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83-593: MV Britannic was a British transatlantic ocean liner that was launched in 1929 and scrapped in 1961. 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

166-488: A compass , a marine chronometer , two-way radios , and radiotelephone , etc. A flying bridge, also known as "monkey island", is an open area on top of a surface ship that provides unobstructed views of the fore, aft, and the sides of a vessel. It serves as an operating station for the ship's officers, such as the captain or officer of the watch . Prior to World War II, virtually every sailing ship , steamship , monitor , paddle steamer , or large pleasure ship had

249-435: A compass platform . This was usually a tower, where a magnetic compass could be sited far away as possible from the ferrous interference of the hulk of the ship. Many ships still have a flying bridge , a platform atop the pilot house, open to weather, containing a binnacle and voice tubes to allow the conning officer to direct the ship from a higher position during fair weather conditions. Larger warships may have

332-567: 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 per cent 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

415-420: A navigation bridge , which is used for the actual conning of the ship, and a separate admiral's bridge can be provided in flagships , where the admiral can exercise control over the squadron of ships without interfering with the captain's command of the vessel. In older warships, a heavily armored conning tower was often provided, where the vital command staff could be located under protection to ensure that

498-641: A pillbox had been built on each wing of her bridge as protection for the deck officer on watch . By January 1940, UK passenger ships, including Britannic , displayed posters warning passengers "BEWARE. Above all, never give away the movements of His Majesty's ships." Crews were warned that disclosing information such as ship movements violated the Defence of the Realm Act 1914 . But in the US, which remained neutral until December 1941, newspapers continued to publish

581-495: 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 , Asturias  (1925) and Alcantara  (1926) , and chose diesel to replace White Star's "Big Four" liners . The replacements were to be smaller than

664-662: 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 RMS  Adriatic , Baltic and Cedric . 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 per cent of her capacity. And two cruises from New York to

747-459: A bomb would be planted aboard Britannic . NYPD officers searched the ship but found nothing. Britannic ' s westbound crossings carried many refugees from central Europe, including Germans fleeing Nazism. She also carried many UK children sent to North America by the Children's Overseas Reception Board . The overseas evacuation of children was terminated after a U-boat tragically torpedoed

830-569: 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 experimented with a television receiver in one of the state rooms on Britannic ' s A deck. After she left London on 29 October, BBC technicians tested

913-527: A dog) each way. Transatlantic flight surpassed ocean liners as the predominant mode of crossing the Atlantic in the mid 20th century. In 1919, the American NC-4 became the first airplane to cross the Atlantic (but in multiple stages). Later that year, a British Vickers Vimy piloted by Alcock and Brown made the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Newfoundland to Ireland . Also in 1919,

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996-443: A flying bridge above the main bridge. Flying bridges were generally not enclosed at all (although sometimes they were partially enclosed), and often had little equipment—usually just a speaking tube or telephone to allow communication with the helmsman or wheelman on the main bridge. On military warships after 1914, the flying bridge was usually the station for the air defense officer and the gunnery officer. The amount of equipment on

1079-454: A flying bridge varies widely with the need of the captain. During World War II, for example, American submarine chaser surface ships had a well-outfitted flying bridge which usually contained a pelorus , signal lamps, telescope , and voice tube to permit the captain to command the ship. U.S. Navy attack transport ships could be outfitted with either 20mm or 40mm automatic cannons on their flying bridges. Flying bridges were almost always

1162-408: A high-ranking officer such as an admiral could conduct fleet operations, plan strategy, and conduct large battles. Some flying bridges have "bridge wings", open areas which thrust outward from the flying bridge over the sides of the vessel by approximately 10 to 15 feet (3.0 to 4.6 m) to allow an officer to see the side of their ship while docking or working with smaller vessels. A bridge wing

1245-607: A mud flat off Governors Island in Boston Harbour and the ship was refloated the next day with the aid of six tugboats . 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 per cent of the capital. By 1936 the resulting Cunard-White Star Line sold most of

1328-432: 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

1411-534: A round trip to Naples and back, calling at Algiers on her return. From March to June she made two transatlantic round trips from Liverpool to Halifax and back, carrying Canadian servicemen's British brides and children. In June and July she sailed from Liverpool to Port Said and back. In July and August she sailed to Quebec and back. In September and October she sailed from Liverpool via the Suez Canal to Bombay and back. In December 1945 she sailed to Naples. Since

