View source for SS Royal William

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|Ship image=[[File:SS Royal William 1834 painting.png|300px|A painting of the SS ''Royal William'', 1834]]
|Ship caption=A painting of the SS ''Royal William''
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|Ship name=SS ''Royal William''
|Ship ordered=1830<ref name=Boileau44>{{cite book|last=Boileau|first=John|title=Samuel Cunard: Nova Scotia's Master of the North Atlantic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VpNurHAWL9sC&pg=PA44|date= 2006|publisher=Formac Publishing Company Limited|isbn=978-0-88780-712-1|page=44}}</ref>
|Ship builder=[[George Black (shipbuilder)|George Black]] and [[John Saxton Campbell]]<ref name=Boileau44/>
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|Ship laid down=September 2, 1830<ref name=Boileau44/>
|Ship launched=April 27, 1831<ref name=Boileau44/>
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|Ship in service=August 24, 1831<ref name=Boileau44/>
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|Ship country=Spain
|Ship flag={{flagicon|Spain|1785}}
|Ship name=''Isabel II''
|Ship namesake=[[Isabella II of Spain|Isabella II]]
|Ship renamed=1850: ''Santa Isabel''
|Ship refit=1840
|Ship acquired=September 1834
|Ship out of service=6 January 1860
|Ship fate=Sunk by storm in [[Algeciras]] bay
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|Ship tonnage=1,370&nbsp;ton<ref name=Boileau44/>
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|Ship length={{convert|160|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name=Boileau44/>
|Ship beam={{convert|44|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name=Boileau44/>
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|Ship propulsion=[[Marine steam engine|steam engine]];<ref name=Boileau44/> [[Paddle steamer|paddles]]
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'''SS ''Royal William''''' was a Canadian [[Paddle steamer#Types of paddle steamer|side-wheel paddle steamship]] that is sometimes credited with the first crossing of the [[Atlantic Ocean]] almost entirely under steam power, in 1833, using sails only during periods of boiler maintenance. She was the largest passenger ship in the world from 1831 to 1839, where it was then passed by the {{SS|Great Western }}. Earlier vessels that crossed partially under steam include the British-built Dutch-owned ''[[Steamship#History|Curaçao]]'' in 1827 and the sail-steam hybrid {{SS|Savannah}} in 1819. 

The 1,370-ton SS ''Royal William'' (named after the ruling monarch, [[William IV of the United Kingdom|William IV]]) was {{convert|160|ft}} long, of {{convert|44|ft}} breadth and had a draught of 17¾ft, a large steamship for the time.<ref name=jl>{{cite book|last=Langley|first=John G.|title=Steam Lion: A Biography of Samuel Cunard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lecQkgEACAAJ&pg=PP1|year=2006|publisher=Brick Tower Press|isbn=978-1-883283-50-6}}</ref> She was drawn by 21-year old James Goudie who had by then served his [[apprenticeship]], likely at [[Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company]] of [[Greenock, Scotland]],<ref name=jl/> a seaport on the [[Firth of Clyde]] and also the birthplace of [[James Watt]]. 

== History ==
===Genesis===
[[File:Le lancement du Royal William en 1831 - James Pattison Cockburn.jpg|thumb|left|''Royal William'', Quebec City, 1831]]
She was commissioned by brewer [[John Molson]]{{citation needed|date=October 2016}}, [[George Black (shipbuilder)|George Black]] and [[John Saxton Campbell]]<ref>{{harvnb|Denison|1955|p=157}}</ref> and a group of investors from various colonies in British North America, including whom subscribed 196 shares at £25 in [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]].<ref name=jl/>  There were all told 235 investors of a total £16,000 in the '''Quebec and Halifax Steam Navigation Company'''.<ref name=jl/> The incorporation occurred on 31 March 1830.<ref name=jl/>

