RAILWAY COMPANIES AND THEIR STEAM-SHIPS
The railway companies early saw the advantages to be gained by the
addition of steam-ship services to and from the ports to which their
lines ran. Steam-ship owning by the railway companies was not permitted
by Parliament at one time, and the proposal, whenever brought forward,
was strongly opposed by the private steam-ship owners. The first
company to enter the field was probably the North Lancashire Railways,
which were subsequently absorbed by the London and North-Western
Railway Company, and which, in conjunction with the City of Dublin
Steam Packet Company, instituted in 1844 a steam-ship service between
Fleetwood and Dublin, the _Hibernia_ being the first steamer employed
for the purpose. The venture was a success and brought to the Dublin
Company such an immense increase in its trade between England and
Ireland that in the following year the directors decided to add to
their line three auxiliary screw schooners and five paddle-steamers.
In 1839, the Government arranged that the mails should be despatched
every morning and evening from Liverpool to the Irish capital, via
Kingstown, on the arrival of the mail trains from London. The morning
service was by Admiralty steam packet and the evening service by the
boats of the Dublin Steam Packet Company. The strong rivalry which
immediately sprang up between the two services was intensified by the
agreement between the North Lancashire Railways and the City of Dublin
Company, and resulted in a vast improvement being effected in the
steamers employed. For ten years this battle of the services was waged
with unabated vigour on both sides, but finally in 1850 the Admiralty
withdrew their steamers and left their rivals in full possession of the
carriage of the Irish mail service.
The Dublin Company was not, however, long permitted to enjoy the
fruits of their well-earned victory over the Admiralty, but was almost
immediately involved in a similar conflict with the Chester and
Holyhead Railway Company, this time over the conveyance of the mails
from Holyhead to Dublin. Recognising the importance of Holyhead as a
port, the directors of the Dublin Company had not only placed some of
their vessels there, but had also put in a tender for the Trans-Irish
Channel mail service, which was accepted by the Admiralty. The Chester
and Holyhead Railway Company, who were also steamship owners, were
under the impression that no one could compete with them, and believing
that they could obtain their own terms from the Admiralty neglected
to tender. Prior, however, to the ratification by the Government of
the Admiralty’s acceptance of the City of Dublin Company’s tender,
the railway company, by some means best known to itself, obtained
information of what was going on and used every means in its power
to bring pressure on the Government to prevent the conclusion of the
contract. These efforts were so far successful that fresh tenders
were asked for by the Admiralty. From the facts which have since been
made public, it would appear that the Dublin Company were not at all
fairly treated in the first instance, because the amount at which they
tendered having been allowed to leak out, the Chester and Holyhead
Railway Company was enabled to undercut them. Fearing that similar
tactics might be employed on the second contract, the Dublin Company,
in consideration of the importance of the issue involved, put in at
a very much lower figure than on the former occasion, secured the
contract, and without loss of time inaugurated their new service.
Further complications ensued owing to the persistent attempts made by
the Chester and Holyhead Railway Company to wrest the contract from
their opponents. They, however, were unsuccessful and the matter was
finally settled in favour of the Dublin Company by the appointment of a
Parliamentary Committee, which reported in favour of the arrangements
already made.
Before many of the railway companies became steam-ship owners they
made working arrangements with existing steam-ship lines. This method
of dealing with the passenger, coasting, and over-sea traffic was due,
not to any lack of initiative on the part of those responsible for
the management of the railways, but to the uncompromising antagonism
of the steam-ship companies, who objected to the railway companies
being permitted to own steamers. A Bill empowering the Chester and
Holyhead Railway Company to purchase and work steamboats was brought
before Parliament in 1848, but was strongly opposed by the steam-ship
companies on the ground that it would create undue competition and
would interfere with their existing rights, and further, that over-sea
competition was outside the legitimate sphere of a railway company’s
operations. The directors and large shareholders of the Chester
and Holyhead Company retaliated by forming themselves into a small
independent firm to run steamboats between Holyhead and Ireland. The
necessary capital was subscribed, and four new iron passenger steamers,
the _Anglia_, _Cambria_, _Hibernia_, and _Scotia_, were built. They
were each of 589 tons gross, and were 207 feet long, 26 feet beam, and
14 feet in depth, having a draught of 8 feet 10 inches. Each carried
535 passengers. Parliament was thus placed in a difficult position,
because even if the Bill were thrown out, the boats were advertised
to run on August 1, 1848, and as they belonged to a private firm the
Legislature and the opposition companies were powerless to interfere.
