At 7-45 a.m. the vessel was got under weigh again from the Downs, and upon rounding the North Foreland, and steering through the Queen’s Channel, encountered a stiff gale from the W.N.W. The Great Britain, however, met it in gallant style, and made nine and a half knots against it. As she steamed up the river, the crews of every vessel she passed ran on deck to obtain a view of her, her great length, and her singular appearance with six masts, rendering her an object of considerable attraction. She arrived at Woolwich at 3-30 p.m., and at Blackwall a few minutes later. At both these places there was an immense concourse of people assembled to witness her arrival.
She remained at her anchorage at Blackwall nearly five months, during which period she was inspected by many thousands of the public. On the 22nd April H.M. Queen Victoria, accompanied by Prince Albert and suite, paid her a visit.
The Great Britain left Blackwall on Thursday afternoon, 12th June, 1845. On passing Woolwich it seemed as if the whole population had turned out to behold her. The Dockyard was lined with the Naval and Military officers connected with that depôt, whose cheers were loud and continued. She had on board about eighty passengers, who had embarked for a trip round the coast. After calling at several ports she arrived in the Mersey about 9 o’clock on the evening of Thursday, 3rd July, on which occasion she was anxiously looked for by thousands, the pierheads and every available point on the river being densely crowded. The Great Britain sailed on her first voyage from Liverpool to New York on Saturday, 26th July, at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, taking forty-five passengers, and arrived out on the 10th August, at noon. On her return voyage she left New York on the 30th August, having on board fifty-seven passengers and 600 tons general cargo, and arrived at Liverpool on the 15th September, at 8 a.m. She continued to trade regularly between the two ports, her passenger list steadily increasing, until the 22nd September, 1846, when she stranded in Dundrum Bay, Ireland. She was, at the time of the stranding, on a voyage from Liverpool to New York with 185 passengers. Fortunately the mishap was accompanied by no loss of life. The cause of the disaster is explained by the following resolution passed by the Directors of the Company:—“With respect to the occurrences which preceded the stranding of the unfortunate ship, as explained now by Captain Hoskin, and by the Report of Captain Claxton to the Secretary, the Directors are of opinion that the ship was stranded in consequence of an error in judgment, into which it appears the Captain was betrayed through the omission of a notice of St. John’s light in the chart of this year, by which he was navigating, and of the want of knowledge on his part of such a light having been established, it being to the Directors obvious that had the light been laid, Captain Hoskin would have known that the judgment which led him at 8 o’clock to put his ship in the proper course for the North Channel, ought to have been persevered in.”
The Great Britain remained stranded for over eleven months, but on the 25th August, 1847, she was floated off and towed to Liverpool for repairs. After the completion of the repairs she lay in the Liverpool Dock for about five years, and then made one trip to New York, sailing from Liverpool on the 1st May, 1852. She sailed from New York on the 5th June, and after a rapid passage of 10 days 23 hours arrived in Liverpool on the 16th of that month. From that date she ceased to be connected with the Transatlantic Trade, and her subsequent history is sketched in the chapter devoted to the account of steam communication with Australia.
Chapter XIV.
Steam communication with the West Indies.—Royal Mail Steampacket Co. incorporated 1841.—Commences with a fleet of fourteen steamers.—Heavy loss of first year’s working.—Generous concession from Government.—Rapid increase of trade.—The “Trent affair.”—First screw steamers for Company, the Tagus and Mozelle.—The Tasmanian.—Gross tonnage of present fleet.—The Imperial Direct West India Mail Service, Ltd., established 1901.
Nine months after the despatch of the first Cunarder from Liverpool to Halifax, the Admiralty accepted a contract from a newly-formed steampacket company, to convey the mails between England, the West Indies, and the Gulf of Mexico. This company, which bore the title of The Royal Mail Steam Packet Co., had an authorised capital of £1,500,000, in fifteen thousand shares of £100 each. It commenced operations on an exceptionally large scale, no less than fourteen large and powerful steamers being at once ordered to be built for the service. The steamers were to be each of 400 horse-power, and to be capable of carrying guns of the largest calibre then in use on H.M. war steamers. Like all other ocean steamers of the period, they were constructed of wood, and were propelled by paddle-wheels. Upon the complete delivery of these vessels to the Company, the contract required one of them to sail twice in each calendar month from England via Corunna and Madeira to the various islands in the West Indies, specified in the contract, and back “to such port in the British Channel as the said Commissioners of the Admiralty shall direct.” The scheme also embraced other places in the West Indies, the Spanish Main, and the United States, for which mails were to be carried. For the performance of these services, the Company was to receive a subsidy at the rate of £240,000 per annum in quarterly payments, the contract to commence on the 1st December, 1841, or if possible earlier, and to continue in force for ten years, subject to twelve months’ notice from either party for its termination. Notwithstanding this large subsidy, the operations of the Company during the first year resulted in a heavy loss, the Directors’ balance-sheet, presented at the first meeting of the shareholders, showing a deficit of £79,790 16s. 8d. Before this meeting was held, one-half of the capital had been paid up, and another call of £10 per share was sanctioned at the meeting; but as it was found that even this was insufficient for the requirements of the Company, the Directors appealed to Government for further assistance. In response to this appeal the Government generously consented to reduce the annual mileage to be traversed by the Company’s ships, which by the original contract was 684,816 miles, to 392,976 miles, without any reduction of the annual subsidy of £240,000. This liberal concession was estimated by the Directors to effect a saving to the Company of £125,000 per annum. Unfortunately during the second year of its existence, the Company lost two valuable steamers, which more than counterbalanced the bonus it had obtained from Government. Trade, however, increased so rapidly and profitably, that in the following year (1843) the Company had recouped its losses, and had a surplus of receipts over expenditure amounting to £94,210, and in 1844 to £147,749.
In 1850 the Government made a fresh contract with the Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. for a further term of ten years from the 1st January, 1852, the subsidy being raised to £270,000 per annum, but the Company were required to undertake the additional expense of a monthly service to the Brazils, which increased the mileage to be performed annually from 389,448 to 547,296 miles, and at the same time reduced the mileage from 12s. 3d. to 9s. 10d. per mile. The Company was also required to increase the speed of its steamers on the West Indian line from 8 knots to 10 knots per hour, and to add five new steamers to its fleet, each of 2,250 tons burden and 800 horse power. This second contract was altered in 1857, and its period of currency extended two years, one condition introduced being of an extraordinary nature. It had reference to an amalgamation with the European and Australian Mail Company, for the conveyance of the mails via Egypt, to and from Australia. This arrangement proved a great failure, owing to the complete collapse of the latter Company. A second condition required the acceleration of the mails between England and Rio de Janeiro. The Company was also required to provide three new steamers of 3,000 tons burden and 800 horse-power for the Atlantic West India service, and a fourth of smaller dimensions to ply between Rio and the River Plate.
