Bristol City Line
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Bristol City Line was a British shipping line based in Bristol, England that traded from 1704 until 1974.[2] From 1760 Bristol City Line also built ships.[2]
The company's fleet was distinguished with the name of each ship ending in "City", and named after cities in Britain, the US and Canada.[2] Some names were re-used up to five times for successive ships.[2]
Bristol City Line started a regular transatlantic steamship service between Bristol and New York in 1879.[2] The early years of the service were troubled by shipwrecks. The first SS Bristol City sailed from New York on 28 December 1880 and was lost.[2] Just under a year later, on 3 December 1881, her sister ship the first SS Bath City sprang a leak off Grand Banks, Newfoundland and sank.[2] 14 months after that, on 23 February 1883 the first SS Gloucester City struck an ice floe and sank.[2] On 10 February 1887 the first SS Wells City collided with the SS Lone Star in the Hudson River and sank.[2] She was salvaged but sold.[2] In July 1893 Llandaff City successfully towed the crippled transatlantic Liner Olympia with 250 passengers aboard after the latter had been drifting for four days with a broken shaft.[3] On 23 February 1900 the second SS Bath City was wrecked on Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel.[2] On 31 January 1904 the first SS Boston City collided with SS Colardo and was beached off Sandy Hook, New Jersey. She was refloated but sold.[2]
First World War
On 19 August 1915 the German submarine U-24 shelled and sank the second SS New York City about 40 miles off Fastnet Rock.[2] On 30 August 1917 SS Kansas City sailed from New York and was lost.[2] On 18 December 1917 SM U-94 torpedoed the second SS Bristol City off the south coast of Ireland with the loss of 30 lives. On 2 January 1918 SM U-91 torpedoed and sank the second SS Boston City in St. George's Channel.
Between the wars
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In January 1933 the second SS Exeter City was abandoned in a gale and sank about 600 miles southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland.[2] The company added a service to Canada in the same year.[2]
Second World War
On 1 July 1941 the first SS Toronto City was serving as a weather ship in the Atlantic when U-108 torpedoed and sank her with the loss of all hands.[2] On 21 December 1942 U-591 torpedoed and sank the first SS Montreal City in the Atlantic.[2] On 5 May 1943 U-358 torpedoed and sank the third SS Bristol City.[2]
