THE PROGRESS OF STEAM-SHIP BUILDING IN GREAT BRITAIN
The first steam-ship built in the United Kingdom (and so far as is
known unnamed) was constructed on the River Carron in 1789 by William
Symington, and the engines for it were made at the Carron Works at a
cost of £363 10_s._ 10_d._ The following affidavits relating to this
vessel are of interest, as they go far to prove that William Symington
was the inventor of the marine steam-engine, the patent of which was
taken out in 1786:
“I, William Symington, civil engineer, now residing at Falkirk, in
the County of Stirling, in that part of the United Kingdom called
Scotland, produce herewith, and refers[25] to a memorial containing
a narrative of his connection with the invention of steamboat
navigation, each page of which memorial is subscribed by the deponent
as his relative hereto, and he maketh oath and sayeth that the said
memorial contains a true narrative of facts, as connected with the
said invention; and he further sweareth that he did not receive any
aid or assistance of any kind to enable him to invent and apply a
steam-engine to the propelling of boats.
[Illustration: PATRICK MILLER’S TRIPLE BOAT THE “EDINBURGH.”]
“Sworn at Woodburn, in the County of Stirling, upon the first day of
December, in the year one thousand eight hundred and twenty-four,
before me, one of His Majesty’s Justices of the Peace for the County
of Stirling.
“(Signed) WILLIAM SYMINGTON.
“(Signed) JOHN CALLANDER, J.P.”
[25] _Sic_ in original.
“Joseph Stainton Esq., of Biggarshiels, manager for Carron Company at
Carron, in the County of Stirling, in that part of the United Kingdom
called Scotland, maketh oath, and sayeth: That he knows William
Symington, engineer at Falkirk. That he has access to know that the
said William Symington made certain experiments in the year one
thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, by applying a steam-engine
to propel a boat along the Forth and Clyde Canal. That the machinery
for said experiment was made at Carron, under the direction of the
said William Symington, and the expense thereof, amounting to three
hundred and sixty-three pounds, ten shillings and ten-pence, was
paid to Carron Company by the now deceased Patrick Miller, Esq., of
Dalswinton. That the deponent has seen the boat in which the said
experiments were made, and has frequently heard of the experiments
mentioned. That in the year one thousand eight hundred and one, or
about that time, the said William Symington was employed by the
now deceased Thomas Lord Dundas to erect a boat and construct a
steam-engine to propel it along the said canal. That the deponent
saw the said boat when completed, and had access to know that it was
employed in the way of experiments to drag vessels along the canal.
That it consists with the deponent’s knowledge, Robert Weir was
employed by the said William Symington about the said boat. That he
knew the said Robert Weir, who now resides at Kincardine, to be a
man of respectable character and of veracity. That the said William
Symington afterwards constructed a larger boat, and the deponent had
access to see both the boats, and to know that they were propelled by
steam.”
“Sworn at Carron, in the County of Stirling, upon the thirtieth day
of November, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-four, before me,
one of His Majesty’s Justices of the Peace for the County of Stirling.
“(Signed) JOHN CALLANDER, J.P.
“(Signed) J. STAINTON.”[26]
[26] “A Century and a Half of Commercial Enterprise,” by the Carron
Company.
Scotland owes her pre-eminence in shipbuilding and marine engineering
to Patrick Miller, an Edinburgh banker who, having retired with a large
fortune to Dalswinton, among other things set himself to ascertain
whether some better means of propelling vessels than sails or oars
could not be obtained. He had exhibited at Leith a triple vessel
“having rotatory paddles in the two interspaces driven by a crank,”
which was turned by four men. This he matched against a fast-sailing
Customs wherry between Incholm and Leith Harbour over a distance of
six or seven miles, and was very well satisfied with the victory he
secured. But his sons’ tutor, James Taylor of Cumnock, having taken his
turn at the crank, was so convinced by the violence of the exertion
that some more reliable power was needed, that he urged on Mr. Miller
the propriety of employing a steam-engine. Mr. Miller had placed
a new double boat on his lake at Dalswinton, and Taylor, with his
permission, arranged with his friend William Symington to fit it with
a steam-engine. Symington, who was then engaged as a mining engineer,
at Wanlockhead, had constructed a model of a steam carriage in which he
had converted the reciprocating motion of the pistons into a rotatory
motion. Miller and Taylor were shown this model in December 1787. The
engine had only four-inch brass cylinders, made, curiously enough, by
George Watt of Edinburgh. The trial trip of Miller’s boat took place on
October 14, 1788, in the presence of several hundreds of people, and
was so successful that Miller resolved to repeat the experiment on a
larger scale. In the next year a twin vessel, 60 feet long and fitted
with an engine with 18-inch cylinders, attained a speed of seven miles
an hour on the Forth and Clyde Canal. For some reason Miller became
dissatisfied with Symington, and abandoned his project of making a sea
trip with a third vessel from Leith to London. The cost of fitting up
a second vessel, for one thing, was greater than he had anticipated,
and he was further discouraged by a miscalculation through which the
machinery was made too heavy for the hull. Symington’s original engine
of 1788 is now at South Kensington, and a photograph of it is here
reproduced.
[Illustration: MODEL OF MILLER’S DOUBLE BOAT.]
Symington was the only one of the three who persevered.[27] He brought
his design for a steam vessel under the notice of Lord Dundas, who
was largely interested in the Forth and Clyde Canal, and suggested to
him the advisability of towing barges by steam-power. The _Charlotte
Dundas_ was accordingly built in 1801 under the patronage of Lord
Dundas, and made her appearance on the canal in 1802. The propelling
machinery of the vessel was a long way in advance of the time, inasmuch
as it consisted of a stern wheel driven by the first horizontal
direct-acting engine that was ever constructed.[28] She was 56 feet
in length by 18 feet beam and 8 feet depth, and towed two barges of
70 tons a distance of nineteen and a half miles in six hours against
strong winds. But complaints were made that the swell she created
damaged the canal banks, and her proprietors were forced to abandon
the enterprise. Thus the _Charlotte Dundas_, though an unquestioned
engineering success, was a commercial failure, and on being withdrawn
from service was laid up in Lock No. 16 and allowed to rot, a monument
to the genius of her constructor and the prejudice of those who were
too ignorant to recognise the obvious. A photograph of the model at
South Kensington Science Museum, and a section showing her machinery,
are given here.
[27] _Chambers’ Journal_, 1857.
[28] Sir G. Holmes’ “Ancient and Modern Ships.”
[Illustration: THE “CHARLOTTE DUNDAS” (LONGITUDINAL SECTION).]
[Illustration: SYMINGTON’S ORIGINAL ENGINE OF 1788.]
Symington also brought his steamboat to the notice of the Duke of
Bridgewater, who became his patron and contemplated trying steam-towage
upon the Bridgewater Canal; but on the Duke’s death his executors
repudiated the verbal contract and dashed Symington’s hope to the
ground. He was reduced to abject poverty, and died in the East End some
years later.[29]
[29] _Notes and Queries._
The next experiment of importance in steam navigation was made by Henry
Bell of Helensburgh. He was a house carpenter at Glasgow for many
years, and then, having opened a boarding-house at Helensburgh, he
conceived the idea of inducing more visitors to go thither by providing
for their convenience boats moved by paddles worked by manual labour.
This failing, he determined upon a steamboat.
He was probably influenced in his decision by the correspondence he
had with Fulton. The exact nature of the relations between Fulton and
Bell has never been satisfactorily determined. The _Caledonian Mercury_
in 1816 published a letter from Bell stating that Fulton wrote to him
about Miller’s boats, and asked for a drawing and description of the
machinery. Bell saw Miller and sent Fulton the required information.
The date of this transaction is not given, though Fulton is said to
have written afterwards to Bell that he had constructed a steamer from
the drawings Bell sent.
Bell’s story was that these letters were left in Miller’s hands. Bell
further states that the consideration of the absurdity of writing his
opinion to other countries, and not putting it into practice himself,
roused him to design a steamboat for which he made various models. The
result was the _Comet_, built for him by John Wood and Co. She was 40
feet on the keel, 10¹⁄₂ feet beam, and about 25 tons burden. The vessel
was inferior to Symington’s. The furnace was enclosed with brickwork
and the fire was not wholly surrounded by water. The boiler was placed
at one side of the vessel, and the funnel, bent so as to rise from the
centre, also had to do duty as a mast.
Bell had previously witnessed the experiments made in 1789 at Carron
with Miller’s second boat, and when Symington’s experiments came to an
end in 1803 he continued to investigate on his own account.
He advertised that his vessel was for passengers only, and that he had
“at much expense, fitted up a handsome vessel to ply upon the River
Clyde, between Glasgow and Greenock, to sail by the power of wind, air,
and steam.” The vessel was to go down to Helensburgh one day and return
the next, thus making three trips each way in the week. Many of the
sailing-boat owners regarded the _Comet_ with undisguised hatred, and
its invention as a device of the evil one. Thus, one Dougal Jamson, a
Clyde skipper, whenever the steamboat passed his slow-going sloop,[30]
invariably piped all hands--a man and a boy--and bade them “Kneel down
and thank God that ye sail wi’ the A’michty’s ain win’, an’ no’ wi’ the
deevil’s sunfire an’ brimstane, like that spluttery thing there.”
[30] _The Steamship_, January 1883.
[Illustration: MODEL OF THE “CHARLOTTE DUNDAS.”]