1494-459: A ship may be located on the bridge or in a separate chart room, nearby. It includes a table sized for nautical charts where calculations of course and location are made. The navigator plots the course to be followed by the ship on these charts. Besides the desk and the navigation charts, the area contains navigational instruments that may include electronic equipment for a Global Positioning System receiver and chart display, fathometer ,

1577-419: A ship with functions similar to a bridge. Depending upon the design and layout of a ship, some of these terms may be interchangeable. Traditionally, sailing ships were commanded from the quarterdeck , aft of the mainmast , where the ship's wheel was located (as it was close to the rudder ). A wheelhouse was a small enclosure around the ship's wheel on the quarterdeck of sailing ships . On modern ships

1660-595: A similar luxurious style to the ocean liners. However, the Hindenburg disaster in 1937 put an end to transatlantic Zeppelin flights. On 1 June 1944, two K-class blimps from Blimp Squadron ZP-14 of the United States Navy (USN) completed the first transatlantic crossing by non-rigid airships . The two K-ships (K-123 and K-130) left South Weymouth, MA on 28 May 1944 and flew approximately 16 hours to Naval Station Argentia , Newfoundland. From Argentia,

1743-420: A slight increase of her tonnage to 27,666  GRT . Britannic began her first post-war commercial trip from Liverpool on 22 May 1948 to New York via Cobh. As she entered New York harbour, two New York City fireboats accompanied her and gave a traditional display with their water jets. On that first westbound voyage Britannic carried 848 passengers, which meant that her refurbished passenger accommodation

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1826-650: 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 72,440 cu ft (2,051 m). 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

1909-433: A vessel on passage. Such equipment will vary with ship type, but generally includes a GPS navigation device , a Navtex receiver, an ECDIS or chart system, one or more radars , a communications system (including distress calling equipment), engine ( telegraph ) controls, a wheel/autopilot system, a magnetic compass (for redundancy and cross check capability) and light/sound signalling devices. The navigation station of

1992-580: A westbound crossing. On an eastbound crossing in July 1932 she averaged 19 + 1 ⁄ 4 knots (35.7 km/h), 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

2075-453: Is a room or platform of a ship , submarine , airship , or spaceship from which the ship can be commanded. When a ship is under way, the bridge is manned by an officer of the watch aided usually by an able seaman acting as a lookout . During critical maneuvers the captain will be on the bridge, often supported by an officer of the watch, an able seaman on the wheel and sometimes a pilot , if required. There are many terms for parts of

2158-491: Is quicker than the Westbound crossing. Transatlantic passenger crossings became faster, safer, and more reliable with the advent of steamships in the 19th century. The wooden-hulled, paddle-wheel SS  Great Western built in 1838 is recognized as the first purpose-built transatlantic steamship, on a scheduled run back and forth from Bristol to New York City. The design by British civil engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel

2241-610: The Aga Khan . Louis B. Mayer bought four of the horses, Charles S. Howard bought two, and Neil S. McCarthy and a Gordon Douglas of Wall Street each bought one. In June 1940 Britannic ' s westbound passengers included the Earl and Countess of Athlone , who disembarked at Halifax, Nova Scotia as the Earl had just been appointed Governor General of Canada . On the same voyage Jan Masaryk , who had been Czechoslovak ambassador to

2324-517: The Boeing 767 , Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 have largely taken over on transatlantic routes from quad-engine jets, whilst the supersonic Concorde was ultimately doomed by its high running costs, leading to its retirement in 2003. Since the late 1990s, twin-engined, narrow-body jet airliners have been used for transatlantic service, meaning that city pairs between major North American hubs and secondary European cities can now be connected directly without

2407-856: The Canary Islands to the Caribbean . It now runs roughly once every two years. In 2006, the first West–East North Atlantic Rowing Race took place, running from New York City to Falmouth, Cornwall in the UK . In 1775, the 62-ton schooner Quero , sailed by John Derby from Salem, Massachusetts to the Isle of Wight in 28 days (April 28 to May 25). In 1866, the 26-foot (7.9 m) lifeboat Red, White and Blue sailed from New York City to Margate , England, in 38 days. In 1870 and 1871, The 20-ft yawl City of Ragusa sailed from Queenstown , Ireland, to New York and back, crewed by two men (and