A month later, at the half-yearly meeting of the Chester and Holyhead
Railway Company, the directors reported that their Bill had been
successfully passed, and that the boats had commenced running on the
advertised date. These boats were able to attain a speed of from 14 to
15 knots per hour. The opposition of the steam-ship companies, although
not entirely killed, was less effective than formerly. The battle
was won by the railway companies, and steam-ship owning by railway
companies is now regarded as a matter of course.
[Illustration: THE TURBINE STEAMER “MARYLEBONE” (G.C. RAILWAY).]
[Illustration: THE “CAMBRIA” (L. & N.W. RAILWAY).]
Along the south-east and south coasts, between Harwich and Falmouth,
the greater part of the Anglo-Continental passenger traffic, with a
large amount of goods traffic, is carried by railway-owned steamers.
To meet the heavy requirements of the cross-channel service between
Dover and Calais, the South-Eastern and Chatham Railway Company run
steamboats. These are the large paddle-steamers _Empress_, _Dover_,
_Calais_, _Lord Warden_, _Le Nord_ and the _Pas-de-Calais_, and
the three turbine steamers _Queen_, _Victoria_, and _Empress_. The
_Victoria_ was built by Messrs. W. Denny Bros., Dumbarton, and is one
of the finest boats owned by the company. On her trials she attained
a speed of over 22¹⁄₂ knots, being 1³⁄₄ knots in excess of the
guarantee and sufficient to make the Channel passage under the hour.
The _Empress_, built by the same firm, is generally similar to the
_Victoria_; she is 310 feet long, 40 feet in moulded breadth, and 24
feet 6 inches deep from the awning deck, which extends from stem to
stern. The rudder is of the balanced type, of a form specially designed
by the builders for their turbine vessels, and is worked by a steam
tiller, controlled on the flying bridge by a telemotor. For convenience
in canting and backing out of English and French harbours the vessel is
fitted with a large bow rudder worked by steam steering-gear controlled
by a wheel on the flying bridge. The propelling machinery consists
of three turbines, each driving a separate shaft and propeller. For
their Folkestone-Boulogne service the company also have the steamers
_Princess of Wales_, _Duchess of York_, _Grace_, and _Mabel_, each of
which is exceedingly fast and powerful.
LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST RLY. CO.
A considerable amount of difficulty was experienced by the London,
Brighton, and South Coast Railway Company in their preliminary attempt
to open up the Newhaven-Dieppe route in 1847. As Brighton was a very
unprotected departure and arrival station, and they were unable to come
to terms with the Shoreham Harbour authorities, the company decided on
Newhaven as the base for their cross-channel operations. The Brighton,
Newhaven, and Dieppe steamers carried both passengers and cargo. As,
at that time, it was illegal for railway companies to own steamboats,
the South-Eastern Railway Company entered a complaint, and the London,
Brighton, and South Coast Railway Company were mulcted in a heavy
fine for the cross-channel trading that had already been carried on.
The service was in consequence completely stopped and the boats sold.
For three years Anglo-Continental trade was left to private steamship
owners, and then an arrangement was entered into with Messrs. Maples
and Morris to run steamers ostensibly on their own account, but really
on behalf of the company. Among the earlier steamers thus employed
were the _Ayrshire Lassie_, _Culloden_, and _Rothesay Castle_, all
built at Glasgow. The extra amount of business anticipated from the
Great Exhibition of 1851 necessitated fresh arrangements being made in
connection with the service, and an agreement was entered into by which
Mr. Maples was to run his steamers for seven years. In the meantime
the company endeavoured, but unsuccessfully, to obtain powers to own
steamers themselves. At the expiration of Maples’ contract, it was
extended for another four years. During the second period the powers
for which the company had been asking were granted by Parliament, but
Maples would not release them till his contract expired. When he did
leave the service he took with him the _Paris_, _Rouen_, _Dieppe_,
_Marco_, _Hope_--the latter an iron brig noted for having about seven
feet of false keel--and another, and £38,000 in hard cash, which he
subsequently lost. The three Scotch boats mentioned ran through the
whole of the summer of 1851, at the end of which the _Aquila_ was
also chartered for the company. Two of Maples’ privately-owned boats
on the Newhaven-Dieppe service were the screw steamers _Collier_ and
_Ladybird_. The latter was about 160 feet long, of 150 horse-power and
steamed 11 knots. She was fitted with inverted geared engines to work
the screw shaft, the ratio being 2¹⁄₂ to 1. Subsequently she went to
Australia, and in 1854 carried the first Sydney to Melbourne mail. One
of the most remarkable of the earlier boats employed by the London,
Brighton, and South Coast Railway Company was the _Wave Queen_. She
was built in 1852 by Messrs. Robinson Russell and Co. for a Belgian
gentleman, whom she did not suit, and was sent to Newhaven by Mr.
