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137-638: Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse ("Emperor William the Great") was a German transatlantic ocean liner in service from 1897 to 1914, when she was scuttled in battle. She was the largest ship in the world for a time, and held the Blue Riband until Cunard Line’s RMS  Lusitania entered service in 1907. The vessel’s career was relatively uneventful, despite a refit in 1913. The liner was built in Stettin for Norddeutscher Lloyd , and entered service in 1897. She

274-810: A cargo liner 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 SS ; France . 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 's SS  Michelangelo and SS  Raffaello ,

411-524: A commerce raider . 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

548-520: A U-boat when tugs tried to tow her to safety. Out of all the innovative and glamorous inter-war superliners, only the Cunard Queens and Europa would survive the war. 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

685-511: A castle (named Carlsburg after Charles XI) there; this fortified structure was meant to protect, as well as control shipping heading for Bremen. Finally, in 1827, the city of Bremen under Bürgermeister Johann Smidt bought the territories at the mouth of the Weser from the Kingdom of Hanover . Bremen sought this territory to retain its share of Germany's overseas trade, which was threatened by

822-544: A competition between world powers of the time, especially between the United Kingdom , the German Empire , and to a lesser extent France . 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 . Advances in automobile and railway technology also played a role. After Queen Elizabeth 2 was retired in 2008,

959-500: 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 while under conversion for Operation Sea Lion 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

1096-513: 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 . In August, 2021 she was purchased by Brock Pierce 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. Astoria

1233-531: A dry berthed luxury hotel on Bintan Island , Indonesia. Post-war ocean liners still existent include MV  Astoria (1948), United States (1952), MV Brazil Maru (1954), Rotterdam (1958), MV  Funchal (1961), MS  Ancerville (1962), Queen Elizabeth 2 (1967), and Queen Mary 2 (2003). Out of these eight ocean liners, only one is still active and three of them have since been preserved. The Rotterdam has been moored in Rotterdam as

1370-445: A few former ocean liners were still in existence; some, like SS  Norway , were sailing as cruise ships while others, like Queen Mary , were preserved as museums , 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. A proposed and planned ocean liner,

1507-458: A fixed schedule, so must be faster and built to withstand the rough seas and adverse conditions encountered on long voyages across the open ocean. To protect against large waves they usually have a higher hull and promenade deck with higher positioning of lifeboats (the height above water called the freeboard ), as well as a longer bow than a cruise ship. Additionally, for additional strength they are often designed with thicker hull plating than

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1644-461: A four-cylinder triple expansion engine . Between them her two engines were rated at 3,094 NHP and gave her a speed of more than 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph). The engines were noted for their stability. The engines were balanced on the Schlick system, which prevented movement being transferred to the body of the ship, thus reducing vibration. Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was built to carry

1781-472: A heavy load of freight traffic from and to the seaport, mostly new cars, containers and food. In 2020, Bremerhaven had a bus network with 19 bus routes operated by BREMERHAVEN BUS. Two of the bus routes are night routes that only run on weekends. In addition, there is the Schnellbus-Line S , which serves selected stops and is therefore faster. BREMERHAVEN BUS operates up to 87 regular buses through

1918-425: 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 , builders of RMS  Lusitania , RMS  Aquitania , RMS  Queen Mary , Queen Elizabeth , and Queen Elizabeth 2 . Germany had many shipyards on

2055-840: A lengthy renovation. It features Arctic wildlife, both terrestrial and marine. The latest addition is the Klimahaus from 2009, simulating travel adventure along the 8th line of longitude and dealing with climate issues. Two gazebos can be found on top of the Atlantic Hotel Sail City and the Radar Tower . Another tourist spot is the Fischereihafen (fishing port) in Geestemünde which also houses an aquarium (the Atlanticum). The Lloyd Werft shipyard