2490-553: The Cunard Line , with Cunard's dominance drawing the attention of the U.S. government, which had its own mail contract to offer to an American firm willing to compete. In 1850 the contract was awarded to the New York and Liverpool United States Steamship Company, which became the Collins Line , and which answered Cunard with its own four ships, which were newer, larger, faster, and more luxurious. Competition developed among

2573-462: The Ellerman Lines ship SS City of Benares on September 17, 1940, sinking it within 31 minutes, and killing 258 people, including 81 of 100 children on board. In January 1940 the pianist Harriet Cohen travelled on Britannic to begin a concert tour of the US. On the same voyage Britannic also carried eight racehorses that had been sold to US buyers. Five of the horses had belonged to

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2656-621: The Firth of Clyde , where she arrived on 5 May. She then made one round trip to New York via Halifax before leaving the Clyde on 2 August for Bombay and Colombo via South Africa. Her return voyage was via Cape Town and Trinidad , arriving in Liverpool on 29 November 1941. In 1942 Britannic made two more round trips between Britain and Bombay via South Africa. From November 1942 she made two round trips between Britain and South Africa. Her capacity

2739-505: 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

2822-549: The SS ; United States . The United States is the current holder of the Hales Trophy. In July 1952 that ship made the crossing in 3 days, 10 hours, 40 minutes. Cunard Line's RMS Queen Mary 2 is the only ship currently making regular transatlantic crossings throughout the year, usually between Southampton and New York. For this reason it has been designed as a proper ocean liner, not as a cruise ship. During World War II

2905-520: The Second World War Britannic served as a troop ship and emerged from the conflict unscathed. 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 1961 after three decades of service. She was the last of three White Star Line ships called Britannic . The first Britannic

2988-715: The UK Minister of Information , Duff Cooper , had sent him to meet Lord Halifax , the UK ambassador in Washington . In fact he was working for the UK Secret Intelligence Service to influence public opinion in the then-neutral US to support the Allied war effort. On 23 August 1940 Britannic was requisitioned again. She sailed via South Africa to Suez and back, then to Suez again in 1941, and thence to Bombay again and back via Cape Town to

3071-465: The United Kingdom or France . The introduction of various technologies facilitated progressively faster transatlantic crossings. The duration to travel westbound from Europe to North America when a new transport innovation was introduced for commercial use is listed below: Bridge (nautical) A bridge (also known as a command deck ), or wheelhouse (also known as a pilothouse ),

3154-523: The Vivaldi Atlantic 4 broke the previous rowing record of 55 days and setting a new record of 39 days. On 26 October 2010, Polish sexagenarian Aleksander Doba was the first recorded individual to complete a non-stop transatlantic crossing by kayak . He departed Dakar, Senegal and arrived in Brazil 99 days later. In 1997, the first East–West Atlantic Rowing Race took place, running from

3237-444: The engine officer in the engine room by an engine order telegraph that displayed the captain's orders on a dial. The engine officer would ensure that the correct combination of steam pressure and engine revolutions were applied. Weatherproof pilot houses supplanted open bridges so that the pilot , who was traditionally the ship's navigating officer, could issue commands from shelter. Iron , and later steel , ships also required

3320-437: 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

3403-421: The wheelhouse or pilothouse refers to the bridge of smaller motor vessels, such as tugs . With the arrival of paddle steamers , engineers required a platform from which they could inspect the paddle wheels and where the captain 's view would not be obstructed by the paddle houses. A raised walkway, literally a bridge, connecting the paddle houses was therefore provided. When the screw propeller superseded

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3486-551: The Atlantic (east–west–east). The first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic was made by the Portuguese naval aviators Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral in 1922. Coutinho and Cabral flew from Lisbon, Portugal , to Rio de Janeiro , Brazil in stages, using three different Fairey III biplanes, and they covered a distance of 8,383 kilometres (5,209 mi) between 30 March and 17 June. The first night-time crossing of

3569-454: The Atlantic from East to West, journeying 113 days in a Zodiac , L'Hérétique . In 1956, Henri Beaudout crossed the Atlantic from West to East, from Halifax to Falmouth , on a raft of wood and rope, L'Égaré II , in 88 days. In 1970, Thor Heyerdahl crossed the Atlantic in Ra II , a papyrus raft built to an Ancient Egyptian design. This voyage followed an unsuccessful attempt

