![Queen Mary 2 Boston July 2015 01 (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Queen_Mary_2_Boston_July_2015_01_%28cropped%29.jpg)
An ocean liner is a
passenger ship
A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...
primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as
hospital ship
A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. ...
s).
Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes called ''liners''. The category does not include
ferries
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...
or other vessels engaged in short-sea trading, nor dedicated
cruise ship
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...
s where the voyage itself, and not transportation, is the primary purpose of the trip. Nor does it include
tramp steamer
A boat or ship engaged in the tramp trade is one which does not have a fixed schedule, itinerary nor published ports of call, and trades on the spot market as opposed to freight liners. A steamship engaged in the tramp trade is sometimes called ...
s, even those equipped to handle limited numbers of passengers. Some shipping companies refer to themselves as "lines" and their
container ship
A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...
s, which often operate over set routes according to established schedules, as "liners".
Ocean liners are usually strongly built with a high
freeboard
In sailing and boating, a vessel's freeboard
is the distance from the waterline to the upper deck level, measured at the lowest point of sheer where water can enter the boat or ship. In commercial vessels, the latter criterion measured relativ ...
to withstand rough seas and adverse conditions encountered in the open ocean. Additionally, they are often designed with thicker
hull plating than is found on cruise ships, and have large capacities for fuel, food and other consumables on long voyages.
The first ocean liners were built in the mid-19th century. Technological innovations such as the steam engine and steel hull allowed larger and faster liners to be built, giving rise to a competition between world powers of the time, especially between the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
, and to a lesser extent
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Once the dominant form of travel between continents, ocean liners were rendered largely obsolete by the emergence of long-distance aircraft after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Advances in automobile and railway technology also played a role. After was retired in 2008, the only ship still in service as an ocean liner is .
Overview
Ocean liners were the primary mode of intercontinental travel for over a century, from the mid-19th century until they began to be supplanted by
airliner
An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ...
s in the 1950s. In addition to passengers, liners carried mail and cargo. Ships contracted to carry
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
Royal Mail
, kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga
, logo = Royal Mail.svg
, logo_size = 250px
, type = Public limited company
, traded_as =
, foundation =
, founder = Henry VIII
, location = London, England, UK
, key_people = * Keith Williams ...
used the designation
RMS. Liners were also the preferred way to move gold and other high-value cargoes.
The busiest route for liners was on the North Atlantic with ships travelling between Europe and North America. It was on this route that the fastest, largest and most advanced liners travelled, though most ocean liners historically were mid-sized vessels which served as the common carriers of passengers and freight between nations and among mother countries and their colonies and dependencies in the pre-
jet age
The Jet Age is a period in the history of aviation defined by the advent of aircraft powered by jet turbine engines, and by the social change this brought about.
Jet airliners were able to fly much higher, faster, and farther than older pisto ...
. Such routes included Europe to African and Asian colonies, Europe to South America, and migrant traffic from Europe to North America in the 19th and first two decades of the 20th centuries, and to Canada and Australia after the Second World War.
Shipping lines are companies engaged in shipping passengers and cargo, often on established routes and schedules. Regular scheduled voyages on a set route are called "line voyages" and vessels (passenger or cargo) trading on these routes to a timetable are called liners. The alternative to liner trade is "tramping" whereby vessels are notified on an ad hoc basis as to the availability of a cargo to be transported. (In older usage, "liner" also referred to
ships of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colum ...
, that is, line-of-battle ships, but that usage is now rare.) The term "ocean liner" has come to be used interchangeably with "passenger liner", although it can refer to a
cargo liner
A cargo liner, also known as a passenger-cargo ship or passenger-cargoman, is a type of merchant ship which carries general cargo and often passengers. They became common just after the middle of the 19th century, and eventually gave way to conta ...
or cargo-passenger liner.
The advent of the Jet Age and the decline in transoceanic ship service brought about a gradual transition from passenger ships to modern cruise ships as a means of transportation.
In order for ocean liners to remain profitable, cruise lines modified some of them to operate on cruise routes, such as the . Certain characteristics of older ocean liners made them unsuitable for cruising, such as high fuel consumption, deep draught preventing them from entering shallow ports, and cabins (often windowless) designed to maximize passenger numbers rather than comfort. The
Italian Line
Italian Line and from 1992 Italia Line, whose official name was Italia di Navigazione S.p.A., was a passenger shipping line that operated regular transatlantic services between Italy and the United States, and Italy and South America. During ...
's and , the last ocean liners to be built primarily for crossing the North Atlantic, could not be converted economically and had short careers.
History
19th century
![Great Western maiden voyage](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Great_Western_maiden_voyage.jpg)
At the beginning of the 19th century, the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
and the inter-continental trade rendered the development of secure links between continents imperative. Being at the top among the colonial powers, the United Kingdom needed stable maritime routes to connect different parts of its
empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
: the
Far East
The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.
The ter ...
, India, Australia, etc. The birth of the concept of international water and the lack of any claim to it simplified navigation. In 1818, the
Black Ball Line, with a fleet of sailing ships, offered the first regular passenger service with emphasis on passenger comfort, from England to the United States.
In 1807,
Robert Fulton
Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steamboat ...
succeeded in applying steam engines to ships. He built the first ship that was powered by this technology, the
''Clermont'', which succeeded in traveling between New York City and
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
in thirty hours before entering into regular service between the two cities.
Soon after, other vessels were built using this innovation. In 1816, the became the first
steamship
A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...
to cross the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
. Another important advance came in 1819, when became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. She left the
city of the same name and arrived in
Liverpool, England
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
in 27 days. Most of the distance was covered by sailing; the steam power was not used for more than 72 hours during the travel.
The public enthusiasm for the new technology was not high, as none of the thirty-two people who had booked a seat boarded the ship for that historic voyage. Although ''Savannah'' had proven that a steamship was capable of crossing the ocean, the public was not yet prepared to trust such means of travel on the open sea, and, in 1820, the steam engine was removed from the vessel.
