British Queen was a British passenger liner that was the second steamship completed for the transatlantic route when she was commissioned in 1839. She was named in honor of Queen Victoria and owned by the British and American Steam Navigation Company

British and American Steam Navigation Company

The British and American Steam Navigation Company was a pre-Cunard steamship line that operated a regular transatlantic service from 1839 to 1841. Before its first purpose-built Atlantic liner, the British Queen was completed, British and American chartered the Sirius for two voyages in 1838 to...

. British Queen would have been the first transatlantic steamship had she not been delayed by 18 months because of the liquidation of the firm originally contracted to build her engine.

As the largest ship in the world, British Queen was roomier and more comfortable than her contemporaries. She never won the Blue Riband

Blue Riband

The Blue Riband is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. Under the unwritten rules, the record is based on average speed...

 but matched Great Western's

SS Great Western

SS Great Western of 1838, was an oak-hulled paddle-wheel steamship; the first purpose-built for crossing the Atlantic and the initial unit of the Great Western Steamship Company. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Great Western proved satisfactory in service and was the model for all successful...

 westbound speeds from 1838 through 1840 and was less than a half of a knot slower eastbound.

After completing nine round trip voyages, British Queen was laid up in 1841 when British and American collapsed due to the loss of the President

SS President

SS President was a British passenger liner that was the largest ship in the world when she was commissioned in 1840, and the first steamship to founder on the transatlantic run when she was lost at sea with all 136 on board in March 1841....

 with all onboard. She was sold to the Belgian Government for an Antwerp-Cowes

Cowes

Cowes is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east Bank...

-New York

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 service that began in 1842. However, this proved unsuccessful and she was laid up again after three round trip voyages. British Queen was lightly built and was scrapped in 1844 when no further use was found for the pioneer liner.

Development and design

The plan outlined in British and American's prospectus called for placing four 1,200 GRT ships on the London-New York route with fortnightly departures in each direction. However, the size of the company's first unit was increased to 1,850 GRT after it became known that Great Western ordered a 1,350 GRT ship for its first liner. As designed by Macgregor Laird

Macgregor Laird

Macgregor Laird was a Scottish merchant pioneer of British trade on the River Niger.Laird was born at Greenock, the younger son of William Laird, founder of the Birkenhead firm of shipbuilders of that name...

, British Queen was fitted for 207 passengers as compared to Great Western's 148 passengers. At 30 feet wide, her saloon was 9 feet wider than Great Western's.

Laird contracted with Curling and Young of London to build the hull, and intended to retain the Scottish engineer, Robert Napier

Robert Napier (engineer)

Robert Napier was a Scottish engineer, and is often called "The Father of Clyde Shipbuilding."-Early life:Robert Napier was born in Dumbarton at the height of the Industrial Revolution, to James and Jean Napier...

 to build the engine. However, Napier's bid of £20,000 was deemed too high, and another Scottish engine builder, Claud Girdwood tendered a lower price. Unfortunately, Girdwood's firm failed before completing the work and Napier's firm was then retained to build the engine. The delay cost British and American a critical 18 months while work on the Great Western continued.

Originally, the first British and American liner was to be named Royal Victoria after Princess Victoria, but the name was changed to British Queen when the ship was launched on May 24, 1838 because Victoria had just ascended to the throne. When the new ship was towed to Scotland to have her engine installed, it was determined that the hull was not strong enough and Napier installed extra bracing.

Service history

British Queen left London for her maiden voyage to New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 on July 11, 1839 and stopped at Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

 before entering the Atlantic. Fully booked with passengers including Samuel Cunard

Samuel Cunard

Sir Samuel Cunard, 1st Baronet was a British shipping magnate, born at Halifax, Nova Scotia, who founded the Cunard Line...

, she arrived 15 and a half days later. British Queen cleared New York for her return on August 1, within an hour of Great Western and arrived at Portsmouth on the 15th. Both ships steamed about the same number of miles each day before Great Western anchored at Avonmouth. British Queen completed two additional round trips in 1839 and five in 1840. Her captain claimed that her May 1840 westbound voyage of 13 days, 11 hours was better than Great Western's record, but the claim is not recognized because it was pilot to pilot, rather than the then accepted anchor to anchor. During the three year period of 1838 through 1840, both British Queen and Great Western averaged 7.95 knots (15.6 km/h) westbound. Eastbound averages were 9.55 knots (18.7 km/h) for Great Western and 9.1 knots (17.8 km/h) for British Queen. A report to the British government concluded that British Queen was "fast when light and in light stern breeze."

During British Queen's refit after the 1840 season, her feathering paddles were changed to non-feathering design to avoid litigation with the patent holder. On her first 1841 voyage, her port paddle wheel malfunctioned by the sixth day when floats attached to the paddles dropped off one by one. The crew was making temporary repairs at sea when the ship was hit with a gale. British Queen finally made port at Halifax instead of New York after 20 days at sea. Her return was to Liverpool, which was to become her new UK terminal. However, she was laid up upon her arrival when British and American failed after the loss of the President.

In August 1841, British Queen was sold to the Belgian Government for an Antwerp-Cowes-New York service that started in May 1842. In respect for Queen Victoria, the Belgians retained her name and she sailed with British officers and engineers. The fare was £21 excluding meals that were an additional charge. The service was unsuccessful and British Queen never carried more than 50 passengers. Her crossing times were slow, and she required 26 days to reach Cowes from New York on her third and last round trip after being forced to refuel at the Azores. She remained at Antwerp for the next two years before she was scrapped.