2192-505: A maximum of 1,506 passengers: 206 first class; 226 second class; 1,074 third class. When she was completed, her crew numbered 488. However, after her refit in 1913, her crew space was increased to 800. The décor of ship was in the style of Baroque revival , overseen by Johann Poppe , who carried out all of the interior decoration. This was unique as usually a ship would have several interior designers. The interiors were graced with statues, mirrors, tapestries, gilding, and various portraits of

2329-583: 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 Ancerville was refurbished as a hotel for use at the Sea World development in Shenzhen, China in 1984. The first of these, Astoria (originally the ocean liner MS Stockholm, which collided with Andrea Doria in 1956 ) has been rebuilt and refitted as

2466-650: A museum ship, since 1961. Queen Mary (1934) was preserved in 1967 after her retirement, and became a museum/hotel in Long Beach, California . In the 1970s, SS  Great Britain (1843) was also preserved, and now resides in Bristol , England as another museum. The latest ship to undergo preservation is MV  Doulos (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

2603-594: A new era in ocean travel and the novelty of having four funnels was quickly associated with size, strength, speed and above all luxury. Quickly established on the Atlantic, she gained the Blue Riband for Germany, a notable prize for the fastest trip from Europe to America which had been previously dominated by the British. In 1900, she was damaged in a massive and lethal multi-ship fire in the port of New York. She

2740-537: A screw propeller was SS  Great Britain , a creation of Brunel. Her career was disastrous and short. She was run aground and stranded at Dundrum Bay in 1846. In 1884, she was retired to the Falkland Islands where she was used as a warehouse, quarantine ship, and coal hulk until she was scuttled in 1937. The American company Collins Line took a different approach. It equipped its ships with cold rooms, heating systems, and various other innovations but

2877-505: 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 , 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

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3014-467: 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 Normandie won it in 1935 before being snatched by RMS  Queen Mary in 1938. It

3151-501: 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 declared that: As

3288-471: A swimming pool. In the 1920s, SS  Paris was the first liner to offer a movie theatre. The British and the German shipyards were the most famed in shipbuilding during the great era of ocean liners. In Ireland, Harland & Wolff shipyard of Belfast were particularly innovative and succeeded in winning the trust of many shipping companies, such as White Star Line . These gigantic shipyards employed

3425-530: A symbol of size and safety. Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse set out on her maiden voyage on 19 September 1897, travelling from Bremerhaven to Southampton and thence to New York. With a capacity of 800 third-class passengers, the NDL had ensured that they would profit greatly from migrants from Europe to the United States. From her maiden voyage, she was the only superliner to cross the Atlantic with such speed and such media attention. In March 1898, she successfully gained

3562-452: A tonnage of 79,280. In 1940, RMS  Queen Elizabeth raised the record of size to a tonnage of 83,673. She was the largest passenger ship ever constructed until 1997. In 2003, RMS  Queen Mary 2 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

3699-565: A treaty between the two cities (as mentioned in Section 8 of Bremerhaven's municipal constitution) makes Bremerhaven responsible for the municipal administration of those parts owned directly by Bremen. The port of Bremerhaven is the sixteenth-largest container port in the world and the fourth-largest in Europe with 4.9 million  twenty-foot equivalent units  (TEU) of cargo handled in 2007 and 5,5 million in 2015. The container terminal

3836-429: Is a type of passenger ship primarily used for 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 ships ). The Queen Mary 2 is the only ocean liner still in service to this day. The category does not include ferries or other vessels engaged in short-sea trading, nor dedicated cruise ships where

3973-481: Is found on cruise ships, as well as a deeper draft for greater stability, and have large capacities for fuel, food, and other consumables on long voyages. On an ocean liner, the captain's tower ( bridge ) is usually positioned on the upper deck for increased visibility. The first ocean liners were built in the mid-19th century. Technological innovations such as the steam engine, Diesel engine and steel hull allowed larger and faster liners to be built, giving rise to