[
Work on this technology continued and a new step was taken in 1833. ''Royal William'' managed to cross the Atlantic by using steam power on most of the voyage; sail was used only when the boilers were cleaned.][ There were still many skeptics, and in 1836, scientific writer ]Dionysius Lardner
Professor Dionysius Lardner FRS FRSE (3 April 179329 April 1859) was an Irish scientific writer who popularised science and technology, and edited the 133-volume '' Cabinet Cyclopædia''.
Early life in Dublin
He was born in Dublin on 3 Apr ...
declared that: As the project of making the voyage directly from New York to Liverpool, it was perfectly chimerical, and they might as well talk of making the voyage from New York to the moon.
The last step toward long-distance travel using steam power was taken in 1837 when left Liverpool on 4 April and arrived in New York eighteen days later on 22 April after a turbulent crossing. Too little coal was prepared for the crossing, and the crew had to burn cabin furniture in order to complete the voyage. The journey took place at a speed of 8.03 knots. The voyage was made possible by the use of a condenser, which fed the boilers with fresh water, avoiding having to periodically shut down the boilers in order to remove the salt.[ The feat was short-lived. The next day, , designed by railway engineer ]Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...
, arrived in New York. She left Liverpool on 8 April and overtook ''Sirius''s record with an average speed of 8.66 knots. The race of speed was commenced, and, with it, the tradition of the Blue Riband
The Blue Riband () is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest average speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. T ...
.
With ''Great Western'', Isambard Kingdom Brunel laid the foundations for new shipbuilding techniques. He realised that the carrying capacity of a ship increases as the cube of its dimensions, whilst the water resistance only increases as the square of its dimensions. This means that large ships are more fuel-efficient, something very important for long voyages across the Atlantic.[ Constructing large ships was therefore more profitable. Moreover, migration to the Americas increased enormously. These movements of population were a financial windfall for the shipping companies,] some of the largest of which were founded during this time. Examples are the P&O of the United Kingdom in 1822 and the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT, and commonly named "Transat"), typically known overseas as the French Line, was a French shipping company. Established in 1855 by the Péreire brothers, brothers Émile and Issac Péreire under the ...
of France in 1855.
The steam engine also allowed ships to provide regular service without the use of sail. This aspect particularly appealed to the postal companies, which leased the services of ships to serve clients separated by the ocean. In 1839, Samuel Cunard
Sir Samuel Cunard, 1st Baronet (21 November 1787 – 28 April 1865), was a British-Canadian shipping magnate, born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, who founded the Cunard Line, establishing the first scheduled steamship connection with North America. H ...
founded the Cunard Line
Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Berm ...
and became the first to dedicate the activity of his shipping company to the transport of mails, thus ensuring regular services on a given schedule. The company's vessels operated the routes between the United Kingdom and the United States. Over time, the paddle wheel, impractical on the high seas, was abandoned in favour of the propeller.[ In 1840, Cunard Line's began its first regular passenger and cargo service by a steamship, sailing from Liverpool to ]Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts.
As the size of ship increased, the wooden hull became fragile. Beginning with the use of an iron hull in 1845, and then steel hulls, solved this problem. The first ship to be both iron-hulled and equipped with a screw propeller
A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
was , a creation of Brunel. Her career was disastrous and short. She was run aground and stranded at Dundrum Bay
Dundrum Bay (Old Irish ''Loch Rudraige'') is a bay located next to Dundrum, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is divided into the Outer Bay, and the almost entirely landlocked Inner Bay. They are separated by the dune systems of Ballykinler to th ...
in 1846. In 1884, she was retired to the Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...
where she was used as a warehouse, quarantine ship, and coal hulk until she was scuttled in 1937. The American company Collins Line
The Collins Line was the common name for the American shipping company started by Israel Collins and then built up by his son Edward Knight Collins, formally called the New York and Liverpool United States Mail Steamship Company. Under Edward Col ...
took a different approach. It equipped its ships with cold rooms, heating systems, and various other innovations but the operation was expensive. The sinking of two of its ships was a major blow to the company which was dissolved in 1858.
In 1858, Brunel built his third and last giant, . The ship was, for 43 years, the largest passenger ship ever built. She had the capacity to carry 4,000 passengers. Her career was marked by a series of failures and incidents, one of which was an explosion on board during her maiden voyage.
Many ships owned by German companies like Hamburg America Line
The Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Aktien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG), known in English as the Hamburg America Line, was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, in 1847. Among those involved in its development were prominent citi ...
and 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 th ...
were sailing from major German ports, such as Hamburg and Bremen, to the United States during this time. The year 1858 was marked by a major accident: the sinking of . The ship, built in Greenock
Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...
and sailing between Hamburg and New York twice a month, suffered an accidental fire off the coast of Newfoundland and sank with the loss of all but 89 of the 542 passengers.
In the British market, Cunard Line and White Star Line
The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between t ...
(the latter after being bought by Thomas Ismay
Thomas Henry Ismay (7 January 1837 – 23 November 1899) was the founder of the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, more commonly known as the White Star Line. His son Joseph Bruce Ismay was managing director of the ''White Star Line''; and, in ...
in 1868), competed strongly against each other in the late 1860s. The struggle was symbolised by the attainment of the Blue Riband, which the two companies achieved several times around the end of the century. The luxury and technology of ships were also evolving. Auxiliary sails became obsolete and disappeared completely at the end of the century. Possible military use of passenger ships was envisaged and, in 1889, became the first auxiliary 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 lo ...
in history. In the time of war, ships could easily be equipped with cannons and used in cases of conflict. ''Teutonic'' succeeded in impressing Emperor Wilhelm II
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empi ...
of Germany, who wanted to see his country endowed with a modern fleet.
In 1870, the White Star Line's set a new standard for ocean travel by having its first-class cabins amidships, with the added amenity of large portholes, electricity and running water. The size of ocean liners increased from 1880 to meet the needs of immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
to the United States and Australia.
and her sister ship were the last two Cunard liners of the period to be fitted with auxiliary sails. Both ships were built by John Elder & Co. of Glasgow, Scotland, in 1884. They were record breakers by the standards of the time, and were the largest liners then in service, plying the Liverpool to New York route.
was a 6,814-ton steamship owned by the Orient Steamship Co., and was fitted with refrigeration equipment. She plied the Suez Canal route from England to Australia during the 1890s, up until the years leading to World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
when she was converted to an 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 lo ...
.
