SS Royal William

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The SS Royal William
The SS Royal William

SS Royal William was a Canadian steamship that achieved the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean to be made almost entirely under steam power, using sails only during periods of boiler maintenance.

She was commissioned by brewer John Molson and a group of investors from various colonies in British North America[citation needed], built in Cape Blanc, Quebec by John Saxton Campbell and Black[1] and was launched on 27 April 1831 by Lady and Lord Aylmer at Cape Cove, Quebec.[2][1] The steam engines were made and installed in Montreal. She made several trips between Quebec and the Atlantic colonies in 1831, but travel became restricted because of the cholera epidemic in 1832.[2] The owners lost some £16,000 on the venture.[1]

Her owners decided to sail her to Europe and find a buyer. She departed from Pictou, Nova Scotia on 18 August 1833 with seven passengers, a small amount of freight and a load of coal and arrived at Gravesend on the River Thames after a 25-day passage. Royal William was eventually sold to the Spanish Navy where she served for many years and earned the distinction of being the first steamship to fire a shot in anchor during a minor Spanish rebellion. In the town of Pictou there is now a Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps named after this vessel. One of Royal William's co-owners was Samuel Cunard a merchant from Halifax Nova Scotia who drew important lessons from the ship which he applied when he founded the Cunard Steamship Company a few years later.

  1. ^ a b c Blakeley, Phyllis R., Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online: CUNARD, Sir SAMUEL [link accessed 2007-04-01]
  2. ^ a b Nova Scotia Museum (2005-08-18). News Release: Model of SS Royal William at the Maritime Museum. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-02-17.


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