The Ocean Steamer - Crossing the Atlantic in Early Steamships - 1870
"The Ocean Steamer." an Article from Harper's New Monthly Magazine. "One of the most striking objects of interest to a stranger visiting New York is the ocean steamer. There are thirty or forty of these huge structures, embodying the highest results of naval science and skill yet realized by mankind…"1
The Transatlantic Crossing
The largest, the fastest and most comfortable ships - by steamship across the ocean
"As far as the journey is concerned, whether one travel by sail or steamship, I prefer steam freight for my part"…..
(By Børge Solem)
Passengers on a sailship could never know how long the journey would take. They were subject to wind and weather. The average crossing time on a sailing ship from Norway to America was 53 days. A fifty day journey below the deck of a sailing ship was no pleasure trip. The emigrants who crossed the Atlantic ocean by sail were largely left up to chance. According to the statistics the slowest sailing ships used about 100 days on the crossing, while the fastest voyages were down to about 25 days from Norway to America. In 1865 the Allan Line steamship Belgian (capt. Brown) served on a route between Liverpool and Quebec, under normal conditions the crossing time was only 12 days. In 1870 the Blue Riband of the North Atlantic was held by the steamship City of Paris of the Inman Line, after a record crossing from Queenstown to New York in 8 days, 4 hours and 1 min…2