In 1897, 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 th ...
launched . She was followed three years later by three sister ships. The ship was both luxurious and fast, managing to steal the Blue Riband from the British. She was also the first of the fourteen ocean liners with four funnels that have emerged in maritime history. The ship needed only two funnels, but more funnels gave passengers a feeling of safety and power. In 1900, the Hamburg America Line
The Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Aktien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG), known in English as the Hamburg America Line, was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, in 1847. Among those involved in its development were prominent citi ...
competed with its own four-funnel liner, . She quickly obtained the Blue Riband for her company. This race for speed, however, was a detriment to passengers' comfort and generated strong vibration, which made her owner lose any interest in her after she lost the Blue Riband to another ship of Norddeutscher Lloyd. She was only used for ten years for transatlantic crossing before being converted into a cruise ship. Until 1907 the Blue Riband remained in the hands of the Germans.
Early 20th century
In 1902, J. P. Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...
embraced the idea of a maritime empire comprising a large number of companies. He founded the International Mercantile Marine Co., a trust which originally comprised only American shipping companies. The trust then absorbed Leyland Line
The Leyland Line was a British shipping transport line founded in 1873 by Frederick Richards Leyland after his apprenticeship in the firm of John Bibby, Sons & Co. After Frederick Leyland's death, the company was taken over by Sir John Ellerm ...
and White Star Line. The British government then decided to intervene in order to regain the ascendancy.
Although German liners dominated in terms of speed, British liners dominated in terms of size. and the Big Four of the White Star Line were the first liners to surpass ''Great Eastern'' as the largest passenger ships. Ultimately their owner was American (as mentioned above, White Star Line had been absorbed into J. P. Morgan's trust). Faced with this major competition, the British government contributed financially to Cunard Line's construction of two liners of unmatched size and speed, under the condition that they be available for conversion into armed cruisers when needed by the navy. The result of this partnership was the completion in 1907 of two sister ships: and , both of which won the Blue Riband during their respective maiden voyages. The latter retained this distinction for twenty years. Their great speed was achieved by the use of turbines instead of conventional expansion machines.
In response to the competition from Cunard Line, White Star Line ordered the liners at the end of 1907. The first of these three liners, , completed in 1911, had a fine career, although punctuated by incidents. This was not the case for her sister, the , which sank on her maiden voyage on 15 April 1912, resulting in several changes to maritime safety practices. As for the third sister, , she never served her intended purpose as a passenger ship, as she was drafted in the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
as a hospital ship
A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. ...
, and sank to a naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...
in 1916.
At the same time, France tried to mark its presence with the completion in 1912 of owned by the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT, and commonly named "Transat"), typically known overseas as the French Line, was a French shipping company. Established in 1855 by the Péreire brothers, brothers Émile and Issac Péreire under the ...
. Germany soon responded to the competition from the British. From 1912 to 1914, Hamburg America Line completed a trio of liners significantly larger than the White Star Line's ''Olympic''-class ships. The first to be completed, in 1913 was . She was followed by SS ''Vaterland'' in 1914. The construction of the third liner, , was paused by the outbreak of the First World War.
The First World War was a hard time for the liners. Some of them, like the ''Mauretania'', , and ''Britannic'' were transformed into hospital ships during the conflict.[ Others became troop transports, while some, such as the ''Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse'', participated in the war as warships. Troop transportation was very popular due to the liners' large size. Liners converted into troop ships were painted in ]dazzle camouflage
Dazzle camouflage, also known as razzle dazzle (in the U.S.) or dazzle painting, is a family of ship camouflage that was used extensively in World War I, and to a lesser extent in World War II and afterwards. Credited to the British marine ar ...
to reduce the risk of being torpedoed by enemy submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
s.
The war was marked by the loss of many liners. ''Britannic'', while serving as a hospital ship, sank in the Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...
in 1916 after she struck a mine. Numerous incidents of torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...
ing took place and large numbers of ships sank. ''Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse'' was defeated and scuttled
Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...
after a fierce battle with off the coast of west Africa, while her sister ship served as a commerce raider
Commerce raiding (french: guerre de course, "war of the chase"; german: Handelskrieg, "trade war") is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than enga ...
. The torpedoing and sinking of ''Lusitania'' on 7 May 1915 caused the loss of 128 American lives at a time when the United States was still neutral. Although other factors came into play, the loss of American lives in the sinking strongly pushed the United States to favour the Allied Powers and facilitated the country's entry into the war.
The losses of the liners owned by the Allied Powers were compensated by the Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
in 1919. This led to the awarding of many German liners to the victorious Allies. The Hamburg America Line's trio (, ''Vaterland'', and ''Bismarck'') were divided between the Cunard Line, White Star Line, and the United States Lines
United States Lines was the trade name of an organization of the United States Shipping Board (USSB), Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) created to operate German liners seized by the United States in 1917. The ships were owned by the USSB and all ...
, while the three surviving ships of the Kaiser class were requisitioned by the US Navy in the context of the conflict and then retained. The ''Tirpitz'', whose construction was delayed by the outbreak of war eventually became the . Of the German superliners, only ''Deutschland'', because of her poor state, avoided this fate.[
]
After World War I
After a period of reconstruction, the shipping companies recovered quickly from the damage caused by the First World War. The ships, whose construction was started before the war, such as of the French Line
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...
, were completed and put into service. Prominent British liners, such as the ''Olympic'' and the ''Mauretania'', were also put back into service and had a successful career in the early 1920s. More modern liners were also built, such as (completed in 1927). The United States Lines
United States Lines was the trade name of an organization of the United States Shipping Board (USSB), Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) created to operate German liners seized by the United States in 1917. The ships were owned by the USSB and all ...
