3-004-020 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The London and Edinburgh Shipping Company's new steam-ship Oscar, 1861. 'The subject of our sketch is the first completed of an improved class of steam-ships, built expressly for this important station, and has accomplished the voyage from Leith to Gravesend in thirty-two hours, the fastest passage on record...The performance of screw-steamers having for some time attracted the attention of the directors of the company, and their energetic manager, Thomas Aitken, Esq., the clippers were in their turn superseded by the screw in 1853, and the company have now, in addition to the Oscar, four first-class Clyde-built vessels of from 500 to 800 tons each. The Oscar is built by the celebrated firm of Pile, Spence, and Co., of West Hartlepool, constructors of the Flying Dragon, Spirit of the Age, &c. She is of 1050 tons burden, and 200-horse power, carries a full, poop and forecastle, and has accommodation for 100 first and 60 second class passengers. Her cabins are fitted in the most magnificent style, and her average speed is thirteen knots per hour, with dimensions as follow: Length, 240 feet; beam, 30 feet; depth of hold, 16 feet'. From "Illustrated London News", 1861.