Steam-ships : The story of their development to the present day by R. A. Fletcher

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 Nine years later these vessels, together with the paddle-steamers _Brittany_ and _Southampton_, were in their turn superseded by the twin-screw steamers _Lydia_ and _Stella_.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.