British Expedition to Abyssinia British Expedition to Abyssinia The British Expedition to Abyssinia was a rescue mission and punitive expedition carried out in 1868 by the armed forces of the British Empire against the Ethiopian Empire. Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia, then often referred to by the anglicized name Theodore, imprisoned several missionaries and two representatives of the British government in an attempt to get the attention of the British government, which had decided against his requests for military assistance. The punitive expedition launched by the British in response required the transportation of a sizable military force hundreds of miles across mountainous terrain lacking
SS Abyssinia Due to such, "Parthia" only burned 47 tons of coal per day. In 1880, Cunard sold "Abyssinia" to the Guion Line when that company needed a mail liner to replace the wrecked "Montana". Two years later, "Abyssinia" finally received compound machinery. In 1884, she was transferred to the John Elder shipyard to partly finance Guion's new Blue Riband winner, the "Oregon". Unable to make the payments, Guion returned its new record breaker to Elders and continued to operate "Abyssinia". At the same time, Elders also acquired the former Cunarders "Batavia" and "Parthia" ("Abyssinia's" near sister) as trade ins for the