SS Royal William

Type

Paddle Steamer

Period

19th Century

Nation

Canada

Overview: SS Royal William was a Canadian side-wheel paddle steamship built at Quebec, often credited as the first ship to cross the Atlantic almost entirely under steam power, completing the voyage in 1833. She was, for a time, the largest passenger ship in the world, a landmark vessel in the transition from sail to steam. Specifications: The ship was 1,370 tons, 160 feet long with a 44-foot beam and a draught of about 17¾ feet, rigged as a three-masted schooner with auxiliary sail in addition to her paddle wheels and steam engine. She was designed by the young naval architect James Goudie and built of wood by George Black and John Saxton Campbell at Cape Blanc/Cape Cove, Quebec, with her steam engines manufactured and installed in Montreal. Service History: Commissioned by a group of investors including brewer John Molson and future Cunard Line founder Samuel Cunard, she ran mail and passenger routes between Quebec and the Atlantic colonies starting in 1831, though the 1832 cholera epidemic and maintenance disputes hurt her commercial prospects. In August 1833 she departed Pictou, Nova Scotia, and reached Gravesend, England after a 25-day crossing largely under steam, a feat that helped cement her historical reputation. Unable to turn a profit for her owners, she was sold to the Spanish Navy in 1834, renamed Isabel II (Isabella Segunda), and went on to become the first steam warship to fire in anger, at Zarauz in 1839 during the First Carlist War. Notable Facts: After repairs in Bordeaux in 1840 revealed her hull to be rotten, she was converted into a hulk; she was ultimately driven ashore and wrecked in a storm at Algeciras Bay on 8 January 1860. Samuel Cunard, one of her original co-owners, drew lessons from the Royal William venture that influenced his founding of the Cunard Steamship Company shortly afterward.