Acadia
1840 - 1858
Gross Tonnage - 1,154
Dimensions - 63.09 x 10.36m
Number of funnels - 1
Number of masts - 3
Construction - Wood
Propulsion - Paddle
Engines - Side lever, two
Service speed - 9 knots
Builder - John Wood, Port Glasgow ( engines, Robert Napier, Glasgow )
Passenger accommodation - 115 1st Class
On winning the government contract the newly formed Cunard Company began a fortnightly mail service between Liverpool and Halifax, Boston and Quebec. The vessels employed under this contract were to be of such a build that they might be available as troopships, and for transporting stores in times of war. Four steamers, of similar dimensions, were immediately commenced - the Britannia, Acadia, Caledonia and Columbia.
The Acadia was launched in April 1840 and made its maiden voyage from Liverpool to Halifax and Boston on 4 August. It continued this service until November 1848. On 9 March 1849 it began sailing from Liverpool to Bremen and on its first journey it became stranded on Terschelling Island in Holland. It was soon refloated and became part of the former German Confederation Navy under the name Erzherzog Johann.
In 1852 it was refitted by W.A.Fritze & Co. and Karl Lehmkuhl, and renamed the Germania. In August 1853 it began the Bremen-New York service which it maintained nutil the end of 1854. In 1855 it was chartered to the British Government as a Crimean War transport. It was finally scrapped at London in 1858.
