The Woolwich Steam Packet Company (later London Steamboat Company), operated between 1834 and 1888 and offered steamer services from central

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

and later to

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

and

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. One of its ships, the sank after a collision near Woolwich with the loss of almost 700 lives in the greatest disaster in the history of British coastal cruising.

History

The company was established in 1834Journal of the Society of Arts and of the Institutions in Union. 1860 with services from central

and along the coasts along the

Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salini ...

. These were later extended to

and southern

; subsequently a

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

packet service which inaugurated calls at Clacton in 1871. The company amalgamated with several smaller concerns, including the Watermen's Steam Packet Company, in 1876 to form the London Steamboat Company, which was the dominant force in the Thames estuary excursion business at that time. 1878 saw the greatest disaster in the history of British coastal cruising when sank after a collision near Woolwich with the loss of almost 700 lives. The

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

and Channel Steamship Co are understood to have been a closely associated company who sold their two steamers ''Vale of Clwyd'' and ''Glen Rosa'' to the London Steamboat Co in 1883. The company struggled financially and was put up for sale at the end of 1884, becoming the River Thames Steamboat Company, which operated for three years. Their vessels were taken over by the Victoria Steamboat Association in time for the 1888 season.

Main Excursion Vessels

References

{{Reflist Defunct shipping companies of the United Kingdom Ferry companies of England Packet (sea transport)