Although steamships began to be operated as mail couriers in the British Isles from the 1820s, they were initially employed as military vessels in naval operations against indigenous pirate vessels in Southeast Asian waters. Part of the early reluctance in adopting steamers for use as mail and passenger transports stemmed from the relatively high costs of running the coal-hungry ships, which had a low fuel mileage. From the 1850s onwards, steamers became more common as innovations in nautical technology such as the screw-propeller, iron hull, surface condenser, and compound engine. The steamship, Perseus was completed in a Belfast shipyard in 1908 for the Liverpool-based Ocean Steamship Company (otherwise known as the Blue Funnel Line), founded by shipping tycoon Alfred Holt. The 480-foot steamer was specially commissioned to serve as a passenger liner plying the Far Eastern routes.
