The Coming of Steam and Steel : 305 



In 1856 another Collins' steamer, the Pacific, sailed with a full crew 

 and a full passenger list and was never heard from again. The govern- 

 ment withdrew its subsidy and the line failed. Other American steam- 

 ers that had been operating ceased operation and by i860 there 

 wasn't a United States mail steamer sailing from any American port. 



Transatlantic steamships were not the only ones to meet with disas- 

 ter. In 1834 and to 1838 coastwise steamers were operating between 

 New York and Charleston, South Carolina, but they were in contin- 

 ual trouble running to port to escape storms or held in port because 

 of needed repairs to machinery or running aground. In 1837 the 

 steamer Home broke down. About the same time a steamer operat- 

 ing between Baltimore and Savannah blew up and killed over 100 

 people. In 1873 a French steamer, the Ville de Havre, sank with the 

 loss of 200 lives; a sailing vessel, the Trimountain, under Captain 

 Urquhart, succeeded in saving eighty-five of the steamer's passengers. 



Even when they did not meet with disaster the steamers were not 

 necessarily faster than the best sailing vessels. In 1848, in a period of 

 heavy storms. Captain Tinker's Toronto was the only vessel to come 

 to America in a period of six weeks, but he made better time between 

 England and New York than the Cunarder did between England and 

 Boston. In 1853 the Sovereign of the Seas made better time between 

 New York and Liverpool than the Cunarder Canada made from Bos- 

 ton to Queenstown. In 1864 the packet Adelaide made the passage 

 between New York and Liverpool in twelve days and eight hours, 

 which was better than the average passage of any of the steamers. 



The steamer did not become reasonably safe for ocean crossings 

 until it was placed within a metal hull, and it is natural to wonder 

 why this was so long delayed. The reason is partly technical, having 

 to do with the destruction of metals by sea water, and partly eco- 

 nomic — a matter of the availability and cost of large quantities o£ 

 metal. 



As early as 1787 John Wilkins, an iron founder, had built an iron 

 barge. In 1821 Aaron Mamby built an iron steamship and in 1825 a 

 steamboat with a hull of iron began operation on the Shannon River 

 in Ireland. In that same year an American Quaker by the name of 

 John Elgar built a ship with a two-ton iron hull and a two-ton engine 

 which he contrived himself. This vessel was named the Codorus. 

 While it was unsuccessful as a commercial vessel, it did make a long 

 cruise on the Susquehanna River. 



All of these, and some other metal vessels, were to be used on 

 fresh water and there was nothing inherently wrong with this idea, 



