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

[Illustration: THE “PRESIDENT.”] The _President_ was launched on December 7, 1839, on the Thames by the same builders, Messrs. Curling and Young. She was almost a sister ship to the _British Queen_, as far as appearance and general equipment went, but the engines of the second vessel were slightly more powerful. [Illustration: THE “BRITISH QUEEN.” FROM AN ORIGINAL PAINTING IN THE POSSESSION OF THE AUTHOR.] The following comparative table, showing the dimensions of these vessels, was published in 1840: +-----------------------------------+---------+--------+------------+ | | _Great |_British| | | DIMENSIONS. |Western._|Queen._ |_President._| +-----------------------------------+---------+--------+------------+ |Extreme length (feet) | 236 | 275 | 265 | |Extreme length under deck (feet) | 212 | 245 | 238 | |Extreme length keel (feet) | 205 | 225 | 220 | |Breadth within the paddle-boxes | | | | |(feet) | 35·4 in.| 40 | 41 | |Breadth, including paddle-boxes | | | | |(feet) | 59·8 in.| 64 | 64 | |Depth of hold at midships (feet) | 23·2 in.|27·6 in.| 23·6 in. | |Tons of space | 679¹⁄₂ | 1053 | -- | |Tonnage of engine-room (feet) | 641¹⁄₂ | 963 | -- | |Total tonnage (tons) | 1321 | 2016 | 1840 | |Power of engines (horses) | 450 | 500 | 540 | |Diameter of cylinders (inches) | 73 | 77¹⁄₂ | 80 | |Length of stroke (feet) | 7 | 7 | 7¹⁄₂ | |Diameter of paddle-wheels (feet) | 28·9 in.|30·6 in.| 31 | |Total weight of engines, boilers, | | | | |and water (tons) | 480 | 500 | 500 | |Total weight of coals, twenty days’| | | | |consumption (tons) | 600 | 750 | 750 | |Total weight of cargo (tons) | 250 | 500 | 750 | |Draught of water with the above | | | | |weight of stores (feet) | 16·8 in.|16·7 in.| 17 | +-----------------------------------+---------+--------+------------+ They were square-sterned vessels, barque-rigged, and carried a long white funnel with a black top. The paddles were placed almost amidships, with the funnel abaft the paddle-boxes. The _Great Western_ might be described as a four-masted barquentine. She had one funnel carried between the fore and main masts, and the paddles were set abaft the main-mast. All three vessels had engines of the side-lever type. Those of the _British Queen_ were supplied by Napier from the Clyde, and those of the _President_ by Fawcett and Preston of Liverpool. The _Great Western’s_ engines were built by Maudslay, Son, and Field of London. The _President_ was built of oak with fir planking, her upper deck being flush from bows to stern. The stern was ornamented with the British and American arms, supported by the lion and eagle, appropriately painted. And for a figure-head she had a bust of Washington. The paddle-boxes were decorated with a five-point star. The first attempt to float the _President_ was not a success owing to the tide not being high enough. A second attempt the following day also failed, but on the third day, Monday, December 9, 1839, she was floated, and towed out of the dock and down to Blackwall, where she was safely moored. After the loss of the _President_ in 1841, the British and American Steam Navigation Company sold the _British Queen_ to the Belgians and retired from business altogether, leaving the _Great Western_ practically in sole possession of the Atlantic. But, as the next chapter will show, this splendid isolation was not hers for long.