, having received the ''Vaterland'', renamed her ''Leviathan'' and made her the 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 fi ...
of the company's fleet. Because all U.S. registered ships counted as an extension of U.S. territory, the National Prohibition Act
The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was an act of the 66th United States Congress, designed to carry out the intent of the 18th Amendment (ratified January 1919), which established the prohibition of alcoholic d ...
made American liners alcohol-free, causing alcohol-seeking passengers to choose other liners for travel and substantially reducing profits for the United States Lines.[
In 1929, Germany returned to the scene with the two ships of Norddeutscher Lloyd, and . ''Bremen'' won the Blue Riband from Britain's ''Mauretania'' after the latter had held it for twenty years. Soon, ]Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
also entered the scene. The Italian Line
Italian Line and from 1992 Italia Line, whose official name was Italia di Navigazione S.p.A., was a passenger shipping line that operated regular transatlantic services between Italy and the United States, and Italy and South America. During ...
completed and in 1932, breaking the records of both luxury and speed (''Rex'' won the westbound Blue Riband in 1933). France reentered the scene with of the French Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT). The ship was the largest ship afloat at the time of her completion in 1932. She was also the fastest, winning the Blue Riband in 1935.
A crisis arose when the United States drastically reduced its immigrant quotas, causing shipping companies to lose a large part of their income and to have to adapt to this circumstance. The Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
also played an important role, causing a drastic decrease in the number of people crossing the Atlantic and at the same time reducing the number of profitable transatlantic voyages. In response, shipping companies redirected many of their liners to a more profitable cruise service. In 1934, in the United Kingdom, Cunard Line and White Star Line were in very bad shape financially. Chancellor of the Exchequer
The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician of the Conservative Party who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasemen ...
proposed to merge the two companies in order to solve their financial problems. The merger took place in 1934 and launched the construction of the while progressively sending their older ships to the scrapyard. The ''Queen Mary'' was the fastest ship of her time and the largest for a short amount of time, she captured the Blue Riband twice, both off ''Normandie''. The construction of a second ship, the , was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
The Second World War was a conflict rich in events involving liners. From the start of the conflict, German liners were requisitioned and many were turned into barracks ships. It was in the course of this activity that the ''Bremen'' caught fire and was scrapped in 1941. During the conflict, ''Queen Elizabeth'' and ''Queen Mary'' provided distinguished service as troopships.
Many liners were sunk with great loss of life; in the Second World War the three worst disasters were the loss of the Cunarder in 1940 off Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany.
The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...
to German bombing while attempting to evacuate troops of the British Expeditionary Force from France, with the loss of more than 3,000 lives; the sinking of , after the ship was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, with more than 9,000 lives lost, making it the deadliest maritime disaster in history; and the sinking of with more than 7,000 lives lost, both in the Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
, in 1945.
SS ''Rex'' was bombarded and sunk in 1944, while ''Normandie'' caught fire, capsized and sank in New York in 1942 while being converted for troop duty. Many of the superliners of the 1920s and 1930s were victims of U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
s, mines or enemy aircraft. was attacked by German planes, then torpedoed by a U-boat when tugs tried to tow her to safety.
Decline of long-distance line voyages
After the war, some ships were again transferred from the defeated nations to the winning nations as war reparations. This was the case of the ''Europa'', which was ceded to France and renamed ''Liberté''. The United States government was very impressed with the service of the Cunard's ''Queen Mary'' and ''Queen Elizabeth'' as troopships during the war. To ensure a reliable and fast troop transport in case of a war against the Soviet Union, the U.S. government sponsored the construction of and entered it into service for the United States Lines in 1952. She won the Blue Riband on her maiden voyage in that year and held it until Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expressed ...
won it back in 1986 with Virgin Atlantic Challenger II. One year later, in 1953, Italy completed the , which later sank in 1956 after a collision with .
Before the Second World War, aircraft had not posed a significant economic threat to ocean liners. Most pre-war aircraft were noisy, vulnerable to bad weather, few had the range needed for transoceanic flights, and all were expensive and had a small passenger capacity. The war accelerated development of large, long-ranged aircraft. Four-engined bombers, such as the Avro Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...
and Boeing B-29 Superfortress
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...
, with their range and massive carrying capacity, were natural prototypes for post-war next-generation airliner
An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ...
s. Jet engine
A jet engine is a type of reaction engine discharging a fast-moving jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition can include rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and hybrid propulsion, the term ...
technology also accelerated due to wartime development of jet aircraft
A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by jet engines.
Whereas the engines in propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much lower speeds and altitudes, je ...
. In 1953, the De Havilland Comet
The de Havilland DH.106 Comet was the world's first commercial jet airliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland in the United Kingdom, the Comet 1 prototype first flew in 1949. It featured an aerodynamically clean design with four d ...
became the first commercial jet airliner; the Sud Aviation Caravelle
The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle is a French jet airliner produced by Sud Aviation.
It was developed by SNCASE in the early 1950s and made its maiden flight on 27 May 1955.
It included some de Havilland designs and components developed for t ...
, Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...
and Douglas DC-8
The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is a long-range narrow-body airliner built by the American Douglas Aircraft Company.
After losing the May 1954 US Air Force tanker competition to the Boeing KC-135, Douglas announced in Ju ...
followed, and much long-distance travel was done by air. The Italian Line's and , launched in 1962 and 1963, were two of the last ocean liners to be built primarily for liner service across the North Atlantic. Cunard's transatlantic liner, , was also used as a cruise ship. By the early 1960s, 95% of passenger traffic across the Atlantic was by aircraft. Thus the reign of the ocean liners came to an end. By the early 1970s, many passenger ships continued their service in cruising.
In 1982, during the Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
, three active or former liners were requisitioned for war service by the British Government
ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd
, image = HM Government logo.svg
, image_size = 220px
, image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
, image_size2 = 180px
, caption = Royal Arms
, date_es ...
. The liners ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' and , were requisitioned from Cunard and P&O to serve as troopships, carrying British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
personnel to Ascension Island
Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory o ...
and the Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...
to recover the Falklands from the invading Argentine forces. The P&O educational cruise ship and former British India Steam Navigation Company
British India Steam Navigation Company ("BI") was formed in 1856 as the Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company.
History
The ''Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company'' had been formed out of Mackinnon, Mackenzie & Co, a trading partn ...
liner was requisitioned as a hospital ship, and served after the war as a troopship until the RAF Mount Pleasant
RAF Mount Pleasant (also known as Mount Pleasant Airport, Mount Pleasant Complex or MPA) is a Royal Air Force station in the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands. The airfield goes by the motto of "Defend the right" (while the m ...
station was built at Stanley
Stanley may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Film and television
* ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film
* ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy
* ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short
* ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...
