The first P&O contracted mail steamer, the ‘Chusan’ (663 grt, screw-driven 80 HP steam engine, rigged as a 3-masted barque) with Captain Henry Down in command, delivering and collecting West Australian mail arrived on 23rd November 1852. She had sailed from England on 15th May, arriving in Melbourne then Sydney, where she left on 31st August bound for Melbourne (again), Adelaide, Albany and Fremantle. She would then leave there for Jakarta and Singapore. She was received in Albany with gun salutes and a reception on board. The Harbour Master, Shakespear Hamilton had died at the age of 45 only 2 weeks prior to this arrival.
The ‘Chusan’ was sold in 1861. However two more ships with the name ‘Chusan’ serviced the Albany route (the 2nd built in 1881 of 4,636 grt and the 3rd built in 1950 of 24,215 grt).
Albany was well positioned to service this function as it was the first safe port for many ships from Europe en route to Melbourne and Sydney with the added feature of taking on bunker coal.