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General Steam Navigation
Page 1 - Paddle Steamers & Screw Steamers
This page is still under Construction!
This page is one of a series devoted to postcards and photographs of the General Steam Navigation Company (GSN).
A list of ships on this page
is shown below.
A Fleet List of GSN paddlesteamers
is shown beneath. The
GSN Header Page
gives links to complete history pages on selected individual ships in the GSN fleet.
The General Steam Navigation (GSN) was founded in 1824, one of the oldest successful steamship companies in the world. It originally operated Thames, North Sea and English Channel cargo and passenger services. Services to Lisbon and Gibraltar was also operated. In 1836 the London & Edinburgh Steam Packet Co. was acquired with their six steamers. Mediterranean services commenced in 1882, increasing into a substantial network of cargo/passenger routes. In 1894/96 some voyages were made to West Africa. Between 1894 and 1901 voyages were also made to North and South America and Gulf of Mexico ports. During the Great War, 23 vessels were lost and a large rebuilding programme began at the end of the war. GSN was taken over by
P&O
in 1920, but the company continued its own management. Companies formed or taken over included, Great Yarmouth Shipping Co, Rhine-London Line, Turner, Edwards & Co, Grand Union Shipping Co, and the London & Dunkirk Shipping Co. The Moss Hutchison Line, Liverpool, with its Mediterranean trade was acquired in 1934 after the liquidation of the Royal Mail group of which it was a member. The New Medway Steam Packet Co. was taken over in 1936 to give GSN a monopoly of the Thames excursion business. The company and it's subsidiaries lost 21 ships during the second World War, but these were replaced after the war. Two fine excursion motorships were built to replace two lost in the war. Whilst initially successful, passenger numbers began to drop through the late 1950s and 1960s. The final straw was probably the start of Stena Lines "Londoner" service from Tilbury to Calais, using modern car ferries, in 1965. The GSN excursion steamers were withdrawn at the end of the 1966 season. The UK partner in
Normandy Ferries
, formed the following year in 1967, was GSN, and early publicity material and postcards featured their name. Ironically, the service which hastened their closure ceased after just a couple of years. The traditional GSN cargo trades also gradually declined and the GSN became wholly owned by P&O Line in 1972, disappearing as an independent company.
Ships on this Page:-
Crested Eagle
1925-1940 - Paddle Steamer
Eagle (3)
1898-1928 - Paddle Steamer
Halcyon
1887-1904 - Paddle Steamer
Golden Eagle
1909-1951 - Paddle Steamer
Kingfisher
1906-1912 - Turbine Steamer
Laverock
1889-1908 - Paddle Steamer
Mavis
1888-1910 - Paddle Steamer
Oriole
1888-1912 - Paddle Steamer
Philomel
1888-1913 - Paddle Steamer
Royal Daffodil
1936-1938 - Screw Steamer
Royal Eagle
1932-1954 - Paddle Steamer
Other GSN Pages:-
GSN Header Page
GSN Paddle Steamers
GSN Freighters
GSN Passenger Motorships
New Medway SP Co
Normandy Ferries
Associated Pages:-
P&O Ferries Header Page
Ferry Postcards
Simplon Postcards Home Page
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GSN Paddle Steamers & Screw Steamers
Halcyon
(1887-1904)
Oriole
(1888-1912)
Mavis
(1888-1910)
Laverock
(1889-1908)
Philomel
(1888-1907)
Images to be added.
Eagle (3)
(1898-1928)
Postcard of
Eagle
.
Photographic postcard of
Eagle
.
Photo:
© F.R.Sherlock.
Kingfisher
(1906-1912)
An attractive official GSN art postcard of
Kingfisher
.
Official GSN postcard of
Kingfisher
.
Official GSN postcard of
Kingfisher
.
A variation on the card above.
Kingfisher
at Boulogne, on a postcard posted in August 1909.
Kingfisher
at Boulogne, on a postcard posted in August 1907.
Golden Eagle
(1909-1951)
GSN postcard of
Golden Eagle
.
Postcard of
Golden Eagle
leaving Ramsgate.
Photographic postcard of
Golden Eagle
.
Crested Eagle (1925-1940)
Crested Eagle
. was built for GSN in 1925, and was lost at the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940.
GSN postcard of
Crested Eagle
.
Salmon postcard of
Crested Eagle
.
GSN postcard of Neptune ceremony on
Crested Eagle
.
Royal Eagle (1932-1954)
Royal Eagle
. was built for GSN in 1932. She was laid up in 1950 after the arrival of new motorships, and scrapped in 1954.
GSN postcard of
Royal Eagle
.
GSN postcard of
Royal Eagle
.
GSN postcard of
Royal Eagle
.
GSN postcard of
Royal Eagle
.
GSN postcard of
Royal Eagle
.
J.Salmon postcard 29078 of
Royal Eagle
at Southend Pier,.
The card was posted in February 1957, some time after she was scrapped.
GSN postcard of
Royal Eagle
.