Approximately how much travel time was saved by the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869? The 2019 Stack Overflow Developer Survey Results Are InHow long would it take to travel from the United Kingdom to America in 1890?How is Gaddafi viewed outside the West?Why did the attempts to keep Africa colonized after World War II fail?Travel time for African Slave tradeWhich trade route took the longest (in time) to travel?How much contact did Sub-Saharan Africa actually have with the rest of the world since the beginning of civilization?Why hasn't Sub-Sahan African developed as fast as other regions between the beginning of civilisation and European colonialism?Why did Europeans and Asian countries develop much faster than African countriesParchment and papyrus costs in Roman EmpireHow did the ancestors of proto-Malagasy in South Borneo reach Madagascar?Are there records of US slaves who practiced Islam following their import from Africa?

How to deal with fear of taking dependencies

"as much details as you can remember"

Is a "Democratic" Feudal System Possible?

What is the most effective way of iterating a std::vector and why?

Can we generate random numbers using irrational numbers like π and e?

Why isn't airport relocation done gradually?

What is the meaning of the verb "bear" in this context?

Is bread bad for ducks?

Is flight data recorder erased after every flight?

Why was M87 targetted for the Event Horizon Telescope instead of Sagittarius A*?

Why hard-Brexiteers don't insist on a hard border to prevent illegal immigration after Brexit?

What do hard-Brexiteers want with respect to the Irish border?

Geography at the pixel level

How come people say “Would of”?

Is three citations per paragraph excessive for undergraduate research paper?

Why isn't the circumferential light around the M87 black hole's event horizon symmetric?

Does a dangling wire really electrocute me if I'm standing in water?

Time travel alters history but people keep saying nothing's changed

What is the meaning of Triage in Cybersec world?

Resizing object distorts it (Illustrator CC 2018)

Who coined the term "madman theory"?

FPGA - DIY Programming

Multiply Two Integer Polynomials

Which Sci-Fi work first showed weapon of galactic-scale mass destruction?



Approximately how much travel time was saved by the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869?



The 2019 Stack Overflow Developer Survey Results Are InHow long would it take to travel from the United Kingdom to America in 1890?How is Gaddafi viewed outside the West?Why did the attempts to keep Africa colonized after World War II fail?Travel time for African Slave tradeWhich trade route took the longest (in time) to travel?How much contact did Sub-Saharan Africa actually have with the rest of the world since the beginning of civilization?Why hasn't Sub-Sahan African developed as fast as other regions between the beginning of civilisation and European colonialism?Why did Europeans and Asian countries develop much faster than African countriesParchment and papyrus costs in Roman EmpireHow did the ancestors of proto-Malagasy in South Borneo reach Madagascar?Are there records of US slaves who practiced Islam following their import from Africa?










18















Understanding that there were a few variables involved, approximately how much travel time was saved by no longer having to travel around Africa after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869?










share|improve this question







New contributor




Ross Alexander is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.















  • 8





    It depends on where you're travelling from and to. If you're sailing from one end of the canal to the other, then it's the transit time of the canal (162 km) vs the circumnavigation of Africa (9,654km).

    – Steve Bird
    Apr 5 at 7:44











  • Hi Ross! I assume you mean "how much time was saved in a year". Is that right?

    – axsvl77
    Apr 5 at 7:54






  • 4





    I can't speak for the poster, but if it were me I'd take it as "From the UK to India", as that's what its main purpose ended up being, despite it being a French-led effort (and why the UK eventually felt the need to take it over)

    – T.E.D.
    Apr 5 at 13:14







  • 2





    Do you mean travel time for a passenger, or ship time? After all, before the canal it would seem obvious for passengers (or time-critical cargo like mail) to disembark at one side of Suez, travel across on land, and get on a different ship on the other side for the remainder of the journey.

    – jamesqf
    Apr 5 at 16:43






  • 1





    Did anyone else see this question in the HNQ and think it was asking about how much time travel was involved?

    – Obie 2.0
    Apr 7 at 13:27















18















Understanding that there were a few variables involved, approximately how much travel time was saved by no longer having to travel around Africa after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869?










share|improve this question







New contributor




Ross Alexander is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.















  • 8





    It depends on where you're travelling from and to. If you're sailing from one end of the canal to the other, then it's the transit time of the canal (162 km) vs the circumnavigation of Africa (9,654km).

