2-914-017 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Launch of the "Vittorio Emanuele" Iron Screw Steamer, at Blackwall, 1854. Steamship on the Thames in London. 'The Vittorio Emanuele has been constructed under the superintendence of Messrs Draper, Pietroni, and Co. of London...[and was launched] ...from the shipyard of Messrs. Mare and Co., of Blackwall...[She was] an iron screw-steamer of 1500 tons burthen, and 280-horse power (the engines making by G. Rennie and Co), with accommodation for 250 passengers, 800 tons of merchandise, and 500 tons of coals...This boat forms the first of a fleet of steamers, to be constructed for the Transatlantic Company of Genoa...a commercial Company for establishing steam navigation for postal services and passengers and traffic communication between Genoa, France, Spain, and North and South America'. From "Illustrated London News", 1854.