Talk:SS Erl King (1865)
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importance of this ship
[edit]This was the steamship that delivered a cargo of tea to London in the year of The Great Tea Race of 1866 - arriving substantially ahead of the sailing vessels in the race. This was one of the problems for the tea brokers who paid a premium to the winning sailing vessel - some new-crop tea had already arrived and then 4 sailing vessels in the space of a few days - the tea market was flooded.
The key piece of information is to know exactly what sort of engine she had: was it a compound engine? I think not, but do not have any proof.
Her career continued in the tea trade (benefiting from the opening of the Suez Canal) and also sailing to Montreal a number of times. There's a lot more to know about this influential ship - but that info seems a little elusive at present. ThoughtIdRetired (talk) 21:10, 21 March 2014 (UTC)
Now some hints that a compound engine was installed - need confirmation. Also need to nail down the description as an Auxiliary steamer. One source definitely states this, but I think some corroboration is needed.ThoughtIdRetired (talk) 09:07, 23 March 2014 (UTC)