Inman Line Fleet List

Summary

Inman Line Fleet List Page from GG Archives provides a historical overview of this prominent British-American shipping company, which operated transatlantic passenger and mail services. The Inman Line, originally known as the Liverpool, New York and Philadelphia Steamship Company, was a key player in transatlantic travel during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This page includes a list of ships that were part of the Inman Line’s fleet, alongside details about the company’s operations and significance in maritime history.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to the Inman Line
   • Brief overview of the company's history and significance.
2. History of the Inman Line
   • Origins and development of the Inman Line.
   • Key milestones and achievements in the company’s history.
3. Fleet of the Inman Line
   • List of ships operated by the Inman Line.
   • Notable ships and their contributions to transatlantic travel.
4. Significance in Maritime History
   • The role of the Inman Line in the development of transatlantic shipping.
   • Impact on passenger travel and mail services between Europe and America.

Fleet List of the Inman Line Showing Ownership, Nationality, Name of Ship, Year Placed in Service, and Gross Tonnage. Gross tonnage equals cubic feet of all enclosed space divided by 100. Notations Regarding the Ship (if any), Such as Previous Name or Renaming, are shown after the Gross Tonnage.

Liverpool, Philadelphia, and New York Steamship Company

(British)

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, the Inman Line was absorbed into the American Line in 1893. The firm's formal name for much of its history was the Liverpool, Philadelphia, and New York Steamship Company. Still, it was also variously known as the Liverpool and Philadelphia Steamship Company, as Inman Steamship Company, Limited, and, in the last few years before absorption, as the Inman and International Steamship Company.

Fleet of the Inman Line

1. City of Antwerp (1867) 2,391
2. City of Baltimore (1854) 2,472
3. City of Berlin (1875) 5,491
4. City of Boston (1864) 2,213
5. City of Bristol (1855) 2,215
6. City of Brooklyn (1869) 2,911
7. City of Brussels (1869) 3,081
8. City of Chester (1873) 4,560
9. City of Chicago (1883) 5,202
10. City of Cork (1863) 1,547
11. City of Dublin (1864) 1,999
12. City of Glasgow (1850) 1,609
13. City of Limerick (1855) 1,529
14. City of London (1863) 2,765
15. City of Manchester (1851) 1,892
16. City of Montreal (1872) 4,489
17. City of New York (1861) (1888); 2,360, 10,499
18. City of Paris (1866) 2,651
19. City of Paris (1889) 10,669
20. City of Philadelphia (1853) 2,168
21. City of Richmond (1873) 4,623
22. City of Rome (1881) 8,115
23. City of Washington (1853) 2,381

City of Antwerp (1867) Inman Line.

Built by Tod & McGregor, Glasgow, Scotland. Tonnage: 2,391. Dimensions: 332' x 39'. Propulsion: Single-screw, 12 knots. Masts and Funnels: Three masts and one funnel. Additional Features: Iron hull. Maiden voyage: Liverpool- New York, February 20, 1867. Modifications: Compound engines installed in 1879. Tonnage increased to 3,032. Ownership Change: Sold to Johnston Line. Renamed: Thanemore (1879). Fate: Disappeared at sea on voyage from Baltimore to Liverpool in November 1890, with loss of 43 lives.

City of Baltimore (1854) Inman Line.

Built by Tod & McGregor, Glasgow, Scotland. Tonnage: 2,472. Dimensions: 321’ x 33'. Propulsion: Single-screw, 10 knots. Modifications: Compound engines installed at later date. Masts and Funnels: Three masts and one funnel. Additional Features: Iron hull. Ownership Changes: Sold to the Hall Line in 1874 and renamed Fivaller. Resold in 1882 to Spanish shipowners. Renamed: Benicarlo. Sister ship: City of Washington.

City of Berlin (1875) Inman Line

Built by Caird & Co., Greenock, Scotland. Tonnage: 5,491. Dimensions: 488' x 44' (513' o.l.). Propulsion: Single-screw, 16 knots. Compound engines. Masts and Funnels: Three masts and one funnel. Additional Features: Iron hull. Launched: October 27, 1874. Dining saloon measured 44' x 43'. Coal consumption was 120 tons per day; 12 boilers; 36 furnaces. Modifications: New triple expansion engines in 1887. Passengers: 202 cabin, 1,500 third class. Maiden voyage: Liverpool-New York, April 29, 1875. Renamed: (a) Berlin (1893 [American Line]), (b) Meade (1898) United States Government. In transport service to the Philippines. Events: Nearly destroyed by fire in 1906. Rebuilt and used as a training ship at Boston. Fate: This trans-Atlantic record-breaker was scrapped at Philadelphia in 1921.

