The Britannia.
For the performance of this contract Mr. Cunard and his co-partners placed on the line four steam-ships[179] in every way adapted for the service so far as the knowledge of the period extended, and from the commencement of the company until the present day the Cunard Company have without exception supplied vessels greatly exceeding the stipulated power required by their postal contracts. The whole of the first four vessels were constructed of wood on the Clyde by its leading shipbuilders, and the engines were supplied by Mr. Robert Napier, long celebrated in his profession. They were nearly alike in size and power, and, that my readers may compare them with the steam-vessels of to-day a drawing of the Britannia (which commenced the service by sailing from Liverpool on 4th July, 1840) is furnished ([page 182]); the particulars of her construction, in all essential details, are likewise herewith supplied.[180]
These vessels commenced the mail service in 1840 between Liverpool, Halifax, and Boston, performing it with great regularity out and home at an average speed of about 8½ knots an hour, and giving complete satisfaction to the public on both sides of the Atlantic; indeed, when the Britannia, on her first voyage, was frozen up in the harbour of Boston, the inhabitants of that city, at their own expense, cut her through the ice into clear water for a distance of seven miles. (See [illustration, page 182].)
In 1844, Mr. Cunard brought into the service (partly in pursuance of his contract) the Cambria and Hibernia, each of 500 horse-power, and of 1422 tons, with an average speed of 9¼ knots.
In 1848, the America, Niagara, Europe, and Canada followed, so as to meet the increasing wants of the trade and the ever increasing demands of the public for greater speed and improved accommodation. Each of these vessels was about 1820 tons and of 680 horse-power, with an average speed of 10¼ knots an hour.
The success of the Cunard Company, created, as might have been anticipated, much jealousy among the shareholders of the Great Western Steam-ship Company, who complained of a monopoly having been granted to their injury and to that of other owners of steam-ships engaged in the trade, or who were desirous of entering it. Although no unfairness was alleged against Mr. Cunard and his partners, and no valid charges could be raised against the manner in which the mail services were performed, the Great Western Company had sufficient influence to obtain a parliamentary inquiry. They asked it, first, on the broad grounds (which have since been frequently raised, and now with much more show of reason than then), that the public was taxed for a service from which one company alone derived the advantage, and which could be equally well done and, at less expense, if mails were sent by all steamers engaged in the trade, each receiving a certain amount of percentage on the letters they carried; and, secondly, because their company had been the first in the trade and had incurred great expense and risk in developing steam communication between Great Britain and the United States of America. But, after full inquiry, the committee reported that the arrangements concluded with Messrs. Cunard, Burns, and MacIver, were on terms more advantageous than any others which could then be made, and that the service had been most efficiently performed.[181]
Comparative results of different vessels.
Indeed, it was clearly shown that even the first boats the Cunard Company ran between England and America were superior in power and speed to any others similarly employed,[182] and this superiority they long maintained. In the calculations made of the relative power of the steam-vessels thus employed, an average westerly passage across the Atlantic was taken, and an endeavour made to place these vessels in the order of speed. The Oriental and Great Western were pronounced about equal, as also the President, and the Great Liverpool before the alterations were made in her. It should however be remarked that, though the proportion of power and tonnage was the same in the case of the Oriental and British Queen, it was not questioned that, on every point, especially when the vessels were deeply laden, the Oriental had the advantage. It may also be mentioned that the Liverpool was, after her alterations, 393 tons larger than formerly; and, though her proportion of power was consequently diminished, her speed and weatherly qualities were materially increased,[183] showing that more depended on the form and construction of the vessel than on having a large engine power.
Building (1839) and loss (1841) of the President.
The President, built by Messrs. Curling and Young for the British and American Steam Navigation Company, was launched on the 7th December, 1839, with great éclat, but her career at sea was very brief, and her end most melancholy. It may be summed up in the few words that, when due from New York, in April 1841, she did not make her appearance; tremendous weather having been experienced in the Atlantic, with unusual quantities of ice in very low latitudes, the most intense anxiety arose both in the mercantile world and among the relatives of the passengers as to the cause of her detention. The arrival of other ships from the same port increased the public anxiety. For a considerable period the appearance of every large vessel was hailed as the missing steamer, and a thousand rumours prevailed as to her wreck in various parts of the world. The hopes long entertained that her engines had broken down and that she had sailed for the West Indies or elsewhere to refit, proved fallacious, while the agony of the parties interested in her was kept alive by the most conflicting speculations as to the cause and certainty of a catastrophe. The President was never again heard of, nor was any trace of her wreck ever discovered. This calamitous event, however it affected the interests of the company of Bristol merchants to whom she belonged, did not check the ardour of the people of England for steam navigation across the Atlantic.