MV Britannic (1929)

MV ''Britannic'' was a British transatlantic ocean liner that was launched in 1929 and scrapped in 1960. She was the penultimate ship built for White Star Line before its 1934 merger with Cunard Line. When built, ''Britannic'' was the largest motor ship in the UK Merchant Navy. Her running mate ship was the MV ''Georgic.

In 1934 White Star merged with Cunard Line; however, both ''Britannic'' and ''Georgic'' retained their White Star Line colours and flew the house flags of both companies.

From 1935 the pair served London, and at the time they were the largest ships to do so. From early in her career ''Britannic'' operated on cruises as well as scheduled transatlantic services. Diesel propulsion, economical speeds and modern "cabin ship" passenger facilities enabled ''Britannic'' and ''Georgic'' to make a profit throughout the 1930s, when many other liners were unable to do so.

In the Second World War ''Britannic'' was a troop ship. In 1947 she was overhauled, re-fitted, modernised and returned to civilian service. She outlived her sister ''Georgic'' and became the last White Star liner still in commercial service. ''Britannic'' was scrapped in 1960 after three decades of service.

She was the last of three White Star Line ships called ''Britannic''. The first was a steamship launched in 1874 and scrapped in 1903. The second was launched in 1914, completed as the hospital ship and sunk by a mine in 1916.

Background

On 1 January 1927 the International Mercantile Marine Company sold White Star Line to the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company (RMSP). At the time White Star had one new steamship on order, , and was discussing designs with Harland and Wolff for a proposed 1,000-foot liner, but overall the White Star fleet needed modernising.

Motor ships were more economical than steam, and in the 1920s the maximum size of marine diesel engine had increased rapidly. RMSP had recently taken delivery of two large motor ships, and , and chose diesel to replace White Star's "Big Four" liners. The replacements were to be smaller than the Big Four but more luxurious.

Building

On 14 April 1927 Harland and Wolff laid ''Britannic''s keel on slip number one in its Belfast yard. She was launched on 6 August 1929, started three days of sea trials in the Firth of Clyde on 25 or 26 May 1930, and was completed on 21 June 1930.

''Britannic'' had two Propellers installed, each driven by a ten-cylinder four-stroke double-acting diesel engine. Between them the two engines developed 20,000 NHP and gave ''Britannic'' a speed of . When new, ''Britannic'' was the largest motor ship in the UK Merchant Navy and the second-largest in the World, second only to the Italian liner .

''Britannic'' was built as a "cabin ship" with berths for 1,553 passengers: 504 cabin class, 551 tourist class and 498 third class. She had a gymnasium, a swimming pool, and her cabin class dining saloon was in Louis XIV style. She had eight holds, one of which could carry unpackaged cars. Two holds were refrigerated, and her total refrigerated capacity was .

12 bulkheads divided her hull into watertight compartments. Their watertight doors could be closed either electrically from the bridge, or manually. Installed were 24 lifeboats, two motor boats and two backup boats.

''Britannic'' had two funnels. As on many early Harland and Wolff motor ships they were low and broad. Only her aft funnel was a diesel exhaust. Her forward funnel was a dummy that housed two smoking rooms: one for her deck officers and the other for the engineer officers. It also contained water tanks, and, later in her career, radar equipment.

''Britannic'' was painted in White Star Line colours: black hull with a gold line, white superstructure and ventilators, red boot-topping, and buff funnels with a black top. Both ''Britannic'' and ''Georgic'' kept their White Star colours after White Star merged with Cunard in 1934.

White Star years

In 1930 ''Britannic'' was delivered from Belfast to Liverpool amid enthusiastic press coverage. When she left Liverpool on 28 June to begin her maiden voyage an estimated 14,000 people turned out and gave her what was reported to be the "greatest send-off known to Merseyside". She called at Belfast and Glasgow to load mail, and then continued to New York.

On 8 July ''Britannic'' entered New York harbour, dressed overall. Over the next few days, 1,500 people paid $1 each to go aboard her while she was in port, and on 12 July a crowd of more than 6,000 came to see her leave New York for Cobh and Liverpool.

For her first three trips ''Britannic''s speed was limited to until her engines were run in. Thereafter her speed was increased, and at the beginning of October 1930 she averaged on a westbound crossing. On an eastbound crossing in July 1932 she averaged , beating her own record.

By the time ''Britannic'' entered service, the Great Depression had caused a global slump in merchant shipping. Several White Star Line steamships operated cruises for at least part of the year to make up for the fall in transatlantic passenger numbers. But ''Britannic''s lower running costs enabled her to make a profit on the route. In 1931 White Star Line operated ten ships, but only four made a profit on scheduled routes. ''Britannic'' being the most profitable by far.

Between some scheduled transatlantic crossings ''Britannic'' fitted in short cruises from New York. White Star Line offered four-day weekend and midweek cruises. In 1931 the tourist class fare for these on ''Britannic'' was $35. She also attracted charter trade, such as a 16-day cruise to the West Indies in February and March 1932 to raise funds for the Frontier Nursing Service.

In summer ''Britannic'' shared the route with the older , and . In 1932 her running mate ''Georgic'' entered service and joined her on the route.

In her first 15 months in service ''Britannic'' averaged only 609 passengers per voyage, which was less than 40 percent of her capacity. And two cruises from New York to the Mediterranean that she was due to make in spring 1932 were cancelled for lack of enough bookings.

By 1932 bookings for cabin class was still slack, but demand for ''Britannic''s tourist class exceeded the number of berths available. On a sailing on ''Britannic'' from New York on 4 June that year White Star allocated cabin class berths to a number of tourist class passengers to meet demand.

In May 1932 White Star Line organised a fashion show of travel clothes aboard ''Britannic'' when she was in port in New York in a bid to earn extra income.

In 1933 the largest number of passengers on ''Britannic'' on a single crossing was 1,003, which was less than 65 percent of her capacity. But it was the highest number of any transatlantic liner that year. ''Britannic''s luxury and well-appointed public saloons attracted enough passengers for her to pay her way when other ships did not.

On 15 December 1933 ''Britannic'' ran aground on a mud flat off Governors Island in Boston Harbour and the ship was refloated the next day with the aid of six tugboats.

Cunard White Star Line

On 20 July 1931 the Royal Mail Case opened at the Old Bailey, which led to the collapse of White Star Line's parent company. On 1 January 1934 White Star Line merged with Cunard, with the latter holding 62 percent of the capital. By 1936 the resulting Cunard-White Star Line sold most of the former White Star fleet except ''Britannic'', ''Georgic'' and ''Laurentic''.

In April 1935 ''Britannic'' and ''Georgic'' were transferred to the route between London and New York via Le Havre, Southampton and Cobh. This made them the largest ships to visit London.

In June 1935 ''Britannic''s Master, Captain William Hawkes, RD, ADC, RNR, was made a CBE. On 22 July two passengers got married aboard ''Britannic'' just before she sailed on a cruise to Bermuda. Captain Hawkes did not conduct the ceremony, but he did give the bride away.

On 4 January 1937 ''Britannic'' suffered slight engine trouble on arrival in New York. She was held at Ellis Island for 45 minutes for temporary repairs before proceeding to dock.

In October 1937 the BBC
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