    – Steve Bird
    Apr 5 at 7:44











  • Hi Ross! I assume you mean "how much time was saved in a year". Is that right?

    – axsvl77
    Apr 5 at 7:54






  • 4





    I can't speak for the poster, but if it were me I'd take it as "From the UK to India", as that's what its main purpose ended up being, despite it being a French-led effort (and why the UK eventually felt the need to take it over)

    – T.E.D.
    Apr 5 at 13:14







  • 2





    Do you mean travel time for a passenger, or ship time? After all, before the canal it would seem obvious for passengers (or time-critical cargo like mail) to disembark at one side of Suez, travel across on land, and get on a different ship on the other side for the remainder of the journey.

    – jamesqf
    Apr 5 at 16:43






  • 1





    Did anyone else see this question in the HNQ and think it was asking about how much time travel was involved?

    – Obie 2.0
    Apr 7 at 13:27













18












18








18


2






Understanding that there were a few variables involved, approximately how much travel time was saved by no longer having to travel around Africa after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869?










share|improve this question







New contributor




Ross Alexander is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.












Understanding that there were a few variables involved, approximately how much travel time was saved by no longer having to travel around Africa after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869?







trade africa






share|improve this question







New contributor




Ross Alexander is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











share|improve this question







New contributor




Ross Alexander is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









share|improve this question




share|improve this question






New contributor




Ross Alexander is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









asked Apr 5 at 7:35









Ross AlexanderRoss Alexander

9916




9916




New contributor




Ross Alexander is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.





New contributor





Ross Alexander is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






Ross Alexander is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.







  • 8





    It depends on where you're travelling from and to. If you're sailing from one end of the canal to the other, then it's the transit time of the canal (162 km) vs the circumnavigation of Africa (9,654km).

    – Steve Bird
    Apr 5 at 7:44











  • Hi Ross! I assume you mean "how much time was saved in a year". Is that right?

    – axsvl77
    Apr 5 at 7:54






  • 4





    I can't speak for the poster, but if it were me I'd take it as "From the UK to India", as that's what its main purpose ended up being, despite it being a French-led effort (and why the UK eventually felt the need to take it over)

    – T.E.D.
    Apr 5 at 13:14







  • 2





    Do you mean travel time for a passenger, or ship time? After all, before the canal it would seem obvious for passengers (or time-critical cargo like mail) to disembark at one side of Suez, travel across on land, and get on a different ship on the other side for the remainder of the journey.

    – jamesqf
    Apr 5 at 16:43






  • 1





    Did anyone else see this question in the HNQ and think it was asking about how much time travel was involved?

    – Obie 2.0
    Apr 7 at 13:27












  • 8





    It depends on where you're travelling from and to. If you're sailing from one end of the canal to the other, then it's the transit time of the canal (162 km) vs the circumnavigation of Africa (9,654km).

    – Steve Bird
    Apr 5 at 7:44











  • Hi Ross! I assume you mean "how much time was saved in a year". Is that right?

    – axsvl77
    Apr 5 at 7:54






  • 4





    I can't speak for the poster, but if it were me I'd take it as "From the UK to India", as that's what its main purpose ended up being, despite it being a French-led effort (and why the UK eventually felt the need to take it over)

    – T.E.D.
    Apr 5 at 13:14







  • 2





    Do you mean travel time for a passenger, or ship time? After all, before the canal it would seem obvious for passengers (or time-critical cargo like mail) to disembark at one side of Suez, travel across on land, and get on a different ship on the other side for the remainder of the journey.

    – jamesqf
    Apr 5 at 16:43






  • 1





    Did anyone else see this question in the HNQ and think it was asking about how much time travel was involved?

    – Obie 2.0
    Apr 7 at 13:27







8




8





It depends on where you're travelling from and to. If you're sailing from one end of the canal to the other, then it's the transit time of the canal (162 km) vs the circumnavigation of Africa (9,654km).

– Steve Bird
Apr 5 at 7:44





It depends on where you're travelling from and to. If you're sailing from one end of the canal to the other, then it's the transit time of the canal (162 km) vs the circumnavigation of Africa (9,654km).

– Steve Bird
Apr 5 at 7:44













Hi Ross! I assume you mean "how much time was saved in a year". Is that right?