, which could handle trooping flights.
21st century
By the first decade of the 21st century, only a few former ocean liners were still in existence; some, like , were sailing as cruise ship
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...
s while others, like , were preserved as museums
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
, or laid up at pier side like SS ''United States''. After the retirement of ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' in 2008, the only ocean liner in service was ''Queen Mary 2'', built in 2003–04, used for both point-to-point line voyages and for cruises.
Survivors
Five ocean liners that were made before the Second World War survive today as they have been partially or fully preserved as museums and hotels
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...
. The Japanese ocean liner (1929), has been preserved in Naka-ku, Yokohama
is one of the 18 wards of the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. In 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 146,563 and a population density of 7,080 persons per km². The total area was 20.86 km².
Geography
Naka Ward i ...
, Japan, as a museum ship, since 1961. '' Queen Mary'' (1934) was preserved in 1967 after her retirement, and became a museum/hotel in Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
. In the 1970s, (1843) was also preserved, and now resides in Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, England as another museum. The latest ship to undergo preservation is (1914). While originally being a cargo ship, it served as the Italian ocean liner Franca C. for Costa Lines from 1952 to 1959, and in 2010 it became a dry berthed luxury hotel on Bintan Island
Bintan Island or ''Negeri Segantang Lada'' is an island in the Riau archipelago of Indonesia. It is part of the Riau Islands province, the capital of which, Tanjung Pinang, lies in the island's south and is the island's main community.
Bintan's l ...
, Indonesia.
Post-war ocean liners still extant are (1948), ''United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
'' (1952), (1958), (1961), and ''Queen Elizabeth 2
''Queen Elizabeth 2'' (''QE2'') is a retired British ocean liner converted into a floating hotel. Originally built for the Cunard Line, the ship, named as the second ship named ''Queen Elizabeth'', was operated by Cunard as both a transatlantic ...
'' (1967). Out of these five ocean liners, 2 of them have since been preserved. The ''Rotterdam'' has been moored in Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
as a museum and hotel since 2008, while the ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' has been a floating luxury hotel and museum at Mina Rashid, Dubai since 2018. The other 3 former ocean liners include ''Astoria'', ''United States'', and ''Funchal''. The first of these, Astoria (originally the ocean liner MS ''Stockholm,'' which collided with ''Andrea Doria'' in 1956) has been rebuilt and refitted as a cruise ship over the years and was in active service for Cruise & Maritime Voyages until operations ceased in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. In August, 2021 she was purchased by Brock Pierce
Brock Jeffrey Pierce (born November 14, 1981) is an American entrepreneur known primarily for his work in the cryptocurrency industry. As a child actor, he starred in Disney films '' The Mighty Ducks'' (1992), '' D2: The Mighty Ducks'' (1994), an ...
to be transformed into a hotel along with MV Funchal. These plans were ultimately abandoned and the ship was again made available for sale, never having left port in Rotterdam. ''United States'' has been docked in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
since 1996, and now relies on funds to keep her afloat in hopes of restoration and redevelopment. Funchal was purchased by Brock Pierce for over $1 million in 2021, with the intent of turning her into a hotel. Her future is uncertain as it was reported in July 2021 that no progress has been made since then.
Characteristics
Size and speed
Since their beginning in the 19th century, ocean liners needed to meet growing demands. The first liners were small and overcrowded, leading to unsanitary conditions on board.[ Eliminating these phenomena required larger ships, to reduce the crowding of passengers, and faster ships, to reduce the duration of transatlantic crossings. The iron and steel hulls and steam power allowed for these advances. Thus, ''Great Western'' (1,340 GRT) and ''Great Eastern'' (18,915 GRT) were constructed in 1838 and 1858 respectively.][ The record set by ''Great Eastern'' was not beaten until 43 years later in 1901 when (20,904 GT) was completed.][« ''The Largest Passenger Ships in the World'' »]
, ''The Great Ocean Liners''. Accessed 12 July 2010 The tonnage then grew profoundly: the first liners to have a tonnage that exceeded 20,000 were the Big Four of the White Star Line
The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between t ...
. The Olympic-class ocean liner
The ''Olympic''-class ocean liners were a trio of British ocean liners built by the Harland & Wolff shipyard for the White Star Line during the early 20th century. They were (1911), ''Titanic'' (1912) and (1915). All three were designed to be ...
s, first completed in 1911, were the first to have a tonnage that exceeded 45,000. , completed in 1935, had a tonnage of 79,280. In 1940, raised the record of size to a tonnage of 83,673. She was the largest passenger ship ever constructed until 1997. In 2003, became the largest, at 149,215 GT.
In the early 1840s, the average speed of liners was less than 10 knots (a crossing of the Atlantic thus took about 12 days or more). In the 1870s, the average speed of liners increased to around 15 knots the duration of a transatlantic crossing shortened to around 7 days, owing to the technological progress made in the propulsion of ships: the rudimentary steam boilers gave rise to more elaborate machineries and the paddlewheel gradually disappeared, replaced first by one screw then by two screws. At the beginning of the 20th century, Cunard Line's and reached a speed of 27 knots. Their records seemed unbeatable, and most shipping companies abandoned the race for speed in favor of size, luxury, and safety.[ The advent of ships with diesel engines, and of those whose engines were oil-burning, such as the ''Bremen'', in the early 1930s, relaunched the race for the ]Blue Riband
The Blue Riband () is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest average speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. T ...
. The ''Normandie'' won it in 1935 before being snatched by in 1938. It was not until 1952 that set a record that remains today: 34.5 knots (3 days and 12 hours of crossing the Atlantic).[ In addition, since 1935, the Blue Riband is accompanied by the ]Hales Trophy
The Hales Trophy (officially the North Atlantic Blue Riband Challenge Trophy) is an award for the fastest Atlantic crossing by a commercial passenger vessel.
The award was created in 1935 when Harold K. Hales, a British politician and owner of Ha ...
, which is awarded to the winner.
