Steamships and their story

by E. Keble Chatterton

The pioneer of the steam yacht was undoubtedly the late Mr. Assheton Smith, of Tedworth, near Andover. A man of substantial means, a keen sportsman, who was well-known among both hunting and yachting men, he was rather more far-sighted than his contemporaries, and considerably less prejudiced. He had owned a number of sailing yachts, was a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron, and had it in mind to extend the encouragement of the sport also to vessels using steam. But to the select and conservative minds of the Royal Yacht Squadron this was by no means a happy suggestion, and they promptly showed their resentment by passing a resolution on May 5th, 1827, to the effect that since a material object of the club was to promote seamanship and improvements of sailing vessels to which the application of steam-engines was inimical, no vessel propelled by steam should be admitted into the club, and that any member applying a steam engine to his yacht should cease to be a member. As the late Mr. Montague Guest, in his history of the Royal Yacht Squadron, remarked, this prejudice was no doubt caused by the objectionable vomits of smoke which contemporary steamers in that locality were wont to emit, so that the fair shores of Southampton Water were polluted, and distant objects completely obscured. Smith was taunted with the remark that in wishing to introduce the steam yacht he was intending to make a connection between business and pleasure, and this insult stung him so severely that he eventually resigned his membership.

In August of 1827, the Northern Yacht Club offered at their regatta a twenty guinea cup, to be awarded to the swiftest steamboat, and so far as I am able to ascertain this was the first occasion when steam craft ever raced against each other under such conditions. Several steam vessel owners sent in their entries for the race, and after an exciting contest for three hours round a marked course, a paddle-ship, named the Clarence, won. This is especially interesting, inasmuch as that boat had been engined by the famous Robert Napier to whom we referred earlier in this book, and in more ways than one this success led to considerable success. The incident attracted the attention of Assheton Smith, who, although he was then fifty years old, was fired with enthusiasm over the possibilities of the new sport. He had already had five sailing yachts built for him, and after resigning from the Royal Yacht Squadron, wrote to Napier asking him to come south to his place near Andover. Neither had met before, and the upshot of the northerner’s visit was that he was commissioned to build a steam yacht, the cost of which came to £20,000, Napier being given a free hand in regard to her entire construction. A recent writer has seen fit to remark that “no account exists of the first steam yacht built by Mr. Smith,” so that it may be worth while to add that this vessel was named the Menai, that she was built in the year 1830 and delivered at Bristol. She measured 120 feet long and 20 feet wide, her tonnage being 230, and her nominal horse-power 110. She was, of course, a paddle-wheel craft and driven by Napier’s double side-lever engines, of which we have already explained the detailed working. Those who wish to see what this first historic steam yacht was like can examine a model of her in the Glasgow Art Galleries.

The Menai turned out a great success, and so pleased was her owner, that he commissioned Napier to build him another boat, which was named the Glowworm, a vessel of 300 tons and 100 horse-power. She was made ready by 1838. Until Smith was eighty years old the connection thus formed between the two men was continued, and during the period of twenty or thirty years Napier built quite a fleet of steam yachts for his patron. The Glowworm was followed by the Fire King in 1839—this being a 700-ton ship and the biggest of them all. Afterwards came at different dates three Fire Queens (in honour of Queen Victoria, who had come to the throne since the first steam yacht had been launched), the Jenny Lind, and the Sea Serpent; the latter about 1851. The Fire King was designed with hollow water-lines, and was a vessel possessing considerable speed. Before her trials were run, Smith issued a public challenge in Bell’s Life that she would run against any steamer then afloat, from Dover Pier to the Eddystone Lighthouse and back, for 5,000 guineas, or even higher stakes if desired. One of the three Fire Queens was the fastest vessel of any kind at that time, and possessed the exceptional speed of 16 knots. This was the third vessel of that name, and was built in 1846, her tonnage being 300 and her horse-power 120. She was driven by steeple engines which actuated a screw, and the Admiralty thought so much of her that they purchased her as a packet. Smith, however, did not like the screw, and his next ship reverted to the use of paddle-wheels.

