Coal, Steam and Ships
Engineering, Enterprise and Empire on the Nineteenth-Century Seas

An innovative account of the trials and tribulations of first-generation Victorian mail steamship lines, their passengers and the public.

Crosbie Smith (Author)

9781107196728, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 5 July 2018

468 pages, 40 b/w illus. 6 tables
23.5 x 15.9 x 2.6 cm, 0.89 kg

'Crosbie Smith's latest book is the culmination of his long train of work on the subject of energy in the British culture … The index is as meticulous as the research; sixty-two pages of extensive cross-referencing ensure that the reader will never be lost.' Larrie D. Ferreiro, Technology and Culture

Crosbie Smith explores the trials and tribulations of first-generation Victorian mail steamship lines, their passengers, proprietors and the public. Eyewitness accounts show in rich detail how these enterprises engineered their ships, constructed empire-wide systems of steam navigation and won or lost public confidence in the process. Controlling recalcitrant elements within and around steamship systems, however, presented constant challenges to company managers as they attempted to build trust and confidence. Managers thus wrestled to control shipbuilding and marine engine-making, coal consumption, quality and supply, shipboard discipline, religious readings, relations with the Admiralty and government, anxious proprietors, and the media - especially following a disaster or accident. Emphasizing interconnections between maritime history, the history of engineering and Victorian culture, Smith's innovative history of early ocean steamships reveals the fraught uncertainties of Victorian life on the seas.

Introduction: coal, steam and ships
Part I. North Atlantic Steam: 1. 'Trust in the promises of God': the moral and spiritual credibility of steam navigation
2. 'The character of fine workmanship': making Clydeside's marine engineering reputation
3. 'A swarm of projectors': promises of North Atlantic steam navigation
4. 'This noble vessel': realizing the promises of transatlantic steam
5. 'Giving rich promise of serious intentions': Mr Cunard's line of steamers
6. 'Proprietor of the Atlantic Ocean': politics and patronage on the seas
Part II. Westward for Panama: 7. 'Mail-coaches of the ocean': the West India Company project
8. 'A most perilous enterprise': Royal Mail Steam Packet's vulnerabilities
9. 'In highly creditable order': RMSP's new board of management in action
10. 'She was one mass of fire': reading the maiden voyage of the Royal Mail Steamer Amazon
11. 'An uncompromising adherence to punctuality': Pacific Steam from Valparaiso to Panama
Part III. Eastward for India and China: 12. 'Built on a large, commodious and powerful scale': forging P&O's Eastern Mail Steamship system
13. 'So great a cloud of obloquy and mistrust': locking and unlocking the secrets of a maritime empire
14. 'A more desirable result in the performance of the vessel': P&O's mail steamers in action
Part IV. Engineering an Oceanic Economy: 15. 'She would be perfectly stable and strong': rival systems of engineering economy
16. 'The engines were imperfect': Pacific Steam's coal economy
17. 'A constant succession of unfathomable and costly experiments': making credible the marine compound engine
18. 'The modern Clyde ships': economy and power for ocean steam navigation
Epilogue: 'The sovereignty of the seas' – the maritime system builders.

Subject Areas: Shipbuilding technology, engineering & trades [TRL], History of engineering & technology [TBX], History of science [PDX], Colonialism & imperialism [HBTQ], Maritime history [HBTM], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], British & Irish history [HBJD1]