SS City of Brussels
Encyclopedia

City of Brussels was a British passenger liner that set the record for the fastest Atlantic eastbound voyage in 1869, becoming the first record breaker driven by a screw. Built by Tod and Macgregor, she served the Inman Line
Inman Line
The Inman Line which operated from 1850 until its 1893 absorption into American Line, was one of the three largest 19th century British passenger shipping companies on the North Atlantic, along with the White Star Line and Cunard Line...

 until 1883 when she sank with the loss of ten people after a collision while entering the Mersey
Mersey
Mersey may refer to:* River Mersey, in northwest England* Mersea Island, off the coast of Essex in England * Mersey River in the Australian state* Electoral division of Mersey in the state of Tasmania, Australian...

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Development and design

In 1866, Inman commissioned City of Paris
SS City of Paris (1866)
City of Paris was a British passenger liner operated by the Inman Line that established that a ship driven by a screw could match the speed of the paddlers on the Atlantic crossing...

, which was the equal of the best steamers in the 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...

 express mail fleet. The next year, responsibility for mail contracts
Royal Mail Ship
Royal Mail Ship , usually seen in its abbreviated form RMS, a designation which dates back to 1840, is the ship prefix used for seagoing vessels that carry mail under contract by Royal Mail...

 was transferred from the Admirality to the Post Office and opened for bid. Inman was awarded one of the three weekly New York mail services and the fortnightly route to Halifax, Nova Scotia formerly held by Cunard. These contracts enabled Inman to continuing building its own fleet of express liners.

City of Brussels was designed as the partner for City of Paris, and as built carried 200 first class and 600 steerage. She had a ratio of length to beams of 9.5:1, making her almost the first "long boat". Another innovation was her steam steering gear, which was the first installed on a liner after the Great Eastern
SS Great Eastern
SS Great Eastern was an iron sailing steam ship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and built by J. Scott Russell & Co. at Millwall on the River Thames, London. She was by far the largest ship ever built at the time of her 1858 launch, and had the capacity to carry 4,000 passengers around the...

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Service history

In her first year of service, City of Brussels took the eastbound record with a New York - Queenstown passage of 7 days, 20 hours, 33 minutes (14.74 knots). However, in 1870 she demonstrated the problem with single screw liners of this power when she lost her propeller and returned to Queenstown by sail.

Three years after she was commissioned, City of Brussels returned to the ship yard for an extra deck and other modifications to bring her into line with the innovative ships built for the new White Star Line
White Star Line
The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company or White Star Line of Boston Packets, more commonly known as the White Star Line, was a prominent British shipping company, today most famous for its ill-fated vessel, the RMS Titanic, and the World War I loss of Titanics sister ship Britannic...

. She emerged with a revised tonnage of 3750. In 1876, she was re-engined with compounds that reduced her coal consumption from 110 tons per day to 65 tons. At this time she received a second funnel. However, these modifications did not resolve the problem with her shaft. On April 23, 1877 her shaft broke, and she again returned to port under sail after being posted as overdue.

On January 7, 1883, City of Brussels found herself in heavy fog entering the Mersey
Mersey
Mersey may refer to:* River Mersey, in northwest England* Mersea Island, off the coast of Essex in England * Mersey River in the Australian state* Electoral division of Mersey in the state of Tasmania, Australian...

after dropping off passengers at Queenstown on her return from New York. Her captain ordered the ship to stop until the weather cleared. The Kirby Hall, a new cargo ship being delivered with a minimum crew, proceeded without heeding the danger, and struck City of Brussels, almost cutting her in two. City of Brussels sank within 20 minutes with a loss of ten.

In 1984, the wreck of the City of Brussels was found by Wirral Sub-Aqua Club at 24 metres of water, just off the Mersey Bar. The bell from the wreck was brought up that day, although its whereabouts are presently unknown.
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