3652-566: The Atlantic was accomplished during 16–17 April 1927 by the Portuguese aviators Sarmento de Beires , Jorge de Castilho and Manuel Gouveia, flying from the Bijagós Archipelago , Portuguese Guinea , to Fernando de Noronha , Brazil in the Argos , a Dornier Wal flying boat. In May 1927, Charles Lindbergh made the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight in an airplane (between New York City and Paris ). The second solo piloting, and

3735-627: The Atlantic. This record became so critical to international prestige that the RMS ; Mauretania was commissioned by the British government specifically to take the Blue Riband back from the Germans and their SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse , which it did in 1907. The government also required it be convertible into a troop carrier if needed. In 1935 shipping magnate Harold Hales formalized

3818-484: The Big Four but more luxurious. 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

3901-529: The British were the first to cross the Atlantic in an airship when the R34 captained by Major George Herbert Scott of the Royal Air Force with his crew and passengers flew from East Fortune, Scotland to Mineola, Long Island, covering a distance of about 3,000 statute miles (4,800 km) in about four and a half days; he then made a return trip to England, thus also completing the first double crossing of

3984-577: The Portuguese mainland. Other colonial powers followed, such as Britain , France and the Netherlands , as they colonized the New World . Guinness Book of World Records has awarded world records to vessels of various classes such as luxury liners, sail boats, and rowing boats. Because of the shape of the continents and the assistance (or resistance) of ocean currents, the Eastbound crossing

4067-559: The UK and was about to become Foreign Minister of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile , travelled to New York. On an eastbound voyage in summer 1940 Britannic carried "hundreds" of obsolescent French 75mm field guns to the UK, to reinforce defence against the threat of German invasion . One of her officers later recalled that they were stowed on her promenade deck . In July Britannic ' s took Noël Coward to New York. He said

4150-540: The arrival and departure of every Allied passenger liner. In April 1940 The New York Times even published how many UK Merchant Navy seafarers arrived on Britannic and the Cunard liner RMS  Cameronia to join which cargo ships , and even gave some idea where those cargo ships were. On 20 February 1940 an anonymous telephone call to the New York City Police Department warned that

4233-561: The blimps flew approximately 22 hours to Lajes Field on Terceira Island in the Azores. The final leg of the first transatlantic crossing was about a 20-hour flight from the Azores to Craw Field in Port Lyautey ( Kenitra ), French Morocco . Beginning in the 1950s, the predominance of ocean liners began to wane when larger, jet -powered airplanes began carrying passengers across the ocean in less and less time. The speed of crossing

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4316-509: The experiment and said that both the picture and the sound were clear. Britannic and Georgic faced modern competition from United States Lines ' Manhattan and Washington and CGT 's Champlain and Lafayette ( fr ). In 1937 Britannic carried 26,943 passengers, Georgic carried a few hundred more, but Champlain carried more than either of them. In 1938 Britannic carried 1,170 passengers on one eastbound crossing in June, which

4399-414: The first to carry a passenger, was Clarence Duncan Chamberlin on 6 June 1927. Edward R. Armstrong proposed a string of anchored "seadromes" to refuel planes in a crossing. The first serious attempt to take a share of the transatlantic passenger market away from the ocean liners was undertaken by Germany . In the 1930s, Germany crossed the Atlantic with Zeppelins that could carry about 60 passengers in

4482-519: 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

4565-412: The full range of controls of the pilot house. On larger small vessels, the flying bridge may actually be enclosed, in which case it is more properly called an "upper pilot house" or "upper bridge". Warships that were also flagships (had a flag officer onboard) sometimes contained a flag bridge . Also known as the "admiral's bridge", these were a bridge below the main bridge on a command warship where

4648-413: The highest bridge on the ship. They were usually above the flag bridge. Since the 1980s, large pleasure craft may have a flying bridge toward the stern that is used as additional outdoor seating space and a place to store a tender . On the smallest surface vessels, such as a sport fishing boat , the flying bridge may have controls permitting the ship to be piloted from the flying bridge, but will lack

4731-586: The industrial powers of the time—the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and the United States—to competitively build grand ocean liners as symbols of national technical skill and expressions of power, not just transport businesses. The competition was for speed. An award called the Blue Riband has been tracked since 1838, for the fastest average speed of a steamship in regular service across

