Isle of Man Steam Packet Company England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Ports served included Liverpool, Silloth, Whitehaven, Holyhead, Ardrossan, Blackpool, Belfast and Dublin. Vessels and crews of the company were actively involved in both the First and Second World Wars. One vessel, , was attached to the British Grand Fleet and led the German High Seas Fleet into Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands at the end of the First World War. Another vessel, "Viking", was converted to become a seaplane carrier, serving as . During the First World War, eleven out of a total fleet of fifteen Steam Packet ships were requisitioned by the Admiralty.
South Orkney Islands main island named Coronation Island as it was the year of the coronation of King George IV. In 1823, James Weddell visited the Islands, gave the archipelago its present name (after the Orkney Islands, Scotland) and also renamed some of the islands. The South Orkney Islands are located at roughly the same latitude south as the Orkney Islands are north (60°S vs 59°N), although it is not known if this was a factor behind the naming of the islands. Subsequently, the islands were frequently visited by sealers and whalers, but no thorough survey was done until the expedition of William