mistake as to attempt to force so huge a fabric
broadside on into the river. The costly experiment added £120,000 to
the cost of the ship, and practically ruined the company.
From the commencement of the company’s operations, the directors
were hampered by the failure of many of the shareholders to meet
the calls upon their shares when due. To add to these difficulties,
Messrs. Scott Russell & Co. (the builders of the ship), in 1855,
found themselves unable to meet their obligations, and to complete
the construction of the GREAT EASTERN.
At the half-yearly meeting of the company, held on the 15th February,
1856, the chairman reported that the failure of Mr. Scott Russell
would be a cause of some delay, and of some increased cost in
the completion of their vessel, which would be undertaken by the
company’s engineer, Mr. I. K. Brunel. Twelve months later it was
announced that calls to date amounted to £606,000, of which nearly
£200,000 remained unpaid, owing to a number of other shareholders, in
addition to Mr. Scott Russell, having become insolvent.
The opening months of 1858 saw the GREAT EASTERN successfully
launched, but the Great Eastern Steam Navigation Company had not the
funds necessary for her equipment. During the year the company was
wound up by the sale and transfer of the ship to a new company for
the sum of £160,000—
“All the capital had been expended, the public refused to advance
any more money, and if the directors wished their ship to be
anything but a helpless, unfinished carcase on the waters £300,000
more must be found to make her ready for sea. To the exertions
of Mr. Campbell (the present chairman of the Board), and to
Mr. William Jackson (the eminent and well-known contractor of
Birkenhead), we believe is greatly owing the pleasant result of
our being at length able to announce that the GREAT EASTERN is
ready for sea. But one still more remarkable aid was forthcoming,
and which we could hardly believe, only that we have it on the
best authority—it was a subscription of no less than £50,000 of
the supplementary capital, in sums of £1 to £5, by persons in
the humblest ranks of life (domestic servants, costermongers,
greengrocers and labourers)—who tendered their money avowedly
without any expectation of profit, but solely that they might hear
of the great ship, which they looked upon as the pride of England,
being fairly afloat on the deep waters. Such a fact at once took
the vessel out of the category of mere commercial undertakings,
and more than anything else stimulated the brave men who were her
projectors to renewed exertions for her ultimate completion.”
(“Illustrated London News,” 13th August, 1859).
The sum of £300,000 having been subscribed for the new undertaking,
the directors had, after paying for the vessel, a surplus of £140,000
to complete her equipment and make her ready for sea. Her new owners
took possession of her early in 1859, but it was not until September
of that year that she was sufficiently complete to make her first
trial trip. While on this trip, and when off Hastings, a shocking
accident occurred, through the explosion of one of the funnel
casings, causing the death of six men, injuring several others, and
virtually wrecking the grand saloon. As no further damage was done to
the hull or machinery, she proceeded to Portland, and the necessary
repairs having been completed at an outlay of £5,000, she resumed her
voyage to Holyhead on the 8th October. She started on her return
trial trip from Holyhead to Southampton on the 2nd November, 1859,
where she remained until the 17th June, 1860.
The GREAT EASTERN was advertised to leave Southampton on her first
voyage to New York on Saturday, 16th June, 1860, but, in consequence
of bad weather on that date, the sailing was postponed until the
following morning. She carried only 36 passengers, including several
ladies, on this trip. The voyage across the Atlantic occupied eleven
days. The greatest speed attained was 14½ knots per hour, and the
greatest distance run by her in any one day was 333 miles. Immense
crowds assembled to witness her arrival in New York Harbour, and she
was welcomed with great enthusiasm. She passed the battery at 4-30
p.m. on the 28th June, 1860.
The promoters of the Great Eastern Steam Navigation Company were very
sanguine that the Government would frequently employ their vessel for
the conveyance of troops, of which they estimated she could carry ten
thousand. The Government very wisely never risked so great a body of
men in one vessel.
The only occasion on which the GREAT EASTERN was made use of as a
troopship was during the threatened rupture between England and the
Federal Government of America, in connection with the “Trent Affair.”
She made her first entry into the port of Liverpool on the 4th June,
having made the passage from New York in 9 days 11 hours. She had on
board 212 passengers and a large cargo. On Thursday, 27th June, 1861,
she sailed out of the Mersey on a voyage to Quebec, with troops to
reinforce the Canadian garrisons. The day was cloudless, there was
brilliant sunshine, and the piers and dock walls for five miles, as
well as the landing-stages, were lined with spectators, who, as the
great ship passed them, responded most heartily to the cheers raised
by the soldiers who thronged the upper deck and the lower portions of
the rigging.
