MBT Wheel steamer SS "Sirius" (1837) - St. George Steam Packet Co. - Construction plan, scale 1:50 (10.10.117)

The SS Sirius was a wooden paddle steamer, built in 1837 by Robert Menzies & Sons in Leith, Scotland, for the St. George Steam Packet Company of Cork, Ireland. In 1838, the ship made history by becoming the first steamship to cross the Atlantic under full steam power, without the aid of sails.

Technical Specifications

Dimensions: 178 feet 4 inches (54.4 m) long, 25 feet 8 inches (7.8 m) wide, 15 feet (4.6 m) draught.

Gross tonnage: 703 tonnes.

Engine power: 2-cylinder steam engine by Wingate & Co., 500 ihp (370 kW).

Speed: Maximum 12 knots (22 km/h).

Fuel capacity: 450 long tons of coal, sufficient for 2,897 nautical miles at 6.7 knots.

Passenger capacity: 40 passengers.

Crew: 36 people.

Historical Crossing

On 4 April 1838, the Sirius set sail from Passage West, Cork, Ireland, on a transatlantic voyage to New York. With 45 passengers and a full cargo of coal, she reached New York after 18 days, 4 hours and 22 minutes, thereby beating the larger Great Western, which had set sail four days later. During the voyage, the ship nearly ran out of fuel; although there were rumours that the crew had burned furniture and masts, research shows that they instead used four barrels of resin and still had 15 tonnes of coal left upon arrival.

Service and Loss

Following her historic crossing ,the Sirius returned to regular service with the St. George Steam Packet Company on the Cork-Glasgow route. On 16 January 1847, she ran aground in thick fog near Ballycotton Bay, Ireland. Although she was refloated, the ship was found to be seriously leaking. In an attempt to steam towards the coast, she ran aground on Smith’s Rocks, about half a mile from Ballycotton. The only lifeboat launched was overloaded and capsized in heavy seas; twelve passengers and two crew members drowned. A total of twenty lives were lost

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