In 1844 the Royal Yacht Squadron began to climb down gradually from their haughty position of serene isolation, for in that year they showed some slight recognition of the steam yacht by resolving that “no steamer of less than 100 horse-power should be qualified for admission into, or entitled to the privileges of the Squadron,” and in 1853 the last objection to the steam yacht was withdrawn by the rescinding of all rules which prohibited her use. Thereupon a number of the Royal Squadron members had auxiliary engines fitted to their sailing craft, but by 1856 there were not more than a score of steam-engined yachts as against seven or eight hundred sailing ones. In 1868 a unique race, which excited some derision at the time, was run between Lord Vane’s steam yacht Cornelia and Mr. Talbot’s Eothen. During the early ’eighties many of the non-racing yachts flying the Squadron’s colours, and used solely for cruising, were either purely steam or auxiliary steam yachts. By 1883, out of 2,000 yachts no fewer than 700 were steam, which had cost originally two and a half millions sterling. To such an extent had this new development of the sport gone ahead that it was even seriously suggested by the Field that ordinary cruising would be extinguished by the steam yacht. During the ’eighties the number of English steam yachts multiplied in all parts of the Kingdom owing to several causes. The improvements which had been going on, as well in the making of marine engines as in yacht building and designing, were assisted by the more economical consumption of coal which was now possible. But the sport of steam-yachting is entirely, by reason of its nature and its costliness, confined to the rich man. Apart altogether from the advantages which steam gives in that it renders the yacht independent of calms and tides, yet it carries with it especially a social feature. The influence of Cowes week, the dispensing of hospitality, and the privilege of enjoying a floating home anything but bereft of the highest comfort, must be reckoned as among the potent factors of an extent equal to, if not greater than, the sheer delight of voyaging from one port to another. Many steam yachts spend their time within the comparatively sheltered waters of the south coast of England, or the west coast of Scotland, perhaps running out to the Riviera in December or January. But a few, such as Lord Brassey’s celebrated Sunbeam, go round the world, penetrate to the Arctic circle, cross the Atlantic, and go east through the Suez Canal.

TYPICAL STEAM YACHT OF ABOUT 1890.

By permission of “The Yachting Monthly.”

For a long time the steam yacht naturally enough retained most of the features of the sailing yacht. I say naturally, not merely because steam was still distrusted, and, therefore, canvas was retained, but because beauty of form and symmetry are demanded more in the steam yacht than in the steamship designed for commercial purposes. For the creators of steam yachts were rather yacht-architects than steamship-designers. We have only to quote the admirable work of such men as St. Clare Byrne and G. L. Watson to emphasise this point. Indeed, with the exception of the Triad, so recently added to the fleet of steam yachts, and to which we shall refer fully in due course, the lines and general appearance of the steam pleasure vessel is far more “yachty” than perhaps one might have imagined would be the case, having regard to the differences which have sprung up in the appearance of the commercial steamship. [The illustration on page 271], which is typical of the steam yacht about the year 1890, shows how markedly the influence of the clipper sailing ships of the ’sixties was at work. The gilding at the bow, the figure-head, the fine entrance, and the bowsprit have existed long after the latter was required for setting a jib at the end of it. As a rule, the schooner rig has prevailed, though some ocean-going steam yachts are rigged as barques, ships, and barquentines. For long voyages between distant ports the retention of the sail as a saving of the limited coal supply is but natural, and also for the purpose of steadying the ship in a sea-way.

In the early days the steam yacht was usually of the type which has one flush deck. But to-day she varies to the same extent as the sailing yacht. Topgallant forecastles, quarter decks, bridge-houses, awning decks, shade decks, spar decks, and many other features have been added. Three masts have given way to two, and now only one is being retained, and that merely for signalling purposes or for wireless telegraphy. Formerly, the steam yacht was a long, narrow creation carrying a considerable quantity of ballast, but to-day she is given greater beam, and in many points is coming far more under the sway of the ocean steamship than ever she has in the whole of her history. The accommodation is being modified and improved, and the elemental features are undergoing a change. Whereas the older types carried their dining and drawing-rooms below, nowadays these, as well as the state-rooms, are, whenever possible, placed on the main deck. Much more room is afforded for promenade by the adding of deck upon deck, and a noticeable characteristic of the modern steam yacht is the extent to which the deck-house and pilot-house have been carried. Like their bigger sisters, the steam yachts of to-day are fitted with every thought for comfort. Electric light, refrigerating plant, exquisite decorations, heating apparatus, search-lights, and a thousand other details go to swell the long bill which has to be paid for the private steamship.

The old square stern inherited from the Dutch, through the British Navy of yesterday, and, finally, through the royal yachts, is modified nowadays from a clumsiness to resemble more nearly the counter of the smart sailing yacht. Ample overhang at bow and stern gives both increased deck space and makes a drier ship, and at the bows this additional room is advantageous for working the anchors. As compared with the liner, the yacht has far more opportunities of showing what a graceful creature the ship really is: for she has not to rush across seas at break-neck speed, nor has she to waste her internal space with accommodation for cargo and mails. She need not clutter up her decks with clusters of derricks, but go about her easy work in a quiet and dignified manner, not forgetting to look pretty all the time. And yet she is able nowadays, by reason of her size, to carry large enough quantities of water, coals and stores to last her for lengthy voyages, independent of the shore. The question of speed is subservient to fuel-endurance, and to get her owner and his guests to their destination with the least degree of discomfort is of far greater import than to set up new steaming records. She is a good sea-boat, for she is not harassed by the limitations as to the distribution of weights which have to be studied so closely in the case of the liner. The single-screw is giving way to the twin-screw, and the triple-expansion engine is usually adopted, with its absence of any great vibration.