City of Boston (1864) Inman Line.

Built by Tod & McGregor, Glasgow, Scotland. Tonnage: 2,213. Dimensions: 313' x 39'. Propulsion: Single-screw, 12 knots. Masts and Funnels: Three masts and one funnel. Additional Features: Iron hull. Maiden voyage: Liverpool-New York, February 8,1865. Fate: Disappeared between Halifax and Liverpool in January 1870. Loss of life amounted to 116 passengers and 61 crew.

City of Brussels (1869) Inman Line

Built by Tod & McGregor, Glasgow, Scotland. Tonnage: 3,081. Dimensions: 390' x 40'. Propulsion: Single-screw, 14 knots. Horizontal trunk type engines. Masts and Funnels: Three masts and one funnel. Additional Features: Iron hull. Speed Record: Broke the trans-Atlantic speed record in December 1869. The first steamship to reduce the crossing to under 8 days. Modifications: Altered by having another deck added in 1872, increasing tonnage to 3,747. Compound engines in 1876. Fate: Her career was suddenly ended when in collision with the steamer Kirby Hall, January 7, 1887. She sunk off the mouth of the Mersey, with the loss of life listed as ten.

City of Chester (1873) Inman Line

Built by Caird & Co., Greenock, Scotland. Tonnage: 4,560. Dimensions: 444' x 42'. Propulsion: Single-screw, 15 knots. Compound engines. Masts and Funnels: Three masts and two funnels. Design Notes: Iron hull. Passengers: 132 cabin, 1,310 third. Maiden voyage: Liverpool- New York, July 10, 1873. Ownership Transfer: American Line in 1893. Renamed: (a) Chester (1893), (b) Sedgwick (1898), (c) Arizona (1905), (d) Napoletano (Italian). Fate: Scrapped in 1907. Sister ship: City of Richmond.

City of Chicago (1883) Inman Line

Built by Charles Connell & Co., Scotstoun, Glasgow, Scotland. Tonnage: 5,202. Dimensions: 430'x 45'. Propulsion: Single-screw, 14 knots. Compound engines. Masts and Funnels: Four masts and two funnels. Additional Features: Iron hull. Note: Laid down as the Vancouver, as she originally was intended for the Dominion Line. Maiden voyage: Liverpool-New York, September 18, 1883. Fate: Wrecked by stranding near Old Head of Kinsale, on south coast of Ireland, July 1892. Previously Named: Vancouver (1883).

City of Dublin (1864) Inman Line.

Built by Smith & Rodger, Glasgow, Scotland. Tonnage: 1,999. Dimensions: 318' x 36'. Propulsion: Single-screw, 11 knots. Masts and Funnels: Three masts and one funnel. Additional Features: Iron hull. Note: Laid down as Hellespont, but became City of Dublin. Change in Ownership: Sold to Dominion Line in 1880. Renamed: (a) Quebec (1873), (b) Nautique (1888). Modifications: Compound engines installed in 1873. Fate: Foundered in North Atlantic in 1890.

City of Glasgow (1850) Inman Line.

Built by Tod & McGregor, Glasgow, Scotland. This firm later became known as D. & W. Henderson, Ltd. Tonnage: 1,609. Dimensions: 237' x 34'. Propulsion: Single-screw, 812 knots. Geared beam engines. Masts and Funnels: Three masts and one funnel. Additional Features: Iron hull. Barque-rigged and carried an enormous amount of canvas. Had two beam engines geared to a single shaft with a propeller 12 feet in diameter. Note: Pioneer vessel of the Inman Line. She had three decks, with height between decks seven feet. Passengers: 130 cabin and 400 third class. Modifications: Steerage added in 1852. Maiden voyage was in 1850. Fate: She sailed from Liverpool for New York on March 1, 1854, with 480 people on board, and was never heard of again.

City of Montreal (1872) Inman Line.