– axsvl77
Apr 5 at 7:54





Hi Ross! I assume you mean "how much time was saved in a year". Is that right?

– axsvl77
Apr 5 at 7:54




4




4





I can't speak for the poster, but if it were me I'd take it as "From the UK to India", as that's what its main purpose ended up being, despite it being a French-led effort (and why the UK eventually felt the need to take it over)

– T.E.D.
Apr 5 at 13:14






I can't speak for the poster, but if it were me I'd take it as "From the UK to India", as that's what its main purpose ended up being, despite it being a French-led effort (and why the UK eventually felt the need to take it over)

– T.E.D.
Apr 5 at 13:14





2




2





Do you mean travel time for a passenger, or ship time? After all, before the canal it would seem obvious for passengers (or time-critical cargo like mail) to disembark at one side of Suez, travel across on land, and get on a different ship on the other side for the remainder of the journey.

– jamesqf
Apr 5 at 16:43





Do you mean travel time for a passenger, or ship time? After all, before the canal it would seem obvious for passengers (or time-critical cargo like mail) to disembark at one side of Suez, travel across on land, and get on a different ship on the other side for the remainder of the journey.

– jamesqf
Apr 5 at 16:43




1




1





Did anyone else see this question in the HNQ and think it was asking about how much time travel was involved?

– Obie 2.0
Apr 7 at 13:27





Did anyone else see this question in the HNQ and think it was asking about how much time travel was involved?

– Obie 2.0
Apr 7 at 13:27










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















36














That would have depended on the ship and your destination.



To get a sense of the savings (the travel times are from today), consider the presentation that's referenced on the Suez Canal wiki page.



Hormuz to London



As a point of comparison, London to New York is a bit over 3,300 nautical miles (6,200km) when traveling by sea. So going through Suez when traveling from Hormuz to London is like avoiding a trip and a half across the Atlantic.



This separate question has a few sources where you will likely be able to locate how much savings in days that would have meant.



In passing, crossing through Suez had an additional benefit: not needing to worry about the at times enormous waves near the Cape of Good Hope. (The sea is even more treacherous at Cape Horn.)






share|improve this answer




















  • 1





    The most extreme is probably shipping between Persia and Turkey if for some reason it couldn't go by land.

    – Joshua
    Apr 5 at 15:33






  • 5





    @whatsisname Why?

    – Azor Ahai
    Apr 5 at 17:40






  • 7





    @AzorAhai: because of the presence of "grey africa" right next to "blue africa", and the seeming pangeafication of the world?

    – whatsisname
    Apr 5 at 18:14






  • 9





    @whatsisname I didn't even see the background. I don't think it's important. Are the routes off?

    – Azor Ahai
    Apr 5 at 18:17






  • 12





    @whatsisname: that's just a "watermark" background for all the slides.

    – kundor
    Apr 5 at 20:20


















17














Three steam ships of the Blue Funnel Line used both routes (round the Cape of Good Hope and via the Suez Canal) between Europe and Asia from 1866 to 1870. Upon switching from round the Cape to through the Suez Canal, these same ships saved between 10 and 12 days.




Arthur Holt's Blue Funnel Line sister ships Agamemnon, Ajax and Achilles all sailed on their first trips from London to Singapore via the Cape of Good Hope in 1866. Agamemnon, the first to sail (in April), took 59 days. Achilles, the last to sail (in August), was the fastest at 57 days.



enter image description here



Cargo steamer SS 'Agamemnon'. After several years sailing round the Cape, this was one of the first cargo ships to pass through the Suez Canal. Image source: magnolia box



The three ships continued to ply this route (they also went on to various Chinese ports) until the Suez Canal opened. Between 1866 and 1869, they averaged 58 days from London to Singapore. By June 1870, these same three ships had all switched to the Suez Canal route, saving 10 to 12 days, but they were not the fastest in that year: the steamship Shantung set a new record when it made the trip form Glasgow to Singapore in 42 days.




Even without the Suez Canal, the Blue Funnel Line ships had already cut the sailing time between Europe and the Far East, being much faster than sailing ships such the Eileen Radford which set the best (non-steamship) London - Singapore time in 1867 at 116 days (see also the Great Tea Race of 1866 - 3 ships took 99 days from Foochow, though they were all beaten by the auxilliary steamship Erl King which took 77 days). Equally important for the shipping company was that the steamers carried far more tonnage than the sailing ships.




