The British and American Steam Navigation Company was a pre-Cunard

Cunard Line

Cunard Line is a British-American owned shipping company based at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operated by Carnival UK. It has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic for over a century...

 steamship line that operated a regular transatlantic service from 1839 to 1841. Before its first purpose-built Atlantic liner, the British Queen

SS British Queen

British Queen was a British passenger liner that was the second steamship completed for the transatlantic route when she was commissioned in 1839. She was named in honor of Queen Victoria and owned by the British and American Steam Navigation Company...

 was completed, British and American chartered the Sirius

SS Sirius (1837)

The Sirius was a side-wheel wooden-hulled steamship built in 1837 for the London-Cork route operated by the St George Steam Packet Company. The next year, she opened transatlantic steam passenger service when she was chartered for two voyages by the British and American Steam Navigation Company...

 for two voyages in 1838 to beat the Great Western Steamship Company

Great Western Steamship Company

The Great Western Steam Ship Company operated the first regular transatlantic steamer service from 1838 until 1846. Related to the Great Western Railway, the company's directors expected their new enterprise to achieve the position that was ultimately secured by the Cunard Line...

 into service. B & A's regular liners were larger than their rivals, but were underpowered. The company collapsed when its second vessel, the President

SS President

SS President was a British passenger liner that was the largest ship in the world when she was commissioned in 1840, and the first steamship to founder on the transatlantic run when she was lost at sea with all 136 on board in March 1841....

 was lost in 1841.

History

British and American was founded by an American lawyer, Junius Smith (1780-1853) who is often considered the Father of the Atlantic Liner. Smith had been a merchant in London for 30 years when in 1832 he became stuck on a sailing packet to New York for 54 days. The normal westbound passage was 40 days. Before he returned to London, he published the idea of building a line of transatlantic steamships in a November 1832 issue of the American Rail Road Journal.

His plan called for a four-ship London-New York service with fortnightly departures in each direction. Two of the ships were to be owned by an American company, and the other two by a sister British firm. He received no support for several years and the American company never materialized. Finally the venture gained credibility when Scottish shipbuilder, Macgregor Laird

Macgregor Laird

Macgregor Laird was a Scottish merchant pioneer of British trade on the River Niger.Laird was born at Greenock, the younger son of William Laird, founder of the Birkenhead firm of shipbuilders of that name...

 became an investor. A new prospectus was published in The Times in November 1835.

The design for the company's first unit, the British Queen was finished after the details of the Great Western's first ship became known. Rather than build the four 1,200 GRT units as planned in the prospectus, British and American decided to make its first ship substantially bigger. The Scottish engineer, Robert Napier

Robert Napier (engineer)

Robert Napier was a Scottish engineer, and is often called "The Father of Clyde Shipbuilding."-Early life:Robert Napier was born in Dumbarton at the height of the Industrial Revolution, to James and Jean Napier...

 was originally designated to build the British Queen's engine, but the contract was awarded to another firm that underbid Napier's price. Unfortunately, this other firm collapsed and Napier was finally given the contract. The delay cost British and American a critical 18 months while work on the Great Western continued. Smith accused Napier of dragging his feet while he completed other contracts for the British and Russian Governments. The two had a falling out and Napier became the major early backer of Cunard.
When Great Western scheduled its initial sailing, Laird suggested that British and American charter the Irish Sea steamer Sirius from the St. George Steam Packet Company for two voyages to beat Great Western. While the Sirius left Cork

Cork (city)

Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...

, Ireland four days before the Great Western departed Avonmouth

Avonmouth

Avonmouth is a port and suburb of Bristol, England, located on the Severn Estuary, at the mouth of the River Avon.The council ward of Avonmouth also includes Shirehampton and the western end of Lawrence Weston.- Geography :...

, Great Western still came within a day of overtaking Sirius to New York. To complete the voyage, Sirius was forced to burn spars when coal ran low. Because British and American did not begin its regular service until the following year, the Great Western Steam Ship Company is considered the first regular transatlantic steamship line.

In 1839, the British Queen finally entered service and was roomier and more comfortable than her rivals. The company earned a 5.5% dividend that year. British and American immediately ordered a consort, the President, which was double the size of Cunard's Britannia of the same year. From the beginning, the President departed from Liverpool, instead of London. In 1841, both ships worked from Liverpool, with one steamer scheduled to depart on the 10th of each month.

In service, the British Queen and later the President proved underpowered and too lightly built for the Atlantic. Power became even more inadequate when the patented feathering paddles had to be removed from both units because British American did not have the consent of the patent holder. The President cleared New York on March 1841 and was seen the next day struggling in a gale. Most sources conclude that her lack of power contributed to her loss with all hands. The company collapsed and the remaining ship was sold to the Belgian Government.

British and American fleet

List sourced from

Ship	Built	In service for B & A	Type	Tonnage	Notes
Sirius SS Sirius (1837) The Sirius was a side-wheel wooden-hulled steamship built in 1837 for the London-Cork route operated by the St George Steam Packet Company. The next year, she opened transatlantic steam passenger service when she was chartered for two voyages by the British and American Steam Navigation Company...	1837	1838	wood-paddler	700 GRT	Blue Riband Blue Riband The Blue Riband is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. Under the unwritten rules, the record is based on average speed... , chartered from St. George Steam Packet Company for two voyages
British Queen SS British Queen British Queen was a British passenger liner that was the second steamship completed for the transatlantic route when she was commissioned in 1839. She was named in honor of Queen Victoria and owned by the British and American Steam Navigation Company...	1839	1839-1841	wood-paddler	1,850 GRT	sold to Belgian Government 1841
President SS President SS President was a British passenger liner that was the largest ship in the world when she was commissioned in 1840, and the first steamship to founder on the transatlantic run when she was lost at sea with all 136 on board in March 1841....	1840	1840-41	wood-paddler	2,350 GRT	lost with and all hands 1841