History and design
In his initial negotiations with Admiral Parry, Samuel Cunard contemplated a fortnightly service from Liverpool to Halifax and onto Boston using three steamers. This was 40% smaller than Great Western, which had just entered service from Bristol to New York. When completed, Cunard's ships grew to 1,150 GRT but were still 15% smaller than Great Western. The other steamships under construction for Atlantic service at the time were also bigger than Cunard's initial units. Cunard's final contract added a fourth unit to insure that the fortnightly schedule could be maintained ten months a year with sailings during the height of winter reduced to monthly.[2] Samuel Cunard's major backer was Robert Napier, whose Robert Napier and Sons was the Royal Navy's supplier of steam engines. For the Britannia class, Napier designed a two-cylinder side lever engine that produced 740 ihp, just ten horsepower less than Great Western. Unlike most other Atlantic steamers, Britannia's boilers were located aft of her engines and paddle wheels, resulting in a unique profile. The ships had three masts and full rigging for sails. To speed delivery, construction of the wooden hulls was contracted to three Clyde shipyards.[1]
Cunard's major concern was the delivery of the mail and most of the ship’s space was allocated to engines and coal. The Britannia quartette also carried 115 passengers traveling in a single class along with 225 tons of cargo. The dining room was a long deck house aft of the funnel and the only other public room was a small ladies cabin. A special padded deck house had the ship's cow and overturned boats protected vegetables from the weather. Smoking was limited to the upper deck.[2] Charles Dickens and his wife crossed from Liverpool to Boston during a January 1842 storm. He wrote:
"'Before descending into the bowels of the ship, we had passed from the deck into a long narrow apartment, not unlike a gigantic hearse with windows in the sides; having at the upper end a melancholy stove at which three or four chilly stewards were warming their hands; while on either side, extending down its whole dreary length, was a long, long table over which a rack, fixed to the low roof and stuck full of drinking-glasses and cruet-stands, hinted dismally at rolling seas and heavy weather.'[2]"
Describing the cabin, Dickens wrote:
"'..deducting the two berths, one above the other (the top one a most inaccessible shelf) than which nothing smaller for sleeping in was ever made except coffins, it was no bigger than one of those hackney cabriolets which have the door behind and soot their fares out, like sacks of coals, upon the pavement.'[2]" While Britannia and her sisters had a favourable power-to-weight ratio, they were only able to match Great Western's speed. Britannia took the eastbound record from Great Western in August 1840, but Great Western regained it in April 1842. Columbia took the westbound Blue Riband from Great Western in April 1841 before losing it again to Great Western in 1843. Columbia also took the eastbound record in April 1843 before she was wrecked.
Cunard quickly realized that five units were required to maintain the fortnightly service and in 1843 he commissioned an enhanced Britannia with an additional 300 hp. While 21% larger than the original Britannia, Hibernia only carried five more passengers. Hibernia immediately took the eastbound record from Columbia and held it until 1849. When Columbia was lost in 1843, a second enhanced unit, Cambria was ordered as her replacement. Cambria took the westbound Blue Riband when she entered service in 1845 and held the honor until 1848.[2]