Built by Tod & McGregor, Glasgow, Scotland. Tonnage: 4,489. Dimensions: 419’ x 44'. Propulsion: Single-screw, 1272 knots. Compound horizontal engines. Masts and Funnels: Three masts and one funnel. Modifications: New compound engines in 1876; also a second funnel installed. Fate: Destroyed by fire at sea in August 1887. Passengers and crew were rescued by York City.

City of New York (1861) Inman Line.

Built by Tod & McGregor, Glasgow, Scotland. Tonnage: 2,360. Dimensions: 326' x 40'. Propulsion: Single-screw, 12 knots. Horizontal trunk engines. Masts and Funnels: Three masts and one funnel. Fate: Wrecked on Daunts Rock, Queenstown, March 29, 1864, with no loss of life. Sister ship: City of London.

City of New York (1865) Inman Line.

Built by Tod & McGregor, Glasgow, Scotland. Tonnage: 2,642. Dimensions: 321' x 40'. Propulsion: Single-screw, 12 knots. Horizontal trunk engines. Masts and Funnels: Three masts and one funnel. Additional Features: Clipper bow. Iron hull. Maiden voyage: Liverpool-New York, June 7, 1865. Modifications: Lengthened to 375 feet (3,523 tons) in 1871. Compound engines in 1877. Change in Ownership: Sold to Allan Line 1883. Renamed: Norwegian. Fate: Wrecked in 1902. Dismantled for scrap in 1903.

City of New York (1888) Inman Line

The SS City of New York of the Inman Line (1888). GGA Image ID # 1dcdd61926

Built by J. & G. Thomson, Ltd., Glasgow, Scotland. Tonnage: 10,499. Dimensions: 528' x 63' (560' o.l.). Propulsion: Twin-screw, 20 knots. Triple expansion engines. Masts and Funnels: Three masts and three funnels. Launched: March 1888. Made 20.2 knots on her trials. One of the first steamships to be equipped with twin-screws. Note: The Notting Hill built in 1881 had twin-screws. Several of the early French Line steamers were converted from paddle-wheels to twin-screw prior to that date. Maiden voyage: Liverpool-New York, August 1, 1888. Renamed: (a) New York (1893), (b) Harvard (1898) United States Government, (c) New York (after Spanish-American War), (d) Plattsburg (1917) U. S. Govt., (e) New York (1920). Sold to Polish Navigation Company in 1921. Fate: Scrapped in Italy, 1923. Sister ship: City of Paris.

City of Richmond (1873) Inman Line.

Built by Tod & McGregor, Glasgow, Scotland. Tonnage: 4,623. Dimensions: 441' x 43'. Propulsion: Single-screw, 15 knots. Compound engines. Masts and Funnels: Three masts and two funnels. Additional Features: Iron hull. Clipper bow. Note: The first liner built with three funnels. Passengers: 132 cabin, 1,310 third. Maiden voyage: Liverpool-New York, September 4, 1873. Made a fast crossing from Sandy Hook to Fastnet Rock in 7 days, 23 hours in 1873. Change in Ownership: Sold in 1891. Sister ship: City of Chester.

City of Rome (1881) (a) Inman Line, (b) Anchor Line

Built by Vickers, Sons & Maxim, Ltd., Barrow-in-Furness, England. Tonnage: 8,415. Dimensions: 560' x 52' (586' o.l.). Propulsion: Single-screw, 16 knots. Compound engines. Masts and Funnels: Four masts and three funnels. Note: Considered by many as the most beautiful steamship ever built. Passengers: 520 cabin, 810 third class. Change in Ownership: Ownership was transferred to the Anchor Line in 1882. As a record breaker she proved a failure, but nevertheless ran successfully for many years for the Anchor Line. Modifications: Triple expansion engines were later installed to replace the original engines. Fate: Broken up for scrap by German shipbreakers in 1902.

City of Washington (1853) Inman Line.

Built by Tod & McGregor, Glasgow, Scotland. Tonnage: 2,381. Dimensions: 319' x 40'. Propulsion: Single-screw, 10 knots. Masts and Funnels: Three masts and one funnel. First voyage for Inman Line was from Liverpool to Philadelphia, November 5, 1856. Modifications: Lengthened to 358 feet (2,870 tons) in 1869. Fate: Wrecked near Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, July 7, 1873, with no loss of life. Sister ship: City of Baltimore.

Smith, Eugene W., Passenger Ships of the World: Past and Present, Boston: George H. Dean Company, 1963.