I am been researching the Steam packet The City of Bristol initialy so that my friend the Bristol-based marine artist Vincent Neave can do me a paintinting of her but now hoping that I might get the chance do a model as a retirement project.
My Great great grandfather William Poole was one of two survivors.
Here is a summary of what I have collected so far which may be of interest
The accounts at the inquest talk of the Quarter Deck with the steering wheel being close to the rudder quadrant. The female passanger being on the forecastle when the waves were breaking over the deck.
Can we assume the crews accomodation was "before the mast" If animals were regularly being transported as deck cargo in pens then would the crew have lived below this.
How much deck space do you need for the number of pigs that were carried. The cattle were below deck obviously not in the same hold as the rest of the cargo.
Same for the passangers, they must have been carried below the quarter deck.
The stewardess was lashed to the railings on the quarter deck.
An advertisment in the Bristol mirror shows that the City of Bristol did the Bristol Ross Liverpool Ross Bristol run for a time.
I suppose the cheapest coal to be had at the time was in Swansea where certainly in the 1930s there was a coaling berth. so can we deduce anything about her bunker size.
The postion of the foremast and paddle boxes must had been such that she could have the boom of the lug sail far enough out to broad reach. She must have been expected to sail to windward with such a rig. The increased drag on the leeward paddle would have pulled her away from the wind so having more sail aft would compensate for this.
I have not been to Rhossilli yet to look at CoB's engines and although there are some good pics on line they give no idea of their size. Has any anyone been there with a tape measure or been photographed alongside.
The engines were build by Winwood of Bristol. One of the accounts suggests it was the first time marine engines had been built in Bristol (ie the first time everything for a steam ship had been sourced locally.
They look very much like walking beam engines, quite rare outside America. I wondered why they were chosen instead of the more compact Napier engines which had the beam underneath? Cost or patents I suppose.
The account of the wreck of the Killarney (which came out of the same War Office Hotwells yard a couple of years later says that water got in because the tarpaulin wasn't pulled over the cranks of the engines. Can we assume the Killarney had the same engines and that the cranks/beams on both ships were open to the elements.
Also the writer the famous medical doctor Baron Spolasco (actually con-man John Smith of Edinburgh I seem to remember) says he had a cabin with a wash basin but no port hole.
Steam Packets City of Bristol 1827, City of Waterford 1829, Killarney 1830 , and Albion 1831 all came out of the War Office yard at Hotwells. All were betweem 143'-150 feet long, 23'-25' wide, 15'3 (CoB) 16' (Killarney) depth, 6'6"Albion 6'9" (CoW) height.
City of Bristol was said to have been very modern and successful at the time of her trial. Very fast too as she broke the records on a couple of the runs she did. Can we assume the last three were similar carring on with a successful design?
There are a couple of prints (an on the spot sketch and a very detailed engraving) of the wreck of the Killarney in the NMM collection. Can we assume City of Bristol was very similar? In his book West Country Paddle Steamers Graham Farr says City of Bristol had main, quarter, and forcastle decks, two masted schooner rig, square stern, quarter galleries and a scroll head and she was considered the best and fastest vessel of her class now afloat. This description also fits the picture of the Killarney which I have attached. Maybe the artist drew one of her sisters .. I have attached this.
The sketch done on spot also fits the description in so much that you can see the quarter deck, the stumps of the two masts and the funnel, although she had already broken in three at this point.
Also in the NMM (National Maritime Museum) Hilhouse collection are the line drawings of a 116' of the hull of an unnamed steam packet from the same period. The Hilhouse yard was also at Hotwells.
I am not sure about the model of the Bristol steam packet in the Science Museum thought to be the Killarney. No quarter deck so who knows.
There are also the various paintings of steam packets of the time some at Bristol which are interesting but none fit the descriptions that we have,
So I suppose that once I know the dimensions of her engines we can try and put all this together and reverse engineer all the information and produce a drawing. Watch this space but dont hold your breath. Also if You are not familar with Vincent Neave's work have a look on line. My favorite is of a Bristol Channel Pilot cutter beating up to drop the Pilot on the hove-to Favell (the last sailing ship to be built in Bristol but thats another story.
Any further info or thoughts greatfully received
Jonathan
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