Chapter LXV: Appendix: No. 26. VOL., p. 554

_Average Time of Passages of the Four Mail Packets between
Kingstown and Holyhead (Distance 56 Knots, or 65½ Statute Miles),
for 14 Years, ending 30th September, 1874._

------+--------------+--------------+--------------+---------------+---------------
| Ulster. | Munster. | Leinster. | Connaught. | Four Packets.
+------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------
|Trips | Time |Trips | Time |Trips | Time | Trips | Time | Trips | Time
| | H. M. | | H. M. | | H. M. | | H. M. | | H. M.
Winter| 2631 | 4 1·6| 2240 | 3 59·1| 2387 | 3 57·6| 2939 | 3 56·0|10,197 | 3 58·5
Half | | | | | | | | | |
Years | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
Summer| 2379 | 3 56·0| 2667 | 3 52·8| 2719 | 3 53·0| 2478 | 3 52·2|10,243 | 3 53·7
Half | | | | | | | | | |
Years | | | | | | | | | |
------+------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------
Whole | 5010 | 3 58·9| 4907 | 3 55·6| 5106 | 3 55·1| 5417 | 3 54·3|20,440 | 3 56·1
Years | | | | | | | | | |
------+-------+------+------+------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------

NOTE.—When two of the vessels, the _Leinster_ and the _Ulster_,
were completed and ready for duty, it was thought advisable to
make a trial with them, by way of practice, in the performance
of the old contract. Each performed the distance between the
lighthouse on Kingston Pier to the lighthouse at Holyhead, upwards
of 65½ statute miles, in nearly the same time on the average,
namely, the _Leinster_, in three hours and thirty-one minutes,
and the _Ulster_ in three hours and thirty-two minutes, being
respectively thirteen and twelve minutes less than the shortest
monthly average of the _Banshee_ in 1848-49, and twenty and
nineteen minutes less than the _Llewellyn_, when the distance
between the lights was one mile less than in 1860—the Holyhead
breakwater not having been then in existence. The gain in speed
realized by the new vessels was therefore at the rate of from 1·2
to 1·7 mile per hour.

The shortest passage of the _Leinster_ was made in three hours and
twenty minutes; that of the _Ulster_ in three hours and eighteen
minutes, and of the _Munster_ in three hours and twenty-six
minutes. But the average performance of the vessels for the first
two years and five months during which they had been on service
was still closer. Inclusive of all passages made in fogs, gales,
&c.,
H. M.
The _Connaught_ made 1,064 passages in the average time of 3 51·5
The _Leinster_ made 919 passages in the average time of 3 52·5
The _Ulster_ made 925 passages in the average time of 3 55
And the _Munster_ made 920 passages in the average time of 3 58·1

So close a performance by four vessels, not identical and not all
from the same builders and engineers, could scarcely have been
anticipated. The longest passage made in the severest gales had
to that time not exceeded five hours and forty minutes, and one
vessel only had been that length of time on but two occasions.

Nearly 4000 passages have been already made without collision,
except on one occasion, which happily was not attended with very
serious consequences. Experienced naval officers anticipated
frequent and serious disasters, but the rate of speed, 16 miles
an hour, though high for night-work, does not appear to have been
too high for safety. The sense of greater responsibility, and the
larger number of men engaged in the navigation and management
of the vessels, must naturally induce additional precaution, as
well as afford the means of guarding against danger. The facility
with which these large vessels are handled and brought alongside
the jetties is remarkable. The practised skill of the officers,
and the quickness with which the engines are managed, frequently
succeed in getting the vessels alongside, in making them fast,
establishing the means of communication with the shore, and in
landing the mails, in three or four minutes.

The consumption of coal in the first few months was considerably
in excess of the quantity originally estimated. Steam of from 25
lbs. to 28 lbs. pressure was then used, which not only required
much extra coal, but severely taxed the durability of the boilers.
Arrangements were therefore made to reduce the consumption to the
amount stated in the estimates submitted to Government, on which
the contract was founded. The result has been satisfactory, while
the additional time occupied on the passages is but a few minutes,
and they are still made on the average within the time allocated
to the sea service by the proposal of Government.