===Construction===
The ship was built in [[Cape Blanc (Quebec)|Cape Blanc]], [[Quebec]] by [[John Saxton Campbell]] and [[George Black (shipbuilder)|George Black]],<ref name=Library&Archives>{{cite DCB |last1=Blakeley |first1=Phyllis R. |authorlink=Phyllis Blakeley |title=Cunard, Sir Samuel |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cunard_samuel_9E.html |volume=9}}</ref> who laid its keel on 2 September 1830.<ref name=jl/> She was launched on 27 April 1831 by Lady and [[Matthew Whitworth-Aylmer, 5th Baron Aylmer|Lord Aylmer]] at Cape Cove, Quebec.<ref name=Library&Archives/><ref name=MaritimeMuseum>{{cite press release |publisher= Nova Scotia Museum |title=Model of SS Royal William at the Maritime Museum
 |date=August 18, 2005 |url=https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20050818003}}</ref> Her [[Marine steam engine|steam engines]] were manufactured and installed in [[Montreal]], at the premises of the Bennet and Henderson Foundry, near the foot of St. Mary's current.<ref name=jl/> Her shakedown voyage under steam from there to Quebec (calling at [[Sorel-Tracy|Sorel]] and [[Trois-Rivières|Three Rivers]] en route) occurred on 13 August 1831, after which she was officially registered on 22 August.<ref name=jl/>

===Career as mail packeteer===
She made several trips between Quebec and the Atlantic colonies in 1831, but travel became restricted because of the [[cholera]] [[epidemic]] in 1832.<ref name=MaritimeMuseum/> Some shareowners protested that she had been poorly maintained over the winter, and as a result costly repairs that should have been unnecessary were required.<ref name=jl/> One legislator suggested that the annual subsidy not be paid because the ''Royal William'' had not fulfilled her schedule.<ref name=jl/> The losses bankrupted the venture because the loans went unpaid.<ref name=jl/> The owners lost some £16,000 on the venture.<ref name=Library&Archives/> On 3 April 1833 she was purchased at auction by a half-dozen mortgage holders and original shareholders for £5,000.<ref name=jl/>

===Sale in England===
Her owners decided to sail her to Europe and find a buyer. She departed from [[Pictou, Nova Scotia]] on 18 August 1833 with seven passengers, a small amount of freight and a large load of coal and arrived at [[Gravesend, Kent|Gravesend]] on the [[River Thames]] after a 25-day passage that included a stop at the [[Cowes]], [[Isle of Wight]] for a fresh coat of paint.<ref name=jl/>

Aside from a one-day pause to clean her boilers, the ship had crossed non stop using its steam engines. ''Royal William'', which initially sold for £10,000, was eventually flipped to the [[Spanish Navy]] where, renamed to ''Isabel Segunda'' (after [[Isabella II of Spain|Queen Isabella II]]),<ref name=jl/> she served for many years and earned the distinction of being the first steamship to [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:Search/fire_in_anger fire in anger] over [[Zarauz]] 14 April 1839 during [[First Carlist War]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0003107561&page=1&search=%22Vapor+Isabel+II%22&lang=es|work=El comercio|location=Madrid|number=n.º 1819|date=24 April 1839|title=Noticias de España; San Sebastián|page=1}}</ref>

On 8 January 1860 ''Isabel Segunda'' was driven ashore and wrecked at [[Algeciras]].<ref name=RCG270160>{{Cite news |title=Spain |newspaper=The Royal Cornwall Gazette, Falmouth Packet and General Advertiser |location=Truro |date=27 January 1860 |issue=2953 |page=2 }}</ref>

==Legacy==
One of ''Royal William''{{'}}s co-owners was [[Samuel Cunard]] a merchant from [[City of Halifax|Halifax, Nova Scotia]] who drew important lessons from the ship which he applied when he founded the [[Cunard Steamship Company]] a few years later.<ref name=jl/>

In the town of Pictou there is a [[Royal Canadian Sea Cadets|Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps]] named after this vessel.  A large wooden model of ''Royal William'' is on display at the [[Maritime Museum of the Atlantic]] in Halifax.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
===Bibliography===
*{{cite book |last1=Denison |first1=Merrill |title=The Barley and the Stream: The Molson Story |date=1955 |publisher=McClelland & Stewart Limited|place=Toronto}}

{{Largest passenger ships}}
{{1860 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal William}}
[[Category:Steamships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Quebec]]
[[Category:1831 ships]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of Canada]]
[[Category:1831 establishments in North America]]
[[Category:Frigates of Spain]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in January 1860]]