The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-13 00:00:00

TRANSATLANTIC STEAM NAVIGATION.

(Front the New York Journal of Commerce.)
It is our purpose in thi: article to take notice of the
growth and development of transatlantic steam naviga-
tion, and to show what has been accomplished by citi-
zens of the United States in this department of naval
art since they took the field in 1847, in competition with
their rivals of the British Iles, who, for nine years pre-
vious, dating with the pioneer voyages of the Sirius and
Great Western in April, 1838, had retained the mono-
poly of the trade by steamships between the two conti-
nents. Allusion will be made to our progress in naval
architecture, the difficulties that have been encountered
from inexperience and disaster, and to the measure of
pecuniary succor s which has thus far attended our efforts.
The prospectivelcompletion of the leviathan steam ship
Great Eastern on one side of the Atlantic, and the Adri-
atic on the other—both of which will far out-distance
anything of the kind before attempted and inaugurate
a new era in ocean navigation—seem to point out the
present as a suitable time for a glance at the past. The
powerful incentive arising from the urgent prosecution
of rival interests, backed by the skill, wealth, and scien-
tific knowledge of two enlightened nations, has doubt-
less contributed to the mutual advancement of England
and the United States in this matter. An interval of
but 18 years has elapsed since the first vessel wholly pro-
pelled by steam crossed the Atlantic (though we claim
the honour of despatching, in 1819, the steamer Savan-
nah, the arrival of which was duly chronicled at Lloyd's),
and now there are 14 lines of steamers, comprising 48
vessels, plying between Europe and the United States.
Recently not less than 15 arrivals of foreign steamers
have taken place in a single month, narrowing the At-
lantic to a ferry.
The preponderanee of foreign enterprise, as shown by
the Shipping List, is not remarkably flattering to Ame-
ricans, considering the achievements of our own Fulton,
just 50 years ago, and the liberal encouragement to
steam ship building which the Government has at va-
rious times afforded, by its contracts for carrying the
mail. Out of the 48 steamers, but 12 are of American
construction. It is, however, to be considered that but
nine years have elapsed since our operations commenced,
while foreign companies have been 18 years engaged in
ocean steam navigation, or exactly twice as long as our-
selves, and that the period of their monopoly gave them
advantages against which it was difficult for us to con-
tend. A series of untoward events have no doubt con-
tributed to this result. Not only have our steamers been
run at enormous expense— in several instances absor,la-
ing the entire profits—but disaster has swept off a HUM-
ber of our best ships, following close on the heels of
enterprise, with palsying hand. Four of our most valu-
able steamers have been entirely lost—two having been
driven ignominiously ashore and broken up ; a third was
sunk by a collision, with nearly all on board ; and a
fourth, the noblest of the fleet, bas never been heard
from, but is supposed to have struck an iceberg. Foreign
companies, especially when the greater extent of their
operations is considered, appear to have been more for-
tunate. They have lost, in all, four ships from their
American lines. The President was lost in the year
1841 ; no one knows how or where. The Columbia, in
nautical phrw e, cc broke her back" on some rocks on the
American shore of the Atlantic. The City of Philadel-
phia went to pieces on the rocks near Cape Race. The
City of Glasgow sailed from Liverpool on the Ist of
March, 1854, and has not since been heard of. The
Great Britain had a narrow escape in Dundrum Bay,
coast of Ireland, but has since been restored to service.
The disasters to steamships may be summed up as fol-
lows :
Name. Fate. Valuation.
President Never heard of 5350,000
Columbia All hands saved 300,000
Humboldt All hands saved 507,000
City of Glasgow Never heard of
C,ty of Philadelphia... Ali bands saved 300,000
Franklin All hands saved 480,000
Arctic A few saved 720,000
Pacific Never heard of 680,000

Total, exclusive of cargo 3,537,000
If cargo was, included, these figures woaid be nearly
trebled.