The _Comet’s_ engine, which was built by John Robertson, was of four
nominal horse-power with a single upright cylinder of 12¹⁄₂ inches
diameter and 16 inches stroke, and drove a pair of half side-levers by
means of two rods. A connecting-rod from the levers worked the crank
shaft, which carried a heavy fly-wheel. The slide valve was driven
by an eccentric on the main shaft through a rocking shaft, while the
condenser was placed between the side-levers, which drove the vertical
air-pump. Originally the engine was fitted with a smaller cylinder,
but after being used for some months this was replaced by the one
described. Steam was supplied by an internal flue boiler, built by
David Napier. The vessel was originally propelled by two paddle-wheels
on each side, driven by spur gear, with the paddles on detached arms,
but this arrangement giving trouble, complete wheels were substituted,
and subsequently, after the vessel had been lengthened about 20 feet,
the number of wheels was reduced to two.[31]
[31] “The Clyde Passenger Steamers,” by Captain Williamson, and
Catalogue of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
They had considerable difficulty with the boiler. Its builder, David
Napier, writes that they first tried to make the internal flues of
cast iron, but finding that would not do they tried malleable iron,
“and ultimately succeeded by various devices in getting the boiler
fitted.” The _Comet’s_ first master was William Mackenzie, originally
a schoolmaster at Helensburgh, and the engineer was Robert Robertson.
The crew numbered eight, not forgetting a piper. According to an
advertisement, “the elegance, safety, comfort, and speed of this vessel
require only to be seen to meet the approbation of the public.”[32]
But her speed was unsatisfactory and Bell arranged with Robertson to
make alterations in the engine and paddle-wheels. She then made six
miles an hour, but even this was not sufficient to attract passengers.
The boat was not a financial success, and it is believed that neither
the builders’ nor Robertson’s accounts were ever settled. The career
of the _Comet_, indeed, was not a long one. On December 13, 1820,
she was wrecked outside Crinan. She parted amidships, and while the
stern drifted away the remainder of the vessel, with Bell, his crew,
passengers, and machinery, stuck fast. All scrambled ashore, and the
machinery was afterwards recovered. Her original engine was put to some
strange uses. A Glasgow coachbuilder took it as payment for a vehicle
he had previously supplied to Bell, and used it to drive the machinery
in his coach-works. It then went to Greenock and was installed in
a brewery. Another purchaser brought it back to Glasgow, and it
ultimately came into the possession of Messrs. R. Napier and Sons of
Glasgow, and Messrs. R. and J. Napier in 1862 presented it to the South
Kensington Museum.
[32] The _Glasgow Chronicle_, August 14, 1812.
But the _Comet_ was not the only boat with which Robertson was
concerned. Wood built the _Clyde_ for him in 1813, and she began her
work in June of that year. She was 72 feet long with a beam of 14
feet and depth of 7 feet 6 inches, and regularly went from Glasgow
to Gourock and back in about 3¹⁄₂ hours each way, including a few
stoppages, on a coal consumption of 24 cwt. The _Tay_ was built for
him at Dundee in 1814, but he had the engine built at Glasgow. She
plied for some time between Perth and Dundee, and in 1818 was back at
Glasgow, being then known as the _Oscar_. In 1814 Robertson had two
other boats built at Dundee, for which he provided the engines. These
were the _Caledonia_ and the _Humber_, and are thought to have been the
first steamers sent from Scotland to England.
Rivals quickly appeared on the scene, for the _Comet_ had shown that
what had hitherto been looked upon as an impossible undertaking could
now be regarded as a commercial speculation. In 1813 the _Elizabeth_
was built and was followed shortly afterwards by the _Clyde_. The
_Elizabeth_ was sent to Liverpool and was the first British steamer
to make a sea voyage. The vessel was in charge of Colin Watson, his
cousin, neither of them nineteen years of age, and a boy.[33] The
engine of the _Elizabeth_ was only 8 horse-power. The three adventurers
brought the vessel in safety from Glasgow to Liverpool through a
violent gale--a very remarkable performance. This voyage was made in
1815.
[33] Letter from Mr. K. Y. Watson in the second edition of Mr. John
Kennedy’s “History of Steam Navigation.”
[Illustration: THE ORIGINAL ENGINES OF THE “COMET.”]
Watson left Glasgow for Grangemouth on May 8, and on the following day
started from Grangemouth with the _Elizabeth_, bringing her along the
canal. Obstacles of one sort or another caused detention in the canal,
specially at Lock No. 27, and Bowling was not reached until May 12. The
voyagers arrived at Port Glasgow on the 13th, where another stay was
made while the damages sustained in navigating the canal were repaired,
and preparations were made for the sea voyage.
The Clyde was left on June 2, but the little vessel had to be brought
up in Lamlash, Isle of Arran, there being a “dreadful storm at night,”
as the captain narrates. They sailed from Lamlash about one o’clock in
the afternoon of the 4th, “and after undergoing great peril, reached
Port Patrick the same night twelve o’clock.” A lengthy stay was made
there, due partly to an accident, the nature of which is not stated,
“but principally the want of money,” till Saturday 24th, when they left
Port Patrick. The _Elizabeth’s_ adventures were by no means over, for
she was obliged to bring up in Ramsey Bay, Isle of Man, an accident
throwing off one of her paddles. The financial difficulty having been
further overcome to the extent of six guineas, the _Elizabeth_ left the
Isle of Man with a fine breeze, “day lovely, but, after working all
day and night, we found on the morning of Wednesday 28th, we had been
deceived by our compass and were off the coast of Wales.
“We again unshipped our paddles, and drifted nearly to Dublin ere we
could again get them to work, but luckily did effect that and anchored
off George’s Dock Pier, Liverpool.”[34]
[34] The full log appears in Mr. Colin Watson’s “Doubly in Crown
Service”; the original log is stated to be preserved in Brown’s
Museum.
Another famous vessel of this period was built in 1814 at Fairlie by
William Fyfe. This was the _Industry_, known in later years as the
_Coffee Mill_ because of the grinding noise made by the cog-wheels in
her machinery.[35] She is also remarkable as being the only trading
steamer ever built at the Fairlie yard, for William Fyfe steadfastly
refused to construct anything but yachts and smart fishing smacks.[36]
[35] Mr. John Hastie’s Address to the Institute of Engineers and
Shipbuilders in Scotland, December 2, 1880.
[36] “The Clyde Passenger Steamers.”
The year 1814 saw the building of the _Princess Charlotte_ and _Prince
of Orange_, the first British steamers with engines by Boulton and
Watt. In the same year at Dumbarton, Archibald MacLachlan built the
_Marjory_, the first steam vessel to enter the Thames. She was sent
through the Forth and Clyde Canal and down the east coast, and as her
beam was wider than the canal locks her wings had to be removed.
Steamship building now proceeded with great energy. In 1815 boats
were built in Ireland at Cork, and the first voyage of a steamer from
Glasgow to London was made by the _Thames_, while in England the London
river steamboat service was opened.
The _Thames_, previously the _Argyle_, is described by the _Times_,
July 8, 1815, as a steam yacht, and as a “rapid, capacious, and
splendid vessel,” which “lately accomplished a voyage of 1500 miles,
has twice crossed St. George’s Channel, and came round the Land’s
End with a rapidity unknown before in naval history.... She has the
peculiar advantage of proceeding either by sails or steam, separated or
united, by which means the public have the pleasing certainty of never
being detained on the water after dark, much less one or two nights,
which has frequently occurred with the old packets.”
[Illustration: THE “COMET,” 1812.]
The _Thames_ always did her journey, a trip to Margate, in one day.
“Her cabins,” says the _Times_ eulogist, “are spacious and are fitted
up with all that elegance could suggest or all that personal comfort
requires, presenting a choice library, backgammon boards, draught
tables, and other means of amusement. For the express purpose of
combining delicacy with comfort a female servant tends upon the
ladies.” The _Thames_ was of 70 tons register, 79 feet on the keel,
16 feet beam, and carried engines of 14 horse-power. Her funnel did
duty as a mast, and carried a large square sail. “A gallery upon which
the cabin windows opened projected so as to form a continuous deck,
interrupted only by the paddle-boxes, an arrangement which had the
further effect of making the vessel appear larger than she really
was.”[37] She also displayed on her sides eighteen large painted ports,
besides two on her stern, which gave her such a formidable appearance
that several naval officers stated in evidence before a Parliamentary
Committee that they would have attempted to reconnoitre her before
bringing her to. For in those days merchant vessels carried cannons and
did not hesitate to show their noses through the ports if need were.
[37] Kennedy’s “History of Steam Navigation.”
Her voyage to London was made under the command of a former naval
officer named Dodd. She sailed from Glasgow about the middle of May,
carrying, besides Dodd, a mate, engineer, stoker, four seamen, and a
boy. The first night out they met a heavy gale, and instead of being
off the Irish coast as Dodd intended, they found themselves in the
morning perilously near Port Patrick, its rock-bound coast being
less than half a league on their lee. Dodd saw that his only hope of
safety was to run the engine for all it was worth, and the little
steamer managed to fight her way against the wind and a tempestuous
sea, gaining at the rate of about three miles an hour. Two passengers,
a Mr. and Mrs. Weld, joined the ship at Dublin.[38] Weld’s journal
records that he went to see the vessel “and found her on the point of
starting with a number of curious visitors upon an experimental trip
in the Bay.” He was so pleased that he asked Captain Dodd, who at
once consented, to take him as a passenger to London, and Mrs. Weld
“resolved on sharing the dangers of the voyage.”
[38] _Chambers’ Journal_, April 25, 1857.
When the adventurous journey was resumed several persons went with
them as far as Dunleary, now Kingstown, where they landed after being
violently sea-sick owing to the rough water. Some naval officers on
board prophesied that the vessel could not live long in heavy seas.
