Britannia-class steamship facts for kids

Britannia of 1840, the first Cunard liner built for transatlantic service
Quick facts for kids Class overview
Builders:	Robert Duncan & Co., John & Charles Wood, Robert Steele & Co.
Operators:	Cunard Line
Succeeded by:	America class
Subclasses:	Hibernia class
Built:	1840–1845
Completed:	6
Lost:	3
General characteristics : Britannia, Acadia, Caledonia & Columbia
Tonnage	1,150 GRT
Length	207 ft (63 m)
Beam	34 ft (10 m)
Propulsion	Robert Napier and Sons two-cylinder side-lever steam engine, 740 ihp (550 kW), paddle wheels
Speed	9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)
General characteristics : Hibernia & Cambria
Tonnage	1,400 GRT
Length	219 ft (67 m)
Beam	35 ft (11 m)
Propulsion	Napier two-cylinder side-lever steam engine, 1,040 ihp (780 kW), paddle wheels
Speed	9.5 knots (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph)

The Britannia class was a group of early steamships owned by the Cunard Line. These ships were made of wood and used large paddle wheels to move. They started the first regular, year-round steamship service across the Atlantic Ocean in 1840.

By 1845, these steamships carried half of all passengers traveling across the Atlantic. Cunard became the top company for this type of travel. The Britannia class ships were reliable. But they weren't necessarily better than other steamships of that time. Their success came from being the first group of similar ships to offer a frequent and dependable service.

The ships Britannia, Acadia, and Caledonia began service in 1840. Columbia joined them in 1841. This allowed Cunard to keep a steady schedule. This was important for their mail delivery contracts with the Admiralty. These mail contracts helped Cunard survive when other early competitors failed.

Cunard's ships were smaller than some others, like the Great Western. They could carry about 115 passengers. The famous writer Charles Dickens described the passenger areas as being like a "gigantic hearse." Between 1840 and 1841, the trip from Liverpool to Halifax usually took about 13 days, 6 hours going west. Eastbound trips were faster, taking about 11 days, 3 hours.

The first four ships weren't quite enough for all the scheduled trips. So, a larger ship, the Hibernia, was added in 1843. When Columbia was wrecked in 1843 (with no lives lost), Cambria was ordered to replace her. By 1849 and 1850, the surviving original ships and Hibernia were sold to other navies. They had each completed about forty round trips for Cunard. Cambria stayed with Cunard for another ten years.

Building and Design of the Ships

When Samuel Cunard first planned his service, he thought about using three smaller steamships. They would travel every two weeks from Liverpool to Halifax and then to Boston. These planned ships were about 800 GRT. This was 40% smaller than the Great Western, which had just started service from Bristol to New York.

When Cunard's ships were finally built, they were larger, at 1,150 GRT. But they were still 15% smaller than the Great Western. Other steamships being built for Atlantic travel at that time were also bigger. Cunard's final contract added a fourth ship. This was to make sure the two-week schedule could be kept for ten months a year. During winter, trips were reduced to once a month.

Engines and Structure

Samuel Cunard's main supporter was Robert Napier. His company, Robert Napier and Sons, supplied steam engines to the Royal Navy. For the Britannia class, Napier designed a two-cylinder side lever engine. This engine produced 740 horsepower. This was only ten horsepower less than the Great Western's engine.

Unlike most other Atlantic steamships, the Britannia's boilers were behind her engines and paddle wheels. This gave the ship a unique look. The ships had three masts and full rigging for sails. To build them quickly, the wooden hulls were made by three different shipyards along the River Clyde.

Passenger Experience

Cunard's main goal was to deliver mail. So, most of the ship's space was used for engines and coal. The first four Britannia ships also carried 115 passengers in one class. They could also carry 225 tons of cargo. The dining room was a long room on the deck, behind the funnel. The only other public room was a small ladies' cabin.

A special padded deck house held the ship's cow. Overturned boats protected vegetables from bad weather. Smoking was only allowed on the upper deck.

