RMS City of Chester

RMS City of Chester was a British passenger steamship that sailed on the transatlantic route from 1873 to 1898.

For the US steamship built in 1875 and sunk in 1888, see SS City of Chester.

History
United Kingdom
Name: RMS City of Chester
Owner: Inman Line
Route: Liverpool–New York
Builder: Caird & Company, Greenock, Scotland
Yard number: 171[1]
Launched: 29 March 1873
In service: 10 July 1873
Out of service: February 1893
Fate:
General characteristics [2]
Tonnage: 4,566 GRT
Length: 444 ft 6 in (135.48 m)
Beam: 44 ft 2 in (13.46 m)
Depth: 34 ft 7 in (10.54 m)
Propulsion:
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Speed: 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Capacity: 1,515 passengers

The ship was built by Caird & Company of Greenock for the Inman Line. At 4,566 tons she became the largest passenger ship afloat when launched on 29 March 1873 – a title she held until the 5,000-ton Britannic was launched in February 1874. Propulsion was by a 2-cylinder compound steam engine with nominal 850 horsepower, which drove a single 21-foot (6.4 m) diameter screw, and she was also ship-rigged with three masts. On sea trials, sailing from the Clyde to the Mersey, she made over 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[2]

The ship was 444 feet long and 44 feet in the beam, and could accommodate over 1,500 passengers; 125 in 1st class, 80 in second class, and 1,310 in steerage. The first-class passengers enjoyed luxurious facilities; a walnut-panelled saloon with piano and library, a smoking room, and barber-shop. There was also a "Ladies Boudoir", and separate Ladies and Gentlemen's bath-rooms with marble sea-water baths. Forward, the steerage passengers slept in bunks.[2]

The ship was employed on the Liverpool–Queenstown–New York route, making her maiden voyage on 10 July 1873. In February 1893 the Inman Line was taken over by the American Line and the ship was renamed Chester, making her first voyage under her new owners from New York to Southampton on 4 March 1893.[2]

In 1898 she was sold to the United States Government, and renamed Sedgwick, serving as a U.S. Army transport ship during the Spanish–American War.[2] In early March 1900, the Secretary of War Elihu Root sailed aboard the Sedgwick to Havana for discussions with the Military Governor of Cuba, General Leonard Wood.[3]

In 1903 she was sold to an Italian shipping company and first renamed Arizona, then in 1906 Napoletano, before finally being scrapped in Italy in 1907.[2]

References
  1. "SS City of Chester". Clyde-built Ship Database. 2012. Archived from the original on 6 September 2004. Retrieved 25 October 2012.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. "City of Chester, Inman Line". norwayheritage.com. 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  3. Strait, N. A. (1903). "Timeline of Spanish–American War". genealogytrails.com. Retrieved 25 October 2012.


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