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| Hogarth: Chorus of Singers |
| Shelwin.com |
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| GSSSCo. ships |
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GENERAL
SCREW STEAM ARGO – iscs 1815 Gt 1853 Blackwall, London
CALCUTTA – iscs 1852gt 1854 Blackwall, London
'In a hurricane, off
the Island of Mauritus' Ships details and fleet
list taken from |
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HYDASPES - 2243 gt 1852 Blackwall, London |
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| 1852 built by C.J. Mare & Co., of
Blackwall, London 1855 rebuilt 2,243gt 1857 sold to European & American Steam Shipping Company not renamed 1861 sold to East India & London Shipping Co., London not renamed 1868 sold to Park Bros and converted into a sailing ship 1880 sunk in collision in the English Channel. |
| Harbinger 1847 848
tons Hellespont 1849 500 tons Indiana 1852 1850 tons Mauritius 1852 1850 tons Propontis 1849 500 tons
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The General Screw Steam Shipping Company was a British company established in 1848 by James Laming, who had for about 30 years owned sailing ships travelling between England and the Netherlands. HistoryIn late 1849 the
company began a service from
Liverpool to
Gibraltar,
Malta and
Constantinople, using its new iron screw steamer the 500 ton
Bosphorus. The similarly sized ships Hellespont and Propontis
joined the Bosphorus on the service as soon as they were completed. In 1850 the company secured the contract to carry the monthly mail between Plymouth and Cape Town for £30,000 a year. The Bosphorus initiated the service in December 1850 and reached Cape Town after a 40 day voyage, 5 days more than the period specified in the contract. Following this,
orders were placed with
C.J. Mare and Company of
Blackwall,
London (builders of the earlier vessels) for the new ships Queen of
the South, Lady Jocelyn, Indiana, Calcutta,
Mauritius and Hydaspes. In May 1852 an
additional mail contract was secured, for the company to provide a monthly
service between England and
Madras and
Calcutta, via
Cape St. Vincent,
Ascension Island,
St. Helena,
Cape Town, Mauritius and
Ceylon. The company also initiated a mail service between Cape Town and Durban, which had previously been either overland service which generally took about 3 weeks or carried by sailing ships. This service was undertaken by the Sir Robert Peel.[1] Australian serviceThe
Australian Royal Mail Steam Navigation Company
began a mail service between England and Australia in June 1852 which proved
so unreliable that their contract was withdrawn in April 1853, whereupon the
General Screw Company (which had already despatched two steamships to
Australia earlier in the year) stepped in with a regular service. Their new
steamer, the 1800 ton
Argo, sailed from
Southampton on
May 8,
1853[2]
and reached Melbourne in 64 days, with one stop en route at Cape St.
Vincent. She returned via
Cape Horn and received considerable acclaim as the first steamer to
circumnavigate the globe. The company's Indian service had been a failure due to various causes, including mechanical problems causing steamers to break down, unexpected high costs and coal consumption, and disappointing passenger and cargo results. Therefore the service was withdrawn, the last sailing taking place on March 15, 1854. Despite securing a short-term mail contract, the Australian service was withdrawn as well, the Argo sailing from Southampton on October 4 1854 on the last voyage. The company chartered its new and now superfluous ships Golden Fleece, Jason and The Prince to the government to carry troops to the Mediterranean. American serviceIn March 1854 the Indiana inaugurated a new service for the company, from Le Havre and Southampton to New York under the management of Croskey and Company, agents for the American-owned Ocean Navigation Company which was then operating a monthly service between New York, Southampton and Le Havre. It was intended that Indiana and Mauritius should sail monthly between Le Havre, Southampton and New York, alternating with the American steamers to provide a combined weekly service from Southampton.
Crimean WarAll the company's ships were chartered as troop transports during the Crimean War from 1854 - 1855; three were lost to various causes. The Prince was destroyed during a hurricane in November 1854, the Mauritius was badly damaged due to fire while in drydock at Southampton in February 1855, and the Croesus was destroyed by fire in April of the same year. Following the end of the war, the company sold its entire fleet to the European and American Steam Shipping Company in 1857.
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