City of Berlin was a British passenger liner that 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...

 for the Inman Line

Inman Line

The Inman Line which operated from 1850 until its 1893 absorption into American Line, was one of the three largest 19th century British passenger shipping companies on the North Atlantic, along with the White Star Line and Cunard Line...

 in 1875 as the fastest liner on the Atlantic. She was also the largest passenger ship for six years except for the inactive Great Eastern

SS Great Eastern

SS Great Eastern was an iron sailing steam ship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and built by J. Scott Russell & Co. at Millwall on the River Thames, London. She was by far the largest ship ever built at the time of her 1858 launch, and had the capacity to carry 4,000 passengers around the...

  Built by Caird & Company

Caird & Company

Caird & Company was a Scottish shipbuilding and engineering firm based in Greenock. The company was established in 1828 by John Caird when he received an order to re-engine Clyde paddle-tugs....

 in Scotland, City of Berlin was the Inman Line's premier unit for thirteen years until City of New York

SS City of New York

City of New York was a British built passenger liner of the Inman Line that was designed to be the largest and fastest liner on the Atlantic. When she entered service in August 1888, she was the first twin screw express liner and while she did not achieve the westbound Blue Riband, she ultimately...

 was commissioned in 1888. She served the Inman Line until 1893 when Inman was merged into the American Line

American Line

The American Line was a shipping company based in Philadelphia that was founded in 1871. It began as part of the Pennsylvania Railroad, although the railroad got out of the shipping business soon after founding the company...

, and she was operated by her new owners on both the American Line and Red Star Line until 1898. She was sold to the U.S. Government, and was in their service until after World War I.

Development and design

When Inman learned of White Star's

White Star Line

The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company or White Star Line of Boston Packets, more commonly known as the White Star Line, was a prominent British shipping company, today most famous for its ill-fated vessel, the RMS Titanic, and the World War I loss of Titanics sister ship Britannic...

 plans to build two larger and faster editions of the Oceanic

RMS Oceanic (1870)

RMS Oceanic was the White Star Line's first liner and an important turning point in passenger liner design.-Design and construction:Oceanic was built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, and was launched on 27 August 1870, arriving in Liverpool for her maiden voyage on 26 February 1871...

, Inman's fleet on the competing weekly Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 - 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 consisted of four liners with service speeds of 13.5 knots and the recently completed City of Montreal, which while large, had a service speed of only 12 knots. Inman decided to replace City of Montreal in the express service with a new liner specifically designed to better White Star's new Britannic

SS Britannic (1874)

SS Britannic was the first of three ships to sail with Britannic name. All were part of the White Star Line, famous for Titanic and other ocean liners....

 Class liners. The completion of the City of Berlin in 1875 finally gave the Inman Line the five fast express liners needed for a balanced year-round weekly service.

Larger than the White Star liners, City of Berlin carried 202 first class and 1500 steerage passengers. She had a ratio of length to beam of 11:1, making her the longest "long boat" built for the Atlantic. Her two cylinder compound steam engine was rated at 4800 indicated horsepower giving her a normal service speed of 15 knots. Because her speed and fuel consumption were disappointing during trials, machinery improvements were required before the ship was commissioned.

Service history

In September 1875, City of Berlin won the Blue Riband from Britannic's sister, Germanic

SS Germanic (1875)

The SS Germanic was an ocean liner built by Harland and Wolff in 1875 and operated by the White Star Line. She was later operated by other lines under the names Ottawa, Gul Djemal and Gulcemal.-Germanic:...

 with a Queenstown-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...

 passage of 7 days, 18 hours, 2 minutes (15.21 knots). Two years later, she suffered shaft trouble on two voyages, arriving in tow, once by the National Line's Egypt and the second behind Inman's City of New York. In 1879, she became the first British liner with electric lamps when six were installed. Her high coal consumption of 120 tons a day was reduced in 1887 when she was re-engined with triple-compounds.

City of Berlin retained her British registration after Inman was merged into the American Line, but her name was reduced to Berlin. In 1895, she and the City of Chester were replaced in the American Line's weekly mail fleet by the new express liners, the St Louis and the St Paul. Berlin was placed on the Antwerp - New York route for the Red Star Line

Red Star Line

The Red Star Line was an ocean passenger line founded in 1871 as a joint venture between the International Navigation Company of Philadelphia, which also ran the American Line, and the Société Anonyme de Navigation Belgo-Américaine of Antwerp, Belgium...

 with occasional sailings for the American Line.

In 1898, Berlin was sold to the U.S. Government for the Spanish-American War

Spanish-American War

The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...

, and was renamed Meade. She trooped to the Philippines until she was seriously damaged by a fire in San Francisco on January 31, 1906. Repaired, she continued service through World War I and was finally scrapped in 1921.