Charles Dickens and his wife traveled from Liverpool to Boston in January 1842 during a storm. He wrote about the ship:

"Before going into the ship, we entered a long, narrow room. It looked like a giant hearse with windows. At one end was a sad-looking stove where a few cold stewards warmed their hands. Along both sides was a very long table. Above it, a rack was fixed to the low ceiling, full of drinking-glasses and cruet-stands. This hinted sadly at rough seas and bad weather."

Dickens also described the cabins:

"..if you take out the two beds, one above the other (the top one was very hard to reach), nothing smaller for sleeping in was ever made except coffins. It was no bigger than those old taxi cabs that have the door at the back and drop their passengers out like sacks of coal onto the sidewalk."

Speed Records

The Britannia and her sister ships had good power for their size. But they could only match the speed of the Great Western. The Britannia took the eastbound speed record from Great Western in August 1840. But Great Western won it back in April 1842.

Columbia took the westbound speed record (called the Blue Riband) from Great Western in April 1841. She lost it back to Great Western in 1843. Columbia also took the eastbound record in April 1843 before she was wrecked.

Cunard soon realized that five ships were needed to keep the two-week service going. So, in 1843, he ordered an improved Britannia-class ship. This ship had an extra 300 horsepower. This new ship, the Hibernia, was 21% larger than the original Britannia. But she only carried five more passengers. Hibernia immediately took the eastbound record from Columbia. She held it until 1849.

When Columbia was lost in 1843, a second improved ship, Cambria, was ordered to replace her. Cambria took the westbound Blue Riband when she started service in 1845. She held this honor until 1848.

Ship Histories

RMS Britannia

In March 1849, Britannia was sold to the German Confederation Navy. She was renamed SMS Barbarossa. She was fitted with nine guns and served as the flagship (main ship) of the Reichsflotte (German fleet). She fought in the Battle of Heligoland. In June 1852, she was given to the Prussian Navy. She was used as a barracks ship (a ship where sailors live) at Danzig. Twenty-eight years later, she was taken out of service. In July 1880, she was sunk as a target ship.

RMS Acadia

Acadia was known for being fast, but she never actually set a speed record. She was also sold in 1849 to the North German Confederation Navy. They planned to turn her into a frigate (a type of warship) called Ersherzog Johann. When that navy was closed down, Ersherzog Johann was sold to a German shipping company.

The former Acadia was changed back into an Atlantic liner and renamed Germania. In August 1853, she made the new line's first trip. But it took her 24 days to reach New York because of boiler problems. Her trips were not regular until the fleet was rented out to carry troops during the Crimean War. Germania was out of service after the war. She was then sold to British shipowners. Her last job was carrying troops during the Indian Mutiny. She was then taken apart for scrap in 1858.

RMS Caledonia

Caledonia was sold to the Spanish Navy in 1850. She was lost outside Havana the very next year.

RMS Columbia

Columbia was also known as a fast ship. She held the Blue Riband speed record for three years. On July 2, 1843, she was wrecked on Devil's Limb Reef near Seal Island, Nova Scotia. Luckily, no lives were lost.

RMS Hibernia

Hibernia made the first trip to New York when Cunard added that city to its schedule in 1848. She was also sold to the Spanish Navy in 1850. She was changed into a frigate called Habanois. This former Cunard ship was lost in 1868.

RMS Cambria

Cambria was built to replace the wrecked Columbia. She held the Blue Riband for the fastest westbound Atlantic trip from July 1845. She kept this record until America won it in June 1848. Cambria ran aground on Cape Cod in April 1846. But she was successfully pulled free.

She was supposed to be replaced by Arabia in 1852. But she was kept when Arabia's sister ship was sold before it was finished. After serving as a troopship in the Crimean War, Cambria briefly returned to the Boston service. This was until Persia was ready. Cambria then went into reserve. She was sometimes rented out to the European and Australian Royal Mail Company. In 1860, Cambria was sold to Italian owners. She served in the Royal Italian Navy until she was scrapped in 1875.