Scott Russell until he could get the _Lyons_ and _Orleans_ ready for
use. She was of iron with a length of 200 feet, but her breadth was
little more than 13 feet. For her beam she was one of the longest boats
ever constructed, and consequently attracted a considerable amount
of attention. Her engines were of 80 horse-power. She had clipper
bows with very fine lines even for so narrow a vessel, and she had
also an exceedingly long overhanging counter. A special feature of
her construction was the total absence of sheer, and she enjoyed the
reputation of being a swift and dry boat. According to contemporary
records she was held to be the smallest vessel then afloat capable of
attaining the speed required. Her engines were of the oscillating type
and made fifty revolutions per minute, and steam at 25 lb. pressure
was supplied by two tubular boilers. These were 15·7 feet long, 10·5
feet wide, and 6·5 feet high, having a total grate area of 100 square
feet and 2342 square feet of heating surface. The aggregate weight of
engines, boilers, and water was 55¹⁄₂ tons. Her paddle-wheels, which
were unusually small for her length, were 12·4 feet in diameter, and
each had sixteen feathering floats 6 feet by 2 feet 6 inches, her
average speed being 15¹⁄₂ knots and her load displacement 225 tons with
a gross register of 196 tons. On one of her trips she ran into the West
Pier fourteen feet, but although she remained fixed during one tide she
did not start even a rivet, and was got off on the next tide without
having admitted a drop of water.
The London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway Company started their
Littlehampton trade in 1866. In 1875 the company acquired from Messrs.
Elder the celebrated _Paris_, commonly spoken of as the most handsome
steamer that ever crossed the Channel. Larger and faster vessels being
required about this time for the Dieppe and Honfleur routes, they
purchased the _Honfleur_ from Messrs. Gurley Bros. She was 376 gross
tonnage, had engines of 45 n.h.p., with two cylinders of 18 inches and
34 inches diameter and a piston stroke of 18 inches. The twin-screw
_Rennes_, built in 1866, was sent to the Thames to be overhauled,
and her engines were compounded by Messrs. J. and W. Dudgeon, the
result being a great increase in speed and a reduction of somewhere
about 45 per cent. in coal consumption. Two new screw steamers, the
_Newhaven_ and _Dieppe_, were built for the company by La Société des
Forges et Chantiers at Havre, but owing to structural imperfections,
a considerable amount of trouble was experienced before they could
be made to meet the requirements of Lloyd’s and the Board of Trade.
At their best they were very slow. A great increase in traffic being
expected from the Paris Exhibition of 1878, two paddle-steamers, the
_Brighton_ and _Victoria_, were ordered from Messrs. Jno. Elder and
Co. of Govan. Their bridges were filled with the first steam-steering
gear ever seen at Newhaven. A larger type of boat than had been used
heretofore was adopted in 1882, when the _Normandy_ and _Brittany_
were purchased from the Fairfield Company of Glasgow, and in 1885 the
_Lyons_ and _Italy_ were obtained from Govan for the cargo trade.
The vessels now employed are the _Arundel_, _Brighton_, _Calvados_,
_Dieppe_, _Paris_, _Sussex_, and _Trouville_.
LONDON AND SOUTH-WESTERN RLY. CO., ETC.