Kingstown was left, and the steamer soon found herself in as rough
a sea as ever. The next morning they arrived off Wexford. The smoke
led the people to suppose the vessel was on fire, and all the pilots
in the place put off to her help, but their dreams of salvage were
disappointed. The weather becoming worse, Dodd sought safety in Wexford
Bay. They sailed again for St. David’s Head. Both paddle-wheels met
with an accident and had to have a blade cut away, the vessel’s
progress, however, suffering but slightly in consequence. Milford Haven
was safely reached, but when nearing the port they met the Government
mail packet from Milford to Waterford under full sail. They had passed
the packet about a quarter of a mile when Dodd thought he would send
some letters by her to Ireland; accordingly the _Thames_ was put about,
overhauled the packet, and sailed round her. The letters having been
put aboard, Dodd took his boat again round the packet, although the
latter was under way, and then continued his journey. At Milford the
engine and boiler were cleaned. But after leaving Milford the pilot
declined to attempt to round the Land’s End that night. Dodd put into
St. Ives, where the _Thames_ was again mistaken for a ship on fire.
There being no shelter at St. Ives he went on to Hayle. Off Cornwall
Head a tremendous swell from the Atlantic met the steamer, and the
waves were of such a height as to render her position most alarming.
Dodd battled on, and after a night’s struggle rounded the Land’s End.
At Plymouth and Portsmouth officials and thousands of sightseers went
to see her, and at Portsmouth the Port Admiral was asked to grant the
voyagers a guard that order might be preserved.
[Illustration: THE “INDUSTRY,” 1814.]
The _Thames_ steamed up the harbour with wind and tide at nearly
fourteen miles an hour. A court-martial which was being held at
the time on one of the warships hurriedly adjourned to witness the
wonderful sight. Margate and London were reached in due course, the
ninety miles’ run from Margate to Limehouse being done in ten hours.
Sir Richard Phillips, in his “Million of Facts,” published in 1839,
writes: “In her first voyage to Margate none would trust themselves,
and the editor and three of his family with five or six more were the
first hardy adventurers. To allay alarm he published a letter in the
newspapers, and the end of that summer he saw the same packet depart
with three hundred and fifty passengers!” They must have been packed as
tightly as herrings in a barrel.
Another steamer on the Thames in 1815 was the _Defiance_. She was
possibly the first steamer to be built on the banks of the Thames, but
as there is no discoverable record of the fact, it is equally possible
she was built as a sailer, and was fitted with engines. The _Majestic_
appeared in 1816, and is thought to have been the first steamer
employed in towing ships. On August 28, 1816, she towed the _Hope_, an
Indiaman, from Deptford to Woolwich at a rate of three miles an hour
against the wind.[39]
[39] Kennedy’s “History of Steam Navigation.”
It is recorded that prior to the appearance on the Thames of the
_Marjory_, _Defiance_, and _Thames_, a man named Dawson in 1813 had a
steamer on the river plying between Gravesend and London. This Dawson
is stated to have made steamship experiments in Ireland, and according
to his own account he built a steamboat of 50 tons burden, worked by
a high-pressure steam-engine as early as 1811, which, by one of those
singular coincidences frequently met with in the history of inventions,
he named the _Comet_.[40]
[40] Stuart’s “History” and Knight’s “Cyclopædia.”
The first steam vessel known with certainty to have been built on the
Thames was the _Regent_, designed by Isambard Brunel, and built in
1816 by Maudslay, the founder of one of the most famous shipbuilding
firms London river has known. She was of 112 tons, with engines of
24 horse-power, and her machinery and paddles together were so light
that they only weighed five tons. She was placed on the London and
Margate passenger service, and in July 1817 was burnt off Whitstable.
Fortunately no lives were lost.
An apparently insignificant incident which occurred in 1818 resulted
in one of the most important discoveries in the history of the marine
engine. James Watt the younger happened to be on the steamer _Dumbarton
Castle_, built a year earlier, when the engineer told him that the
vessel had grounded the previous evening, and that the rising tide,
turning the paddles the wrong way, had caused the engines to reverse.
Watt explained to the engineer the importance of this, and at last took
off his coat and showed what could be done with the engines. Before
that date the reversing of machinery on steamers was either unknown
or not generally practised. Watt’s discovery enabled the steamer to
take its position at Rothesay Quay with precision and promptitude, the
custom previously having been to stop the engine some distance from the
point of mooring and allow the vessel to drift alongside.[41]
[41] “The Clyde Passenger Steamers,” by Captain J. Williamson.
[Illustration: PLAN AND LINES OF THE “COMET.”]
[Illustration: THE ENGINE OF THE “LEVEN.”]
After the experimental voyages described above it was not long before
owners of steam vessels and enterprising shippers generally recognised
the benefits to be derived from the establishment of regular coastal
steamship services. The year 1816 saw steam communication established
between Great Britain and Ireland with the _Hibernia_ of 112 tons
register, which enjoyed the distinction of being the first boat
employed in cross-channel service in the British Islands. She was built
for the Holyhead and Howth service, was lugger-rigged, nearly 80 feet
in length, and about 9 feet draught, and her passages averaged about
seven hours.
David Napier now introduced a great change in the shape of the fore
part of steamers’ hulls, which added to the superiority of their
speed over sailing ships. Hitherto steamers had been built with the
bluff bows which characterised the sailers. Napier observed that the
obstruction caused to a ship’s progress by bows of this shape was
very great, especially in dirty weather. He was crossing from Glasgow
to Belfast on one of the sailing packets which then did the journey
in anything up to a week, and perched himself on the bows, where he
remained, heedless of the waves and spray which continually dashed over
him. He was engaged in watching the bows and the waves, and thinking.
Occasionally he turned to the captain and asked if the sea was rough.
The captain said it could not yet be called very rough. The weather
grew worse, and at last a tremendous wave, breaking over the vessel,
swept her from stem to stern. Napier went back to the captain and
asked, “Do you call it rough now?” The captain replied that he could
not remember a worse night in his experience. To his astonishment
Napier was delighted with this answer, and went down to his cabin
remarking, “I think I can manage if that is all.”[42]
[42] An account of this voyage by Napier is given in the American
Admiral Preble’s “History of Steam Navigation.”
Subsequently he made a series of tank experiments with models, and
these resulted in the adoption of the fine wedge-shaped bows which
distinguished the steamships he afterwards built. This was the origin
of the first great departure from sailing-ship models in steamboat
construction.
In 1820 regular communication between Dover and Calais was established
by the _Rob Roy_, a Scotch-built boat. In the previous year the
_Talbot_ had been built by Wood for the Holyhead and Dublin service.
She was 92 feet long by 18 feet beam with a tonnage of 150. For this
boat D. Napier provided the engines, while the first steamer engined by
Robert Napier was the _Leven_, built in 1823. The _Leven’s_ engine, of
the side-lever type, is still preserved on Dumbarton pier.
In 1822 the St. George Steam Packet Company launched two large and
powerful steamers, the _St. Patrick_ and _St. George_, for the trade
between Liverpool and Dublin, and a few years later their _Sea-Horse_
sailed weekly between Hull and Rotterdam. The Original Steam Packet
Company also ran the _Waterloo_ and the _Belfast_ on this route. A
third company was now projected. Mr. C. W. Williams of Dublin came over
to Liverpool to seek financial support for his project of building
steamers for the same route. Failing at Liverpool, he returned to
Dublin and met with such encouragement that in the following February
he came back to Liverpool, and placed an order with Wilson, popularly
called “Frigate Wilson,” the leading shipbuilder of his time on the
Mersey, for the first steamer of what was destined to become one of
the most famous steamship companies in the world, the City of Dublin
Steam Packet Company. This vessel, the _City of Dublin_, was to be
constructed to carry general cargo besides livestock and passengers,
and to maintain the service throughout the year. She was probably the
first steamer designed to carry both passengers and cargo. Williams saw
that it was as much to the interest of merchants to have their goods
delivered with regularity as it was to the interest of passengers to
reach their destinations punctually.
[Illustration: THE “SEA-HORSE.” ABOUT 1826.]
Merchants were equally quick to see the advantages of punctual
delivery, and the Williams enterprise prospered. The following month
he contracted with Wilson for the building of the _Town of Liverpool_,
there being some delay in placing this contract as Wilson had just
contracted to build the steamer _Henry Bell_ for the Liverpool and
Glasgow trade. The _City of Dublin’s_ maiden voyage was made on March
20, 1824.
Meanwhile the Dublin and Liverpool Steam Navigation Company had been
founded, and started trading operations in September 1824 with the
steamer _Liffey_. In December of the same year the _Mersey_ was added,
and in 1825 the _Commerce_. The last named was the largest vessel so
far employed in cross-channel traffic. She was built at Liverpool by
Messrs. Grayson and Leadley.
The competition among the companies was exceedingly keen, and increased
as they added to their respective fleets. The City of Dublin Company
paid little heed to what was known as the Original Company, but found
its work cut out in competing with the other two. The first really
serious rate war broke out, and seems to have spread to the steamer
companies in the Scottish and North of Ireland passenger trade.
Not content with cutting rates to vanishing-point, the northern rivals
indulged in lively newspaper polemics in the shape of advertisements,
which praised their own boats and gave the lie direct to the manifestos
of their opponents. The owners of the _Swift_, sailing from Glasgow,
advertised the “great superiority” of their vessel “over the cock boat
that is puffed off as sailing direct from the Bromielaw.” “For the sake
of strangers coming from a distance it may be proper to state that her
power and size are double, and her speed so much greater, that when the
two vessels start together the _Swift_ runs the other out of sight in
five or six hours.”
