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Packet Ship, Built IN 1 855 at New York Cn \ i;-. Wiiiiwi II, Webb for the Black B\i 1 l.i\i:, [he .\eptune. 

 She was wrecked about 1877. Her register dimensions were 191' x 40' x 28', 1,406 tons. From a painting 

 (USNM 310852) in the Watercraft Collection. (Smithsonian photo 44691.) 



the foreign trade, and limited their value to American 

 merchants. 



The coastal packet business which developed in 

 early colonial times was largely carried in sloops and 

 sinall schooners which made more or less regular runs 

 between Atlantic coastal cities and towns, often in 

 conjunction with stagecoach services. Packet sloops 

 were also employed on the large rivers; those on the 

 Hudson became large and well equipped vessels after 

 the Revolution. On some of the longer runs small 

 brigs were employed, particularly to the Southern 

 ports. At the beginning of the War of 1 8 1 2 the coastal 

 packets had become well established and some appear 

 to have maintained a fairly regular schedule, at least 

 during the summer months. This coastal packet 

 service, which was really part of the coasting trade, 

 is dealt under coasting vessels (see p. 42). 



The coming of peace in 1815 brought a revival in 

 merchantile activity in America to meet the needs 

 that had gathered during the war years. New York 

 merchants saw in this period an opportunity to make 

 their city a great merchantile center. One step in 

 this direction was taken by four well-to-do merchants, 

 who organized a trans-Atlantic packet service with 



four ships. One feature of this line of packets was 

 that they were to sail on a fixed schedule; a ship was 

 to leave port at the beginning of each month without 

 regard to weather or the amount of freight on board. 



This first venture, the "Old Line," became best 

 known as the Black Ball Line, as the ships carried a 

 flag on which there was a black ball, a mark also 

 carried on their fore-topsail. The Black Ball Line 

 began operation between New York and Liverpool 

 in 1818, and in spite of an economic depression that 

 began in 1819, the Line prospered. This led to the 

 establishment of other packet lines; the second to be 

 organized was the Red Star Line in 1821, and this 

 was followed by the Swallowtail Line, the Le Havre 

 Line, and others. Services thus became established 

 to Liverpool, London, and Le Havre, with two or 

 more lines to each of these European ports. 



In order to maintain the schedules proudly adver- 

 tised by the competing lines, it was necessary to sail 

 the packet ships very hard, and to carry sail as long as 

 possible. Early in the development of the packet 

 lines, ships were racing across the Atlantic and the 

 first arrival obtained a great notoriety which served 

 the line's owners as valuable ad\ertising. Though 



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