British Queen

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British Queen

1862 - 1899

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Gross Tonnage - 772

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Dimensions - 59.43 x 8.84m

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Number of funnels - 1

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Number of masts - 3

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Construction - Iron

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Propulsion - Single screw

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Engines - Geared, two

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Service speed - 9 knots

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Builder - William Deny & Bros., Dumbarton ( engines Caird & Co., Greenock )

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Passenger accommodation - 71 1st Class, 166 3rd Class

While the British Queen was still on the stocks Charles MacIver chartered it for 12 months in order to test trading prospects in the Mediterranean. MacIver gave Burns and Cunard ( the other two partners in the company ) the option of joining him in this venture, which they first refused but later accepted when the British Queen was purchased outright in 1851. It does not appear to have come to Liverpool until April of that year, when it was advertised to sail from the Coburg Dock to the Levant and Constantinople.
In 1854 it served as a Crimean War transport. On 20 April 1862 it made its first trans-atlantic crossing from Liverpool to New York via Halifax. It was used to replace the Karnak, which was wrecked on the Cunard feeder service. It was soon displaced from the Mediterranean trade by larger ships transferred from the trans-atlantic trade such as the Hecla. From 1863 onwards it ran the Liverpool-Havre route. It was fitted with compound engines by J.Jack & Co., Liverpool in 1878. It was sold in 1898 and then scrapped at Preston in 1899.