The _George Canning_ was the vessel referred to in this contemptuous
manner and her owners retorted in kind. Their advertisement referred to
the “contemptible article in the _Swift’s_ advertisement” as “stating
a gross falsehood knowing it to be such.” The _Swift_ is challenged
to produce a single instance of ever having accomplished her passage
from Belfast in so short a time as the _George Canning_, and the public
are informed that the two have never yet sailed together either from
Belfast or Glasgow, and the _Swift_ is asked when and where she ran
the other out of sight.[43] So matters went on until the _Swift_ was
sold to the London, Leith, and Edinburgh Shipping Company in 1826. The
companies actually carried saloon passengers from Belfast to Glasgow
for 2_s._ a head; second cabin passengers went for 6_d._, and deck
passengers went free.
[43] _Glasgow Herald_, June 30, 1825.
The war on the Liverpool and Dublin route ended in the Liverpool
Companies carrying saloon passengers for 5_s._ and steerage passengers
for 6_d._ each, one of the vessels conveying on one voyage seven
hundred steerage passengers at that fare.
Negotiations between the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company and the
Dublin and Liverpool Steam Navigation Company followed, by which the
former purchased the Navigation Company’s steamers. They had then a
fleet of fourteen vessels and entered upon a long career of prosperity,
chequered by occasional battles with rival companies. A rate war with
the Langtry Company of Belfast ended in the steerage fare between
Liverpool and Belfast being reduced to 3_d._, including bread and meat.
For a time, too, there was rivalry between the Dublin Company and the
Waterford Commercial Steam Navigation Company, which in 1837 joined in
the trade between that city and Liverpool with the iron paddle-steamer
_Duncannon_, of 200 tons, built by Laird of Birkenhead. This was
probably the first iron steamer built for the cross-channel service,
but by no means the first to be seen in Irish waters.
While the companies were struggling, passengers were even carried free
between Liverpool and Waterford, and sometimes between Liverpool and
Dublin. “A story is told of a passenger going into the Dublin Company’s
office at Waterford, and inquiring the cabin fare to Liverpool. He
was told he would be taken for nothing, to which he replied, ‘That
is not good enough, you must feed me as well.’” There is a tradition
also that when one of the rival companies of the Liverpool and Dublin
service “advertised its willingness to carry passengers for nothing,
and to give them a loaf of bread, the other company capped the offer by
the addition of a bottle of Guinness’ stout.”[44] The fight continued
for three years, until the City of Dublin and the Waterford Company
came to terms. This settlement brought about peace between the Belfast
and the British and Irish Companies, the former sharing the Liverpool
and Belfast trade with the Cork Company, while the British and Irish
Company shared the London and Dublin trade with the Waterford Company.
This truce continued for several years, but the war had sent nearly all
the Waterford trade to Liverpool, to the detriment of the line running
between Waterford and Bristol. A dispute followed between the Waterford
and Bristol Companies and was maintained until the Bristol Company
bought off the Waterford Company with an annual subvention of one
thousand pounds.
[44] Kennedy’s “History of Steam Navigation.”
The increase in the number of steamers from 1820 onwards was
extraordinary. In 1825, forty-four steamers were building at London and
Liverpool alone, with tonnages varying from 250 to 500. Most of these
vessels were built for the coastal service, the only international
voyages being between the British coast, France, and the Netherlands.
In 1818, according to Dodd, steamers were employed on the Clyde in the
conveyance of merchandise, though for the most part vessels propelled
by the new invention, as it was generally called, were confined to
passengers, the goods being sent by sailing boats. In 1820 and 1821 no
steamers were employed in the foreign trade, but in 1822 it appears
that the entrances inward of steamers engaged in the foreign trade
numbered 159, with a tonnage of 14,497, while the clearances numbered
111 with a total of 12,388 tons. The coasting trade in that year for
the United Kingdom was 215 vessels entered inward, with a tonnage of
31,596, and the clearances numbered 295 with an aggregate tonnage for
the year of 42,743. The year 1823 saw a falling off in the entrances
and clearances in the foreign trade, but in the following year there
was a partial recovery which was continued in 1825; and in 1826 the
number of entrances of steam vessels was 334, with an aggregate tonnage
of 32,631, the clearances being 268 with a tonnage of 27,206. In that
year also the coasting trade showed 2810 entrances of 452,995 tons, and
3833 clearances of 518,696 tons. By 1828 the coasting entrances rose to
5591, with an aggregate of 914,414 tons, with 6893 clearances and an
aggregate tonnage of 1,009,834. French-owned steamers first appeared in
the United Kingdom records in 1822, when there were ten entrances of
520 tons altogether. In 1823 the entrances from France had shrunk to
seven, of a total of 364 tons, and the clearances were the same; but by
1827, 74 entrances of French steamers are recorded, and 43 clearances.
In 1829 Holland appears for the first time in the list with one steamer
entered and cleared. But in 1830 the steamer traffic between the two
countries had grown so that the entries of Dutch steamers numbered
twenty-three, with an aggregate of 6463 tons, and the clearances
thirty-two with 8992 tons. By 1836 the entries in the United Kingdom
coastal trade were 13,003, with an aggregate tonnage of 2,238,137, and
the clearances 12,649 with an aggregate of 2,178,248 tons. In 1837
Belgium, France, and Spain figured in the returns, and in 1838 Portugal
and Brazil. Russia and Turkey were added to the list in 1839. In that
year the United Kingdom coastal entries numbered 15,556 of 2,926,521
tons, and the clearances 15,498 of 2,894,995 tons. These figures do not
include vessels in ballast nor those with passengers only.
The report of the Commissioners appointed by the Privy Council in
1839 to inquire into steamship accidents, shows that some laxness
prevailed in regard to registration, no fewer than 83 unregistered
steam vessels being discovered, most of which were in the passenger
trade; thirty-seven of these were on the Mersey, sixteen on the Thames,
twenty-six on the Humber, and four on the rivers on the east coast of
Scotland. The Commissioners added that there were probably many others
unregistered, as they did not visit all the ports.
On the other hand, there were only twenty-five registered steamers
on the Humber, Ouse, and Trent, and thirty-nine at Liverpool. Two
Liverpool companies owned more vessels than the total number registered
there. The Commissioners found that nineteen-twentieths of the large
number of trading steamers between Ireland and Liverpool, some of
which were registered in English and some in Irish ports, were owned
in Ireland. The report further stated that of the 766 steam vessels
tabulated as belonging to Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man,
Guernsey, and Jersey, 484 might be considered as river steamers and
small coasters, and 282 as large coasters and sea-going ships.
The total number of registered vessels at the end of 1838 was 677,
with a total registered tonnage of 74,510, a total computed tonnage
of 131,080, and estimated horse-power 54,361. Unregistered vessels
numbered 83 of 9638 tons gross, and 2129 estimated horse-power. The
foregoing particulars show how rapidly the number of steamers increased
for some years.
Services seem to have been started between almost every two or three
ports of the United Kingdom. The little wooden vessels were long-lived,
and had some unique experiences owing to the venturesome characters of
their captains, owners, or charterers. Provided the vessel would float
and get along it seemed to be the opinion of its owners that it could
go anywhere and carry anything. Thus a vessel built for river traffic
was thought suitable for deep-sea work also. It is not surprising to
find that many of the steamers changed hands frequently. They were
renamed at every change, and the resulting confusion makes it difficult
to trace their history.
It seems fairly certain, however, that accidents were frequent, and
it became necessary to devise means of carrying boats which would
accommodate at least a considerable number of the passengers if
necessary. Regulations as to the compulsory carriage of life-buoys,
life-belts, rafts, floating seats, and other contrivances for
supporting people in the water did not come into force until many years
after. The sole means of safety in the early days of steam navigation
were the boats and such wreckage as happened to float if the vessel
sank or went to pieces. But most of the steamers were so small, and
on their voyages so crowded, that they could not carry nearly as many
boats as were required.
The boats were generally carried on the tops of the paddle-boxes.
A suggestion which was carried into effect, especially in some of
the larger ocean-going steamers, was that the paddle-boxes should
be built square and be detachable from the guards, so that if a
disaster should befall the vessel they could be used as boats. This
contrivance had numerous disadvantages, not the least of them being
the unwieldiness of the paddle-boxes, and the difficulty of managing
them when afloat. Another suggestion was that each steamer should
carry two large boats of equal dimensions which could be used as the
tops of the paddle-boxes. The main advantage claimed for this idea
was that it would not add materially to the weight of the vessel.
Captain George Smith, in the ’thirties, contrived a peculiarly shaped
lifeboat which would fit over the paddle-wheels and take the place of
the paddle-boxes, and might when occasion required be turned right
side uppermost and launched outside the paddle-wheel. He tried this
experiment on the steamer _Carron_. “The upper section,” he wrote, “of
her paddle-wheel is covered by a lifeboat 25 feet long, 9 feet beam,
and having four air-tight cases which may be removed if required on
particular occasions. This lifeboat is capable of containing between
forty and fifty persons. When in her place over the paddle-wheel the
midship thwarts are unshipped, which admits of the wheel revolving
within 6 inches of her keelson; she lies bottom upwards on two iron
davits, which enable her to be turned over and lowered by six men in
two or three minutes.”
The early river steamers were often overcrowded, which is not to be
wondered at in those days of insufficient control, and a cartoon of
the period represents the passengers as hanging on to the rigging, the
bowsprit, the funnel, and anything else of which they could catch hold.
Complaints of reckless speed and careless navigation were frequent, and
the Worshipful Company of Watermen and Lightermen gave orders that the
speed should not exceed five miles an hour: but the captains of the
Thames steamers were often fined for breaking the rules, as they were
in the habit of racing against boats belonging to rival companies. As
to overcrowding, the _Times_ of April 16, 1838, thus delivered itself:
“It would be as well if some measures be adopted to prevent steamers
being overcrowded during the Easter holidays. During the last Easter
and Whitsuntide holidays the steamers were crammed with passengers in
a fearful manner, the small vessels carrying 500 and 600 passengers at
one trip, and the larger ones 1000 and 1500 persons, as closely packed
as negroes in the hold of a slave-ship.”