Farther westward on the south coast, an equally important line
of communication between England and France is maintained by the
steamboat service now carried on by the London and South-Western
Railway Company from Southampton to Havre and Honfleur, St. Malo and
the Channel Islands. The early boats employed in the cross-channel
traffic were all of much the same type and size on whatever line they
were engaged, and as the same limitations of ports applied to those
run by the South-Western Railway Company as to the steamers of other
companies, there was little to choose between them in regard to speed,
seaworthiness, or accommodation.
During the early years of the past century the mail and passenger
service between England and the Channel Islands was performed by
cutters similar to those employed in the French mail service between
Dover and Calais. Later the mails were conveyed under the auspices of
the Admiralty from Weymouth to Guernsey and Jersey by the ships of H.M.
Navy, _Meteor_, _Dasher_, _Wildfire_, and _Cuckoo_. The _Dasher_ was
employed until very recent years in guarding the fisheries off Jersey.
The first records of the steam-packet services from Southampton are
dated 1835, and mention a service between Southampton and Havre twice
a week in each direction by the _Camilla_, of 186 tons; and between
Southampton and the Channel Islands by the _Ariadne_, 218 tons, these
vessels being the property of the South of England Steam Navigation
Company, who appear to have been the pioneers of these services. Even
at that time there was opposition on the Channel Islands Station by the
_Lord Beresford_ and on the Havre station by the _Apollo_, both vessels
belonging to the British and Foreign Steam Navigation Company. About
one hundred passengers were carried to the Channel Islands on each trip
during the summer season of 1835.
One of the earliest steamers employed in the Channel Islands service
was the _Lady de Saumarez_ (January 1836) of 350 tons, belonging to the
British and Foreign Steam Navigation Company, with two 40-horse-power
engines and fitted with Seaward’s improved vibrating paddles.
In May 1836 the _Monarch_ was launched from the shipyard of Rubie
and Blaker, Northam, and was the largest steam vessel which had been
constructed on the Itchen. Her dimensions were 140 feet long, 23 feet
beam, 360 tons, and she was built in four months. Her engines, of
120 horse-power, were supplied by Horseley and Co. of Tipton, near
Birmingham, and the vessel was sent to London to receive them. The
_Monarch_ was placed on the Havre station by her owners, the South of
England Steam Navigation Company. On June 2, 1836, the _Atalanta_, of
400 tons and 120 horse-power, was launched from the yard of Mr. Thomas
White, West Cowes. She began running on the Channel Islands station for
the South of England Steam Navigation Company during the month of July.
The _Atalanta_ was lengthened by Mr. White some years later, her bows
being cut off and up-ended in his yard for a workmen’s shelter. She
ended her days as a coal-hulk in Jersey.
In July 1836 the _Watersprite_, a vessel of 200 horse-power, was put on
the Channel Islands station by the British and Foreign Steam Navigation
Company, which two years later became the Commercial Steam Packet
Company. This company owned also the _Grand Turk_, a vessel of 500 tons
and 300 horse-power, and she was reputed to be the fastest and most
handsomely furnished ship of her day. Her saloon was 50 feet in length
by 30 feet wide. She ran both to Havre and the Channel Islands, and in
1841-1842 had opposed to her the steamer _Robert Burns_.
The _Grand Turk_ was chartered in 1848 for two years to run between
Alexandria, Beyrout, Tripoli, and other Mediterranean ports with
passengers and mails. On her return she plied between Southampton and
Morlaix for the South-Western Steam Packet Company.
The _Transit_, another of the old steamers of the South-Western Steam
Packet Company, was running in 1836 under the ownership of the British
and Foreign Steam Navigation Company, between Southampton and Spanish
ports, carrying cattle and general cargo. She is recorded to have made
the passage from Lisbon to Falmouth in three and a half days during
the winter of 1836. When withdrawn from this trade she was run to the
Channel Islands by the South-Western Steam Packet Company, and she,
too, ended her days as a coal-hulk.
Between 1838 and 1845 the mail service between England and the Channel
Islands appears to have been performed by a steam-packet service from
Weymouth, of which no reliable records can be discovered. The transfer
of this mail service to the steamers of the South-Western Steam Packet
Company from Southampton took place on April 1, 1845. But in October
1899, when the steamers of the London and South-Western Railway Company
from Southampton and the Great Western Railway Company from Weymouth
were joined in the Channel Islands service the mails were once more
carried via Weymouth three days a week during the winter months.
