RMS Persia
Encyclopedia
Persia was a British passenger liner operated by the Cunard Line
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...
that won the 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...
in 1856 for the fastest westbound transatlantic voyage. She was the first Atlantic record breaker constructed of iron and was the largest ship in the world at the time of her launch. However, the inefficiencies of paddle wheel
Paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...
propulsion rendered Persia obsolete and she was taken out of service in 1868 after only twelve years. Attempts to convert Persia to sail were unsuccessful and the former pride of the British merchant marine was scrapped in 1872.
Development and design
As a result of competition from the Collins LineCollins Line
The Collins Line is the common name for the American shipping company started by Israel Collins and then built up by his son Edward Knight Collins...
, Cunard ordered the Arabia in 1852 to retake the Atlantic records. Arabia crammed more powerful engines into a smaller ship than the Collins speedsters, and touched 15 knots on trials. However, she proved too powerful for her wooden construction and was unable to win the records. Cunard realized that in the future, new construction must include an iron hull.
For Persia, 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...
and Sons of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
designed an iron ship that was 16% larger than the wooden Collins liners and 50% larger than Cunard's Arabia. Her two-cylinder side-lever engine
Marine steam engine
A marine steam engine is a reciprocating steam engine that is used to power a ship or boat. Steam turbines and diesel engines largely replaced reciprocating steam engines in marine applications during the 20th century, so this article describes the more common types of marine steam engine in use...
produced 3600 hp and consumed 145 long tons (147.3 t) of coal per day. Persia's launch in July 1855 was a national event and she touched 17 knots (33.3 km/h) on her trials, although her normal service speed was limited to 13 knots (25.5 km/h) because of her high fuel consumption. She carried 250 first class and 50 second class passengers.
Service history
On her maiden voyage in 1856, Persia struck an icebergIceberg
An iceberg is a large piece of ice from freshwater that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice...
, but was saved by her clipper bow and the stoutness of her construction. In April, she took the Atlantic speed records in both directions with an eastbound voyage of 9 days, 10 hours, 22 minutes (13.46 knots (26.4 km/h)) and a westbound voyage of 9 days, 16 hours, 16 minutes (13.11 knots (25.7 km/h)). She held both records until 1863 when Cunard commissioned the Scotia
RMS Scotia
Scotia was a British passenger liner operated by the Cunard Line that won the Blue Riband in 1863 for the fastest westbound transatlantic voyage. She was the last ocean going paddle steamer and as late as 1874 she made Cunard's second fastest voyage. Laid up in 1876, Scotia was converted to a...
, the last paddle wheel
Paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...
Atlantic record holder. Scotia was originally intended to be Persia's sister, but was delayed when the Collins Line collapsed. When Scotia was finally built, she was a larger edition of Persia with an extra deck and power.
In 1861, during the Trent incident, Persia and several other liners were chartered to rush troops to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. She was the only ship to reach Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
before ice closed the St. Lawrence River. The next year, Cunard commissioned the China, its first mail liner with screw propulsion
Propeller
A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...
. She proved substantially more profitable than Cunard's mail paddle steamers and the firm quickly ordered two additional screw mail ships to retire the last wooden paddle steamers on the New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
express route.
Persia remained paired with Scotia on the New York route until 1867 when Cunard commissioned the Russia, the first screw Cunarder that could match Scotia's speed. Because of her fuel consumption, Persia was not a good fit for the other Cunard services and was laid up in 1868. Her engines were removed and she was sold to MacArthur and Wilson of Glasgow for conversion to sail. However, the conversion didn't take place and Persia was sold for scrap in 1872.