Eagle was a paddle-wheel steamer, built in England in 1821. The ship was bought by the Royal Danish Navy in 1824 and became its first steamship. It was bought as a personal transport for the Royal Family of Denmark and got the name Kiel. Rebuilt as a two-masted schooner in 1853 and eventually broken up in 1897.
Under British colours
Thomas Brocklebank was in the timber business and also had a shipyard in Deptford on the Thames. In 1821 his yard delivered the paddle steamer Eagle, which became the first steamer on the service between London and Margate. Margate was a popular seaside venue on the eastern tip of Kent, known for its fine sand beaches. Brocklebank was also in charge of the shipping company that owned the Eagle, called the Eagle & Falcon Steam Packet Co.. There is no record of a Falcon, but in 1822 the Royal Sovereign was completed and taken over, also built at Brocklebank's yard. Thomas Brocklebank got in contact with William John Hall, who had ships going between Hull and London, and they were in charge of the formation of the General Steam Navigation Company, officially instituted at a meeting in June 1824. Just prior to that - in May - the Eagle had been sold to the Kingdom of Denmark, so the new shipping company opened service with the Royal Sovereign and the brand new City of London, also built by Brocklebank, in 1824.
The Eagle had two steam engines from Boulton and Watt. They delivered a total of 40 nominal horsepower, giving the vessel a speed of 6-7 knots. In Danish service the crew numbered 11, with four of these working the machinery. The boilers were replaced in 1828 and 1842, which was normal practise in those days. The stated width refers to the normal hull, but including the wheel covers the vessel was almost 10 meters wide, giving it a beam to length ratio of approximately 1:3.
Under Danish colours
When steamships started to appear, the admiralties of the different navies started to consider their military value. The general conception was that the big wheels on the sides made the vessels too vulnerable for service in naval battles, but their effectiveness as tugs and transports was recognized. In Denmark there was opposition against any procurement, because the funds would have to be diverted from the general naval budget, which was under great stress, as the Royal Danish Navy was still in the process of rebuilding the fleet after the disastrous events of the Napoleonic wars. There was, however, a need for a Royal yacht for king Frederick VI, and as the king wanted a steamship, there would be an opportunity to use it and gain some experience with steam power. It is telling, that Schultz underlines that it was the king who pushed for the purchase of paddle wheelers. The Danish naval lieutenant Hans Christian Bodenhoff was on a tour of duty in England, and, following royal approval of the project on 19 March 1824, he was commanded to find an appropriate vessel. In May 1824 he bought the Eagle for £4,500 and the ship got new aft cabins modelled on George III's yacht Royal Sovereign. The new Royal yacht was renamed as the Kiel and with Bodenhoff in command it arrived in Copenhagen on 4 June 1824.