Show Maritime Day Recalls Ships That Pioneered in Trans-Atlantic Trans Traffic By ELMO SCOTT WATSON i l t. t H 9 j 1 L.- L. ids Y Citizens Citizen of New York Gather Oather it at Tb Th Bat Battery to Welcome the Great Western eat at It the End of Her Record Breaking Record Breaking Trip Win Acro th the Atlantic in 1838 From re aC Contemporary a Print Whereas in P Public Resolution Resolution tion 7 approved May 1933 it itis itis itis is stated that on May 22 1819 the steamship The Savannah departed from rom Sayannah Gaon Ga on the first successful transoceanic trans oceanic voyage under steam propulsion thus making a material material ma ma- contribution to the advancement advancement ad ad- ad of ocean transportation transportation tation and Whereas by said resolution the President of the United States is authorized and re requested requested re re- quested annually to issue a proclamation calling catling upon the people of the United States to observe May 22 of each year as asNa Na National ional Maritime Day Now therefore therdore I Franklin FranklinD D D. D Roosevelt President of the United States of oJ America by virtue of the authority vested in me do hereby issue my proclamation proclamation proclamation proc proc- calling upon the people peo pea pie of the United States to observe observe ob ob- ob serve May 22 1933 as s Nation Nation- National al Maritime Day by displaying the flag at their homes or other other oth oth- er or suitable places daces and I hereby hereby here here- by direct th that t government officials of of- display the flag on all government buildings on that day In witness whereof I have hereunto her set my hand a 1 Done D ne in the city of Washington Washington Washington Wash Wash- ington this twentieth day of May in the year of Our Lord nineteen hundred and thirty thirty- three the independence of the United States of America Amer Amer- AmerI I ic ica the one hundred and fifty- fifty seventh ray if A I. I was waa the document which added another 1 red letter day to our 1 if i calendar three years p fro ago alo and gave gao us UI another er occasion for an annual an nual anal nation wide rate cele bration Since that time the observance of Mar Maritime I t I m e day has hn helped make Americans Americana Increasingly Increasing Increasing- ly 11 conscious of their heritage as a ac 1 c seafaring people anI and of the status t of the United States ns III one of the principal maritime nations of the world Although the r recent ent launching of the Queen Mary has hn placed Hi eat cent r Britain the traditional Mistress of or the Seas ahead In the race among t the nations to have the largest 6 fin fin- a 1 e eat t and fastest ocean liners yet th the e fact remains that all of these floating float flat log ing palaces trace back to the prod prod- i 1 i of American Ingenuity as and d American daring more than a century cen jury tury ego ago For the He lie de France Franca ran e the Rex flex the l Europa t the e a and the Queen Mary all Mary all of the them m are lineal descendants of those thole drat it i i crude little steamboats which John Johni i Fitch Robert Hobert Fulton Samuel Morcy Norey William Longstreet Elijah Onus Onus- be bees e v. v l Brans Robert nobert R It n. n Uv i ings Ingston ton John St Stevens vens and James Jamea built and opera operated led In the streams stream of tb the eastern United i States And the captain of a modem modern modern mod mod- em ern n luxury liner who guides Its tons tOOl of or steel across the At Atlantic At lantic ocean In less lesl than a week Is II but following the trail blazed b by a Yankee skipper with bl his too ton ton o-ton boat when he ho made his hll epochal l' yo Toy voy voyage age ace years carl ago and took look three weeks week to do It That man was Capt Moses Rogers nor flog ers era of New of-New New London Coon Conn and we celebrate Maritime da day on lIa May 22 ot of each year lear now because on Ma May 22 1819 1810 his hla ship the Savannah departed departed de do parted from Savannah Ga Oa on the first successful transoceanic voyage oare under steam team propulsion thus makIne making mak mak- log ing a material contribution to the advancement of ocean transports non tion Although Maritime da day honors honorl primarily the achievement of the Savannah Us celebration each year Ear serves ene to recall the names of or other ships which have hare played a part In to Inthe the development of or trana trans Despite the fact that raN opt Moses Rogers had bad shown bown the possibilities pos pOlio of steam team transportation across the ocean other Americans were slow to follow his example Daring seamen leamen though they ther were the they clung to their fast fast sailing sailing clippers clip per pers and packets because they argued argued ar III gued that such uch ships were cheaper i to operate since Ince the steamships steamship's fuel and machinery took up too much precious cargo space pace and that they were safer because of less danger of are and explosions as III was the cue cave on what the tho Indians had bad called the big Ore are canoes canoes The British however saw great possibilities In trans Atlantic team steam navigation and since Ince they did il so much to develop It It Is only fair on Maritime day da to take note of their ships which