SS City of Berlin - Service History

Service History

In September 1875, City of Berlin won the Blue Riband from Britannic's sister, Germanic with a Queenstown-New York passage of 7 days, 18 hours, 2 minutes (15.21 knots). Two years later, she suffered shaft trouble on two voyages, arriving in tow, once by the National Line's Egypt and the second behind Inman's City of New York. In 1879, she became the first North Atlantic liner to be fitted with electric lighting, when six incandescent lamps where shared between the dining salon, boiler rooms and engine rooms. Her high coal consumption of 120 tons a day was reduced in 1887 when she was re-engined with triple-compounds.

City of Berlin retained her British registration after Inman was merged into the American Line, but her name was reduced to Berlin. In 1895, she and the City of Chester were replaced in the American Line's weekly mail fleet by the new express liners, the St Louis and the St Paul. Berlin was placed on the Antwerp - New York route for the Red Star Line with occasional sailings for the American Line.

In 1898, Berlin was sold to the U.S. Government for the Spanish-American War, and was renamed Meade. She trooped to the Philippines until she was seriously damaged by a fire in San Francisco on January 31, 1906. Repaired, she continued service through World War I and was finally scrapped in 1921.