The Thistle Line of Steamers was the idea of one W. H. Ross who wanted to start a steamship service for the cattle trade between London and New York, so in 1879 he purchased the SS City of London from the Inman Line. In 1880 he again bought an old Inman ship, the SS City of Limerick, built in 1855 this was the oldest ship in the Thistle Line fleet. In 1881 he bought the Massachusetts from the Warren Line and renamed her City of Lincoln. Only one more ship would carry the Thistle Line livery that was the City of Liverpool but, she was sold in 1881. A second City of Liverpool was under construction when the line shut down.

The demise of the Thistle Line began on Nov. 13, 1881 when the City of London sailed from London bound for New York with 41 passengers on board, the ship and all on board vanished, never to be seen again. They might have been able to cope with one loss, as many other ship owners had before but, a second loss could not be absorbed.

Less than two months later on Jan. 8, 1882 the City of Limerick sailed from New York bound for London with 43 people on board and shared the same fate as the City of London before her. With two ships lost, one on the builder's stocks and only one remaining in service the Thistle Line of Steamers vanished like their ships.

© 2007 Michael W. Pocock
MaritimeQuest.com

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