By 1846 the rivalry among the companies on the river brought about the
usual rate war. The steamers and the Watermen’s Company were often at
loggerheads, and neither always agreed with the City Corporation. An
attack of the City Corporation employees upon those of the Watermen’s
Company was valiantly resisted, and the watermen went to gaol in
consequence. _Punch_ commented on this as follows: “Considerable
excitement has been occasioned by some experiments which have lately
been tried in the Thames navy, on the same principle as that recently
applied to the _Bellerophon_, which was got ready for sea in sixty
hours, and got unready again with equal promptitude. The Waterman No.
6 took in coals and ginger-beer, manned her paddle-box, lit her fire,
threw on a scuttle of coal, filled her boiler, blackleaded her funnel,
tarred her taffrail, and pitched her stoker into her engine-room,
all within twenty minutes, and sailed away from her moorings at
Paul’s Wharf amidst the cheers of her checktaker. This manœuvre was
accomplished for the purpose of striking terror into the minds of the
civic forces at Blackfriars Pier, who are only tranquil at present in
compliance with the terms of a recent armistice.”
The modern development of the coastal steamer service has naturally
been confined to a strict meeting of its own requirements, and it is
not proposed to go at length into all the minutiæ of the differences
between the steamers of the various lines. Some of the most famous
companies have already been mentioned and their early struggles with
competitors described. In connection with coastal and cross-channel
traffic it will now be sufficient to sketch the careers of a few others
which have helped to make steam-ship history.
[Illustration: TRINITY YACHT MONARCH ROYAL GEORGE TRIDENT
THE “MONARCH” AND “TRIDENT” (GENERAL STEAM NAVIGATION CO.) CONVOYING
THE ROYAL YACHT WITH THE QUEEN AND PRINCE CONSORT TO EDINBURGH, 1842.]
GENERAL STEAM NAVIGATION COMPANY
To London shipowners belongs the credit of establishing one of the
oldest steam-ship companies in the world, the General Steam Navigation
Company. It was founded as far back as 1820 and its first steamer, the
_City of Edinburgh_, was built expressly for trade between Edinburgh
and London by Messrs. Wigram and Green at Blackwall, and was launched
on March 31, 1821. Her engines were by Boulton and Watt, and were of 80
horse-power nominal.
A steam-ship of any kind was a novelty at that time, and the launch
of such a large vessel on the Thames attracted the attention of all
classes. The Duke and Duchess of Clarence, who were afterwards William
the Fourth and Queen Adelaide, accompanied by the Duchess of Kent
and a large suite, paid a special visit to the wharf to see her. The
royal party expressed themselves as much surprised by the magnificence
of the accommodation provided for the passengers as by the noble and
graceful proportion of the vessel in which such powerful machinery had
been placed. The _City of Edinburgh_ was followed in June 1821 by the
_James Watt_, launched by Messrs. Wood and Co. of Port Glasgow, and at
that time described as “the largest vessel ever seen in Great Britain
propelled by steam.” Her engines were of 100 nominal horse-power, and
drove paddle-wheels 18 feet in diameter with sixteen floats, which were
9 feet in length by 2 feet broad.
The company was incorporated in 1824 and then and for many years
afterwards occupied a place second to none in the British mercantile
marine as carrier of passengers, mails, goods, and cattle on the
leading routes from London to the North, and to the principal
commercial ports of Western Europe. The _Earl of Liverpool_, of 168
tons register and 80 horse-power, was built for the company at Wallis’s
yard on the Thames in 1822.
An early picture of this vessel shows her to have been two-masted,
carrying on the foremast three jibs, two topsails, and a trysail, and
on the mizzen two enormous flags, one several yards long bearing the
name of the vessel, and the other, half the size of her spanker, being
the company’s house flag, while at the stern she displayed an immense
ensign, and at the bows a little Union Jack. Her paddle-boxes were
rather forward of amidships, and a tall funnel with a spark-catcher
above stood a short distance in front of the mizzen-mast.
In 1833 this company built the _Monarch_, of which a contemporary
newspaper says, under the heading “Gigantic Steamboat”:
“The dimensions of the _Monarch_, Edinburgh steamer, launched a few
days since are as follows:--extreme length 206 feet 1¹⁄₂ inches, width
of deck 37 feet, width outside the paddles 54 feet 4 inches, length
of keel in the tread 166 feet; length of deck from the stem to the
taffrail 193 feet, depth in hold 18 feet. The extreme length given
above is within 2 feet of the largest ship in the British Navy; she
is larger than any of His Majesty’s frigates, and longer than our
84-gun ships. Her tonnage is somewhat more than 1200 tons, and the
accommodation below is so extensive that she will make up 140 beds, and
100 persons may conveniently dine in her Saloons.”
[Illustration: THE “TRIDENT,” IN WHICH THE QUEEN AND PRINCE CONSORT
RETURNED, SEPT. 1842.]
The _Trident_, built in 1842, was another of the company’s famous
ships, and was probably the first steam-ship in which a reigning
sovereign went for a lengthy sea voyage. Queen Victoria paid her
first visit to Scotland and made the return journey from Edinburgh
with Prince Albert and their suite on this vessel. An interesting
description of the voyage appeared in “Leaves from the Journal of our
Life in the Highlands.” The Queen remarked of the accommodation on
the _Trident_ “that it was much larger and better than on the _Royal
George_,” which was the royal yacht of the period, and that it was
“beautifully fitted up.” The _Trident_ soon lost sight of all the
accompanying vessels, except the company’s steamer _Monarch_, which
“was the only one that could keep up with us.” Writing a few days
later to the King of the Belgians the Queen says: “We had a speedy and
prosperous voyage home of forty-eight hours on board a fine, large,
and very fast steamer, the _Trident_, belonging to the General Steam
Navigation Company.”
These vessels, of course, were of wood, but when iron steamers were
introduced and paddles gave way to the screw propeller, the company was
not slow to see the advantages of the innovations, and to adopt them
for its services.
In modern times this company has distinguished itself by its zeal
for self-improvement. Every important development in steam-ship
construction and engineering has been marked by the company by an
addition to its fleet, one of the most recent being the _Kingfisher_,
the first steam turbine-driven passenger steamer on the Thames.
LONDON AND EDINBURGH SHIPPING COMPANY
Probably on none of the British coasts was the advent of the steamer
hailed with more pleasure than on the east coast. Travel between London
and the east of Scotland, before railways were possible, and when the
land journey had to be made by stage-coach or on horseback, or a sea
journey performed in sailing smacks, was a tedious operation. The
smacks were large of their sort, and as comfortable as vessels of that
period usually were (which is not saying much), but the North Sea was
as turbulent then as now, so that passengers who went down to that
part of the sea in smacks usually had an experience which lasted them a
lifetime.
The London and Leith service of the present day is maintained by a
line of steamers as good as any on the coast. The existing company
was not the first to trade between the two ports whence it takes its
name, but its history connects it with the earliest attempts to found
a regular service between the English and Scottish capitals. This was
established in 1802 by the old Edinburgh and Leith Shipping Company,
with six smacks. About seven years later there was established a London
and Edinburgh Shipping Company, which possessed ten smacks. There
had previously been a Leith and Berwick Company, so called because
Berwick was a port of call between the Forth ports and London. This was
the Union Company, which for fifty years previously had traded from
Berwick. It was absorbed by the London and Leith Shipping Company in
1812, and this combination was joined by another in 1815. The existing
company is the lineal descendant of the combination of the three.
Before steam was used “it was not an uncommon experience,” says an
historical publication issued by the London and Edinburgh Shipping
Company, “for a smack to lie windbound in the roads for days before
venturing out of the Forth, and instances were more than traditional
of a smack with a cabin full of passengers being tossed about on the
North Sea for days or weeks, and then forced to come back to Leith for
the replenishment of stores, without having been any nearer to London
than when she set out.” On one occasion a smack in which there were
seven cabin passengers was nine days at sea, the year being 1825, and
the month March. Upon leaving Leith for London and getting well into
the North Sea they were driven towards Norway for four days, when a
“welcome change of wind set in, which drove them back towards Scotland
with equal rapidity.” Having sighted the Bell Rock they continued the
voyage to London, and made a good run in spite of the loss of some
spars and canvas. The passengers were “unhappy” and at times were not
allowed on deck for fear of being washed overboard. Another smack was
three weeks endeavouring to get to London and then had to return for
more stores. Prior to the smacks the voyages were usually made by brigs
of anything between 160 to 200 tons, which sailed when their owners
thought they had enough cargo and passengers aboard.
[Illustration: THE “CARRON” (CARRON CO.).]
[Illustration: THE “KINGFISHER” (GENERAL STEAM NAVIGATION CO.).]
Presumably no one sailed by smack who could afford to coach between
Scotland and London, but the coach fare in 1824 was £13 and the
smack fare £4. Passengers by smack had a fair chance of witnessing a
sea-fight, during which the ladies would be locked up in the cabin
while the martially-inclined among the passengers might be called upon
to assist the crew in repelling the attack of a French privateer.
The smacks were superseded by the celebrated Aberdeen schooners or
themselves converted to that rig, and the schooners bravely upheld
the reputation of sail as long as possible against the all-conquering
power of steam. But in 1850 the company introduced steam and the fine
clippers were withdrawn. It is this company’s proud boast that it has
never lost a passenger.
THE CARRON COMPANY
The Carron Company, manufacturers of iron goods, maintained a passenger
service between Carron and London with sailing sloops long before
steam-ships were invented. So long ago as 1779 the company advertised
in the _Edinburgh Advertiser_ as follows:
At CARRON--For LONDON.
