Britannia (1840)

Later names
Barbarossa (1849)
Barbarossa (1852)


Builder:
Robert Duncan & Company
Greenock, Scotland
Keel laid:
N/A
Launched:
February 5, 1840
Year built:
1840
Completed:
N/A
Fate:
Sunk as target July 28, 1880 by SMS Zieten, raised Nov. 10 and scrapped at Kiel, Germany.


Owner
British & North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
(Cunard)
Liverpool, England

Mar. 1849:
German Navy
June 2, 1852:
Prussian Navy


Dimensions, machinery and performance as built
Length:
206' 6"
Hull:
Wood
Beam:
33' 7"
Engines:
1 two cylinder side leaver by Robert Napier
Across wheels:
55' 7"
Boilers:
N/A
Wheel diameter:
27' 8"
Speed:
9 knots
Draft:
21' 9" (depth)
HP:
740
Gross tons:
1,135
Funnels:
1
Crew:
82
Masts:
3 (rigged for sail)
Passengers:
115


Captains
From
To
Name
1840
?
Captain Henry Woodruff RN


History
Christened by Mrs. Isabella Napier, wife of Robert Napier the ship's designer.
July 4, 1840:
Maiden voyage Liverpool-Halifax-Boston, carried 63 passengers including Samuel
Cunard and his daughter.

July 18, 1840:
Arrived at Boston.
Aug. 14, 1840:
Won Blue Riband (Eastbound) 9 days, 21 hours, 44 minuets, 10.98 knots, taking it from
the Great Western, held the record until May 11, 1842 losing to the Great Western.

Jan. 1841:
Stuck fast in the ice at Boston, the people of Boston raised the money necessary to cut a
seven mile channel to free the ship.

Sept. 14, 1847:
Stranded at Cape Race, Newfoundland, repaired at New York.
Mar. 1849:
Commissioned into German Federation Navy and renamed Barbarossa, 9 guns fitted.
June 6, 1852:
Transferred to the Prussian Navy and used as barracks ship in Danzig, Germany.
1865:
Engines removed and laid up.
May 5, 1880:
Decommissioned from Prussian Navy.
July 28, 1880:
Sunk as target.
Notes
Britannia was Cunard's first steamship.
Charles Dickens crossed the Atlantic on Britannia in January of 1842, he was seasick for
most of voyage and returned on a sailing ship.


Builder's Data
Page published May 10, 2005