"The St. Vincent - Towing Out" Illustrated London News.
The uncertainty of winds and the treacherous and time-consuming nature of a river passage made it impractical to sail an emigrant ship up the Mersey to Liverpool or up the Thames to London. Before steam powered navigation, ships anchored well out to sea, and passengers reached them in small boats. After 1820, steam tugs brought sailing vessels in to dock and towed them back out to sea. In this picture from the Illustrated London News 13 April, 1844, the St. Vincent bound for Australia, is towed down the Thames from the Deptford docks of London. The St. Vincent at 648 tons was smaller than the 890 tons which represented the average emigrant ship sailing for North America in the 1850's. Even 890 tons was not very big and many emigrant vessels were no more than 200 or 300 tons. A passenger ship of 15,000 tons is small by modern standards.
