''Persia'' was a British passenger liner operated by the

Cunard Line Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, ...

that won the

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 average speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. ...

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 A paddle wheel is a form of waterwheel or impeller in which a number of paddles are set around the periphery of the wheel. It has several uses, of which some are: * Very low-lift water pumping, such as flooding paddy fields at no more than abou ...

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 Line The Collins Line was the common name for the American shipping company started by Israel Collins and then built up by his son Edward Knight Collins, formally called the New York and Liverpool United States Mail Steamship Company. Under Edward C ...

, 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 and Sons Messrs Robert Napier and Sons was a famous firm of Clyde shipbuilders and marine engineers at Govan, Glasgow founded by Robert Napier in 1826. It was moved to Govan for more space in 1841. His sons James and John were taken into partnership in 1 ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

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 produced and consumed of coal per day. ''Persia's'' launch in July 1855 was a national event and she touched on her trials, although her normal service speed was limited to 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

iceberg An iceberg is a piece of freshwater ice more than 15 m long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open (salt) water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially-derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". The ...

, 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 () and a westbound voyage of 9 days, 16 hours, 16 minutes (). She held both records until 1863 when Cunard commissioned the ''Scotia'', the last

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 is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world ...

. She was the only ship to reach

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen ...

before ice closed the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting t ...

. The next year, Cunard commissioned the '' SS China'', its first mail liner with screw propulsion. 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 most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...

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.

References

External links

*
''Persia'' on Chris' Cunard Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Persia 1856 ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Victorian-era passenger ships of the United Kingdom Ships of the Cunard Line Ship collisions with icebergs Maritime incidents in 1856