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Transatlantic passenger liner, Cunard Line
'Abyssinia' and her sister, 'Algeria' were both built for Cunard by J and G Thomson of Glasgow. They were the first Cunard liners to have straight, slightly raking stems or bows, as opposed to the clipper bows of their predecessors. They were also the first to have bathrooms, one on each side. Otherwise, however, they were outmoded as soon as they were built, being among the last liners on the Atlantic to be fitted with simple-expansion engines. Because of this, they were inferior to the White Star and Inman ships of the day. These had much more efficient compound engines and superior passenger accommodation. Indeed, within a year the two sisters, like the rest of the Cunard fleet, were eclipsed by the arrival of White Star's 'Oceanic' class, and they soon proved uneconomic on the Atlantic.
In 1880 'Abyssinia' was transferred to her builder in part-payment for other ships built, then re-sold to the Guion Line and refitted with compound engines. After sailing for Canadian Pacific on its Pacific route from Hong Kong to Vancouver, she later resumed service for the Guion Line from Liverpool to New York. In December 1891 she was abandoned after catching fire when five days out of New York, en route to Liverpool. All of her passengers and crew were rescued by Norddeutscher Lloyd's 'Spree'.