Very little is known about what these ships actually looked like to those who walked their decks, but let's piece together the few known accounts and images of these ships and take a look at what even their interior accommodations may have been like. We'll first look at the initial four ships, the Atlantic, Arctic, Baltic, and Pacific, which were all quite similar, and then look separately at the Adriatic, the fifth and final ship of the fleet.

1856 was a winter of heavier ice than usual in the North Atlantic, claiming several ships, including the second ship of the Collins Line, the Pacific, which disappeared almost without a trace, save for one note in a bottle. Learn all there is to know (which isn't much) in this documentary on this strange disappearance.

On this channel, we've studied the Titanic, the Lusitania, the Atlantic, Lexington, Swallow, and others. However, the wreck of the Collins Liner SS Arctic in 1854 is the most tragic, shocking, and shameful maritime ordeals I've yet to cover. This story is not for the faint of heart.

After departing Liverpool and approaching the coast of Newfoundland en route for New York, the SS Arctic was struck by the French steamship Vesta, tearing open her side, and leading to a terrible calamity aboard both vessels, where most men turned to cowards and villains while only a few rose to be the heroes the situation called for.

The Collins Line had 5 proprietary ships in their fleet over the course of their roughly 8 years of operation. These ships were designed by famed Maritime architect George Steers and built in New York City. Some of them had colorful careers, and we explore each one of them in detail in this video, as well as the four known ships the Collins Line chartered.

The Collins Line was America's attempt to maintain its supremacy over the merchant trade in the Atlantic, a status it maintained during the sailing packet era but began to lose with the advent of steamships. The British wanted to capture that dominance, especially since its navy was so formidable, and chose the newly formed Cunard Line to be their forerunning, being funded by generous subsidies from the Royal Mail. Edward Collins was the entrepreneur behind the Collins Line who saw the need for an American shipping company subsidized by the US Post Office in order to compete with Cunard, but the division in the United States as the Civil War drew closer led to objections, particularly from Southern Senators who didn't want their tax dollars funding a Northern company.

What would have likely been a successful shipping line was marked with disaster due to stipulations attached to the government subsidy, ultimately leading to the destruction of the man behind the enterprise.