The last voyage of the Bristol City turned out to be quite eventful, she was a new ship built at Richardson, Duck and Company, Stockton-on-Tees in 1879 for the Bristol City Line. Her sea trials took place in Hartlepool Bay on Aug. 30, 1879 where she made an average speed of 12.5 knots.

She left Bristol for New York for her tenth trans-Atlantic voyage, but on Dec. 1. 1880 about 80 miles west of Fastnet light they found the derelict bark Mindora. She had been abandoned by her crew and her rudder was gone, but for the prize value captain Peters towed her to Queenstown. They departed Ireland on Dec. 5 and headed for New York.

Reasonable weather prevailed for the voyage until they reached Sable Island, from there the wind blew hard from the west and the seas remained heavy. On Dec. 18 they came across a dismasted vessel named Union Flag out of Portsmouth, Maine. A boat was sent over to the leeward side of the Union Flag and all six crewmen were removed safely and returned to the Bristol City Captain Sears of the Union Flag said they had been at sea for almost a month and had fought a series of violent storms which battered the ship and she was now in a sinking condition. The Bristol City arrived at New York with the survivors on Dec. 20.

At 2 p.m. on Dec. 28, 1880 the cargo ship Bristol City pulled away from the dock in New York to return to Bristol, onboard were twenty-seven crewmen and a cargo of 1,986 tons of grain and provisions. She carried 280 tons of coal, enough for twenty days at sea. At 4:30 they crossed the bar at Sandy Hook and the pilot was put off the ship. The pilot returned to shore with a note from captain Peters for the owners, it read as follows;

"Enclosed is a cargo plan for this voyage; we finished loading at 1 p.m., and will pass Sandy Hook about 7 p.m. Our draught of water is 20 feet 8 inches aft, 19 feet 9 inches forward; our freight only amounts to £2,650 this time; we have a fair wind for a start, and I hope to have a good run home."

Those were the last words ever heard from the Bristol City or her crew, the ship was never seen again. Fierce storms raged on the north Atlantic and it was hoped for weeks that she had put into port somewhere to resupply, but by March all hope was lost and she was reported as missing. To this day what happened to her and her crew is still unknown.

For the Bristol Line the name Bristol City was a very unlucky name, in 1899 they launched a second Bristol City which was sunk on Dec. 16, 1917 by SMS U-94, thirty crewmen were lost with her. In 1920 they tried again, with the same result, the third Bristol City was bombed during an air raid on Nov. 24, 1940 while at Bristol, she was sunk May 5, 1943 by U-358.

They built another Bristol City built in 1943, she survived the war and several name changes and was scrapped in 1972. The last such named ship was built in 1959 and was scrapped in 1980. The Bristol Line survived until 1971 when it was taken over by the Bibby Line.