General Screw Steam Shipping Company
| Industry | Transport |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1848 |
The General Screw Steam Shipping Company was a British company established in 1848 by James Laming, who had for about 30 years owned sailing ships travelling between England and the Netherlands.
In late 1849 the company began a service from Liverpool to Gibraltar, Malta and Constantinople, using its new iron screw steamer the 500 ton Bosphorus. The similarly sized ships Hellespont and Propontis joined the Bosphorus on the service as soon as they were completed.
In 1850 the company secured the contract to carry the monthly mail between Plymouth and Cape Town for £30,000 a year. The Bosphorus initiated the service in December 1850 and reached Cape Town after a 40-day voyage, 5 days more than the period specified in the contract.
Following this, orders were placed with C.J. Mare and Company at Leamouth, London (builders of the earlier vessels) for the new ships Queen of the South, Lady Jocelyn, Indiana, Calcutta, Mauritius and Hydaspes
In May 1852 an additional mail contract was secured, for the company to provide a monthly service between England and Madras and Calcutta, via Cape St. Vincent, Ascension Island, St. Helena, Cape Town, Mauritius and Ceylon.
The company also initiated a mail service between Cape Town and Durban, which had previously been either overland service which generally took about 3 weeks or carried by sailing ships. This service was undertaken by the Sir Robert Peel.
The Australian Royal Mail Steam Navigation Company began a mail service between England and Australia in June 1852 which proved so unreliable that their contract was withdrawn in April 1853, whereupon the General Screw Company (which had already despatched two steamships to Australia earlier in the year) stepped in with a regular service. Their new steamer, the 1800 ton Argo, sailed from Southampton on 8 May 1853 and reached Melbourne in 64 days, with one stop en route at Cape St. Vincent. She returned via Cape Horn and received considerable acclaim as the first steamer to circumnavigate the globe.
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