Main source:



Macolm Falkus, The Blue Funnel Legend: A History of the Ocean Steam Ship Company, 1865-1973






share|improve this answer

























    Your Answer








    StackExchange.ready(function()
    var channelOptions =
    tags: "".split(" "),
    id: "324"
    ;
    initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

    StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
    // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
    if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
    StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
    createEditor();
    );

    else
    createEditor();

    );

    function createEditor()
    StackExchange.prepareEditor(
    heartbeatType: 'answer',
    autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
    convertImagesToLinks: false,
    noModals: true,
    showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
    reputationToPostImages: null,
    bindNavPrevention: true,
    postfix: "",
    imageUploader:
    brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
    contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
    allowUrls: true
    ,
    noCode: true, onDemand: true,
    discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
    ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
    );



    );






    Ross Alexander is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.









    draft saved

    draft discarded


















    StackExchange.ready(
    function ()
    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fhistory.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f51958%2fapproximately-how-much-travel-time-was-saved-by-the-opening-of-the-suez-canal-in%23new-answer', 'question_page');

    );

    Post as a guest















    Required, but never shown

























    2 Answers
    2






    active

    oldest

    votes








    2 Answers
    2






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes









    36














    That would have depended on the ship and your destination.



    To get a sense of the savings (the travel times are from today), consider the presentation that's referenced on the Suez Canal wiki page.



    Hormuz to London



    As a point of comparison, London to New York is a bit over 3,300 nautical miles (6,200km) when traveling by sea. So going through Suez when traveling from Hormuz to London is like avoiding a trip and a half across the Atlantic.



    This separate question has a few sources where you will likely be able to locate how much savings in days that would have meant.



    In passing, crossing through Suez had an additional benefit: not needing to worry about the at times enormous waves near the Cape of Good Hope. (The sea is even more treacherous at Cape Horn.)






    share|improve this answer




















    • 1





      The most extreme is probably shipping between Persia and Turkey if for some reason it couldn't go by land.

      – Joshua
      Apr 5 at 15:33






    • 5





      @whatsisname Why?

      – Azor Ahai
      Apr 5 at 17:40






    • 7





      @AzorAhai: because of the presence of "grey africa" right next to "blue africa", and the seeming pangeafication of the world?

      – whatsisname
      Apr 5 at 18:14






    • 9





      @whatsisname I didn't even see the background. I don't think it's important. Are the routes off?

      – Azor Ahai
      Apr 5 at 18:17






    • 12





      @whatsisname: that's just a "watermark" background for all the slides.

      – kundor
      Apr 5 at 20:20















    36














    That would have depended on the ship and your destination.



    To get a sense of the savings (the travel times are from today), consider the presentation that's referenced on the Suez Canal wiki page.



    Hormuz to London



    As a point of comparison, London to New York is a bit over 3,300 nautical miles (6,200km) when traveling by sea. So going through Suez when traveling from Hormuz to London is like avoiding a trip and a half across the Atlantic.



    This separate question has a few sources where you will likely be able to locate how much savings in days that would have meant.



    In passing, crossing through Suez had an additional benefit: not needing to worry about the at times enormous waves near the Cape of Good Hope. (The sea is even more treacherous at Cape Horn.)






    share|improve this answer




















    • 1





      The most extreme is probably shipping between Persia and Turkey if for some reason it couldn't go by land.

      – Joshua
      Apr 5 at 15:33






    • 5





      @whatsisname Why?

      – Azor Ahai
      Apr 5 at 17:40






    • 7





      @AzorAhai: because of the presence of "grey africa" right next to "blue africa", and the seeming pangeafication of the world?

      – whatsisname
      Apr 5 at 18:14






    • 9





      @whatsisname I didn't even see the background. I don't think it's important. Are the routes off?

      – Azor Ahai
      Apr 5 at 18:17






    • 12





      @whatsisname: that's just a "watermark" background for all the slides.

      – kundor
      Apr 5 at 20:20













    36












    36








    36







    That would have depended on the ship and your destination.



    To get a sense of the savings (the travel times are from today), consider the presentation that's referenced on the Suez Canal wiki page.