The advertisement columns of the _Hampshire Advertiser_ of 1845 refer
to the “South-Western Steam Packet Company” as the owners of the
cross-channel steamers, and they seemed to have remained so until 1860,
when their steamers were taken over by the London and South-Western
Railway Company.
The merchants of the Channel Islands started an opposition company,
called the Weymouth and Channel Islands Steam Packet Company, with the
steamers _Aguila_, _Cygnus_, and _Brighton_. This opposition continued
until 1888, when the service was taken up by the Great Western
Railway Company. After keeping up a keen opposition to the London and
South-Western Railway Company for eleven years an amicable arrangement
was entered into for a joint service, which still continues.
In consequence of the opposition of the Weymouth and Channel Islands
Steam Packet Company a South-Western Railway Company’s steamer, the
_Wonder_, was sent to Weymouth. This ran until 1860, when the Weymouth
service was given up by the London and South-Western Railway and all
their energies were concentrated upon the Southampton route.
Although steamers ran from Southampton to Jersey and thence to St. Malo
from 1845, the regular connection between Jersey and France was by a
French company’s steamer called the _Comet_. This company was bought
out by the London and South-Western Railway Company in 1867. The latter
company then commenced running their steamer _Dumfries_ regularly from
Jersey to Granville and St. Malo in connection with the Southampton and
Channel Islands service.
In 1860 a direct service was opened between Southampton and St. Malo by
the new iron screw steamer _St. Malo_, the first of this type built for
the London and South-Western Railway.
The paddle-steamer _South-Western_, the first iron steamer employed in
the Channel Islands service, had a speed of about 12 knots. She was
131 tons net and was sold in 1863. Her floats were taken off and after
being rigged for the purpose she was sailed out to Japan.
After the _South-Western_ came the _Wonder_, _Express_, _Courier_, and
_Dispatch_. They each had a speed of thirteen to fourteen knots. The
_Express_ was built and launched in six weeks. At the time she was laid
down the engines put into her were in the yard ready for a Government
steamer, but were used for the _Express_ instead. This same _Express_
was the steamer which brought Louis Philippe a fugitive from France in
1848, her commander on that occasion being Fred Paul, R.N., who had
been lent by the Government to the company for that purpose. Louis
Philippe, disguised as a fisherman, crossed from Honfleur to Havre
in a fishing smack and was put on board the _Express_ lying in the
avant-port of Havre. As soon as his feet touched her deck, Commander
Paul, who was lying under a full head of steam, slipped her moorings,
steamed away and landed the fugitive at Littlehampton. A brass plate
stating the facts was fastened to the sofa in the saloon, on which
Louis Philippe slept. The _Express_ was lost on September 20, 1859, on
the passage from Jersey to Southampton in the Jailer Passage off the
Corbière Lighthouse, Jersey.
The next steamers acquired by the company were the _Alliance_ in
1855, _Havre_, _Normandy_, and _Southampton_ in 1860, and _Brittany_
in 1864. Until she was outclassed by larger and faster ships the
_Alliance_ was on the Havre route. She was afterwards transferred to
the service between Jersey and St. Malo, and was sold in 1900.
The _Havre_ ran alternately to her name-port and the Channel Islands
until her career was ended on February 16, 1875, by the Platte Boue, a
sunken rock in the Russel Passage near Guernsey. There was no loss of
life and the mails were also saved.
Equal ill-fortune attended the _Normandy_. This boat, which was
employed almost exclusively on the Channel Islands service, was
sunk on March 17, 1870, in collision with the screw steamer _Mary_
while on the outward passage, some twenty-five of the passengers
and crew being drowned. The _Southampton_, built by Palmer in 1860,
was reckoned the strongest vessel of her tonnage at that time. In
1880 she was lengthened and given new engines and boilers by Day,
Summers and Co., and was engaged in the Channel Islands trade until
1880, when the service was entirely performed by screw steamers. She
was then transferred to the Havre route and continued running there
until the present twin-screw steamers, _Columbia_ and _Alma_, came
out and superseded her. Her last piece of active service was to make
a trip round the fleet at Spithead on the occasion of the Jubilee
Naval Review in 1897. The _Brittany_, built at Cubitt Town in 1864,
was also employed in the Channel Islands trade until 1880, when,
like the _Southampton_, she was transferred to the Havre route until
1894. Her last appearance was at the same review. She was lengthened
thirty feet and given new engines and boilers in 1883. The company in
1868 purchased for their Channel Islands service the _Waverley_, a
paddle-steamer of about fifteen knots, which had been employed running
from Silloth to Dublin. She was the finest ship which had yet been
employed on that service. She came to grief on June 5, 1873, when she
struck upon the Platte Boue rock. The whole of the passengers, mails,
and baggage were brought off in safety.
