Category:Little Western (ship, 1841)

A notable passenger packet for the Thames was the Blackwall Railway Company's Little Western, built in 1841 by Acramans, Morgan and Company, Bristol of composite construction, a system which, however, never became popular in Bristol. She was at the time the largest river passenger steamer in Europe, although of only 431 tons. She was fitted with a pair of beam engines of unusual design driving Morgan's patent feathering float paddles, and proved to be extremely fast. It is interesting to note that she was 'launched' complete with engines, boilers and all rigging by means of a cradle and a full tide, Acramans' yard being on the tidal Cut. The Little Western delighted Thames excursionists for some thirty years before being stripped for a coal hulk. Source: Bristol Shipbuilding in the Nineteenth Century, by Graham Farr, page 21

The hulk was run into by the steamship Ryhope (United Kingdom) and sank off Tilbury Fort, Essex. 26 May 1876.

Source: Shipping and Shipbuilding