In 1822 the St. George Steam Packet Company launched two large and powerful steamers, the _St. Patrick_ and _St. George_, for the trade between Liverpool and Dublin, and a few years later their _Sea-Horse_ sailed weekly between Hull and Rotterdam. The Original Steam Packet Company also ran the _Waterloo_ and the _Belfast_ on this route. A third company was now projected. Mr. C. W. Williams of Dublin came over to Liverpool to seek financial support for his project of building steamers for the same route. Failing at Liverpool, he returned to Dublin and met with such encouragement that in the following February he came back to Liverpool, and placed an order with Wilson, popularly called “Frigate Wilson,” the leading shipbuilder of his time on the Mersey, for the first steamer of what was destined to become one of the most famous steamship companies in the world, the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company. This vessel, the _City of Dublin_, was to be constructed to carry general cargo besides livestock and passengers, and to maintain the service throughout the year. She was probably the first steamer designed to carry both passengers and cargo. Williams saw that it was as much to the interest of merchants to have their goods delivered with regularity as it was to the interest of passengers to reach their destinations punctually. [Illustration: THE “SEA-HORSE.” ABOUT 1826.] Merchants were equally quick to see the advantages of punctual delivery, and the Williams enterprise prospered. The following month he contracted with Wilson for the building of the _Town of Liverpool_, there being some delay in placing this contract as Wilson had just contracted to build the steamer _Henry Bell_ for the Liverpool and Glasgow trade. The _City of Dublin’s_ maiden voyage was made on March 20, 1824. Meanwhile the Dublin and Liverpool Steam Navigation Company had been founded, and started trading operations in September 1824 with the steamer _Liffey_. In December of the same year the _Mersey_ was added, and in 1825 the _Commerce_. The last named was the largest vessel so far employed in cross-channel traffic. She was built at Liverpool by Messrs. Grayson and Leadley. The competition among the companies was exceedingly keen, and increased as they added to their respective fleets. The City of Dublin Company paid little heed to what was known as the Original Company, but found its work cut out in competing with the other two. The first really serious rate war broke out, and seems to have spread to the steamer companies in the Scottish and North of Ireland passenger trade.