[Illustration: THE TURBINE STEAMER “ST. PATRICK” (G.W. RAILWAY).]
The outbreak of hostilities between France and Germany in 1870 brought
about the purchase by the company of the paddle-steamers _Alice_ and
_Fannie_. These each had a speed of fifteen knots, and were placed on
the Southampton-St. Malo route and conveyed horses and provisions for
the French. Both ships ran backwards and forwards for some months at
their highest possible speed, only remaining at the quay side just long
enough to load and discharge cargo.
The _Waverley_ was also employed during that period running to and
from Havre taking British provisions for the French, and conveying to
England fugitive French families and all the valuables they could bring
with them. These valuables were transhipped in Southampton Water to a
steamer of the French Transatlantique Company, which was moored there
for that purpose.
The _Fannie_ and _Alice_ ran alternately upon the Havre and Channel
Islands stations until 1887, when they were sold out of commission.
They were always favourites owing to their speed and spacious deck and
cabin accommodation.
In 1871 the company purchased the paddle-steamer _Wolf_, which had been
sunk for some time in Belfast Lough. She was employed, until sold in
1900, on the Havre route.
The first screw steamer to be employed in the Channel Islands mail and
passenger service was the steam yacht _Griffin_, purchased in 1865 from
a Mr. Beard, a Scotch iron-master.
The _Diana_ was the first of the new screw boats built for the company
and was launched in 1877, and in 1881 was supplemented by the _Ella_
and in 1882 by the _Hilda_. Nine years later these vessels, together
with the paddle-steamers _Brittany_ and _Southampton_, were in their
turn superseded by the twin-screw steamers _Lydia_ and _Stella_. The
latter had a very successful career until March 30, 1899, when she
foundered on the Casquets, her sailings being taken by the _Alberta_.
A further change was made in 1894, the _Southampton_, _Brittany_, and
_Wolf_ being replaced by the _Columbia_ and _Alma_, which were faster
and more up-to-date boats. In 1896 the _Princess Ena_, a twin-screw
vessel, was launched to replace the _Hilda_, and the _Vera_ was also
purchased as an auxiliary boat for the Channel Islands and Havre
routes. Numerous additions have since been made by the company to their
fleet, which now numbers twenty-six vessels. These are the _Ada_,
_Alberta_, _Alexandra_, _Alma_, _Atalanta_, _Bertha_, _Cherbourg_,
_Columbia_, _Duchess of Albany_, _Duchess of Connaught_, _Duchess of
Edinburgh_, _Duchess of Fife_, _Duchess of Kent_, _Ella_, _Frederica_,
_Guernsey_, _Honfleur_, _Laura_, _Lydia_, _Lymington_, _Princess Ena_,
_Princess Margaret_, _Solent_, _South-Western_, _Vera_, and _Victoria_.
These steamers all carry sufficient coal for the out and home trip,
with an additional quantity to meet any contingency that may arise.
GREAT WESTERN RLY. CO.
Another important south-coast mail and passenger service is carried
on by the Great Western Railway Company from its southern terminus at
Weymouth to the Channel Islands and Brittany. Formerly this company
also conveyed mails and passengers between England and Ireland by
their line of steamers from Milford to Rosslare. This has since been
discontinued in favour of the Fishguard-Rosslare route.
GREAT EASTERN RLY. CO.
