The General Screw Steam Shipping Company was a British company established in 1848 by James Laming, who had for about 30 years owned sailing ships travelling between England and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

History

In late 1849 the company began a service from

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Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

and

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, using its new iron screw steamer the 500 ton ''Bosphorus''. The similarly sized ships ''Hellespont'' and ''Propontis'' joined the ''Bosphorus'' on the service as soon as they were completed. In 1850 the company secured the contract to carry the monthly mail between

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

and

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

for £30,000 a year. The ''Bosphorus'' initiated the service in December 1850 and reached Cape Town after a 40-day voyage, 5 days more than the period specified in the contract. Following this, orders were placed with C.J. Mare and Company at

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(builders of the earlier vessels) for the new ships ''Queen of the South'', ''Lady Jocelyn'', ''Indiana'', ''Calcutta'', ''Mauritius'' and ''Hydaspes'' In May 1852 an additional mail contract was secured, for the company to provide a monthly service between England and

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

and

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, via Cape St. Vincent,

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overs ...

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, Mauritius and

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. The company also initiated a mail service between Cape Town and

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

, which had previously been either overland service which generally took about 3 weeks or carried by sailing ships. This service was undertaken by the ''Sir Robert Peel''.

Australian service

The Australian Royal Mail Steam Navigation Company began a mail service between England and Australia in June 1852 which proved so unreliable that their contract was withdrawn in April 1853, whereupon the General Screw Company (which had already despatched two steamships to Australia earlier in the year) stepped in with a regular service. An article in the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

'' in February 1853 describes the somewhat "unpropitious" circumstances which marked the journey from

Port Jackson Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta ...

of the third of the Australian Royal Mail Steam Navigation Company's steamships, the ''Melbourne''. The journey, which took about 4 months overall, but with running time of only 65 days, and the specifications of this ship are described in some detail. The General Screw Steam Shipping Company's new steamer, the 1800-ton ''Argo'', sailed from

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

on 8 May 1853 and reached Melbourne in 64 days, with one stop en route at Cape St. Vincent. She returned via

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

and received considerable acclaim as the first steamer to circumnavigate the globe. The company's Indian service had been a failure due to various causes, that included mechanical problems which caused steamers to break down, unexpected high costs and coal consumption, and disappointing passenger and cargo results. Therefore, the service was withdrawn, the last sailing taking place on 15 March 1854. Despite securing a short-term mail contract, the Australian service was withdrawn as well, the ''Argo'' sailing from Southampton on 4 October 1854 on the last voyage. The company chartered its new and now superfluous ships ''Golden Fleece'', ''Jason'' and ''The Prince'' to the government to carry troops to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

American service

In March 1854 the ''Indiana'' inaugurated a new service for the company, from

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

and

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under the management of Croskey and Company, agents for the American-owned Ocean Navigation Company which was then operating a monthly service between New York, Southampton and Le Havre. It was intended that ''Indiana'' and ''Mauritius'' should sail monthly between Le Havre, Southampton and New York, alternating with the American steamers to provide a combined weekly service from Southampton. In July 1854, the company accepted a proposal by the government of Mauritius to operate a monthly service between Mauritius and Ceylon for £10,000 a year.

Crimean War

All the company's ships were chartered as troop transports during the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

from 1854 - 1855; three were lost to various causes. ''The Prince'' was destroyed during a

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

in November 1854, the ''Mauritius'' was badly damaged due to fire while in

drydock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

at Southampton in February 1855, and the ''Croesus'' was destroyed by fire in April of the same year. Following the end of the war, the company sold its entire fleet to the European and American Steam Shipping Company in 1857.

Notes

References

* * * {{Authority control Companies established in 1848 1857 disestablishments in England Defunct shipping companies of the United Kingdom Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Transport companies disestablished in 1857 1848 establishments in England British companies established in 1848 British companies disestablished in 1857 Transport companies established in 1848