Brunel was the engineer of the Great Western Railway, and he audaciously desired his line to end, not at Bristol or Penzance, but, conquering the sea, he wished to plant his foot in the Empire city itself.
Still he was not the first, nor the only one, in the field. To the Savannah belongs the honour of being the first steamship to cross the Atlantic. Yet she was not altogether a steamship.
Mr. Scarborough, of Savannah—a port of the state of Georgia—purchased a sailing ship of about 300 tons and 100 feet long, launched her at New York in 1818, intending her to ply between the two places, and had her fitted with machinery.
Why he changed his mind and sent her to Europe, we cannot say. Apparently he could not trust to steam alone, for the paddle wheels were so constructed that they could be folded up on deck when not in use, and the shaft also was jointed for that purpose. Then in the following May she started forth for Liverpool—the precursor of a mighty fleet of magnificent ships which have followed since.
She reached the Mersey in twenty-five days—vessels now perform the journey in about six. But she used steam on only eighteen days out of the twenty-five. Several times during the journey the paddle wheels were taken on deck, this operation occupying about half-an-hour. Possibly this was done when the wind was very favourable for sails, and so saved the fuel, which was pitch-pine.
Apparently Mr. Scarborough was not satisfied with the venture, for, after failing to sell the ship in Russia, whither she voyaged, she touched at different ports and returned home. The machinery was taken out, and she winged her way henceforth by sails alone.
England next did something of the same kind. The Falcon steam yacht, a little vessel of 175 tons, voyaged to India in 1824, mostly, however, by the power of sails. In the next year the Enterprize, engined by Messrs. Maudslay & Field, made the passage by steam to Calcutta from London in the net time of 103 days—ten being used in stoppages, and the entire voyage thus occupying 113 days. She was a vessel of 500 tons, 122 feet keel, and 27 feet broad, while her engines were of 240 indicated power. Then the Royal William, hailing from Quebec, made the transatlantic passage in 1831, principally by steam, in twenty-six days. In 1835 Messrs. Willcox & Anderson began to run steamships to Peninsular ports—an undertaking which blossomed out afterwards into the celebrated Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company.
Then in 1838 two steamships, the Sirius and the Great Western, crossed the Atlantic, the latter in fourteen and a-half days. Brunel had had his wish, and in 1836 he had formed the Great Western Steamship Company, and the vessel of the same name had been commenced. Others also were in the field, notably Messrs. Laird of Birkenhead, and the British and American Steam Navigation Company was founded. The Sirius, which had been built on the Thames, was purchased by them and prepared for her voyage.
The prime mover in this matter is said to have been Mr. Macgregor Laird. He had witnessed the work of steamships in the Niger Expedition of 1832-33 both on sea and river, and from the time of his return he advocated the establishment of steamships between Great Britain and America.