4814-658: The journeys were time-consuming and often perilous. The first trade route across the Atlantic was inaugurated by Spain a few decades after the European Discovery of the Americas , with the establishment of the West Indies fleets in 1566, a convoy system that regularly linked its territories in the Americas with Spain for over two centuries. Portugal created a similar maritime route between its ports in Brazil and

4897-421: The need for larger widebody jets, which were uneconomic on routes with lower passenger demand. The Boeing 757 started this trend when it became ETOPS certified, although the most recent versions of both the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 now have transatlantic capability. Transatlantic cables are cables that have been laid along the ocean floor to connect North America and Europe. Before the advent of radio ,

4980-441: 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 16 knots (30 km/h) until her engines were run in. Thereafter her speed was increased, and at the beginning of October 1930 she averaged 17 + 3 ⁄ 4 knots (32.9 km/h) on

5063-427: The ocean therefore became more important than the style of crossing it. The maturing passenger Jet Age starting with the Boeing 707 reduced the typical crossing time between London and New York City to between 6.5 and 8 hours, depending on weather conditions. By the 1970s, supersonic Concorde airplanes could connect the two cities in less than 4 hours, and only one ocean liner, Queen Elizabeth 2 remained on

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5146-535: The only means of communication across the Atlantic Ocean was to physically connect the continents with a transatlantic telegraph cable , the first of which was installed from Valentia , Ireland to Heart's Content , Newfoundland in 1858. It worked for a month. The first pair of eastbound and westbound transatlantic telephone cables, TAT-1 , were laid in 1955 and 1956 by the cable ship HMTS Monarch . The first transatlantic fiber optic cable, TAT-8 ,

5229-454: The paddle wheel, the term bridge survived. Traditionally, commands would be passed from the senior officer on the bridge to stations dispersed throughout the ship, where physical control of the ship was exercised, as technology did not exist for the remote control of steering or machinery. Helm orders would be passed to an enclosed wheel house, where the coxswain or helmsman operated the ship's wheel . Engine commands would be relayed to

5312-605: The previous year in his first raft, Ra I . In 1988, the junk raft , Son of Town Hall , crossed the North Atlantic Ocean. In 2011, Anthony Smith and the Antiki crossed the Atlantic. On 13 June 2003, French rower Maud Fontenoy started an eastward crossing of the Atlantic from Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon . She reached A Coruña in Spain on 10 October, becoming the first woman to accomplish this feat. In 2005,

5395-441: The prize by commissioning and donating the four-foot, solid silver Hales Trophy. Examples of other famous transatlantic liners are RMS  Lusitania , RMS  Olympic , RMS  Titanic , SS  Île de France , RMS  Aquitania , SS  Rex , SS  Normandie , RMS  Queen Mary , SS  America , RMS  Queen Elizabeth , SS  France , Queen Elizabeth 2 , RMS  Queen Mary 2 , and

5478-649: The reception of "telephotograms" transmitted from the Alexandra Palace television station in London as Britannic voyaged away from the capital and down the English Channel . The experiment continued for 24 hours, until Britannic was 30 nautical miles (56 km) south of Hastings . The receiver's screen was 10 by 12 inches (250 by 300 mm). Britannic ' s Master, Captain AT Brown, watched

5561-415: The ship could be commanded under fire. On a submarine, the bridge is the highest point on the conning tower , to provide for better visual navigation when on the surface. They became standard on United States Navy submarines after 1917, greatly improving the function of the vessels while at the surface. Modern advances in remote control equipment have seen progressive transfer of the actual control of

5644-400: The ship to the bridge. The wheel and throttles can be operated directly from the bridge, controlling often-unmanned machinery spaces. Aboard modern warships, navigational command comes from the bridge, whereas electronically directed weapon systems are usually controlled from an interior compartment. On a commercial vessel, the bridge will contain the equipment necessary to safely navigate

5727-596: The start of the war Britannic had carried 173,550 people, including 20,000 US troops across the Atlantic in preparation for the Normandy landings , and sailed 324,792 nautical miles (601,515 km). After the war the Ministry of War Transport and its successor the Ministry of Transport held Britannic in reserve until March 1947. Cunard White Star then had her overhauled and re-fitted at Harland and Wolff's yard at Bootle in Liverpool. Her re-fit cost £1 million, and

