For a short story I plan to write, I was wondering how long it would take individuals to travel from the United Kingdom to America in 1890.
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2@BCLC That question is about mail delivery times; this one is about passenger travel times. Very similar, but I'm inclined to say not a duplicate. – Semaphore Jul 07 '15 at 19:34
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@Semaphore Fine. Before, one of my questions was closed or marked as duplicate I think due to similarity. As I recall, I had to combine some of my questions. Is this or is this not common practice in SE? – BCLC Jul 09 '15 at 19:41
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It took between 7 and 10 days, depending on the ship and the weather. The ships sailed out of Liverpool and Queenstown. Here is a notice from "London and Its Environs: Handbook for Travellers" (1889):
Tyler Durden
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"sailed" is a misnomer in this case, as it's impossible to make this trip this quickly without steam power. – congusbongus Jul 08 '15 at 01:42
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6@congusbongus Obviously you don't do much cruising, otherwise you would know that "sail" is the standard term even today. Go to http://www.carnival.com/ (carnival cruise lines) or any cruise ship web page. Says "sail" right on the front page. – Tyler Durden Jul 08 '15 at 02:08
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2@congusbongus you'd be surprised at the speed of ships like clippers and some schooners. – jwenting Jul 08 '15 at 09:35
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It turns out there was an unofficial award for doing this particular trip the quickest in a passenger liner, so we have pretty good records. Of course a typical passage would be a bit slower than one where a captain was pushing to win the record, but the times can be seen as a close lower bound to how long it would take for a typical trip.
In the 1890's the Blue Riband was held by double-screw steamships. A four-time holder was the SS Majestic, which made her maiden voyage in 1890 from Liverpool to New York in a bit less than six and a half days. That wasn't quite good enough for the record. At the time the City of Paris held the record on a run the same direction between those two cities at a bit under 6 days. (The prize was for average speed in knots, so it doesn't translate perfectly to clock time, but there is a relationship).
Now of course if you weren't paying top dollar on a state-of-the-art cruise liner it would probably be considerably slower, but this should give you a ballpark figure and a good idea of the lower bound for a crossing.
T.E.D.
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Interestingly, when I saw the musical Titanic, attempting to win the Blue Riband was put forth as one of the factors that contributed to her demise. – T.E.D. Jul 07 '15 at 13:57
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2I think this is a known historical fact. No reference to a musical is necessary. – Alex Jul 07 '15 at 16:19
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@Alex - I'll agree that for a theory that's out there, there should be a better reference available. – T.E.D. Jul 07 '15 at 16:34
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Thank you for your answer. It was very interesting to read about this unofficial award. – Rachel Jul 08 '15 at 16:29