Working arrangements exist between certain of the railway companies and
the steam-ship lines, one of the most important being the joint service
maintained by the Great Eastern Railway Company and the General Steam
Navigation Company from London to Hamburg, via Harwich. The steamers on
this route sail twice weekly. There is also an agreement between the
Great Eastern Railway Company and Danish Royal Mail steamers of the
Forenade Line of Copenhagen by which these vessels convey passengers
three times per week between Harwich and Esbjerg. The Great Eastern
Railway Company also maintains a fleet of fast and powerful steamers
for their Anglo-Continental mail and passenger business. This was
started in 1863, when the company chartered two steamers for carrying
goods between Harwich and Rotterdam. This service was made a biweekly
one in 1864, and a similar service was also run to and from Antwerp.
The company then introduced four new steamers specially built for the
trade and conveying both passengers and cargo. In 1882, owing to the
development of the traffic, the Harwich services to and from Rotterdam
and Antwerp were extended to every week day.
[Illustration: THE R.M. TURBINE STEAMER “COPENHAGEN” (G.E. RAILWAY).]
The Hook of Holland quay at the mouth of the River Maas was finished in
June 1893 and the company’s steamers began to call there. This greatly
accelerated the service to Berlin and other parts of North Germany and
a daily service was then started. In the same year the company acquired
larger steamers for this service. A new railway line round Rotterdam
was opened in May 1899 which shortened the journey to Berlin; and in
May 1903 an express train was run between the Hook of Holland and
Berlin in connection with the steamers. Since the opening of this route
the passenger traffic has trebled.
The company now have a fleet of eleven fast and powerful turbine
and twin-screw steamers, all of which are fitted with apparatus for
wireless telegraphy and submarine signalling. The latest addition is
the Royal Mail turbine steamer _Copenhagen_, with a speed of 20 knots,
on the Harwich-Hook of Holland route. In her passenger accommodation
she has many features of the latest type of Atlantic liner.
GREAT CENTRAL RLY. CO.
Farther along the east coast, the Great Central Railway Company
maintains a service between Grimsby and several of the Continental
ports. The company in 1864 secured parliamentary powers to run
steamers to Hamburg, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Flushing, Lubeck, Stockholm,
Copenhagen, Revel, Cronstadt, St. Petersburg, and Königsberg.
Subsequently they purchased the Anglo-French Company’s fleet and
began to run steamers to Hamburg in July 1865. In April 1866, the
railway company initiated a new service of steamers between Grimsby
and Rotterdam, and in the August of the following year the service was
extended to Antwerp. On December 1, 1885, the sailings between Grimsby
and Hamburg were increased from two to four per week; and on July 1,
1891, a daily service was established. The sailings between Grimsby and
Rotterdam were increased in September 1906 from two to three per week,
and early in 1907 two new 18-knot turbine steamers _Marylebone_ and
_Immingham_ were placed on this service.
In essential particulars these are sister ships, though differing
somewhat in their internal arrangements. The _Immingham_ has a length
over all of 282 feet, beam 41 feet, and depth moulded 21 feet 6
inches. Accommodation is provided for seventy first and twenty-four
second-class passengers, and three hundred in the third class,
besides one thousand tons of cargo. She is driven by three Parsons
turbines actuating three shafts. These two steamers marked a new era
in the Continental service from the Humber, being far in advance in
accommodation and speed of anything hitherto employed.
LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RLY. CO.
On the west coast the principal part of the cross-channel, Irish
mail, passenger, and cargo traffic is divided between the services
organised by the London and North-Western Railway Company, the Midland
Railway Company, and the Great Western Railway Company. For four
years after the London and North-Western Railway Company had absorbed
the Chester and Holyhead Railway, they continued to work the Irish
service with the boats acquired from the latter company. A new type
of paddle-boat, 230 feet in length, with carrying capacity of 700
tons, their speed being fourteen knots per hour, and conveying both
passengers and cargo, was then put on for the service. The first of
these, the _Stanley_, was built by Messrs. Caird of Greenock, and had
as sister boat the _Alexandra_, constructed by Laird of Birkenhead.
