SS City of Peking

SS City Of Peking

SS City of Peking was an iron-hulled steamship built in 1874 by John Roach & Sons for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. City of Peking and her sister ship City of Tokio were at the time of construction the largest vessels ever built in the United States, and the second largest in the world behind the British leviathan Great Eastern.

Like Great Eastern, construction of the two Pacific Mail ships was to be plagued with financial difficulties, which threatened to bankrupt the shipbuilder. Unlike Great Eastern, however, which was a commercial failure, City of Peking would go on to have a long and successful commercial career.

In addition to her cargoes, City of Peking brought many Chinese and Japanese immigrants to the United States, and later served as a troopship in the Spanish-American War.