Queen Cristina was a steam cargo ship built in 1901 by the Northumberland Shipbuilding Co of Newcastle for Thomas Dunlop & Sons of Glasgow. The ship was designed and built for general cargo trade and spent her career doing tramp trade. She was the second ship named Queen Cristina in service with the Queen Line.
Design and construction
After the first steamship Queen Cristina wrecked on Great Barrier Reef in 1899, Thomas Dunlop & Sons, owners of the Queen Line, ordered a new, bigger vessel to continue their Oriental trade. The vessel was laid down at Northumberland Shipbuilding Co. shipyard in Howdon and launched on 6 March 1901 (yard number 89), and after successful completion of sea trials on July 20, during which the ship could easily attain speed of , Queen Cristina was handed over to her owners and sailed for New York. The vessel was built with a view to speed and fuel economy, and was primarily intended for general cargo trade, with several steam winches, and large number of cargo derricks installed to facilitate quick cargo loading and unloading process. In addition, the 'tween decks were designed to accommodate a large number of emigrants, troops or cattle in case of need.
As built, the ship was long (between perpendiculars) and abeam, a mean draft of . Queen Cristina was assessed at and and had deadweight of approximately 7,000. The vessel had a steel hull, and a single 341 nhp triple-expansion steam engine, with cylinders of , and diameter with a stroke, that drove a single screw propeller, and moved the ship at up to .
Operational history
As soon as the ship was transferred to her owners, she departed in ballast for New York. There she loaded 162,424 cases of petroleum and sailed out for Shanghai via Colombo on August 29, 1901 and reached her destination on November 9. From China the steamer proceeded to Japan where she loaded coal and delivered her cargo to Singapore on December 7, 1901. The ship left Singapore on December 26 for Calcutta to load a cargo of jute and departed from India on January 25, 1902 for her return trip to the United States, reaching New York on March 15, 1902. The vessel then loaded approximately 165,000 cases of petroleum and left New York on April 19 for Yokohama. From Japan the vessel sailed on July 26 to Sourabaya where she was consigned to carry sugar back to the United States for the American Sugar Refining Company. Upon loading, the vessel departed Java on August 29 for her return voyage. On September 28 Queen Cristina arrived at Port Said with a damaged rudder and had to undergo repairs before continuing her trip three days later, arriving at New York on November 5 via Philadelphia.
Queen Cristina was subsequently chartered by the American & Australian Line to deliver general cargo to Australia, and departed New York on December 19, 1902. The ship called for coaling at St. Vincent and arrived at Adelaide on February 17, 1903, and from there continued to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane to unload her cargo, which consisted of a variety of items, including machinery, agricultural machinery, wire etc. Next, she was chartered to transport coal and sailed to Newcastle for loading. The vessel loaded 7,251 tons total (5,940 as cargo) of coal and sailed on March 20 for Manila arriving there on April 13. The ship continued to Java to load a cargo of sugar and arrived in Philadelphia on August 27.
During the rest of 1903 through August 1905 Queen Cristina made several trips to Southeast Asia from New York and Philadelphia carrying case oil and general cargo on her forward trips and returning with sugar and other agricultural products.
On September 12, 1905 the vessel arrived at Savannah from Philadelphia to load a cargo of cotton for Havre and Baltic ports in Germany, Sweden and Russia. The ship loaded 9,347 bales of cotton and left Savannah on September 23 arriving in Europe one month later. After unloading her cargo, she sailed back to the United States on November 23 from Hamburg via Barry and arrived at Pensacola on December 24, 1905. She departed Pensacola in ballast on January 17, and arrived next day in New Orleans. There, the steamer took on board 200,915 bushels of corn in addition to cotton, lumber and foodstuffs and departed for Hull on February 7, 1906. The ship arrived at her destination on March 6.