pioneered In linking link lInk- log ing America and Europe more closely close dOle I ly together torether There Is II a special rea rca reason son Ion for dolor doing this In the case of one which can be regarded somewhat asan ns as an American America ship since she was wal built and operated b by our Canadian cousins That was the wooden paddle pad pad- dle steamer the Royal noat William which made the first crossing of the Atlantic using steam all the wa way The Royal noyal William built boUt at Quebec Quebec Quebec Que Que- bec was launched In April 1831 and towed to Montreal to be fitted with engines developing horse hore power Her cost when read ready for sea lea was Her lIer dimensions were length over oer all feet depth of hold 18 fe feet t 1 breadth over paddle paddle- boxes bOIes 44 H feet She was as originally Intended to pI ply between Montreal and end Quebec and Nova Scotia and the enterprise of building her WilliI was Willi I carried out by a group croup of Quebec Early Earll In August 1833 she left Quebec for Pictou In the Northumberland Northumberland Northum Northum- Northumberland berland strait where she remained a few days dos coaling storing repaIrIng repairIng repair- repair Ing log engines and awaiting gers Eventually on August 17 she steamed out of Pictou harbor for England Her IIer master was John Mc Me- DougalL During the voyage the starboard engine was Will disabled and the vessel sprang a leak After 25 eventful days and nights the Royal nOla William arrived at Ten days day later the vessel Tessel was sold for and chartered to the Portuguese ese government as al a troopship in In 1834 1 the ship was bought b by the Spaniards sent to Gravesend to be converted Into a war steamer and named re-named the Ysabel Segunda Later she to the Spanish coast and on May 5 G 18 1830 1836 In the DI Bay of ofSan ofSan ofSan San Sebastian she earned the distinction distinction dis die Unction of being the first steamer of war to fire are a hostile shot I 1840 18 she was sent to Bordeaux for repairs but was converted Into a hulk Her IIer engines were were transferred to a new ship of the same same ame name which ultimately ultimately ulti ulU- matel sank off orr the Algerian coast durIn during a violent storm Io 1800 After Afler the voyage of or the Royal Boyal William the next nelt Important event In trans Atlantic trans steamship history was the arrival In New York on April 22 22 1838 of the British ship Sirius for which has bas also allo been claimed the honor of being the first boat to c cross oss the Atlantic using only steam for propulsion Although a memorial tablet In the Canadian house of commons commemorates the the feat of the Royal noyal William as os be be- RESIDENT HOOVER S e s 1 JO Ions font 0 ins fool fot long 1100 20 30 knoll hots speed IL HE tLE rDE DE FRANCE Fr nc 44 ten oni 01 no loot long 1150 n 9 rt 21 23 tees hOlt speed ip d dREX RE REX u WI Ions loni 01 US f. f long 1050 p p. p oi 24 U ln fast tl spied x- x EUROPA IG G m ri tons lont lonto 0 o 65 f. f list l long I 2200 passengers 24 n roofs hols lp d LEVIATHAN SU 1 l tons Ion soi hot long 2500 I 00 P 24 snots IP speed Gu Grist 71 lens UM 0 1011 Ins 00 long lo 10 2500 p M 12 U 0 spud I How the Competition to Build the Largest Finest and Fastest Ocean m Liners Linen Has lias Gone Forward During Recent tent Years YeuL and Halifax merchants assisted 6 by bya a grant Irant of from the government govern lovern- government ment of Lower Canada Amon Among I the shareholders appear the names names amel of three Cunard brothers one of ot whom later founded the present Cunard line After three moderately successful voyages In 1831 to Halifax and Intermediate intermediate In In- ports port she laid up for the winter In 1832 owing to a cholera epidemic she made only one voyage and nd her ber owners became bankrupt In the spring of 1833 a new company company com com- pany paol was Will formed d which purchased the vessel and for a time used herfor her tier herfor for towing Rn and local excursions Then In June 1833 she he sailed on a trip to Boston Doston where she be was wal en en- received as II being the first steamship flying the Union Jack to enter a United States Stales port On her return to Quebec her owners own ownen ers erl decided to send lend her ber to England for sale It was on this voyage that she made history demonstrating to the world the feasibility of navigating I tag ing the oceans oceana b by means mean of steam steam- I propelled vessels vessel notwithstanding the declaration of or critics that they might as well 11 talk of making a voyn voy voy- err n from Ol 0 hw in to th Ing tug the first to use steam all an the wa way some historians assert that the Royal William like the Savannah Savan Satan i nah nab nab frequently resorted to sails The Sirius had bad left Liverpool on March 23 28 and abd put out for Queenstown Queens Queen town Ireland where after refueling she aile set let out for America on April 4 t. Hardly had bad she quit Queenstown when her crew mutinied Any attempt attempt at at- tempt to cross the Atlantic by steam alone was plain suicide so 0 the sailors sail lall- ors Orl declared and the they refused to go co ahead But Dut the mutiny was wll put down and the vessel continued on her bu way wa The Sirius arrived off oft Sandy Hook