    Hormuz to London



    As a point of comparison, London to New York is a bit over 3,300 nautical miles (6,200km) when traveling by sea. So going through Suez when traveling from Hormuz to London is like avoiding a trip and a half across the Atlantic.



    This separate question has a few sources where you will likely be able to locate how much savings in days that would have meant.



    In passing, crossing through Suez had an additional benefit: not needing to worry about the at times enormous waves near the Cape of Good Hope. (The sea is even more treacherous at Cape Horn.)






    share|improve this answer















    That would have depended on the ship and your destination.



    To get a sense of the savings (the travel times are from today), consider the presentation that's referenced on the Suez Canal wiki page.



    Hormuz to London



    As a point of comparison, London to New York is a bit over 3,300 nautical miles (6,200km) when traveling by sea. So going through Suez when traveling from Hormuz to London is like avoiding a trip and a half across the Atlantic.



    This separate question has a few sources where you will likely be able to locate how much savings in days that would have meant.



    In passing, crossing through Suez had an additional benefit: not needing to worry about the at times enormous waves near the Cape of Good Hope. (The sea is even more treacherous at Cape Horn.)







    share|improve this answer














    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer








    edited Apr 5 at 8:20

























    answered Apr 5 at 8:04









    Denis de BernardyDenis de Bernardy

    13.9k24554




    13.9k24554







    • 1





      The most extreme is probably shipping between Persia and Turkey if for some reason it couldn't go by land.

      – Joshua
      Apr 5 at 15:33






    • 5





      @whatsisname Why?

      – Azor Ahai
      Apr 5 at 17:40






    • 7





      @AzorAhai: because of the presence of "grey africa" right next to "blue africa", and the seeming pangeafication of the world?

      – whatsisname
      Apr 5 at 18:14






    • 9





      @whatsisname I didn't even see the background. I don't think it's important. Are the routes off?

      – Azor Ahai
      Apr 5 at 18:17






    • 12





      @whatsisname: that's just a "watermark" background for all the slides.

      – kundor
      Apr 5 at 20:20












    • 1





      The most extreme is probably shipping between Persia and Turkey if for some reason it couldn't go by land.

      – Joshua
      Apr 5 at 15:33






    • 5





      @whatsisname Why?

      – Azor Ahai
      Apr 5 at 17:40






    • 7





      @AzorAhai: because of the presence of "grey africa" right next to "blue africa", and the seeming pangeafication of the world?

      – whatsisname
      Apr 5 at 18:14






    • 9





      @whatsisname I didn't even see the background. I don't think it's important. Are the routes off?

      – Azor Ahai
      Apr 5 at 18:17






    • 12





      @whatsisname: that's just a "watermark" background for all the slides.

      – kundor
      Apr 5 at 20:20







    1




    1





    The most extreme is probably shipping between Persia and Turkey if for some reason it couldn't go by land.

    – Joshua
    Apr 5 at 15:33





    The most extreme is probably shipping between Persia and Turkey if for some reason it couldn't go by land.

    – Joshua
    Apr 5 at 15:33




    5




    5





    @whatsisname Why?

    – Azor Ahai
    Apr 5 at 17:40





    @whatsisname Why?

    – Azor Ahai
    Apr 5 at 17:40




    7




    7





    @AzorAhai: because of the presence of "grey africa" right next to "blue africa", and the seeming pangeafication of the world?

    – whatsisname
    Apr 5 at 18:14





    @AzorAhai: because of the presence of "grey africa" right next to "blue africa", and the seeming pangeafication of the world?

    – whatsisname
    Apr 5 at 18:14




    9




    9





    @whatsisname I didn't even see the background. I don't think it's important. Are the routes off?

    – Azor Ahai
    Apr 5 at 18:17





    @whatsisname I didn't even see the background. I don't think it's important. Are the routes off?

    – Azor Ahai
    Apr 5 at 18:17




    12




    12





    @whatsisname: that's just a "watermark" background for all the slides.

    – kundor
    Apr 5 at 20:20





    @whatsisname: that's just a "watermark" background for all the slides.

    – kundor
    Apr 5 at 20:20











    17














    Three steam ships of the Blue Funnel Line used both routes (round the Cape of Good Hope and via the Suez Canal) between Europe and Asia from 1866 to 1870. Upon switching from round the Cape to through the Suez Canal, these same ships saved between 10 and 12 days.




