The British Empire and its effect on Plymouth


Early Steamship in Plymouth, c1830


This picture by Thomas Luny shows one of the earliest steamships in service in Plymouth. If you look carefully at the ship you can all sorts of different ship technology being employed. You can see the more traditional Royal Naval Ships of the Line in the background and small fishing sailing boats in the foreground. These steamships would sail up to Southampton, London or over to Cork. They did not yet have efficiency or the capability of holding enough coal to go on ocean going voyages at this stage, although that would change in the near future.


Empire in Your Backyard: Plymouth Article


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by Stephen Luscombe