The steamships of this line were good, roomy, comfortable boats, with lofty ’tween decks. They carried immense cargoes of cotton, grain, provisions, and other American produce from the United States to Great Britain, and though they could not compare with the Cunard or Inman liners in the elegance of the accommodation provided for saloon passengers, yet they were well adapted for the conveyance of emigrants, of whom they carried large numbers. As they did not specially cater for saloon passengers, and carried no mails, they were not driven at the high rate of speed maintained by the premier transatlantic steamship companies. It is true that for a time the National Line held the “Blue Ribbon” of the Atlantic, but this honourable position was held for a very short time only, and the vessel by which it was gained was sold to the Italian Government. The steamer referred to was the America, built and engined by Messrs. J. & G. Thomson, Glasgow, in 1883. Her gross tonnage was 5,528 tons, with compound engines of 1,064 horse-power nominal. Her length was 441 feet 8 inches; breadth, 51 feet 2 inches; and her depth 36 feet.
In less than twelve months from the date of her launch, she was purchased by the Italian Government, by whom she was equipped as an armed cruiser, and renamed Italia. Prior to the construction of the America, the Company had increased its fleet by the addition of the steamers Greece and Canada. On the 31st December, 1889, the Erin sailed with seventy-two persons on board, and disappeared without leaving a trace.
After trading successfully for a number of years, the National Steamship Company got into financial difficulties. Its vessels were dispersed; the Liverpool service to New York was abandoned, and only that from London retained. When the nineteenth century closed the only steamers sailing under its flag were the America, Europe and Manhattan. These three steamers are built of steel, and each carries four masts. They are all driven by triple-expansion engines, and the last-named vessel is a twin-screw steamer. The respective measurements are as follows:—
America, 5,158 tons gross, built and engined by Gourlay Brothers & Co., Dundee, in 1891, is 435 feet long, 46 feet 3 inches broad, and 25 feet 2 inches deep, with engines of 516 nominal horse-power.
Europe, 5,302 tons gross, built and engined by Palmers, Limited, Newcastle, in 1891, is 435 feet long, 46 feet 4 inches broad, and 25 feet 2 inches deep, with engines of 545 nominal horse-power.
Manhattan, 8,004 tons gross, built and engined by Harland and Wolff, Belfast, in 1898, is 490 feet 5 inches long, 56 feet 3 inches broad, and 25 feet deep, with engines of 478 nominal horse-power.
The National Line, like the Inman Line, has now been absorbed by the American combine.
For several years prior to 1863, Mr. Stephen B. Guion, of New York, had established a line of clipper ships between that port and Liverpool. Finding it impossible to contend against screw steamers in the ocean trade, he entered (in the year named) into an arrangement to supply, through his old connections and agents in America, the Cunard and National Companies with steerage passengers and cargo for their steamers. This arrangement held good until 1866, when Mr. Guion, in co-partnery with others, formed a steamship company whose official title was “The Liverpool and Great Western Steamship Co.,” but which was popularly known as the Guion Line. The first steamer of the new line was the iron screw steamer Manhattan, which sailed from Liverpool to New York in August, 1866. This steamer was still afloat in 1903, being then the property of Messrs. W. H. Ross & Co., by whom she was renamed the City of Lincoln. The fleet of the Guion Line was speedily sufficiently numerous to maintain a regular weekly service from Liverpool to New York, and within six years of the formation of the Company it possessed eight first-class iron screw steamships, each of about 3,000 tons burthen. They were named after the Western States of America, viz., Manhattan, Nebraska, Minnesota, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. In 1874 the Montana, of 3,500 tons, was added to the fleet, which was further increased in 1875 by the addition of the Dakota.
None of the vessels named had distinguished themselves by their extraordinary speed; but in 1879 there was built for the Guion Line, by the Fairfield Shipbuilding Company, the steamer Arizona. She was an entirely new type of vessel. The older ships, though differing in their models, might be described generally as brig rigged screw steamers carrying a single funnel amidships, and having their saloons aft. The Arizona carried four masts, of which the fore and main were square rigged, and two funnels between the main and mizzen masts. The saloon was situated amidships, and was superbly furnished. The length of the Arizona was 450 feet, her breadth 45 feet, and her depth 35 feet. She sailed on her first voyage from Liverpool to New York on the 31st May, 1879, and is at the present date (1903) employed as a troopship by the U.S. Government, her name having been changed to the Hancock.
A sister vessel to the Arizona was built by the same builders in 1881. She was larger and more powerful than the Arizona, and increased the reputation for speed which that steamer had created. The Alaska left Liverpool on her maiden voyage on the 29th October, 1881. On the 12th September, 1882, she sailed from New York, and completed her voyage to Queenstown in 6 days 18 hours and 38 minutes. This rapid passage was, however, excelled by the same Company’s steamer Oregon, which sailed from Liverpool to New York on the 6th October, 1883, and made the passage from Queenstown to Sandy Hook in 6 days 10 hours and 9 minutes. The Oregon was also built and engined by the Fairfield Shipbuilding Co. She was 501 feet long, 54 feet 2 inches broad, and 38 feet deep. Her gross tonnage was 7,375 tons; and her engines developed 13,500 horse-power, giving a speed of 18 knots per hour. Her career was a brief but brilliant one. Built in 1883, she sank after a collision with an American schooner on the 11th March, in 1886.