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SS Abyssinia All five of the new Cunarders on this route were quickly rendered out of date by White Star's revolutionary "Oceanic" of 1871. For example, "Abyssinia" and her sister burned 90 tons of coal per day as compared to 58 tons for "Oceanic". While Inman and other rivals quickly installed compound machinery and modified passenger quarters to match White Star's new fleet, Cunard did not. Finally, in 1879 the privately owned Cunard line was reorganised as a public stock corporation to raise the capital needed to rebuild the fleet. On the other hand, "Abyssinia's" near sister, "Parthia" did utilise compound machinery.