- Description
- Specifications
| ID Number: | PA02-0603 |
| Description: | ss "Royal William" |
| Country or State: | Canada |
| Year: | 17. August 1933 |
| Face Value: | 5 ¢ - Canadian cent |
| Series: | Sailing Ships |
| Subject/Theme: | ss "Royal William" (after S. Skillet) |
| Perforation: | 11 |
| Printing: | Recess |
| Dimensions (B x H): | 45 x 28 mm |
| Emission: | 4,854,000 |
| Catalog Number: | Michel CA 174 Stamp Number CA 204 Yvert et Tellier CA 169 Stanley Gibbons CA 331 |
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SS Royal William was a Canadian side-wheel paddle steamship that is sometimes credited with the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean to be made almost entirely under steam power, in 1833, using sails only during periods of boiler maintenance, though the British-built Dutch-owned Curaçao crossed in 1827, and the sail-steam hybrid SS Savannah used some steam power when crossing in 1819. She was the largest passenger ship in the world from 1831 to 1839. The 1,370-ton SS Royal William (named after the ruling monarch, William IV) was 160 feet (49 m) long, of 44 feet (13 m) breadth and had a draught of 17¾ft, a large steamship for the time. She was drawn by 21-year old James Goudie who had by then served his apprenticeship, likely at Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Greenock, Scotland, a seaport on the Firth of Clyde and also the birthplace of James Watt. |