To ſail March 5, 1779
THE GLASGOW, Robert Paterſon maſter, mounting fourteen twelve
pounders, and men anſwerable. For freight or paſſage, apply to Mr. G.
Hamilton, Glaſgow, Meſſ. James Anderſon & Co. Leith, or the Carron
Shipping Company at Carron Wharf.
N. B. The Carron veſſels are fitted out in the moſt complete manner
for defence, at a very conſiderable expence, and are well provided
with ſmall arms. All mariners, recruiting parties, ſoldiers upon
furlow, and all other ſteerage paſſengers who have been accuſtomed
to the uſe of fire arms, and who will engage to aſſiſt in defending
themſelves, will be accommodated with their paſſage to or from
London, upon ſatiſfying the maſters for their proviſions, which in no
inſtance ſhall exceed 10s. 6d. ſterling.
The Carron veſſels ſail regularly as uſual, without waiting for the
convoy.
As the sloops carried the company’s famous carronades there can be no
doubt that they were well armed. The company can boast a more ancient
connection with steam-ship building than any other firm in the British
Isles, for they constructed the hull for one of the Miller boats and
assisted in the construction of one of Symington’s engines. Miller is
reported to have examined Symington’s engines at the Carron works.
The company soon ran steamers instead of sailing vessels along the
east-coast route and have continued to do so up to the present day, the
latest additions to their fleet being the _Thames_ by A. and J. Inglis,
and the _Carron_, 308 feet long, which has her steering gear fitted aft
at the rudder head and controlled by hydraulic action on the telemotor
principle.
An interesting fact in connection with the Carron Company is that the
first set of complete castings for James Watt’s steam-engine were made
at their works, and were erected at the house of Dr. Roebuck, who was
one of the founders of the company and a personal friend of Watt. A
part of the cylinder of this engine marked “Carron 1766” is still
preserved at the works. John Smeaton, of Eddystone Lighthouse fame, was
also associated with the Carron works.
[Illustration: THE “FINGAL” (LONDON AND EDINBURGH SHIPPING CO.).]
[Illustration: THE “LADY WOLSELEY”
(BRITISH AND IRISH STEAM PACKET CO.)]
DUNDEE, PERTH AND LONDON SHIPPING COMPANY
This company dates, like others on the east coast, from the time when
the voyage between the Thames and Scotland was only performed by
sailing smacks, and of these they ran nineteen. But in 1834 the smacks
were removed and paddle-steamers took their place. Their first steamers
were the _Dundee_ and the _Perth_, each boat having a commander as well
as a sailing master. They were wonderful vessels for the time, being
of 650 tons burden and 300 horse-power. They were advertised as “these
splendid and powerful steamers”; the cabins were “airy, commodious”
(epithet beloved of steam-ship companies), and “elegant.” The company’s
present-day fleet consists of the _London_ and the _Perth_, each of
1737 tons and 3000 horse-power.
ISLE OF MAN STEAM PACKET COMPANY
No steamer company holds a more honourable position in the coastal and
passenger trade than the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. The vessels
in early years were known as “the little Cunarders,” a compliment
which they well deserved. The appearance of the vessels of the two
companies was much the same, and the red and black funnel has always
been a distinguishing feature of both lines. The first boat of the
Isle of Man Company was built by John Wood of Glasgow in 1830, and
named the _Mona’s Isle_, a title which has been borne by more than one
distinguished successor. She was schooner-bowed, and carried on her
paddle-boxes, which were placed well forward, the familiar three-legged
sign of Manxland. The engines of the first Cunarder built for the
transatlantic service were by Napier, who also built the hull, and
this steamer was to all intents and purposes a large edition of the
_Mona’s Isle_, whose engines he had previously built. Her dimensions
were 116 feet in length by 19 feet beam, with a depth of 10 feet,
and 200 gross tonnage. She cost £7042, and when sold in 1851 after
twenty-one years’ service, in which she proved a most profitable
vessel, she fetched £580.
But the first steamer seen in Manx waters was the _Henry Bell_, named
after the constructor of the historic _Comet_; she was on her way from
the Clyde to Liverpool to be placed on the service between Liverpool
and Runcorn and put in at Ramsey Bay. In May of the following year
the _Greenock_ arrived at Douglas, whence she took some passengers
to Laxey, and, as a local chronicler puts it, “moved by apparent
enchantment.” The _Mona’s Isle_ was thought to be too large and
valuable to risk being used in winter, and a smaller boat was therefore
ordered from the same builder. This was the _Mona_, and after her
arrival in July 1832, she was engaged in a service between the island
and Whitehaven and in taking visitors on trips round the island.
Even before the advent of the steamers, the Isle of Man had become a
favourite place at which to spend the summer, especially among the
people of the north and west counties. If affection for the island
could induce so many hundreds of people to brave the discomforts of a
voyage from the Mersey to Douglas and back again in the small sailing
packets which then were the means of communication, it is little wonder
that the advent of the steamers, restricted in dimensions as they were,
poor in accommodation, and slow travellers, should have increased her
popularity. Occasionally the sailing packet took as long as a week to
make the trip, and it was hailed as an extraordinary circumstance that
a vessel trading between Douglas and Whitehaven was able to make
fifty-two voyages each way in the course of a year. In 1813 also, a
sailer took three days and nights to get within sight of Liverpool, and
was then driven back by stormy weather to the island.
[Illustration: THE “BEN-MY-CHREE” (I.). BUILT 1845.]
The _Mona_ had one mast on which she could carry a jib, a
forestay-sail, a mainsail, and a topsail, and her funnel was abaft
the paddle-boxes, which were amidships. She was faster than her
predecessor, and usually did the journey between Liverpool and Douglas
in about seven and a half hours. She once reached Whitehaven from
Douglas in a trifle over four and a half hours, which was claimed to
be one of the fastest pieces of travelling on record. The _Queen of
the Isle_, which was the company’s third ship, was the fastest vessel
afloat at the time. These three boats, according to a bill issued
in 1834, were known as the Royal Mail and War Office steam-packets,
though they never had any connection, so far as the company has been
able to ascertain, with the War Office. A Liverpool firm purchased the
_Mona_ in 1851 and sold her to the City of Dublin Company, who ran her
for several years, until she was hopelessly outclassed in size and
accommodation by newer boats. She was then used as a tug, and so spent
the remainder of her days.
The first steamer ordered by the company to be built in the island was
the first _King Orry_, by John Winram, with engines by Robert Napier.
This boat was the last of the company’s wooden paddle-steamers. She
was a very reliable boat but not particularly fast, for she usually
took about seven hours for the trip each way. In 1843 the _Queen of the
Isle_ was relieved of her engines, sold, and turned into a full-rigged
sailing ship and met her fate off the Falkland Islands.
The _Ben-my-Chree_, a three-masted schooner, the first of the company’s
steamers to be built of iron, was fitted with the _Queen of the Isle’s_
engines. The _Tynwald_, a larger steamer still, followed in 1845, and
was herself followed by the _Mona’s Queen_, a rather smaller vessel
but faster, and bearing a figure-head which the carver said was a
likeness of Queen Victoria; be that as it may, the vessel was named in
commemoration of the visit of the Queen to the island in 1847.
Hitherto the company’s steamers had been of little more than local
interest; the _Douglas_ was now ordered and she acquired international
fame. This vessel was the first of the Manx boats in which the
straight stem was adopted. She was built in 1858; her length between
perpendiculars was 205 feet, with a beam of 26 feet and a depth of 14
feet, and a gross tonnage of 700. The _Tynwald_, which was of the same
tonnage was 188 feet long, by 27 feet beam, and 13 feet 6 inches depth.
The _Douglas_ was thus longer in proportion to her beam than any of
her predecessors, and being powerfully engined, made 17¹⁄₄ knots on
her trial trip. She did the passage between Liverpool and Douglas in
4 hours and 20 minutes, and was the fastest sea-going paddle-steamer
afloat.
The situation at this time between the Northern and Southern States
of the United States of America was becoming strained, and there
were already indications of the approaching conflict. After four
years’ service the _Douglas_ was sold, through a third party, to the
Confederate agents.
[Illustration: THE “TYNWALD” (I.). BUILT 1846.]
In a coat of grey paint, with her upper works altered, carrying two
or three guns, and rechristened the _Margaret and Jessie_, the trim
Manx boat became one of the most famous blockade-runners the Southern
States possessed. Her career was brief, but exciting. In 1863 she was
sighted off Abaco by the Federal steamer _Rhode Island_, which chased
her to Eleuthera in the Bahamas and fired upon her when she was only
250 yards off shore. Shot and shell were rained at her by the gunboat,
many of the missiles passing beyond the fugitive and striking the
shore. At length a shot penetrated her boiler, and another struck her
bows so that she had to be beached. This is her last recorded exploit.
Contradictory stories are told of her. One states that she was patched
up, refloated, and became a peaceful trader among the islands; another,
that she was wrecked where she lay; yet another that she resumed her
blockade-running under another name, though this may be explained by
the fact that blockade-runners often changed their names and disguises,
and that one of them may have had a name somewhat similar; and a fourth
story is that she was turned into a sailing schooner and ultimately
became a coal-barge.
The next boat built by the company was the no less famous _Ellan
Vannin_, first named the _Mona’s Isle_. She was an iron vessel built
in 1860. Her dimensions were: length 198 feet 6 inches, breadth 22
feet 2 inches, depth 10 feet 7 inches, with a gross tonnage of 380.
Her indicated horse-power was 600 and her nominal horse-power 100. She
averaged about 12 knots. She was lost with all on board at the mouth of
the Mersey in the terrible gale of November 1909. She was originally a
paddle-boat, but was converted into a twin-screw steamer in 1883, and
was then renamed the _Ellan Vannin_. Her regularity of passage and her
immunity from accident were as noteworthy under her new conditions as
under the old, and until she ended her career under circumstances which
make her loss one of the most remarkable mysteries of the shipping of
the port of Liverpool, she was looked upon as the mascot of the fleet.
