When off the Irish coast, the coastguard, seeing a huge volume of smoke proceeding from a ship at sea, reported it to be a vessel on fire. A Government cutter from Cork put out to render assistance, and were much surprised on boarding her to learn that she required no assistance, except a Channel pilot, and that she had come from America. Her arrival at Liverpool was witnessed by great crowds of people, who had assembled to watch her entering the Mersey. After her visit to St. Petersburg she re-crossed the Atlantic, her engines were taken out of her, and, as a sailing packet, she traded between New York and Savannah, until she was wrecked off Long Island.
A month later, or to be exact, on the 22nd July, 1819, the first cross-channel steamer that ever entered the port, arrived at Liverpool from Belfast, after a passage of twenty-four hours. This steamer was the Waterloo, owned by Messrs. Langtry, of Belfast, who were also the owners of a fleet of smacks which traded regularly between the two ports. The Waterloo was a schooner-rigged paddle-steamer of 201 tons burthen, propelled by a pair of low-pressure engines of 80 h.p. each. Her length was 98 feet, and her breadth on deck was 37 feet. She had a dining room capable of accommodating all the cabin passengers at one sitting, a separate and neatly decorated cabin for ladies, and two staterooms for families. She carried sleeping accommodation for 22 cabin passengers, in addition to steerage passengers. The fares charged for a single passage between Liverpool and Belfast were, cabin £1 11s. 6d., steerage 10s. 6d. The Waterloo made two round voyages per week during the season, sailing from Liverpool every Monday and Friday. She was intended to carry passengers only (the cargo trade being maintained by the smacks), and cost her owners nearly £10,000.
On the 29th July of the same year, the first steamer that traded between Liverpool and Glasgow was advertised in the following terms:—
“Safe and Expeditious Travelling between Liverpool
and Glasgow.
The elegant new Steam-Packet Boat,
Robert Bruce,
Captain John Patterson,
will sail for Glasgow on Monday, 2nd August, at Seven o’clock in the morning, from George’s Dock, Pierhead. The accommodations for passengers are most excellent, and she is expected to perform the passage within 30 hours.
“The Fares in the Cabin, 40s.; Steerage, 21s. Passengers will be accommodated with Provisions on moderate terms. For passage apply to Captain Patterson, or to
John Richardson.”
From this date (1819) the expansion of the British steam coasting trade was most rapid. Within a very short time regular services were advertised between Liverpool and Isle of Man, Whitehaven, Dumfries, the Clyde Ports, Belfast and Dublin. Nor were these pioneers of the steam trade permitted to be monopolists of their respective stations. Frequently two, and in some cases three companies advertised steamers sailing for the same ports, of which some account will be found in the succeeding chapters of this volume.
An extraordinary accident is reported by the “Berwick Advertiser” (September, 1819), as having occurred to one of the local steam-packets. The Morning Star, while on her usual passage from Alloa to Leith, suddenly stopped. On investigation it was discovered that a salmon had entered and completely obstructed the condensing water pipes, and thus stopped the machinery.
In the fall of the following year (1820) steam communication between the Ports of London and Hull was projected.