    Arthur Holt's Blue Funnel Line sister ships Agamemnon, Ajax and Achilles all sailed on their first trips from London to Singapore via the Cape of Good Hope in 1866. Agamemnon, the first to sail (in April), took 59 days. Achilles, the last to sail (in August), was the fastest at 57 days.



    enter image description here



    Cargo steamer SS 'Agamemnon'. After several years sailing round the Cape, this was one of the first cargo ships to pass through the Suez Canal. Image source: magnolia box



    The three ships continued to ply this route (they also went on to various Chinese ports) until the Suez Canal opened. Between 1866 and 1869, they averaged 58 days from London to Singapore. By June 1870, these same three ships had all switched to the Suez Canal route, saving 10 to 12 days, but they were not the fastest in that year: the steamship Shantung set a new record when it made the trip form Glasgow to Singapore in 42 days.




    Even without the Suez Canal, the Blue Funnel Line ships had already cut the sailing time between Europe and the Far East, being much faster than sailing ships such the Eileen Radford which set the best (non-steamship) London - Singapore time in 1867 at 116 days (see also the Great Tea Race of 1866 - 3 ships took 99 days from Foochow, though they were all beaten by the auxilliary steamship Erl King which took 77 days). Equally important for the shipping company was that the steamers carried far more tonnage than the sailing ships.




    Main source:



    Macolm Falkus, The Blue Funnel Legend: A History of the Ocean Steam Ship Company, 1865-1973






    share|improve this answer





























      17














      Three steam ships of the Blue Funnel Line used both routes (round the Cape of Good Hope and via the Suez Canal) between Europe and Asia from 1866 to 1870. Upon switching from round the Cape to through the Suez Canal, these same ships saved between 10 and 12 days.




      Arthur Holt's Blue Funnel Line sister ships Agamemnon, Ajax and Achilles all sailed on their first trips from London to Singapore via the Cape of Good Hope in 1866. Agamemnon, the first to sail (in April), took 59 days. Achilles, the last to sail (in August), was the fastest at 57 days.



      enter image description here



      Cargo steamer SS 'Agamemnon'. After several years sailing round the Cape, this was one of the first cargo ships to pass through the Suez Canal. Image source: magnolia box



      The three ships continued to ply this route (they also went on to various Chinese ports) until the Suez Canal opened. Between 1866 and 1869, they averaged 58 days from London to Singapore. By June 1870, these same three ships had all switched to the Suez Canal route, saving 10 to 12 days, but they were not the fastest in that year: the steamship Shantung set a new record when it made the trip form Glasgow to Singapore in 42 days.




      Even without the Suez Canal, the Blue Funnel Line ships had already cut the sailing time between Europe and the Far East, being much faster than sailing ships such the Eileen Radford which set the best (non-steamship) London - Singapore time in 1867 at 116 days (see also the Great Tea Race of 1866 - 3 ships took 99 days from Foochow, though they were all beaten by the auxilliary steamship Erl King which took 77 days). Equally important for the shipping company was that the steamers carried far more tonnage than the sailing ships.




      Main source:



      Macolm Falkus, The Blue Funnel Legend: A History of the Ocean Steam Ship Company, 1865-1973






      share|improve this answer



























        17












        17








        17







        Three steam ships of the Blue Funnel Line used both routes (round the Cape of Good Hope and via the Suez Canal) between Europe and Asia from 1866 to 1870. Upon switching from round the Cape to through the Suez Canal, these same ships saved between 10 and 12 days.




        Arthur Holt's Blue Funnel Line sister ships Agamemnon, Ajax and Achilles all sailed on their first trips from London to Singapore via the Cape of Good Hope in 1866. Agamemnon, the first to sail (in April), took 59 days. Achilles, the last to sail (in August), was the fastest at 57 days.



        enter image description here



        Cargo steamer SS 'Agamemnon'. After several years sailing round the Cape, this was one of the first cargo ships to pass through the Suez Canal. Image source: magnolia box



        The three ships continued to ply this route (they also went on to various Chinese ports) until the Suez Canal opened. Between 1866 and 1869, they averaged 58 days from London to Singapore. By June 1870, these same three ships had all switched to the Suez Canal route, saving 10 to 12 days, but they were not the fastest in that year: the steamship Shantung set a new record when it made the trip form Glasgow to Singapore in 42 days.




