''City of Berlin'' was a British

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

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 Velocity, average speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until ...

for the

Inman Line The Inman Line was one of the three largest 19th-century British passenger shipping companies on the North Atlantic, along with the White Star Line and Cunard Line. Founded in 1850, it was absorbed in 1893 into American Line. The firm's formal ...

in 1875 as the fastest liner on the Atlantic. She was also the largest active passenger ship for six years except for the inactive ''Great Eastern'' Built by

Caird & Company Caird & Company was a Scottish shipbuilding and engineering firm based in Greenock. The company was established in 1828 by John Caird when he received an order to re-engine River Clyde, Clyde paddle-tugs. John's relative James Tennant Caird joine ...

in Scotland, ''City of Berlin'' was the Inman Line's premier unit for thirteen years until ''City of New York'' was commissioned in 1888. She served the Inman Line until 1893 when Inman was merged into the

American Line The American Line was a shipping company that operated independently from 1871 until 1932, when it was absorbed into the United States Lines. The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based company was the largest American shipping company during its exist ...

, and she was operated by her new owners on both the American Line and Red Star Line until 1898. She was sold to the U.S. Government, and was in their service until after World War I.

Development and design

When Inman learned of White Star's plans to build two larger and faster editions of the ''Oceanic'', Inman's fleet on the competing weekly

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

–

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

service consisted of four liners with service speeds of 13.5 knots and the recently completed ''City of Montreal'', which while large, had a service speed of only 12 knots. Inman decided to replace ''City of Montreal'' in the express service with a new liner specifically designed to better White Star's new ''Britannic'' Class liners. The completion of the ''City of Berlin'' in 1875 finally gave the Inman Line the five fast express liners needed for a balanced year-round weekly service. Larger than the White Star liners, ''City of Berlin'' carried 202 first class and 1,500 steerage passengers. She had a ratio of length to beam of 11:1, making her the longest "long boat" built for the Atlantic. Her two-cylinder compound steam engine was rated at 4800 indicated horsepower giving her a normal service speed of 15 knots. Because her speed and fuel consumption were disappointing during trials, machinery improvements were required before the ship was commissioned.

Service history

In September 1875, ''City of Berlin'' won the Blue Riband from ''Britannic's'' sister, ''Germanic'' with a Queenstown–

passage of 7 days, 18 hours, 2 minutes (15.21 knots). Two years later, she suffered shaft trouble on two voyages, arriving in tow, once by the National Line's ''Egypt'' and the second behind Inman's ''City of New York''. In 1879, she became the first North Atlantic liner to be fitted with electric lighting, when six incandescent lamps where shared between the dining salon, boiler rooms and engine rooms. On 29 October 1883, she collided with north east of the Tuskar Rock. ''City of Berlin'' was undamaged. Her high coal consumption of 120 tons a day was reduced in 1887 when she was re-engined with triple expansion. ''City of Berlin'' retained her British registration after Inman was merged into the American Line, but her name was reduced to ''Berlin''. In 1895, she and the ''City of Chester'' were replaced in the American Line's weekly mail fleet by the new express liners, the ''St Louis'' and the ''St Paul''. ''Berlin'' was placed on the Antwerp–New York route for the

Red Star Line The Red Star Line was a shipping line founded in 1871 as a joint venture between the International Navigation Company of Philadelphia, which also ran the American Line, and the Société Anonyme de Navigation Belgo-Américaine of Antwerp, Belgi ...

with occasional sailings for the American Line. In 1898, ''Berlin'' was sold to the U.S. Government for the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

, and was renamed ''Meade''. She trooped to the Philippines until she was seriously damaged by a fire in San Francisco on 31 January 1906. Repaired, she continued service through World War I and was finally scrapped in 1921.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:City Of Berlin 1874 ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Victorian-era passenger ships of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in October 1883 Steamships of the United States Ships of the American Line Passenger ships of the United States World War I passenger ships of the United States fr:SS City of Rome