RMS City of Chester

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City of chester.jpg
History
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
Name: RMS City of Chester
Owner: Inman Line house flag.svg Inman Line
Route: Liverpool–New York
Builder: Caird & Company, Greenock, Scotland
Yard number: 171 [1]
Launched: 29 March 1873
In service: 10 July 1873
Out of service: February 1893
Fate:
General characteristics [2]
Tonnage: 4,566  GRT
Length: 444 ft 6 in (135.48 m)
Beam: 44 ft 2 in (13.46 m)
Depth: 34 ft 7 in (10.54 m)
Propulsion:
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Speed: 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Capacity: 1,515 passengers

RMS City of Chester was a British passenger steamship that sailed on the transatlantic route from 1873 to 1898.

Steamboat Smaller than a steamship; boat in which the primary method of marine propulsion is steam power

A steamboat is a boat that is propelled primarily by steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S or PS, however these designations are most often used for steamships.

The ship was built by Caird & Company of Greenock for the Inman Line. At 4,566 tons she became the largest passenger ship afloat when launched on 29 March 1873 – a title she held until the 5,000-ton Britannic was launched in February 1874. Propulsion was by a 2-cylinder compound steam engine with nominal 850 horsepower, which drove a single 21-foot (6.4 m) diameter screw, and she was also ship-rigged with three masts. On sea trials, sailing from the Clyde to the Mersey, she made over 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). [2]

Caird & Company former Scottish shipbuilding and engineering firm

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.

Greenock town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in Scotland

Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in Scotland and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It forms part of a contiguous urban area with Gourock to the west and Port Glasgow to the east.

Inman Line 19th-century British passenger shipping company

The Inman 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. Founded in 1850, it was absorbed in 1893 into American Line. The firm's formal name for much of its history was the Liverpool, Philadelphia and New York Steamship Company, but it was also variously known as the Liverpool and Philadelphia Steamship Company, as Inman Steamship Company, Limited, and, in the last few years before absorption, as the Inman and International Steamship Company.

The ship was 444 feet long and 44 feet in the beam, and could accommodate over 1,500 passengers; 125 in 1st class, 80 in second class, and 1,310 in steerage. The first-class passengers enjoyed luxurious facilities; a walnut-panelled saloon with piano and library, a smoking room, and barber-shop. There was also a "Ladies Boudoir", and separate Ladies and Gentlemen's bath-rooms with marble sea-water baths. Forward, the steerage passengers slept in bunks. [2]

Steerage is the lower deck of a ship, where the cargo is stored above the closed hold. In the late 19th and early 20th century, steamship steerage decks were used to provide the lowest cost and lowest class of travel, such as for European immigrants to North America and Chinese emigrants. With limited privacy and security, inadequate sanitary conditions, and poor food, steerage was often decried as inhumane, and was eventually replaced on ocean liners with "third class" cabins.

Panelling

Panelling is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials.

Smoking room room which is specifically provided and furnished for smoking

A smoking room is a room which is specifically provided and furnished for smoking, generally in buildings where smoking is otherwise prohibited.

The ship was employed on the Liverpool–Queenstown–New York route, making her maiden voyage on 10 July 1873. In February 1893 the Inman Line was taken over by the American Line and the ship was renamed Chester, making her first voyage under her new owners from New York to Southampton on 4 March 1893. [2]

Liverpool City and Metropolitan borough in England

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in North West England, with an estimated population of 491,500. Its metropolitan area is the fifth-largest in the UK, with a population of 2.24 million in 2011. The local authority is Liverpool City Council, the most populous local government district in the metropolitan county of Merseyside and the largest in the Liverpool City Region.

Cobh Town in Munster, Ireland

Cobh, known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a tourist seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour and is home to Ireland's only dedicated cruise terminal. Tourism in the area draws on the maritime and emigration legacy of the town. It was associated with the RMS Titanic, which was built in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

New York City Largest city in the United States

The City of New York, usually called either New York City (NYC) or simply New York (NY), is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2018 population of 8,398,748 distributed over a land area of about 302.6 square miles (784 km2), New York is also the most densely populated major city in the United States. Located at the southern tip of the state of New York, the city is the center of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass and one of the world's most populous megacities, with an estimated 20,320,876 people in its 2017 Metropolitan Statistical Area and 23,876,155 residents in its Combined Statistical Area. A global power city, New York City has been described as the cultural, financial, and media capital of the world, and exerts a significant impact upon commerce, entertainment, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, fashion, and sports. The city's fast pace has inspired the term New York minute. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy.

In 1898 she was sold to the United States Government, and renamed Sedgwick, serving as a U.S. Army transport ship during the Spanish–American War. [2] In early March 1900, the Secretary of War Elihu Root sailed aboard the Sedgwick to Havana for discussions with the Military Governor of Cuba, General Leonard Wood. [3]

Spanish–American War Conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States

The Spanish–American War was an armed conflict between Spain and the United States in 1898. Hostilities began in the aftermath of the internal explosion of USS Maine in Havana harbor in Cuba, leading to U.S. intervention in the Cuban War of Independence. The war led to emergence of U.S. predominance in the Caribbean region, and resulted in U.S. acquisition of Spain's Pacific possessions. That led to U.S. involvement in the Philippine Revolution and ultimately in the Philippine–American War.

United States Secretary of War

The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation between 1781 and 1789. Benjamin Lincoln and later Henry Knox held the position. When Washington was inaugurated as the first president under the Constitution, he appointed Knox to continue serving as Secretary of War.

Elihu Root American politician

Elihu Root was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the Secretary of State under President Theodore Roosevelt and as Secretary of War under Roosevelt and President William McKinley. He moved frequently between high-level appointed government positions in Washington, D.C. and private-sector legal practice in New York City. For that reason, he is sometimes considered to be the prototype of the 20th century political "wise man," advising presidents on a range of foreign and domestic issues. He was elected by the state legislature as a U.S. Senator from New York and served one term, 1909–1915. Root was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1912.

In 1903 she was sold to an Italian shipping company and first renamed Arizona, then in 1906 Napoletano, before finally being scrapped in Italy in 1907. [2]

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References

  1. ↑ "SS City of Chester". Clyde-built Ship Database . 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "City of Chester, Inman Line". norwayheritage.com. 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  3. ↑ Strait, N. A. (1903). "Timeline of Spanish–American War". genealogytrails.com. Retrieved 25 October 2012.


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