Three years later the _Snaefell_ was ordered; she was 326 feet in
length, by 26 feet beam, with a gross tonnage of 700, and was propelled
by engines of 240 nominal horse-power. She brought down the passage
from Douglas to Liverpool to 4 hours 21 minutes.
The Royal Netherlands Steamship Company, being in want of a fast
steamer for the conveyance of the mails between Queenborough and
Flushing, bought the _Snaefell_ and afterwards chartered the second
_Snaefell_ built in 1876, of rather larger dimensions, and with a
gross tonnage of 849, and engines of 540 nominal horse-power and 1700
indicated, capable of driving her at an average speed of 15 knots.
In 1871 the second _King Orry_ was built. She was 290 feet in length
by 29 feet beam, with a depth of 14 feet 7 inches, and of 1104 gross
tonnage, and was much the largest steamer the company had possessed up
to this time. Her engines were of 622 nominal horse-power, and 4000
indicated, and her speed was 17 knots. Her original length was 260
feet, and another 30 feet were added in 1888. The second _Ben-my-Chree_
was built to the order of the company in 1875, and was 310 feet in
length, 1192 gross tonnage, and with a speed of 14 knots. She was the
only passenger vessel for some time in the British Isles to be fitted
with four funnels, two of which were carried before and two abaft
the paddle-boxes. From this peculiarity of her construction she was
known to her patrons and to the west of England shipping people as the
floating coach-and-four. What advantage was gained by the four funnels
is not known, for they held a lot of wind.
The second _Mona_, a much smaller vessel, followed in 1878 and was the
first of the company’s fleet to be fitted with a screw. Three years
later the _Fenella_, which in its general dimensions was almost a
sister ship to the second _Mona_, was built and was the first to be
fitted with twin screws. She was so successful that the conversion of
the _Mona’s Isle_ into a twin-screw boat followed. The company returned
to paddle-wheels for their next vessel, the third _Mona’s Isle_, which
was the first to be built of steel, of which material all the company’s
subsequent boats have been constructed. The _Mona’s Isle_ was 330 feet
7 inches between perpendiculars, 38 feet 1 inch beam, 15 feet 1 inch
depth of hold, and of 1564 gross tonnage. Her engines were of 1983
nominal horse-power, and 4500 indicated, and her speed was 17¹⁄₂ knots.
Two years later the little _Peveril_ was launched, also bearing a name
of historical association in the island. She was the company’s first
steel twin-screw boat, and was lost in September 1899, not far from
where the _Ellan Vannin_ went down. The second _Mona’s Queen_, only
slightly smaller than the second _Mona’s Isle_, followed in 1885, and
in 1888 the sister vessels _Prince of Wales_ and _Queen Victoria_ were
added to the fleet.
[Illustration: THE “MONA’S ISLE” (II.). BUILT 1860 AS A PADDLE STEAMER.]
They were each 330 feet between perpendiculars, 39 feet 1 inch beam, 15
feet 2 inches depth of hold, with a gross tonnage of 1557. The engines
of each were of 925 nominal horse-power, and of 6500 indicated, and
their average speed was 20¹⁄₂ knots. Both these were paddle-vessels.
The third _Tynwald_ was launched in 1891, and is a twin-screw ship.
The _Empress Queen_, the biggest paddle-steamer the company ever
possessed, was ordered in 1896 from the Fairfield Company. She is 360
feet 1 inch between perpendiculars, 42 feet 3 inches beam, and 17 feet
depth of hold. Her gross tonnage is 2140; her engines, of 1290 nominal
horse-power and 10,000 indicated, gave her then a speed of 21¹⁄₂ knots,
which has since sometimes been exceeded. The third _Douglas_ and the
third _Mona_ call for no special comment, except that the former was
the _Dora_ of the London and South-Western Railway, from which the Manx
Company purchased her in 1901, and that the last-named steamer was
the last paddle-boat ordered by the company. The directors in 1905,
finding the need of newer and faster vessels, ordered the steamer
_Viking_, propelled by triple screws driven by turbine machinery, and
so successful was she that the third _Ben-my-Chree_ was added in 1908.
It may be questioned if any other of the coasting companies presents in
its vessels such an illustration of the development of steam-ships and
steam-engines, from the insignificant little tubs no bigger than river
barges to the latest examples of the shipbuilder’s art.
The opposition which the Manx Company has had to fight has been severe.
Its first steamer, the _Mona’s Isle_, on her first voyage found herself
pitted against the _Sophia Jane_, the boat which afterwards made the
first steam voyage to Australia. It would be more correct to say
that in this case the _Mona’s Isle_ was the opposition boat, as the
_Sophia Jane_, which belonged to the St. George Company, was already
on the service. The older boat got in first by something less than two
minutes. But new steamers seldom attain their best speed at first,
and the newcomer soon developed such speed that the old boat was left
behind on every voyage afterwards in which they competed, and once
came in after a rough trip three and a half hours behind. The rivalry
resulted in the usual rate war, and the St. George Company brought its
fares down to 6_d._ single. But neither this step nor the placing of
the splendid steamer _St. George_ on the service did the Manx Company
any harm. The first race between their vessels was remarkable for an
ingenious piece of seamanship on the part of the commander of the
_Mona’s Isle_. The little paddle-boats of those days usually felt a
strong beam wind to such an extent that the paddle on the windward side
would be out of the water half of the time, and that on the lee side
half buried owing to the boat heeling over. The captain, judging that
the dirty weather which then prevailed would continue next day, spent
the night before the race in shifting the cargo and coal on board his
boat to the windward side. When the two vessels left the Mersey in the
morning the _St. George_ was in beautiful trim, and the Manx boat was
leaning over on one side in a fashion which caused those who did not
understand what had been done to laugh at her. When the open sea was
reached it was the _St. George’s_ turn to heel over before the gale,
and the _Mona’s Isle_ went along practically on an even keel, using
both her paddles to the best advantage, while the _St. George_ had
one nearly buried and the other beating the air uselessly much of the
time. Of course the _Mona’s Isle_ won. This incident is interesting as
it shows the daring nature of the expedients which the captains of the
little steamers of those times were prepared to adopt.
[Illustration: THE “ELLAN VANNIN” (THE FOREGOING ALTERED TO A SCREW
STEAMER AND RENAMED, 1883).]
This rivalry was destined to end in the wreck of the _St. George_. The
Manx captain, having probably a better knowledge of local conditions
than the commander of the _St. George_, foresaw that a south-easterly
gale was rising, which always blows inshore at Douglas. As soon,
therefore, as he landed his passengers he put to sea again, but the
_St. George_ was anchored in the bay, and during the night as the gale
freshened she was blown on the Connister Rocks and went to pieces. All
on board were saved by the Douglas lifeboat, whose captain was one of
the founders of the Royal Lifeboat Institution. The St. George Company
maintained the opposition for a little while longer, until another
vessel, the _William the Fourth_, was lost. They then retired from the
service altogether.
The St. George Company was itself an opposition line at first to that
established by Messrs. Little and Co.; but the last-named firm have
maintained their steamship connection with the island until within
the last few years. It is little wonder that the Manx Company was
started to supersede the St. George Company, for the latter, having no
opposition during the winter months, used for that station its slowest
and smallest boats, which were devoid alike of adequate comfort and
shelter for the passengers.
MESSRS. JAMES LITTLE AND CO.
This firm, which was established as early as 1812, despatched in 1819
the first steamer which ever carried passengers from the Clyde to
Liverpool. This was the _Robert Bruce_, a small vessel of 98 feet
in length; she was soon followed by the _Superb_, and in 1820 by
the _Majestic_, and two years later by the _City of Glasgow_. The
steamers on the Liverpool and Glasgow service called at Port Patrick
and Douglas, and in 1828 Messrs. Little inaugurated their Glasgow
and Belfast service with a new vessel, the _Frolic_. It was for this
service also that some years later they ordered, from Messrs. Denny
and Co. of Dumbarton, the _Waterwitch_, which was the first screw
steamer built on the Clyde. Another of their most notable boats was the
_Herald_, a Clyde paddle-steamer, built in 1866 and placed by them on
the Barrow and Isle of Man service the following year. They afterwards
added those fine steamers _Manx Queen_, _Duchess of Devonshire_, and
_Duchess of Buccleuch_, which were so successful that the rivalry
between them and the Isle of Man Steam Packet boats became very keen,
the Barrow route to the Isle of Man being shorter than the Liverpool.
The evident popularity of the Isle of Man services has proved a sore
temptation to speculators to start rival lines to those already in
existence. The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company had a virtual monopoly
of the Liverpool and Manx service for close on half a century, but
in 1887 two large and fast paddle-steamers, _Queen Victoria_ and
_Prince of Wales_, each of 1657 tons, built by the Fairfield Company
for the Isle of Man, Liverpool, and Manchester Company, were started
in opposition. Both vessels are stated to have done the journey in a
trifle over three hours, and the _Prince of Wales_ once accomplished
it in under the three hours. After another season’s conflict the two
boats were bought by the Manx Company. Another opposition company
tried its fortunes for a season with the _Lancashire Witch_, a
twin-screw steamer, which now, under the name of the _Coogee_, belongs
to the great Australian shipowning firm, the Huddart Parker and Co.
Proprietary, Ltd. There have been several other attempts at opposition
with boats neither so fast nor so comfortable as those of the
established company.
