British Queen would have been the first transatlantic steamship had she not been delayed by 18 months because of the liquidation of the firm originally contracted to build her engine.

She never won the Blue Riband[5] but matched Great Western's westbound speeds from 1838 through 1840 and was less than a half of a knot slower eastbound.

[4] After completing nine round trip voyages, British Queen was laid up in 1841 when British-American steam navigation traffic collapsed due to the loss of the President with all on board.

[4] The plan outlined in British and American's prospectus called for placing four 1,200 GRT ships on the London-New York route with fortnightly departures in each direction.

However, Napier's bid of £20,000 was deemed too high, and another Scottish engine builder, Claud Girdwood tendered a lower price.

[6] British Queen left London for her maiden voyage to New York on 11 July 1839 and stopped at Portsmouth before entering the Atlantic.

"[4] During British Queen's refit after the 1840 season, her feathering paddles were changed to non-feathering design to avoid litigation with the patent holder.

Her crossing times were slow, and she required 26 days to reach Cowes from New York on her third and last round trip after being forced to refuel at the Azores.