Passenger cabins and amenities
The first ocean liners were designed to carry mostly migrants. On-board sanitary conditions were often deplorable and epidemics were frequent. In 1848, maritime laws imposing hygiene rules were adopted and they improved on-board living conditions. Gradually, two distinct classes were developed: the cabin class and the steerage class. The passengers traveling on the former were wealthy passengers and they enjoyed certain comfort in that class. The passengers traveling on the latter were members of the middle class or the working class. In that class, they were packed in large dormitories. Until the beginning of the 20th century, they did not always have bedsheets and meals. An intermediate class for tourists and members of the middle class gradually appeared. The cabins were then divided into three classes.[
The facilities offered to passengers developed over time. In the 1870s, the installation of bathtubs and oil lamps caused a sensation on board RMS ''Oceanic''. In the following years, the number of amenities became numerous, for example: smoking rooms, lounges, and promenade deck. In 1907, RMS ''Adriatic'' even offered ]turkish bath
A hammam ( ar, حمّام, translit=ḥammām, tr, hamam) or Turkish bath is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited ...
s and a swimming pool. In the 1920s, SS ''Paris'' was the first liner to offer a movie theatre.
Builders and shipping companies
Shipyards
British and German
The British and the Germans were the most famed in shipbuilding during the great era of ocean liners. In Ireland, Harland & 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 Wh ...
shipyard of Belfast were particularly innovative and succeeded in winning the trust of many shipping companies, such as White Star Line
The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between t ...
. These gigantic shipyards employed a large portion of the population of cities and built hulls, machines, furnitures and lifeboats. Among the other well-known British shipyards were Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, the builder of RMS ''Mauretania'', and John Brown & Company
John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish Naval architecture, marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and the ''Queen Elizabeth 2 (ship), Queen Elizabeth 2''.
At its ...
, builder of .
Germany had many shipyards on the coast of the North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
and the Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
, including Blohm & Voss
Blohm+Voss (B+V), also written historically as Blohm & Voss, Blohm und Voß etc., is a German shipbuilding and engineering company. Founded in Hamburg in 1877 to specialise in steel-hulled ships, its most famous product was the World War II battle ...
and AG Vulcan Stettin
Aktien-Gesellschaft Vulcan Stettin (short AG Vulcan Stettin) was a German shipbuilding and locomotive building company. Founded in 1851, it was located near the former eastern German city of Stettin, today Polish Szczecin. Because of the limited ...
. Many of these shipyards were destroyed during World War II; some managed to recover and continue building ships.
Other nations
In France, major shipyards included Chantiers de Penhoët in Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany.
The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...
, known for building . This shipyard merged with Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire
Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire (ACL) was a French shipbuilding company of the late 19th and early 20th century. The name translates roughly to English as "Workshops and Shipyard of the Loire".
Early years
In the eighteenth century Nantes h ...
shipyard to form the Chantiers de l'Atlantique
Chantiers de l'Atlantique is a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. It is one of the world's largest shipyards, constructing a wide range of commercial, naval, and passenger ships. It is located near Nantes, at the mouth of the Loire river and ...
shipyard, which has built ships including . France also had major shipyards on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
.
Italy and the Netherlands also had shipyards capable of building large ships (for example, Fincantieri
Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...
).
Shipping companies
British
There were many British shipping companies; two were particularly distinguished: Cunard Line
Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Berm ...
and White Star Line
The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between t ...
. Both were founded during the 1830s and engaged in strong competition against one another, possessing the largest and fastest liners in the world in the early 20th century. It was not until 1934 that financial difficulty caused the two to merge, forming Cunard White Star Ltd. The P&O also occupied a large part of the business.
The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by a Scot, James MacQueen. The line's motto was ''Per Mare Ubique'' (everywhere by sea). After a troubled start, it became the largest shipping group ...
operated as a state-owned enterprise
A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a Government, government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn Profit (econom ...
with its close relationship with the government. Over the course of its history, it took over many shipping companies, becoming one of the largest companies in the world before legal problems led to its liquidation in 1931. The Union Castle Line
The Union-Castle Line was a British shipping line that operated a fleet of passenger liners and cargo ships between Europe and Africa from 1900 to 1977. It was formed from the merger of the Union Line and Castle Shipping Line.
It merged with ...
operated in Africa and the Indian Ocean with a fleet of considerable size.
German, French and Dutch
Two rival companies, Hamburg America Line
The Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Aktien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG), known in English as the Hamburg America Line, was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, in 1847. Among those involved in its development were prominent citi ...
(often referred to as "HAPAG") and 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 th ...
, competed in Germany. The First and Second World Wars dealt much damage to the two companies, both forced to renounce their ships to the winning side in both wars. The two merged to form Hapag-Lloyd
Hapag-Lloyd AG is a German international shipping and container transportation company. Hapag-Lloyd was formed in 1970 through a merger of Hamburg-American Line (HAPAG) and North German Lloyd.
History
The company was formed on September 1, 1 ...
in 1970.
The ocean liner industry in France also consisted of two rival companies: the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT, and commonly named "Transat"), typically known overseas as the French Line, was a French shipping company. Established in 1855 by the Péreire brothers, brothers Émile and Issac Péreire under the ...
(commonly known as "Transat" or "French Line") and Messageries Maritimes
''Messageries Maritimes'' was a French merchant shipping company. It was originally created in 1851 as ''Messageries nationales'', later called ''Messageries impériales'', and from 1871, ''Compagnie des messageries maritimes'', casually known as ...
. The CGT operated on the North Atlantic route with well-known liners such as and SS ''France'', while the MM operated in French colonies in Asia and Africa. Decolonization in the second half of the 20th century led to a sharp decline in profit for the MM, and it merged with the CGT in 1975 to form the Compagnie Générale Maritime
CMA CGM S.A. is a French container transportation and shipping company. It is the world’s 3rd largest container shipping company, using 257 shipping routes between 420 ports in 160 countries. Its headquarters are in Marseille, France The name ...
.
The Netherlands had 3 main companies, on the one hand they had the Holland America Line
Holland America Line is an American-owned cruise line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States.
Holland America Line was founded in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and from 1873 to 1989, it operated ...
that operated mostly on the north Atlantic route and with well known ships like the and . Unlike the French and German industry the Holland America line had no domestic rival and thus only had to compete with foreign lines. the other two dutch lines were the ''Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland'' (SMN), otherwise known as the Netherland Line
The Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland ("Netherlands Steamship Company") or SMN, also known as the Netherland Line or Nederland Line, was a Dutch shipping line that operated from 1870 until 1970, when it merged with several other companies to form ...
and the ''Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd'' (KRL) they both offered regular service between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
, the Dutch colony in South East Asia now known as Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
and had a long-lasting friendly rivalry.
