In 1847 Edward Knight Collins sold his interests in his sailing ship company named the Dramatic Line. His dream was to create a steamship company that would be the premier carrier of passengers across the Atlantic Ocean. He would do this by creating a fleet of four of the fastest, largest and most luxurious vessels the world had yet seen. Designed by Collins with the help of Naval Architect George Steers at the age of only 29. Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic and Baltic were the names chosen for the new steam ships. Though each ship had different dimensions being built in two different shipyards their average size was 280 ft length, 74 feet extreme breadth from paddle box to paddle box and a US Customs House tonnage of 2,800. With an annual government subsidy of $385,000.00 the new steamers would also be requisitioned as naval vessels if the need should arrive. 1850 was the opening year for the Collins Line.
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