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RMS Oceanic (1899)
RMS ''Oceanic'' was a transatlantic ocean liner built for the White Star Line. She sailed on her maiden voyage on 6 September 1899 and was the largest ship in the world until 1901. At the outbreak of World War I she was converted to an armed merchant cruiser. On 8 August 1914 she was commissioned into Royal Navy service. On 25 August 1914, the newly designated HMS ''Oceanic'' departed Southampton to patrol the waters from the North Scottish mainland to Faroe. On 8 September she ran aground and was wrecked off the island of Foula, in the Shetland Islands. Background In the late 1890s the White Star Line's existing prestige liners ''Majestic'' and ''Teutonic'', both launched in 1889, had become outmoded due to rapid advances in marine technology: Their competitors the Cunard Line had introduced the ''Campania'' and ''Lucania'' in 1893, and from 1897 the German Norddeutscher Lloyd began introducing four new Kaiser-class ocean liners which included the SS ''Kaiser Wilh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harland And Wolff
Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the White Star Line, including ''Olympic''-class trio – , and HMHS ''Britannic''. Outside of White Star Line, other ships that have been built include the Royal Navy's ; Royal Mail Line's ''Andes''; Shaw, Savill & Albion's ; Union-Castle's ; and P&O's . Harland and Wolff's official history, ''Shipbuilders to the World'', was published in 1986. As of 2011, the expanding offshore wind power industry had been the prime focus, and 75% of the company's work was based on offshore renewable energy. Early history Harland & Wolff was formed in 1861 by Edward James Harland (1831–95) and Hamburg-born Gustav Wilhelm Wolff (1834–1913; he came to the UK at age 14). In 1858 Harland, then general manager, bought the small shipyard on ''Que ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armed Merchant Cruiser
An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in long distance and high value trade. In more modern times, auxiliary cruisers were used offensively as merchant raiders to disrupt trade chiefly during both World War I and World War II, particularly by Germany. While armed merchantmen are clearly inferior to purpose-built warships, sometimes they have scored successes in combat against them. Examples include East Indiamen mimicking ships of the line and chasing off regular French warships in the Battle of Pulo Aura in 1804, and the sinking the Australian light cruiser in their battle in 1941, although ''Kormoran'' was also destroyed and had to be scuttled. Pre-20th century East Indiamen of various European countries were heavily armed for their long journeys to the Far East. In p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SS Cymric
SS ''Cymric'' was a steamship of the White Star Line built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast and launched on 12 October 1897. History Construction She had originally been designed as a combination passenger liner and livestock carrier, with accommodation for only First Class passengers. During the stages of her design layout, it became clearer to the designers at Harland and Wolff that combining passengers and livestock had become rather unpopular, so the spaces designated for cattle were reconfigured into Third Class accommodations. ''Cymric'' retained her relatively small and lower-powered machinery, intended to drive the ship at the slower, more economical speeds of a cargo-liner. When her livestock spaces were removed in favour of more passenger accommodation, the high internal volume provided by the former cargo space and the relatively small machinery space (as opposed to the more speed-orientated passenger liners of the time, which dedicated a large proportion of their hu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the first, largest, fastest, most heavily armed, or best known. Over the years, the term "flagship" has become a metaphor used in industries such as broadcasting, automobiles, education, technology, airlines, and retail to refer to their highest profile or most expensive products and locations. Naval use In common naval use, the term ''flagship'' is fundamentally a temporary designation; the flagship is wherever the admiral's flag is being flown. However, admirals have always needed additional facilities, including a meeting room large enough to hold all the captains of the fleet and a place for the admiral's staff to make plans and draw up orders. Historically, only larger ships could accommodate such requirements. The term was also used ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SS Kaiser Wilhelm Der Grosse
''Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse'' ( Ger. orth. ''Kaiser Wilhelm der Große'') was a German transatlantic ocean liner named after Wilhelm I, German Emperor, the first monarch of the German Empire. The liner was built in Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland) for the Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL), and entered service in 1897. It was the first liner to have four funnels and is considered to be the first "superliner." The first of four sister ships built between 1903 and 1907 for NDL (the others being , and ), she marked the beginning of a change in the way maritime supremacy was demonstrated in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. The ship began a new era in ocean travel and the novelty of having four funnels was quickly associated with size, strength, speed and above all luxury. Quickly established on the Atlantic, she gained the Blue Riband for Germany, a notable prize for the fastest trip from Europe to America which had been previously dominated by the British. In 1900, she was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaiser-class Ocean Liner
The Kaiser-class ocean liners or ''Kaiserklasse'' refer to four transatlantic ocean liners of the Norddeutscher Lloyd, a German shipping company. Built by the AG Vulcan Stettin between 1897 and 1907, these ships were designed to be among the largest and best appointed liners of their day. These four ships, two of which held the prestigious Blue Riband, were known as the "four flyers" and all proved to be popular with wealthy transatlantic travellers. They also took great advantage of the masses of immigrants who wished to leave Europe. The first of these "superliners" was , unique for being the first liner built with four funnels. She was credited with sparking the race for maritime supremacy between France, Germany and the United Kingdom which soon saw the creation of some of the most famous ships in history. Although ''Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse'' was not originally planned to have any sister ships, the subsequent (1901), (1903) and all enjoyed good careers; however, when Wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norddeutscher Lloyd
Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL; North German Lloyd) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20 February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was instrumental in the economic development of Bremen and Bremerhaven. On 1 September 1970, the company merged with Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) to form Hapag-Lloyd AG. History Establishment of the NDL The German shipping company North German Lloyd (NDL) was founded by the Bremen merchants Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann on 20 February 1857, after the dissolution of the Ocean Steam Navigation Company, a joint German-American enterprise. The new shipping company had no association with the British maritime classification society Lloyd's Register; in the mid-19th century, "Lloyd" was used as a term for a shipping company (an earlier user of the term in the same context was the Trie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RMS Lucania
RMS ''Lucania'' was a British ocean liner owned by the Cunard Steamship Line Shipping Company, built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Govan, Scotland, and launched on Thursday, 2 February 1893. Identical in dimensions and specifications to her sister ship and running mate , RMS ''Lucania'' was the joint largest passenger liner afloat when she entered service in 1893. On her second voyage, she won the prestigious Blue Riband from the other Cunarder to become the fastest passenger liner afloat, a title she kept until 1898. Power plant and construction ''Lucania'' and ''Campania'' were partly financed by the Admiralty. The deal was that Cunard would receive money from the Government in return for constructing vessels to admiralty specifications and also on condition that the vessels go on the naval reserve list to serve as armed merchant cruisers when required by the government. The contracts were awarded to the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Compan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RMS Campania
RMS ''Campania'' was a British ocean liner owned by the Cunard Steamship Line Shipping Company, built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Govan, Scotland, and launched on Thursday, 8 September 1892. Identical in dimensions and specifications to her sister ship , ''Campania'' was the largest and fastest passenger liner afloat when she entered service in 1893. She crossed the Atlantic in less than six days, and on her second voyage in 1893, she won the prestigious Blue Riband, previously held by the Inman Liner . The following year, ''Lucania'' won the Blue Riband and kept the title until 1898 - ''Campania'' being the marginally slower of the two sisters. Power plant and construction ''Campania'' and ''Lucania'' were partly financed by the Admiralty. The deal was that Cunard would receive money from the Government in return for constructing vessels to admiralty specifications and also on condition that the vessels go on the naval reserve list to serve as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cunard Line
Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival Corporation & plc#Carnival United Kingdom, Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Bermuda. In 1839, Samuel Cunard was awarded the first British transatlantic steamship mail contract, and the next year formed the British and North American Royal Mail Steam-Packet Company in Glasgow with shipowner Sir George Burns together with Robert Napier (engineer), Robert Napier, the famous Scottish steamship engine designer and builder, to operate the line's four pioneer paddle steamers on the Liverpool–Halifax–Boston route. For most of the next 30 years, Cunard held the Blue Riband for the fastest Atlantic voyage. However, in the 1870s Cunard fell behind its rivals, the White Star Line and the Inman Line. To meet this competition, in 1879 the firm was reorganised as the Cunard Stea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RMS Teutonic
The RMS ''Teutonic'' was an ocean liner built for the White Star Line in Belfast and was the first armed merchant cruiser. History Background In the late 1880s competition for the Blue Riband, the award for the fastest Atlantic crossing, was fierce amongst the top steamship lines, and White Star decided to order two ships from Harland and Wolff that would be capable of an average Atlantic crossing speed of . Construction of ''Teutonic'' and ''Majestic'' began in 1887. When ''Teutonic'' was launched on 19 January 1889, she was the first White Star ship without square rigged sails. The ship was completed on 25 July 1889 and participated in the Spithead Naval Review on 5 and 6 August, in conjunction with the state visit of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Although Queen Victoria remained aboard the Royal Yacht, the Kaiser was given a two-hour tour of the new ship hosted by his "Uncle Bertie," (the Prince of Wales and future Edward VII). During the tour, Wilhelm is reputed to have turned to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RMS Majestic (1889)
RMS ''Majestic'' was a steamship built in 1890 and operated by the White Star Line. History Constructed by Harland and Wolff, ''Majestic'' was launched on 29 June 1889 and was delivered to White Star in March 1890. White Star had sought to fund the construction of both ''Majestic'' and through the British government, a proposal which was accepted with the stipulation that the Royal Navy would have access to the two liners in a time of war. ''Majestic'' and her sister were the first new additions to White Star's transatlantic fleet since the ''Britannic'' and ''Germanic'' had respectively entered service in 1874 and 1875. Together, the two new ships replaced the aging ''Baltic'' and ''Republic'', which had both been in service with White Star since 1872 and were subsequently sold to new owners prior to the new ships entering service. On 2 April 1890, ''Majestic'' left Liverpool on her maiden voyage to New York City. There was a strong desire among the White Star management to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