Other nations
In the United States, the United States Lines
United States Lines was the trade name of an organization of the United States Shipping Board (USSB), Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) created to operate German liners seized by the United States in 1917. The ships were owned by the USSB and all ...
tried to impose itself on the international scene but failed to compete with European companies. In Italy, the Italian Line
Italian Line and from 1992 Italia Line, whose official name was Italia di Navigazione S.p.A., was a passenger shipping line that operated regular transatlantic services between Italy and the United States, and Italy and South America. During ...
was founded in 1932 as a result of a merger of three companies. It was known for operating liners such as and . The Japanese established Nippon Yusen
Nippon Yūsen Kabushiki Kaisha (Japan Mail Shipping Line), also known as NYK Line, is a Japanese shipping company and is a member of the Mitsubishi ''keiretsu''. The company headquarters are located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It operates a flee ...
, also known as NYK Lines, which ran trans-Pacific liners such as the ''Hikawa Maru
is a Japanese ocean liner that Yokohama Dock Company built for '' Nippon Yūsen Kabushiki Kaisha'' ("NYK Line"). She was launched on 30 September 1929 and made her maiden voyage from Kobe to Seattle on 13 May 1930. She is permanently berthed as ...
'' and the ''Asama Maru
was a Japanese ocean liner owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK). The ship was built in 1927–1929 by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. at Nagasaki, Japan. The vessel was named after an important Shinto shrine.
''Asama Maru'' set a reco ...
''.
Routes
North Atlantic
The most important of all routes taken by ocean liners was the North Atlantic route. It accounted for a large part of the clientele, who traveled between ports of Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
, Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, Le Havre
Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...
, Cherbourg
Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...
, Cobh
Cobh ( ,), known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. With a population of around 13,000 inhabitants, Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour and home to Ireland's ...
, and New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The profitability of this route came from migration to the United States. The need for speed influenced the construction of liners for this route, and the Blue Riband
The Blue Riband () is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest average speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. T ...
was awarded to the liner with the highest speed.[ The route was not without danger, as storm and icebergs are common in the North Atlantic. Many shipwrecks occurred on this route, among them that of , the details of which have been recounted in numerous books, films and documentaries. This route was the preferred route for major shipping companies and was the scene of fierce competition between them.]
South Atlantic
The South Atlantic was the route frequented by liners bound for South America, Africa, and sometimes Oceania. The White Star Line
The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between t ...
had some of its ships, such as the ''Suevic'', on the Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
-Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
-Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
route. There was not the same level of competition in the South Atlantic as there was in the North Atlantic. There were fewer shipwrecks. The Hamburg Süd
Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft A/S & Co KG, widely known as Hamburg Süd, is a German container shipping company. Founded in 1871, Hamburg Süd is among the market leaders in the North–South trade. It also serves a ...
operated on this route; among its ships was the famed SS ''Cap Arcona''.
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
was frequented by many ocean liners. Many companies benefited from migration from Italy and the Balkans to the United States. Cunard's served on the Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
-Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
-Trieste
Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...
route. Similarly, Italian liners crossed the Mediterranean Sea before entering the North Atlantic Ocean. The opening of the Suez Canal
The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...
made the Mediterranean a possible route to Asia.
Indian Ocean and the Far East
Colonization made Asia particularly attractive to shipping companies. Many government officials must travel there from time to time. As early as the 1840s, the P&O organized trips to Calcutta via the Suez Isthmus, as the canal had not yet been built. The time it took to travel on this route to India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
, and Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
was long, with many stopovers. The Messageries Maritimes
''Messageries Maritimes'' was a French merchant shipping company. It was originally created in 1851 as ''Messageries nationales'', later called ''Messageries impériales'', and from 1871, ''Compagnie des messageries maritimes'', casually known as ...
operated on this route, notably in the 1930s, with its motor ships. Similarly, the ''La Marseillaise'', put into service in 1949, was one of the flagships of its fleet. Decolonization caused the loss in the profitability of these ships.
Pacific
Ocean liners on the Pacific route brought large numbers of migrants from East Asia to the Americas, especially the United States, which continued despite successive laws restricting Asian immigration to the United States; the journey typically took three weeks, with many impoverished migrants travelling in steerage
Steerage is a term for the lowest category of passenger accommodation in a ship. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century considerable numbers of persons travelled from their homeland to seek a new life elsewhere, in many cases North America ...
class conditions. Some of the finest ships on the route, such as RMS ''Empress of Japan'' of Canadian Pacific Steamships
CP Ships was a large Canadian shipping company established in the 19th century. From the late 1880s until after World War II, the company was Canada's largest operator of Atlantic and Pacific steamships. Many immigrants travelled on CP ships fr ...
which operated out of Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, and ''Hikawa Maru
is a Japanese ocean liner that Yokohama Dock Company built for '' Nippon Yūsen Kabushiki Kaisha'' ("NYK Line"). She was launched on 30 September 1929 and made her maiden voyage from Kobe to Seattle on 13 May 1930. She is permanently berthed as ...
'' of Nippon Yusen
Nippon Yūsen Kabushiki Kaisha (Japan Mail Shipping Line), also known as NYK Line, is a Japanese shipping company and is a member of the Mitsubishi ''keiretsu''. The company headquarters are located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It operates a flee ...
, became known as 'Queen of the Pacific
''Queen of the Pacific'' is a name or nickname of ships and places associated with the Pacific Ocean, the largest of Earth's oceans.
Ships
* In 1852, at the height of the age of the fast clipper sailing ships, the clipper ''Queen of the Pacif ...
'.
