Plate VIII.

From an Old Engraving.

EARLY STEAMBOATS AT GREENOCK.

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In three successive years—from 1819 to 1821—the largest steamer in the kingdom came from Scotts' Works. The record was marked in 1819 by the Waterloo, of over 200 tons, with engines of 60 nominal horse-power; in 1820, by the Superb of 240 tons register, with engines of 72 nominal horse-power, which cost about £37 per ton, and steamed 9 miles per hour, using 1670 lb. of Scotch coal per hour; and in 1821, by the Majestic, of 345 tons register, with engines of 100 horse-power, which cost over £40 per ton, and steamed 10 miles per hour for a consumption of 2240 lb. of Scotch coal. Although the modern steamer is fifty times the size of these pioneers, with a cost per ton of less than one-fourth, and a fuel consumption per unit of work done of not more than a seventh, the records of these and other early ships are worthy of full reference.

The advantage of steam navigation for channel service was at once recognised. A Parliamentary return issued in 1815 showed that for the space of nine days in the previous year only one mail packet could sail between Holyhead and Dublin owing to adverse winds, and even then the average passage was twenty-four hours. Lord Kelvin, in his memorable Address as Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, in 1905, recalled the fact that early in the century his father often took three or four days to cross from Belfast to Greenock in a smack, as she was frequently becalmed. With favourable winds, rapid passages were made, a revenue cutter occasionally doing the Belfast and Greenock run in ten hours.

The Greenock and Belfast route was among the first around the coast to come under the influence of the mechanical system of propulsion. The Rob Roy, which was the outcome, so far as form of hull was concerned, of probably the first model experiments ever made—undertaken by David Napier in the Canal at Camlachie[22]—was in 1818 the pioneer in the Glasgow and Belfast steam service, and later in the Dover and Calais steam service.

There followed in 1819 three notable vessels from Scotts' Works: the Waterloo,[23] the Robert Bruce, and the Sir William Wallace. The particulars and performances of these vessels, taken from contemporary records, principally the "Greenock Advertiser," which faithfully reported each incident in the development of the steamship, are especially interesting as illustrative of early work.