As she passed the landing-stages she fired salutes, and also on
passing the Rock Battery. There were on board the GREAT EASTERN, not
10,000 troops as her promoters anticipated, but 2,125 men of all
ranks, accompanied by 159 wives and 244 children of the soldiers.
There were also about 40 civilian passengers in the saloon.
She left Quebec on her return voyage on the 6th August, arriving in
Liverpool on the 15th idem, and resumed her sailings to New York.
She sailed from Liverpool for New York on the 10th September, under
the command of Captain Walker, having on board 175 cabin and 193
steerage passengers. On the following Thursday she encountered a
heavy gale, during which, when about 280 miles westward of Cape
Clear, her steering apparatus became deranged and broken, and five
of her lifeboats were carried away. For two days and nights she lay
helpless, exposed to a terrific sea. Her internal fittings were in
consequence seriously damaged, and her passengers greatly alarmed for
their safety. The Captain decided to abandon the voyage and put back
to Queenstown, arriving in the harbour on the Tuesday following. The
passengers, when once more on _terra firma_, relieved their feelings
by publishing some very angry letters in the Press, in which they
reflected very severely on the managers of the company, but gave
unqualified praise to Captain Walker for the manner in which he had
handled the great ship in her disabled state.
The laying of submarine cables, commenced in 1865, offered employment
for which the GREAT EASTERN was specially suitable, and in which she
was constantly engaged for a period of ten years.
Shortly after noon on the 30th June, 1866, the GREAT EASTERN left
the Medway, having on board the second Atlantic cable. She was
convoyed by H.M.S. ADDER as far as the Nore. As she steamed past
Garrison Point she was loudly cheered by a vast concourse of people
who had gathered there. She proceeded direct to Berehaven, in the
extreme South-West of Ireland, which was to be her starting point
for laying the submarine cable. Four weeks later, or to be exact,
about 5 o’clock (English time) on the 27th July, this great task was
successfully accomplished. One of the earliest messages transmitted
by the cable was the following from H.M. Queen Victoria to the
President of the United States of America:—
“The Queen congratulates the President on the successful completion
of an undertaking which she hopes may serve as an additional bond
of union between the United States and England.”
President Johnson suitably acknowledged the Royal despatch, and
reciprocated the good wishes contained in it. [A most interesting
diary of the Atlantic Telegraph Expedition is published in the Annual
Register for 1866.]
In 1867 her cable-laying services were interrupted by a charter to a
French company, who employed her between Brest and New York, carrying
passengers to and from the great French Exhibition. For this service
she was fitted with new boilers for the screw engines, and her
saloons were altered and redecorated.
After the completion of her charter with the French company, she was
taken up by the Telegraphic Construction and Maintenance Company,
in whose service she remained for seven years. During this period
she succeeded in laying the cable between Brest and Duckburgh, near
Boston, Mass., in 1868; between Aden and Bombay in 1870; between
Valentia and Heart’s Content, in 1873 and 1874; completing her
charter to the Telegraphic Construction Company in July, 1875. The
amount received for charter was at the rate of £20,000 per annum,
nett form.
The last years of this noble vessel were ignominious. She was
chartered in 1886 by “Lewis’s,” who used her for a couple of years as
a huge floating advertisement on the Mersey. She afterwards went to
several Ports as a “show” ship, and finally returned to the Mersey to
be broken up on the 20th November, 1888. Her owners at this time were
probably the only persons who ever realized a handsome profit out of
her during her varied career. The following is a list of the prices
obtained at the sale of the various parts of the hull and equipment:—
Eleven-ton Trotman’s anchor, 33 guineas, in addition to a number of
other anchors, which realized £3 to £7 15s. per ton; oak lifeboat, 2
guineas; cutter, 30s.; iron masts, £9 to £17 10s. each; copper steam
piping, £2,960; gun metal, £6,400; scrap yellow brass, £1,760; sheet
lead, £367 10s.; lead piping, £367 10s.; iron plates forming the
hull, £12,600; iron beams, £2 13s. per ton; scrap rivets, £2 6s. per
ton; boiler tubes, £49 7s. 6d.[23]
So ended the career of the most celebrated ship of the 19th century.
[Illustration: Steamship and sailboats]
FOOTNOTES:
[22] “Illustrated London News.”
[23] The above figures are obtained from “Donaldson’s Engineers’
Annual,” 1900, by permission.
CHAPTER XX.
Steam to Australia.—SOPHIA JANE, first steamer from Great Britain
to Australia, 1831.—The steamship GREAT BRITAIN sails for
Melbourne, 1852.—Sketch of her after career.—The GOLDEN AGE.—The
auxiliary screw steamer ROYAL CHARTER.—Sails on her maiden voyage,
1856.—Totally lost, 1859.