Other
National symbol
The construction of some ocean liners was a result of nationalism
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
. The revival of power of the German navy stemmed from the clear affirmation of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany
, house = Hohenzollern
, father = Frederick III, German Emperor
, mother = Victoria, Princess Royal
, religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United)
, signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...
to see his country become a sea power. Thus, the SS ''Deutschland'' of 1900 had the honor to bear the name of its mother country, an honor which she lost after ten years of a disappointing career.[ and RMS ''Mauretania'' of 1907 were built with the help of the British government with the desire that the United Kingdom would regain its prestige as a sea power.][ of 1952 was the result of a desire by the United States government to possess a large and fast ship that is convertible into a troop transport.][ and of 1932 were constructed at the demands of ]Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
. Finally, the construction SS ''France'' of 1961 was a result of Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
's desire to build on French national pride and was financed by the French government.[Offrey, Charles; ''303 Arts, recherces et créations'':SS Normandie/SS France/SS Norway: ''France'', the Last French Passenger Liner; p. 45]
Some liners did gain great popularity. ''Mauretania'' and ''Olympic'' had many admirers during their careers, and their retirement and scrapping caused certain sadness. The same was true of ''Île de France'', whose scrapping aroused strong emotion from her admirers. Similarly, ''Queen Mary'' was very popular with the British people.
Maritime disasters and incidents
Some ocean liners are known today because of their sinking with great loss of lives. In 1873, struck an underwater rock and sank off the coast of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
, Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, killing at least 535 people.[ In 1912, the sinking of the RMS ''Titanic'', which took approximately 1,500 lives, highlighted the overconfidence of the shipping companies in their ships, such as the failure to put enough lifeboats on board. Safety measures at sea were reexamined following the incident.][ Two years later, in 1914, sank in the ]Saint Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...
after colliding with the SS Storstad
''Storstad'' was a steam cargo ship built in 1910 by Armstrong, Whitworth & Co Ltd of Newcastle for A. F. Klaveness & Co of Sandefjord, Norway. The ship was primarily employed as an ore and coal carrier doing tramp trade during her career. In ...
. 1,012 people died.
Among the other sinkings are the torpedo sinking of the RMS ''Lusitania'' in 1915, which resulted in the loss of 1,198 lives and provoked an international outcry, the naval mine sinking of the HMHS Britannic
''Britannic'' () was the third and final vessel of the White Star Line's of steamships and the second White Star ship to bear the name ''Britannic''. She was the youngest sister of the and the and was intended to enter service as a trans ...
in 1916, and that of , which caught fire and sank in the Gulf of Aden in 1932, killing 54 people. In 1956, the sinking of , with the loss of 46 lives, after a collision with MS ''Stockholm'' made the headline.
In 1985, was hijacked
Hijacking may refer to:
Common usage
Computing and technology
* Bluejacking, the unsolicited transmission of data via Bluetooth
* Brandjacking, the unauthorized use of a company's brand
* Browser hijacking
* Clickjacking (including ''like ...
off the coast of Egypt by members of the Palestinian Liberation Front
The Palestinian Liberation Front ( ar, جبهة التحرير الفلسطينية, PLF) is a Palestinian political faction. Since 1997, the PLF has been a designated terrorist organization by the United States and by Canada since 2003. The P ...
, resulting the death of one of the hostages being held by the hijackers. In 1994, she caught fire and sank off the coast of Somalia.
In popular culture
Literature
Ocean liners have a strong impact on popular culture, whether during their golden age or afterwards. In 1867, Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...
recounted his experience aboard in his novel ''A Floating City
''A Floating City,'' or sometimes translated ''The Floating City,'' (french: Une ville flottante) is an adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne first published in 1871 in France. At the time of its publication, the novel enjoyed a similar ...
''. In 1898, writer Morgan Robertson
Morgan Andrew Robertson (September 30, 1861 – March 24, 1915) was an American author of short stories and novels, and the self-proclaimed inventor of the periscope.
Early life
Robertson was the son of Andrew Robertson, a ship captain on th ...
wrote the short novel ''Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan
''The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility'' is a novella written by Morgan Robertson and published as ''Futility'' in 1898, and revised as ''The Wreck of the Titan'' in 1912. It features a fictional British ocean liner ''Titan'' that sinks in the N ...
'', which features a British ocean liner ''Titan'' that hits an iceberg and sinks in the North Atlantic with great loss of lives. The similarities between the plot of the novel and the sinking of the 14 years later led to the assertion of conspiracy theories regarding ''Titanic''.
Films
Ocean liners were often a setting of a love story in films, such as the 1939's ''Love Affair'' Liners were also used as a setting of disaster films. The 1960 film ''The Last Voyage
''The Last Voyage'' is a 1960 Metrocolor American disaster film written and directed by Andrew L. Stone. It stars Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, George Sanders, and Edmond O'Brien, and features Tammy Marihugh.
The film centers on the sinking of ...
'' was filmed on board the ''Íle de France'', which was used as a floating prop and was scuttled for the occasion. The 1972 film '' The Poseidon Adventure'' has become a classic of the genre and has spawned many remakes.
The sinking of ''Titanic'' also attracted attention of filmmakers. Nearly fifteen films were made to depict it, with James Cameron
James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...
's 1997 film being the most commercially successful.
See also
* List of cruise lines
A cruise line is a company that operates cruise ships and markets cruises to the public. Cruise lines are distinct from passenger lines which are primarily concerned with transportation of their passengers. Cruise lines have a dual character; th ...
* List of cruise ships
This is a list of cruise ships, both those in service and those that have ceased to operate. Ocean liners are included on this list only if they also functioned as cruise ships. (See: list of ocean liners.)
As some cruise ships have operated und ...
* List of ocean liners
This is a list of ocean liners past and present, which are passenger ships engaged in the transportation of passengers and goods in transoceanic voyages. Ships primarily designed for pleasure cruises are listed at List of cruise ships. Some ships ...
* Mail boat
Mail boats or postal boats are a boat or ship used for the delivery of mail and sometimes transportation of goods, people and vehicles in communities where bodies of water commonly separate or separated settlements, towns or cities often where b ...
* Packet boat
Packet boats were medium-sized boats designed for domestic mail, passenger, and freight transportation in European countries and in North American rivers and canals, some of them steam driven. They were used extensively during the 18th and 19th ...
References
Citations
Bibliography
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Further reading
* Russell, Mark A. "Steamship nationalism: Transatlantic passenger liners as symbols of the German Empire." ''International Journal of Maritime History'' 28.2 (2016): 313–334.
Abstract
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocean Liner
Ship types