5810-467: The transatlantic crossing was very important for the United Kingdom as much of Europe had been taken over by Germany and its allies preventing trade and supplies; the struggle is known as the Battle of the Atlantic . In 2009, two brothers, Ralph and Robert Brown, crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a 21 ft (6.4 m) flats boat – a special boat designed to operate in extremely shallow water. This flats boat

5893-443: The transatlantic route for those who favored the slower style of travel. The economics of commercial transatlantic flying have evolved markedly since the 1950s; the introduction of widebody airliners (such as the Boeing 747 and Douglas DC-10 ) in the early 1970s made affordable transatlantic travel to the masses a reality. Since the 1990s, the high reliability of modern jet engines has meant that twin-engine jet aircraft such as

5976-583: The two engines developed 20,000 NHP and gave Britannic a speed of 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h). 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 Augustus . 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,

6059-623: Was 75 per cent of her capacity. However, on a westbound crossing in October she carried only 729 passengers. On 27 August 1939, a few days before the Second World War began, Britannic was requisitioned as she was returning from New York. She was converted into a troop ship at Southampton. A few days later left she embarked British Indian Army officers and naval officers, whom she then took from Greenock to Bombay . While in Bombay she

6142-620: Was a steamship launched in 1874 and scrapped in 1903. The second was launched in 1914, completed as the hospital ship HMHS  Britannic and sunk by a mine in 1916. 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, Laurentic , and was discussing designs with Harland and Wolff for

6225-453: Was a breakthrough in its size, unprecedented passenger capacity, and for Brunel leveraging the fuel efficiency of a larger ship. It became the prototype for a generation of similar ships. The British & North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company started its year-round Liverpool-Halifax-Boston service in 1840, using four new Britannia -class steamships and a mail contract from the British government. The company later evolved into

6308-593: 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. In 1930 Britannic

6391-502: Was about 85 percent full. On an eastbound voyage six weeks later she carried 971 passengers, meaning that more than 97 percent of her berths were taken. Even on some winter crossings Britannic had plenty of passengers. On a westbound crossing in January 1949 she carried 801, an occupancy rate of more than 80 percent. Transatlantic crossing Prior to the 19th century, transatlantic crossings were undertaken in sailing ships , and

6474-417: 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

6557-653: Was designed and built by Ralph Brown. The voyage was called the "I Am Second Wounded Hero Voyage" in honor of the men who were killed in Operation Eagle Claw ; Ralph Brown had been in the USMC at the time of the Operation and was told he was going to participate in the mission. Though he ultimately did not go, other servicemen who did perished in the failed military operation. In 1952, Alain Bombard crossed

6640-402: Was fitted with one BL 6-inch Mk XII naval gun for defence against surface craft and one QF 3-inch 20 cwt high-angle gun for anti-aircraft defence to make her a defensively equipped merchant ship . Britannic loaded cargo, returned to England and then returned to commercial service between Liverpool and New York. By January 1940 her superstructure had been repainted from white to buff, and

6723-990: Was increased from 3,000 to 5,000 troops. In June 1943 she took troops to Algiers in Convoy KMF 17, and then went via Gibraltar and South Africa to Bombay, arriving on 10 September. From Bombay she sailed through the Suez Canal to Augusta, Sicily , and then returned to Liverpool, where she arrived on 5 November 1943. Between November 1943 and May 1944 Britannic four transatlantic round trips: two to New York and two to Boston . She then took 3,288 troops with Convoy KMF 32 from Liverpool to Port Said in Egypt . She made two round trips between there and Taranto in Italy and then took 2,940 troops to Liverpool, where she arrived on 11 August. In November and December 1944 Britannic made one round trip to New York. In January 1945 she made

6806-537: Was installed in 1988. The exchange rate between the United States dollar and British pound is still colloquially known as "cable" by financial marketeers, from the early use of the transatlantic cable for this purpose. A transatlantic tunnel is a theoretical structure proposed several times since the late 19th century. It would be a tunnel spanning the Atlantic Ocean between New York City and

6889-587: Was slowed by post-war shortages of wood and other materials. Her passenger accommodation was simplified from three classes to two, and total capacity was reduced from 1,553 to 993; 429 in first class and 564 in tourist class. Her décor was modernised in post-war Art Deco style. Modern fire detection systems were installed. A significant number of the cabins were equipped with bathrooms and all had hot and cold running water. Her state rooms in both classes were enlarged. On A deck she had two state room suites each with bedroom, living room and bathroom. The refit resulted in

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