Oceanic (I)
Oceanic (I) was the first new steamship built for the White Star Line and the first White Star ship built by Harland and Wolff, the company that would build all of White Star’s new ships. Harland and Wolff built Oceanic on a cost plus basis, which would be used to build all of White Star’s new ships (except Laurentic in 1927).
Oceanic was launched on 27th August 1870. At the time of her launch she was a very modern ship, she had a tonnage of 3,707, could travel at 14.5 knots and could accommodate 1,166 passengers.
Oceanic began her maiden voyage on 2nd March 1871 from Liverpool to New York but after a few hours the ships engines overheated and she was forced to return to port. Oceanic left Liverpool again on 16th March and arrived in New York on 29th March 1871.
On 8th July 1871 in Jersey City, Oceanic struck the ferryboat Pavonia which misjudged how much time they had to go in front of Oceanic, causing around $2.000 worth of damage to Pavonia.
On 8th January1872 Oceanic rescued the crew of Mountain Eagle a sinking American schooner, during that same voyage in bad weather Oceanic lost three of her four propeller blades.
When Britannic (I) entered service in 1875 Oceanic was moved to the San Francisco-Yokohama-Hong Kong service which was a joint service between White Star and Occidental & Oriental Steamship Co. Oceanic remained in White Star livery, had White Star officers but flew the house flag of Occidental & Oriental and had her crew provided by Occidental & Oriental. She remained in this service for 20 years.
While off Point Paint in San Francisco Bay on 22nd August 1888, in fog, Oceanic collided with the coastal steamer City of Chester. City of Chester sunk within 5 minutes, with the loss of 31 of her passenger’s and 3 of her crew.
On 22nd April 1889 $5,376 worth of opium was discovered and seized onboard Oceanic in San Francisco.
In May 1895 Oceanic returned to Harland and Wolff for re-engineering but after a survey it was decided it would cost too much. Instead she was sold for £8,000 for scrap. She left Belfast on her last voyage before being broken up on 10th February 1896.
