RMS Trent

RMS Trent was a British Royal Mail paddle steamer built in 1841 by William Pitcher of Northfleet for the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. She measured 1,856 gross tons and could carry 60 passengers.

Trent served the transatlantic passenger route until she was requisitioned by the British government on the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854 for use as a troopship. She returned to her former civilian service in 1856.

Her interception by USS San Jacinto (1850) during the American Civil War in November 1861 provoked the Trent Affair, also known as the Mason and Slidell Affair, which almost led to war between the United Kingdom and the United States.

Trent continued in service until 1865, when she was sold and subsequently scrapped.

A later Trent served as a mail ship between New York and Bermuda and is notable for rescuing the crew of the airship America in 1910.