PERSIA
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The first Cunard liner to be built from iron rather than wood was the Persia.
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She was built by Robert Napier, the grandfather of Clyde shipping, who had helped Canadian-born Samuel Cunard establish his famous shipping line in 1840.
When she was launched in 1855 she was the largest vessel afloat, measuring 360ft long, weighing 3400 tonnes with a top speed exceeding 13 knots.
Persia still looked similar to other vessels with her three sailing masts, two funnels, two massive paddle wheels and a clipper bow. She was built to compete with the America-owned Collins Line, which was regarded as the best company on the trans-Atlantic run.
But Persia managed to turn this around, picking up the Blue Riband in both directions within three months of her maiden voyage to New York in 1856.
Cunard's success was aided by the sinking of two Collins vessels - the Arctic in 1854, after it hit a French vessel, and three years later, the Pacific, which disappeared without trace. (Its fate was eventually solved in 1986 when the wreck snagged fishing nets and it was revealed that she had hit ice.)
The same month of the Pacific's accident, Persia also hit an iceberg but survived relatively intact, boosting the reputation of Cunard but destroying Collins.
Persia dominated the Atlantic until 1863 when her sister ship, the Scotia, Cunard's last paddle steamer, took over.
Persia remained in operation for four more years but was sold in 1868. Her engines were removed and she was scrapped in 1872.
