page_title: Inman Line
section_title: 1866–87
hierarchical_section_title: Inman Line / History / 1866–87
caption_attribution_description: SS City of Paris 1866
context_page_description: The Inman Line was one of the three largest 19th-century British passenger shipping companies on the North Atlantic, along with the White Star Line and Cunard Line. Founded in 1850, it was absorbed in 1893 into American Line. The firm's formal name for much of its history was the Liverpool, Philadelphia and New York Steamship Company, but it was also variously known as the Liverpool and Philadelphia Steamship Company, as Inman Steamship Company, Limited, and, in the last few years before absorption, as the Inman and International Steamship Company.
  By embracing new technology, Inman Line became the first to show that unsubsidized ocean liners could profitably cross the North Atlantic. With its first steamer, City of Glasgow of 1850, Inman led the drive to replace wood-hulled paddle steamers with iron-hulled screw-propelled ships. In 1852, Inman established that steerage passengers could be transported in steamships. Inman's City of Paris of 1866 was the first screw liner that could match the speed of the paddlers. By 1870, Inman landed more passengers in New York than any other line.
  In 1886, the US-owned International Navigation Company bought the company.
context_section_description: With the celebrated City of Paris of 1866, the company ordered five express liners that matched the speed of Cunard's best. In 1867, responsibility for mail contracts was transferred from the Admiralty to the Post Office and opened for bid. Inman was awarded one of the three weekly New York mail services and the fortnightly route to Halifax, Nova Scotia formerly held by Cunard. While Cunard continued to receive a subsidy, Inman was paid sea postage. Two years later Inman's New York contract was extended for seven years at an annual subsidy of £35,000, half that of Cunard's subsidy of £70,000 for two weekly New York mail sailings. In 1870, Inman landed 44,100 passengers in New York, almost twice Cunard's 24,500, although Cunard still carried substantially more first-class passengers.  Throughout the 1870s, Inman's passage times were shorter than Cunard's. City of Brussels of 1869 beat Scotia's eastbound record and in 1875 City of Berlin won the Blue Riband by taking the westbound record.
  In 1871 both companies faced a new rival when White Star Line joined the Atlantic ferry with the revolutionary RMS Oceanic and her sisters. The new White Star record breakers were especially economical because of their use of compound engines. Oceanic consumed only 58 tons of coal per day, compared with 110 tons for City of Brussels. White Star also set new standards for comfort by placing the dining saloon midships and doubling the size of cabins. Inman reacted quickly, bringing its express liners back to the shipyards for compound engines and other changes to match the new White Star liners, while Cunard lagged behind.
  The Panic of 1873 started a five-year shipping depression that strained the finances of Inman and its rivals. To raise more capital, the partnership was restructured in 1875 as a stock company and renamed the Inman Steamship Company, Limited. The next year, Inman and White Star agreed to coordinate their sailings to reduce competition. When the 1869 mail contracts expired, the UK Post Office ended both Cunard and Inman's subsidies and paid on the basis of weight, but at a rate substantially higher than paid by the US Post Office. Cunard's weekly New York mail sailings were reduced to one and White Star was awarded the third mail sailing. Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, a liner from one of the three firms departed Liverpool with the mail for New York.  Inman reduced its fleet so that only the express liners remained.  
  Profits still dropped in as new competitors sought the Blue Riband such as the National Line and the Guion Line, and numerous steamship concerns from mainland Europe competed for the emigrant trade. To restore its fortunes, Inman ordered City of Rome, which was designed as the largest and fastest liner yet. Unfortunately the ship failed to meet her design specifications and was rejected in 1882 after only six voyages.
  William Inman died before the ship's maiden voyage and the company suffered without his leadership. In 1883, City of Brussels was lost in the Mersey after colliding with another steamship. Meanwhile, Cunard renewed its mail fleet with four exceptional steel-hulled liners. Needing capital to match its rivals, Inman directors agreed to voluntary liquidation so that the largest creditor, the Philadelphia-based International Navigation Company could buy Inman's assets.
caption: City of Paris of 1866 was Inman's first liner that matched the speed of Cunard Line's express ships
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