        Even without the Suez Canal, the Blue Funnel Line ships had already cut the sailing time between Europe and the Far East, being much faster than sailing ships such the Eileen Radford which set the best (non-steamship) London - Singapore time in 1867 at 116 days (see also the Great Tea Race of 1866 - 3 ships took 99 days from Foochow, though they were all beaten by the auxilliary steamship Erl King which took 77 days). Equally important for the shipping company was that the steamers carried far more tonnage than the sailing ships.




        Main source:



        Macolm Falkus, The Blue Funnel Legend: A History of the Ocean Steam Ship Company, 1865-1973






        share|improve this answer















        Three steam ships of the Blue Funnel Line used both routes (round the Cape of Good Hope and via the Suez Canal) between Europe and Asia from 1866 to 1870. Upon switching from round the Cape to through the Suez Canal, these same ships saved between 10 and 12 days.




        Arthur Holt's Blue Funnel Line sister ships Agamemnon, Ajax and Achilles all sailed on their first trips from London to Singapore via the Cape of Good Hope in 1866. Agamemnon, the first to sail (in April), took 59 days. Achilles, the last to sail (in August), was the fastest at 57 days.



        enter image description here



        Cargo steamer SS 'Agamemnon'. After several years sailing round the Cape, this was one of the first cargo ships to pass through the Suez Canal. Image source: magnolia box



        The three ships continued to ply this route (they also went on to various Chinese ports) until the Suez Canal opened. Between 1866 and 1869, they averaged 58 days from London to Singapore. By June 1870, these same three ships had all switched to the Suez Canal route, saving 10 to 12 days, but they were not the fastest in that year: the steamship Shantung set a new record when it made the trip form Glasgow to Singapore in 42 days.




        Even without the Suez Canal, the Blue Funnel Line ships had already cut the sailing time between Europe and the Far East, being much faster than sailing ships such the Eileen Radford which set the best (non-steamship) London - Singapore time in 1867 at 116 days (see also the Great Tea Race of 1866 - 3 ships took 99 days from Foochow, though they were all beaten by the auxilliary steamship Erl King which took 77 days). Equally important for the shipping company was that the steamers carried far more tonnage than the sailing ships.




        Main source:



        Macolm Falkus, The Blue Funnel Legend: A History of the Ocean Steam Ship Company, 1865-1973







        share|improve this answer














        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer








        edited Apr 7 at 5:12

























        answered Apr 6 at 8:45









        Lars BosteenLars Bosteen

        43.8k9204271




        43.8k9204271




















            Ross Alexander is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.









            draft saved

            draft discarded


















            Ross Alexander is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.












            Ross Alexander is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.











            Ross Alexander is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.














            Thanks for contributing an answer to History Stack Exchange!


            • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

            But avoid


            • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

            • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.

            To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




            draft saved


            draft discarded














            StackExchange.ready(
            function ()
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fhistory.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f51958%2fapproximately-how-much-travel-time-was-saved-by-the-opening-of-the-suez-canal-in%23new-answer', 'question_page');

            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown





















































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown

































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown







            Popular posts from this blog

            រឿង រ៉ូមេអូ និង ហ្ស៊ុយលីយេ សង្ខេបរឿង តួអង្គ បញ្ជីណែនាំ

            QGIS export composer to PDF scale the map [closed] Planned maintenance scheduled April 23, 2019 at 23:30 UTC (7:30pm US/Eastern) Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara Unicorn Meta Zoo #1: Why another podcast?Print Composer QGIS 2.6, how to export image?QGIS 2.8.1 print composer won't export all OpenCycleMap base layer tilesSave Print/Map QGIS composer view as PNG/PDF using Python (without changing anything in visible layout)?Export QGIS Print Composer PDF with searchable text labelsQGIS Print Composer does not change from landscape to portrait orientation?How can I avoid map size and scale changes in print composer?Fuzzy PDF export in QGIS running on macSierra OSExport the legend into its 100% size using Print ComposerScale-dependent rendering in QGIS PDF output

            PDF-ში გადმოწერა სანავიგაციო მენიუproject page