[Illustration:
=THE MAJESTIC,=
Captain OMAN,
AND
=THE CITY OF GLASGOW,=
Captain CARLYLE,
Sail from GREENOCK every MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, and FRIDAY, at One
o’Clock in the Afternoon, and from LIVERPOOL, every MONDAY,
WEDNESDAY, and FRIDAY, at Ten o’Clock in the Forenoon, calling
off PORT PATRICK, and at DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN, both in going and
returning from LIVERPOOL.
These Packets carry no Goods, being expressly fitted up for the
comfort and accommodation of Passengers.
FARES.
+------------------------------------------------------------+
| For the First Cabin, including Provisions and Steward’s |
| Fees. |
+------------------+---------+--------+-----------+----------+
| | _To Port|_To Isle| _To | _To |
| |Patrick._|of Man._|Liverpool._|Greenock._|
+------------------+---------+--------+-----------+----------+
|From GREENOCK, | £1 1 0|£1 10 0| £2 5 0 | £0 0 0 |
| PORT PATRICK,| 0 0 0| 1 1 0| 1 11 0 | 1 1 0 |
| ISLE OF MAN, | 1 1 0| 0 0 0| 0 17 0 | 1 10 6 |
| LIVERPOOL, | 1 11 6| 0 17 0| 0 0 0 | 2 5 0 |
+------------------+---------+--------+-----------+----------+
| For the Second Cabin without Provisions. |
+------------------+---------+--------+-----------+----------+
| | _To Port|_To Isle| _To | _To |
| |Patrick._|of Man._|Liverpool._|Greenock._|
+------------------+---------+--------+-----------+----------+
|From GREENOCK, | £0 10 0|£0 10 0| £0 10 0 | £0 0 0 |
| PORT PATRICK,| 0 0 0| 0 10 0| 0 10 0 | 0 10 0 |
| ISLE OF MAN, | 0 10 0| 0 0 0| 0 9 6 | 0 10 0 |
| LIVERPOOL, | 0 10 6| 0 9 6| 0 0 0 | 0 10 0 |
+------------------+---------+--------+-----------+----------+
Children under Twelve Years of Age Half Price.
ON DECK.
A COACH, £4 15 0
A CHAISE, 4 0 0
A GIO, 2 10 0
A HORSE, 2 10 0
DOGS, per couple, 0 10 0
Parcels Forwarded to the Isle of Man and all Parts of England.
The Proprietors will not be accountable for the Delivery of any
Parcel of the Value of Two Pounds and upwards, unless entered, and
paid for accordingly.
Passengers are put on Board and landed at Greenock, Douglas, and
Liverpool, free of expence.
The Passage between Greenock and Liverpool is generally made with
Twenty-five hours.
_May 1, 1826._
JAMES LITTLE, _Agent_, _Greenock_,
“THE MAJESTIC.”]
THE BRITISH AND IRISH COMPANY, ETC.
In 1836 the British and Irish Steam Packet Company was inaugurated. A
copy of an old sailing bill of that year makes curious reading. Its
reference to the “legal quays” is also interesting as reminding us of a
condition of affairs which has now passed away. The “legal quays” were
those reserved by the Government for the cross-channel mail steamers,
and also those at which special facilities were given to encourage
subsidised lines.
This was not, however, by any means the first company to run steamers
between Dublin and London, the City of Dublin Company having preceded
it by several years, as also did the Cork Steamship Company, and the
St. George Company. The first steamers of the British and Irish Company
were the _City of Limerick_, _Devonshire_, and _Shannon_, but it would
appear from the bill just quoted that the _Devonshire_ and _Shannon_
gave place to, or were supplemented by, the _Nottingham_ and _Mermaid_.
This bill, according to the company’s handbook, was issued in 1836. The
_Duke of Cornwall_, added to the fleet in 1842, was, like the others, a
little wooden paddle-steamer, and schooner-rigged; she was the last of
the vessels of this type purchased by the company. Three years later,
by which time the superiority of the screw for sea-going steamers had
already compelled recognition, the company showed its enterprise by
placing two auxiliary screw steamers, the _Rose_ and _Shamrock_, on its
London and Dublin service, each of them proving an unqualified success.
That decade will ever be memorable for the introduction of iron vessels
with screw propellers. In 1850 the company purchased the _Foyle_, one
of the finest iron steamers in existence at the time, and in the summer
of the next year established its regular service between Liverpool
and London, with calls both ways at the intermediate south of England
ports. It ran for a year a service between London and Limerick with the
screw steamer _Rose_, which was disposed of the next year. Two fine
steamers, the _Nile_ and the _Lady Eglinton_, were secured in 1852,
and the chartering of the latter vessel as a troop and storeship by
the Government during the Crimean War, and the wreck of the _Nile_ off
Cornwall, caused the cessation of the company’s London and Liverpool
service.
An interesting connection between the company and the transatlantic
service is found in the history of the invariably unsuccessful attempts
to inaugurate a service between Galway and America.
The _Lady Eglinton_ made two trips between the Irish port and the St.
Lawrence in 1858. This vessel was lengthened in 1865 by 30 feet. One of
the company’s boats, a little paddle-steamer named the _Mars_, which
maintained a local service between Dublin and Wexford, was a good
sea-boat, and sufficiently speedy for her size to attract the attention
of the agents of the Confederate States of America, who purchased her
for use as a blockade-runner. In this she was fairly successful for
some little time, but accounts differ as to what became of her. It is
stated that a blockade-runner of that name was wrecked on one of the
keys off Florida in endeavouring to escape from a Federal gunboat.
Another version is that the _Mars_ received a hostile shell between
wind and water, which exploded inside the ship so that she went down.
In 1865 the _Lady Wodehouse_ was built for the company at Dublin by
the shipbuilding firm of Walpole, Webb and Bewley, who four years
afterwards built the _Countess of Dublin_. The year 1870 was one of
the most important in the history of the company, for it bought the
steamers of Messrs. Malcomson’s London and Dublin Line, the _Cymba_
and _Avoca_, and has since had a monopoly of that service. The _Lady
Olive_, of 1096 tons, acquired in 1879, was the last iron vessel the
company had built; all the succeeding vessels have been of steel.
[Illustration: THE “LADY ROBERTS”
(BRITISH AND IRISH STEAM PACKET COMPANY).]
The engines of the earliest boats were of the usual side-lever type.
These in time gave place to compound engines, and the modern steel
vessels have triple-expansion engines. The present fleet consists
of the _Lady Olive_ and the _Lady Martin_, of 1365 tons gross, the
latter, built by Messrs. Workman and Clark at Belfast in 1888, being
the company’s first steel ship. The _Lady Hudson-Kinahan_, of 1375
tons, was built by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company at Troon in 1891,
and this company also constructed in 1897 the _Lady Roberts_, of 1462
tons gross, while the _Lady Wolseley_ was launched in 1894 by the Naval
Construction Company at Barrow.
THE POWELL AND HOUGH LINES
These, like nearly all of the older coastal lines that were associated
with the firm of H. Powell and Co., started with small sailers
between Liverpool and London, with calls at the various ports on
the south coast. The history of the line has been one of continued
progress, and it maintains at the present time a regular service of
fast steamers between London and Liverpool, calling at Falmouth,
Plymouth, Southampton, and Portsmouth. Its earlier steamers, as was
only natural in the then imperfect state of steam navigation, were,
compared with the present boats, small, but were fully up to the
average of the coasting fleet, and in many cases could not be surpassed
by any vessels trading on the coast, or even by some making ocean
voyages. The _Augusta_, built in 1856, with a gross tonnage of 188,
and 50 horse-power, was a screw steamer, and carried three masts.
On the foremast were square sails. The company’s latest vessels are
the _Masterful_ and _Powerful_. The _Masterful_ is of 2600 tons and
is built of steel throughout, and the _Powerful_ is of 2200 tons; the
improvement in their accommodation compared with that of the boats of
fifty years ago is as noticeable as is the increase in size. These
vessels are two of the few in the coasting trade fitted with submarine
signalling apparatus. The Powell Line also has cargo services between
Liverpool and Bristol and a number of ports on the south coast, and
between Manchester and Bristol Channel ports and certain south-coast
ports.
Associated with this line are the steamers of Messrs. Samuel Hough and
Co., the vessels of the two companies sailing as a rule alternately.
ALEXANDER LAIRD AND CO.
The St. George Company withdrew from the Clyde and Mersey trade in
1822, and in 1823 Alexander Laird and Co. began the Liverpool, Clyde,
and Isle of Man service with the steamer _Henry Bell_, built by Wilson
of Liverpool. In 1824 Mr. Laird placed on the Glasgow and Liverpool
service the _James Watt_, which had been a couple of years with the
General Steam Navigation Company. She was rigged as a three-masted
schooner, and had the distinction of being the first steamer entered
at Lloyd’s. Laird’s service between Glasgow and Inverness was started
in 1825, and in the following year the sailings were changed from
fortnightly to weekly.
In 1827 Messrs. T. Cameron and Co. started a service of steamers
between Glasgow and the north and west of Ireland, but in 1867 it was
taken over entirely by Messrs. Laird and Co.
[Illustration: THE “AUGUSTA” (POWELL LINE, 1856).]
The _Northman_ (1847) and _Irishman_ (1854) were among the earliest
iron steamers built; they belonged to the Glasgow and Dublin Screw
Steam Packet Company, under which name Messrs. Cameron ran a service
between those ports and were opposed by the Sligo Steam Navigation
Company until an arrangement was made between Laird’s and the Sligo
Company. The _Irishman_ was the last steamer to carry the white funnel
with a black top which was the distinguishing-mark of the old St.
George Company. Other vessels of increasing size and importance were
added from time to time and the Laird Company’s fleet now comprises
twelve ships, of which the latest is the _Rowan_, a beautiful steel
vessel of about 1500 tons, launched in 1909.