SS ''Alaska'' was a record breaking British passenger liner 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. T ...

for the

Guion Line The Liverpool and Great Western Steamship Company, known commonly as the Guion Line, was a British passenger service that operated the Liverpool-Queenstown-New York route from 1866 to 1894. While incorporated in Great Britain, 52% of the company ...

as the fastest liner on the Atlantic in 1882. She was a slightly larger and faster edition of Guion's ''Arizona'' and in 1883 became the first liner to make the crossing to New York in under a week. However, ''Alaska'' burned 250 tons of coal per day, as compared to ''Arizona's'' already high 135 tons. Built by John Elder & Company of Glasgow, she carried 350 first class passengers and 1,000 steerage. Her passengers included Hugh Simpson Rodham: future grandfather of

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

, who travelled in steerage to America with his mother Bella and seven siblings as a toddler in October 1882. As in the case of ''Arizona'', Stephen Guion also personally owned ''Alaska''. On her maiden voyage she arrived to New York in December 1881.''Scientific American'' Volume 61 Number 25 (December 1889) ''Alaska'' completed 100 voyages when Guion suspended sailings in 1894. She proved difficult to sell and was finally chartered in 1897 by Cia. Transatlanticia Espanola as a troop transport. In 1899, ''Alaska'' was sold for scrap, but was resold to the Barrow shipyard where she was used as an accommodation hulk until broken up in 1902.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alaska Victorian-era passenger ships of the United Kingdom Victorian-era merchant ships of the United Kingdom 1881 ships