SS City Of Berlin Archival Collection

 

SS City of Berlin of the Inman Line, circa 1890.

SS City of Berlin of the Inman Line, circa 1890. Photograph by John S. Johnston. Published by the Detroit Publishing Company No. 022344. Library of Congress LCN 2016805763. GGA Image ID # 1e5ea2310c

 

 

City of Berlin (1875) Inman Line

Built by Caird & Co., Greenock, Scotland. Tonnage: 5,491. Dimensions: 488' x 44' (513' o.l.). Single-screw, 16 knots. Compound engines. Three masts and one funnel. 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.

 

The New Record Breaker - The SS City of Berlin

In 1875, a new record breaker made her appearance. This was the Inman liner City of Berlin. This ship was destined to play a prominent part in the history of Atlantic crossings.

She was built by Caird and Company at Greenock in Scotland for the express purpose of restoring to the Inman Line the coveted Blue Ribbon which the City of Brussels had lost to the White Star boat Adriatic.

She accomplished this feat in September 1875 by making the Queenstown to New York passage in 7 days, 18 hours, and 2 minutes, thus lowering all previous records for the run.

Then, in October of the following year, she again cut the time to 7 days, 15 hours, and 28 minutes. Two years later, in 1878, the City of Berlin created a sensation in maritime circles by installing in her saloon, steerage, and engine room the recently discovered illuminating agent "electricity".

At the time, this innovation was regarded as the pinnacle of luxurious appointments.

-- Smith, E. W. (Eugene Waldo). (1947). Trans-Atlantic passenger ships, past and present. [1st ed.] Boston: G. H. Dean Co.

 

Electrifying the SS City of Berlin

In 1878, the City of Berlin created a sensation in maritime circles by installing in her saloon, steerage, and engine room the recently discovered illuminating agent "electricity." At the time, this innovation was regarded as the pinnacle of luxurious appointments.

-- Smith, E. W. (Eugene Waldo). (1947). Trans-Atlantic passenger ships, past and present. [1st ed.] Boston: G. H. Dean Co.

 

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Passenger Lists

 

Front Cover of a Saloon Passenger List for the RMS City of Berlin of the Inman Line, Departing 8 June 1884 from Liverpool to New York.

1884-06-05 SS City of Berlin

Saloon Passenger List for the RMS City of Berlin of the Inman Line, Departing 8 June 1884 from Liverpool to New York, Commanded by Captain Arthur W. Lewis.

 

Front Cover of a Second Cabin Passenger List from the SS City of Berlin of the Inman Line, Departing 11 September 1889 from Liverpool to New York.

1889-09-11 SS City of Berlin Passenger List

Second Cabin Passenger List from the SS City of Berlin of the Inman Line, Departing 11 September 1889 from Liverpool to New York, Commanded by Captain Francis S. Land.

 

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Route Maps, Track Charts, Abstract of Logs

 

Back Cover Featured a Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean, 1884.

Track Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean and Memorandum of Log, SS City of Berlin Passenger List, 5 June 1884. GGA Image ID # 15b53c446e

 

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Back Cover Images

 

The Inman & International Steam Ship Company's New Steamers - City of New York & City of Paris, 10,500 Tons

The Inman & International Steam Ship Company's New Steamers - City of New York & City of Paris, 10,500 Tons on the Back Cover, SS City of Berlin Passenger List, 11 September 1889. GGA Image ID # 15da5bf5bb

 

The Inman Liner City of Berlin broke the record for transatlantic passage in 1875, taking 7 days, 14 hours. It was also the first Atlantic liner fitted with electric light, the plant being installed in 1879.

 

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Front Side of Vacinnation Certificate Card, Issued by the American Line to I. O. Kilgarriff on 5 March 1893

SS City of Berlin Vaccination Card - 1893

This Card was given to a passenger to provide evidence of that passenger's vaccination for smallpox in 1893.

UK Immigrant I. Kilgarriff received this Card from the Surgeon on board the SS City of Berlin of the American Line on a voyage from Southampton to New York.

Note: During 1893, The American Line Renamed the former Inman Line Ship from SS City of Berlin to SS Berlin.

 

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Front Cover, Ocean Steamers: A History of Ocean-Going Passenger Steamships 1820-1970 by John Adams, 1993.

Ocean Steamers: A History of Ocean-Going Passenger Steamships 1820-1970

A history of the steam-powered passenger ship that details its story from the SS Savannah of 1819 to the SS Hamburg of 1969. It contains historical details of all civilian vessels built in the intervening years, with numerous illustrations and previously unpublished material.

 

Front Cover and Spine, Passenger Ships of the World, Past and Present by Eugene W. Smith, 1963.

Passenger Ships of the World - 1963

Passenger Ships of the World, 1963, represents an incredible resource covering passenger ships that are Trans-Atlantic, Trans-Pacific, Trans-Pacific via Panama Canal, Latin American, Africa and the Eastern Oceans, and California-Hawaii.

 

Front Cover, Sway of the Grand Saloon: A Social History of the North Atlantic by John Malcolm Brinnin, 1971. Barnes & Nobel Hardcover Copy.

Sway of the Grand Saloon: A Social History of the North Atlantic

History of the ocean liners of the North Atlantic crossings. A comprehensive history of Trans-Atlantic passenger ships covering 1818 - 1968, with 55 b/w illustrations, photos, and drawings.

 

Front Cover, The American Line: 1871-1902 by William Henry Flayhart III

The American Line: 1871-1902 (2000)

The American Tine tells the story of the first successful American steamship line after the Civil War to rival the great European transatlantic companies—an essential and glorious chapter in the history of the American Merchant Marine.

 

Hardback Front Cover and Spine, Transatlantic: Samuel Cunard, Isambard Brunel, and the Great Atlantic Steamships by Stephen Fox, 2003.

Transatlantic and the Great Atlantic Steamships

A stirring narrative of the rapid development of the great transatlantic steamships, from paddle-wheelers to the sleek luxury greyhounds of the modern era -- and the men who designed and ran them.

 

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