View source for SS Bessemer

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
{{for|the 20th century Victory ship|SS Bessemer Victory}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header              = 
| Ship name                = ''Bessemer''
| Ship owner               = Bessemer Steamship Co Ltd
| Ship operator            = 
| Ship registry            = {{flagicon|UK|civil}}
| Ship route               = 
| Ship ordered             = 
| Ship builder             = [[Earle's Shipbuilding]], Hull
| Ship original cost       = 
| Ship yard number         = 197
| Ship way number          = 
| Ship laid down           = 
| Ship launched            = 24 September 1874
| Ship completed           = April 1875
| Ship christened          = 
| Ship acquired            = 
| Ship maiden voyage       = April 1875
| Ship in service          = 
| Ship out of service      = May 1875
| Ship identification      = United Kingdom Official Number 70698<ref name=Miramar/>
| Ship fate                = Scrapped 1879
| Ship status              = 
| Ship notes               = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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| Header caption           = 
| Ship class               = passenger ferry
| Ship tonnage             = {{GRT|1,974}}
| Ship displacement        = 
| Ship length              = {{convert|350|ft|m|2|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam                =*{{convert|40|ft|m|2|abbr=on}} (deck)
*{{convert|65|ft|m|2|abbr=on}} (overall)
| Ship height              = 
| Ship draught             = {{convert|7|ft|5|in|m|2|abbr=on}}
| Ship draft               = 
| Ship depth               = 
| Ship decks               = 
| Ship deck clearance      = 
| Ship ramps               = 
| Ship ice class           = 
| Ship sail plan           = 
| Ship power               = 
| Ship propulsion          = 4 paddle wheels
| Ship speed               = 
| Ship capacity            = 
| Ship crew                = 
| Ship notes               = 
}}
|}
The '''SS ''Bessemer''''' (also called the '''''Bessemer Saloon''''') was an experimental [[Victorian era|Victorian]] [[English Channel|cross-Channel]] passenger [[paddle steamer]] with a swinging cabin, a concept devised by the [[engineer]] and [[inventor]] [[Henry Bessemer|Sir Henry Bessemer]], intended to combat [[seasickness]].

==Background==
Bessemer, a severe seasickness sufferer, devised in 1868 the idea of a ship whose passenger cabin - the Saloon - would be suspended on [[gimbal]]s and kept horizontal mechanically to isolate the occupants from the ship's motion: an idea he patented in December 1869. After successful trials with a model, the levelling achieved by hydraulics controlled by a steersman watching a spirit level, Bessemer set up a [[Joint stock company|limited joint stock company]], the Saloon Ship Company, to run steamships between England and France. This gained £250,000 capital, financing the construction of a ship, the SS ''Bessemer'', with the naval constructor [[Edward James Reed]] as chief designer.<ref name=bessemer>The Bessemer Saloon Steam-Ship, Chapter XX, ''Sir Henry Bessemer, F.R.S., An Autobiography''</ref>

==Construction==
''Bessemer'' was a 4-[[paddle steamer]] (2 paddles each on port and starboard, one fore, one aft), length {{convert|350|ft|m|2}}, breadth at deck beam {{convert|40|ft|m|2}}, outside breadth across paddle-boxes, {{convert|65|ft|m|2}}, draught {{convert|7|ft|5|in|m|2}}, gross register tonnage 1974 tons. The internal Saloon was a room {{convert|70|ft|m|abbr=on|adj=mid|long}} by {{convert|30|ft|m|abbr=on|adj=mid|wide}}, with a ceiling {{convert|20|ft}} from the floor, [[Morocco leather|Morocco]]-covered seats, divisions and spiral columns of carved oak, and [[gilding|gilt]] moulded panels with hand-painted murals.<ref name=bessemer/> ''Bessemer'' was built  by [[Earle's Shipbuilding]] of [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]]. She was yard number 197 and was launched on 24 September 1874.<ref name=Miramar>{{csr|register=MSI|id=1070698|accessdate=5 January 2010}}</ref>

==Career==
The ship sailed from [[Dover]] to [[Calais]] on a private trial in April 1875. On arrival, it sustained damage to a paddle-wheel when it hit the pier at Calais, due to its failure to answer to the helm at slow speed. The first and only public voyage took place on 8 May 1875, the ship sailing with the swinging cabin locked (some observers suggested due to its serious instability.,<ref name=fitzgerald>Short Works of Percy Hethrington Fitzgerald, Percy Hethrington Fitzgerald, BiblioBazaar, 2008, {{ISBN|1-4375-2495-8}}</ref> although Bessemer ascribed it to insufficient time to fix the previous damage).<ref name=bessemer/> The ship was operated by the [[London, Chatham and Dover Railway]].<ref name=LCDR>{{cite web |url=http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/feederswest.html#chatham |title=London, Chatham & Dover Railway Company |publisher=The Ships List |accessdate=5 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616103216/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/feederswest.html#chatham |archivedate=16 June 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> After two attempts to enter the harbour, it crashed into the Calais pier again, this time demolishing part of it.<ref name=fitzgerald/> 

The poor performance lost the confidence of investors, leading to the winding-up of the Saloon Ship Company in 1876. The ship remained in dock at Dover until being sold for scrap in 1879. When the ship was broken up, its designer Reed had the Saloon cabin moved to his home, [[Hextable]] House, [[Swanley]],<ref>County Agricultural Surveys, Royal Agricultural Society of England, 1954</ref> where it was used as a billiard room.<ref>''Boat Trains and Channel Packets: The English Short Sea Routes'', Rixon Bucknall, V. Stuart, 1957</ref> When the house later became a women's college, Swanley Agricultural College, the Saloon was used as a lecture hall, but was destroyed by a direct hit when the college was bombed in [[World War II]].<ref>''The Story of the Paddle Steamer'', Bernard Dumpleton, Intellect Books, 2002, {{ISBN|1-84150-801-2}}</ref>

The sole remaining parts of the ship are three carved wooden decorative panels from the saloon that were rescued from the wreckage after the bombing. One panel was valued on the ''[[Antiques Roadshow]]'' at between £300 - 400 in 2012.

==References==
Primary reference: [https://web.archive.org/web/20071227134724/http://www.history.rochester.edu/ehp-book/shb/hb20.htm The Bessemer Saloon Steam-Ship], Chapter XX, ''Sir Henry Bessemer, F.R.S. An Autobiography'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20051003224130/http://www.history.rochester.edu/ehp-book/shb/ online at University of Rochester].
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[[Category:1874 ships]]
[[Category:Victorian-era passenger ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Paddle steamers]]
[[Category:Ferries of England]]
[[Category:Experimental ships]]