In Inthe the late afternoon of ot April 22 and ran upon a reef reer She bad had to watt walt forthe for forthe the Incoming tide to lift her from this re reef red f and It was as not until ten o'clock at night that she reached the Battery Even at that late hour boor everybody who was a able to do so 10 hurried to the waterfront to catch a glimpse rUmple of the steamship that bad had made the trip across across' the ocean In the record time of 20 26 days Sailors and other denizens of ot the waterfront built huge huce pitch fires on 00 the beach near Jones Jones' Wharf where here the was II tied up so 10 that the populace might see her Her Der arrival was the signal for tor Informal parades and drinking sprees of a kind never before seen leen In the city But Dut the welcome given to the Sirius was wu as u nothing compared to that which greeted another ship when it arrived d In New York the very erT next nest day da April 21 1838 That was the famous Great Western destined destined des des- destined tined to become the first steamer tomake to tomake tomake make regular trips across the At At- Atlantic i lantic lantie and thus inaugurate a new i iera era In ocean transportation But Dut the tho thin thing which aroused the wildest enthusiasm en en- among the citizenry of New York on that April day dal 98 08 years yeara ago ego was the fact that the Great Western had arrived only 17 11 hours behind the SIrius despite the fact that she left England 11 days daYI after her rival That meant she ahe had bad made the crossing In 15 days I Moreover It had been a non non stop stop crossing and the Ule city staged much moch the same kind of celebration which It t was to put on nearly a hundred bondred years later In welcoming another stop non-stop trip across the Atlantic James Jamea Hosken R. R N N. commander commander commander com com- mander of the Great Western was the Colonel Lindbergh of his day Honors were showered upon him He Jle and his hla officers were wined and dined with an extravagance never before known In the history of ot NewYork New York Guards had to be stationed around both the SirIus and the Great Western to keep souvenir hunters from tearing them to pieces There were pitched battles between the police and the revellers who stormed the quays In their attempts to get near the tho vessels The SIrius ma may have hove been a wonder wonder wonder won won- der to behold with her length of feet beam of 25 feet tonnage of or and speed of ICO knots a da day But Dut the Great Western was a mar mar- vel tel She was the largest and fastest thing afloat She was feet long had a beam ot or rs 58 feet and a tonnage tonnage tonnage ton ton- nage of 1340 Her lIer two engines were capable of ot furnishing horse power pow POW- power er Indicated and she traveled at the terrific c rate of 2 10 knots a day Before Defore the Sirius returned to England Eng land she advertised her passage rates In the New York newspapers For a cabin the they were IncludIng Including ing lug provisions and wine and for second cabin 80 with provisions and wine James Gordon Den Bennett Ett went to Europe aboard the SirIus on her return trip a journey of which he was always proud When the Great Western started for England on Ma May 7 1 New York gave her nearly as great a send send off off as DI Its welcome had hod been For every everyone everyone everyone one realized that this marked the beginning of ot a new epoch In maritime maritime mari marl time history Two years later the Great Britain the first Iron ocean liner and the first steamer driven by bya a screw propeller across the ocean was launched In England In 1840 also the Cunard line obtained the backing of the British government In the form of or a profitable mall maU contract contract contract con con- tract and In that year the Cunard ship slip first of a line of splendid s ships which have since plied piled the Atlantic arrived In Boston Dos Bos ton too there to be greeted by much the same enthusiasm as had bad greeted the Great Western In New York D By 1850 the Cunard steamers had bad taken the best passenger trade away from the sailing ships and Americans Ameri Amerl- cans cane realized that the they must roust also resort to steam It If they were WE're to bold hold their own with the British Their first steamers built for transAtlantic trans Atlan tic service proved to be too slow to compete with the English lines but In the fifties the famous American Collins line began operating a fleet of swift luxurious steamships which outstripped their British rivals and luc succeeded ded In recovering a large part of the Atlantic pa passenger trade The modern era of ot ocean liners dates datel from 1875 when experiments proved that steel hulls bulls were stronger strong er lighter and more buoyant than Iron Again the Cunard line pioneered pioneered pio plo with the the first steel hulled trans Atlantic liner which was built In 1880 The next nut Innovation was the twin twin screw screw vessels vessels ves ves- sels sell having two propellers and two sets lets of machinery The City of or New York put Into service In 1882 was the first of or this type to cross the At At- lantic The adoption of the twin screw crew made sails obsolete and the modem modern era of trans Atlantic travel be titian fan C e warts f r Union Ulea |