These vessels did excellent work and were afterwards supplemented
by the _Countess of Erne_, _Admiral Moorsom_, _Duke of Sutherland_,
_Duchess of Sutherland_, and _Edith_, all boats of a similar type. Two
of these, the _Duchess of Sutherland_ and the _Edith_, were in 1888 and
1892 respectively converted into twin-screw steamers. The _Duchess_
was sold in 1908, but the _Edith_ is still employed in the North Wall
cargo service. This service was, in 1876, supplemented by a day express
boat in each direction between Holyhead and Dublin North Wall, two
paddle-steamers, _Rose_ and _Shamrock_, being built by Messrs. Laird
Bros. of Birkenhead. A night service in each direction was started in
1880 with the _Lily_ and _Violet_, built by Messrs. Laird. They were
each 310 feet long and had a gross tonnage of 1035 tons, with a speed
of 19 knots per hour. The _Lily_ was sold in 1900 and ran for some time
between Liverpool and the Isle of Man. The _Violet_ was also disposed
of two years later. In 1884, the _Banshee_, another paddle-boat of
the _Lily_ type, was built for the company by Messrs. Laird, and
ran until February 1906, when she was sold out of the service. On
December 15, 1897, the _Cambria_, the first of a new class of steel
twin-screw steamers which almost equal the great ocean liners in speed,
magnificence, and comfort, was placed on the North Wall service. She
was followed by the _Hibernia_ on February 2, the _Anglia_ on May 2,
1900, and by the _Scotia_ on April 23, 1902. The _Scotia_ is 337 feet 6
inches in length, has a moulded breadth of 39 feet, with a depth to the
awning deck of 29 feet 6 inches. The twin screws are driven by two sets
of triple-expansion engines of 7000 horse-power, the eight single-ended
boilers giving steam at a pressure of 160 lb. per square inch. There
are four cylinders to each set of engines, which are balanced on the
new Schlick principle, so as to avoid vibration. Even in the worst
weather she can accomplish a speed of 21 knots. Her accommodation
provides for 600 saloon and 700 third-class passengers.
A direct service between Holyhead and Greenore was opened in 1873
with the three paddle-driven boats _Eleanor_, _Isabella_, and _Earl
Spencer_. These served until 1895, when, at the suggestion of Captain
Binney, the company’s Marine Superintendent, three new steamers
of greater speed and capacity--the _Rosstrevor_, _Connemara_, and
_Galtee-More_--were ordered for the service. These vessels are 280 feet
in length, with a gross tonnage of 1000 tons, and a maximum speed of
18 knots. The engines are triple-expansion of 2500 horse-power, and
the boats are propelled by twin screws. In 1908 the _Rosstrevor_ was
replaced by the _Rathmore_, the former vessel being converted into a
cargo and cattle steamer. The _Rathmore_ is 300 feet long, and has a
gross tonnage of 1600 tons; her engines are of 6180 horse-power and
give a speed of 20¹⁄₂ knots per hour.
[Illustration: THE “SCOTIA” (L. & N.W. RAILWAY).]
The goods, cattle, and general cargo traffic between Holyhead and
North Wall, Dublin, is served by eight cargo boats, all of which are
twin-screw ships. They convey third-class passengers but are not
provided with any first-class accommodation.
For very many years the Midland Railway Company were partners in
the Barrow Steam Navigation Company, whose fleet maintained a daily
service between Barrow and Belfast and, during the season, between
Barrow and the Isle of Man. When Heysham Harbour was opened in
September 1904, the Midland Company put on a fleet of seven powerful
and magnificently fitted steamers of the most modern type for their
Heysham-Belfast service. They also bought out the other partners in
the Barrow Steam Navigation Company, which has now been dissolved.
Two of the vessels formerly belonging to the Barrow Steam Navigation
Company were disposed of at a comparatively recent date and have
been broken up. As regards the existing fleet, the _Londonderry_ is
installed with the Lodge-Muirhead system of wireless telegraphy. The
_Antrim_ and the _Donegal_ will shortly be similarly equipped. There is
a wireless telegraphic station at Heysham and wireless communication
was first established on the company’s service nearly six years ago.
The _Londonderry_ and _Manxman_ are propelled by turbines, whilst the
_Antrim_, _Donegal_, _Duchess of Devonshire_, and _City of Belfast_
are twin screws. During the season, the Isle of Man service between
Heysham and Douglas is maintained by the _Manxman_ and the _Duchess
of Devonshire_. Except on Sundays, a nightly service between Heysham
and Belfast is carried on regularly by the _Antrim_, _Donegal_, and
_Londonderry_, whilst the _City of Belfast_ runs on alternate days from
Barrow and Belfast.