Coal, Steam and Ships

Introduction: coal, steam and ships; Part I. North Atlantic Steam: 1. 'Trust in the promises of God': the moral and spiritual credibility of steam navigation; 2. 'The character of fine workmanship': making Clydeside's marine engineering reputation; 3. 'A swarm of projectors': promises of North Atlantic steam navigation; 4. 'This noble vessel': realizing the promises of transatlantic steam; 5. 'Giving rich promise of serious intentions': Mr Cunard's line of steamers; 6. 'Proprietor of the Atlantic Ocean': politics and patronage on the seas; Part II. Westward for Panama: 7. 'Mail-coaches of the ocean': the West India Company project; 8. 'A most perilous enterprise': Royal Mail Steam Packet's vulnerabilities; 9. 'In highly creditable order': RMSP's new board of management in action; 10. 'She was one mass of fire': reading the maiden voyage of the Royal Mail Steamer Amazon; 11. 'An uncompromising adherence to punctuality': Pacific Steam from Valparaiso to Panama; Part III. Eastward for India and China: 12. 'Built on a large, commodious and powerful scale': forging P&O's Eastern Mail Steamship system; 13. 'So great a cloud of obloquy and mistrust': locking and unlocking the secrets of a maritime empire; 14. 'A more desirable result in the performance of the vessel': P&O's mail steamers in action; Part IV. Engineering an Oceanic Economy: 15. 'She would be perfectly stable and strong': rival systems of engineering economy; 16. 'The engines were imperfect': Pacific Steam's coal economy; 17. 'A constant succession of unfathomable and costly experiments': making credible the marine compound engine; 18. 'The modern Clyde ships': economy and power for ocean steam navigation; Epilogue: 'The sovereignty of the seas' – the maritime system builders.