Tod & Macgregor Shiplist
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Yard No.: |
91 |
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Name: |
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Year: |
1858 |
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Description: |
Steamship |
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Webpage: |
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Picture: |
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Tonnage: |
2,083 |
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Length: |
274 |
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Width: |
38.5 |
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H.P.: |
400 later 1,550² |
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Type: |
Iron. Two direct inverted engines, 16.5psi.² |
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Customer: |
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Fate: |
Scrapped in Italy 1900 |
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Points of Note: |
Known as the Salsette whilst working for P. & O. |
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Date of Launch: |
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Notes:
Due to the Crimean War, it was not until 1859 that P. & O. again revisited Australia. The company received a new mail contract and the Salsette had the honour of resuming the mail service and left Sydney, via Melbourne, in 12th February 1859, for Suez. She had to stow 250 tons of coal on deck to make the Mauritius-Albany passage, which took 14-15 days.
The arrival of the Salsette in Australia created much interest and appreciation. She was later replaced by larger vessels and diverted to other of the company's trades.
In 1872 the P. & O. steamers first used the Suez canal, although it had been opened in 1869, but the contract with the British Post Office provided for the mails being sent overland and the postal authorities insisted on this being done. Salsette was sold "British" and later renames Sumatra.
[Australian Steamships, Dickson Gregory]
² [One Hundred Year History of the P. & O., Boyd Cable]
[British Passenger Lines of the Five Oceans, Commander C.R. Vernon Gibbs]
