Early problems SS City of Peking

city of peking @ pier 42, north river, new york in 1874

city of peking, largest ship ever built in united states @ time, launched in march 1874 great fanfare. roach himself honored testimonial dinner @ toasted—quite inaccurately, , chagrin of older, more established shipyards—as father of iron shipbuilding in america .

however, city of peking s first voyages proved troublesome. maiden voyage around cape horn operating port of san francisco, heavily loaded railroad iron fore , aft, while coal stored amidships. coal consumed on voyage, increasingly uneven weight caused vessel s hull hog or strain excessively, loosening approximately 5,000 rivets, while propeller blades lost. when arrived in san francisco, roach found himself faced stiff $300,000 repair bill.

on next voyage, first transpacific crossing, problems recurred, , when arrived in hong kong, roach suffered embarrassment of having celebrated new vessel declared unseaworthy british authorities. roach forced dispatch team of workmen effect on-the-spot repairs, , found himself denigrated in american press builder of inferior ships. problems however, city of peking had still managed set new speed record of 22 days on first san francisco hong kong crossing.

concerns ship s quality proved groundless. damage sustained on these 2 initial voyages determined caused improper loading of ship combined weakness of wooden decks, subsequently replaced iron. after these repairs , modifications, city of peking went on establish enviable record of reliability, suffering 1 complete mechanical breakdown on course of 3 decades of transpacific service. 1879, american editorialists again singing praises of great ship, while period in drydock proved still capable of attracting thousands of curious sightseers. city of peking make total of 116 round trips between san francisco , yokohama/hong kong in period 1875 1903.