4110-412: Is renowned for building and renovating large cruise liners, for example Norway . Every five years Sail Bremerhaven is held, a large sailing convention that attracts tall ships from all over the world. The last time it was held was in 2015 with over 270 vessels and 3,500 crew members. In 2011 Bremerhaven set the record for the largest ever parade of boats, with 327 vessels in the parade. This record

4247-467: Is served by regional express trains to Hanover ( RE 8 ) and Osnabrück ( RE 9 ) and was reconnected to Deutsche Bahn's Intercity network in late 2021, after nearly 20 years without long-distance rail services in the city. A fourth station, Bremerhaven-Speckenbüttel near the border with Langen , has been out of service since 1988. Apart from passenger traffic, the railways in Bremerhaven carry

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4384-466: Is situated on the bank of the river Weser opening to the North Sea. In the wet dock parts, accessible by two large locks, more than 2 million cars are imported or exported every year with 2,3 million in 2014. Bremerhaven imports and exports more cars than any other city in Europe. Another million tons of "High-and-Heavy" goods are handled with ro-ro ships. In 2011 a new panamax -sized lock has replaced

4521-637: The Avro Lancaster and Boeing B-29 Superfortress , with their range and massive carrying capacity, were natural prototypes for post-war next-generation airliners . Jet engine technology also accelerated due to wartime development of jet aircraft . In 1953, the De Havilland Comet became the first commercial jet airliner; the Sud Aviation Caravelle , Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 followed, and much long-distance travel

4658-717: The Battle of Río de Oro by the British cruiser HMS  Highflyer and scuttled by her crew, just three weeks after the outbreak of war. Her wreck was discovered in 1952 and partly dismantled. At the end of the 19th century, the United Kingdom dominated maritime trade with the ocean liners of the principal maritime companies such as the Cunard and the White Star Line . Having gained more influence in Europe after William I, German Emperor , his grandfather, had created

4795-520: 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

4932-533: The Blue Riband with an average crossing speed of 22.3  kn (41.3 km/h; 25.7 mph), thus establishing the new German competitiveness. The Blue Riband, an award given for the fastest crossing of the North Atlantic, east and westbound, had previously been held by the Cunard liner RMS  Lucania . This turn of events was closely watched by the maritime world of the era, who were eager to see how

5069-678: The Bürgerschaft of Bremen . The Fischtown Pinguins , also known as REV Bremerhaven, are a professional ice hockey team in the DEL , Germany's top ice hockey league. Eisbären Bremerhaven (Polar Bears), founded 2001, is a basketball team playing in the German second-tier level league ProA . The American Football team is the Bremerhaven Seahawks which play in the German Regio Nord of the 3rd League. The Seahawks are

5206-529: The Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard, which has built ships including RMS  Queen Mary 2 . France also had major shipyards on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea . Bremerhaven Bremerhaven was founded in 1827 as a seaport for Bremen , and it remains one of the busiest ports in the country. It was historically rivalled by Geestemünde  [ de ] on the opposite side of

5343-542: The Falkland Islands to recover the Falklands from the invading Argentine forces . The P&O educational cruise ship and former British India Steam Navigation Company liner Uganda was requisitioned as a hospital ship, and served after the war as a troopship until the RAF Mount Pleasant station was built at Stanley , which could handle trooping flights. By the first decade of the 21st century, only

5480-523: The Far East , 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 succeeded in applying steam engines to ships. He built

5617-553: The First Bremian War (March – July 1654). In the subsequent peace treaty ( First Stade Recess  [ de ] ; November 1654) Bremen had to cede Bremerlehe and its surroundings to Swedish Bremen-Verden. The latter developed plans to found a fortified town on the site, and much later this location became the present-day city of Bremerhaven. In 1672, under the reign of Charles XI of Sweden , in personal union Duke of Bremen-Verden—colonists tried unsuccessfully to erect

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5754-501: The German Confederation 's Navy under Karl Rudolf Brommy . The Kingdom of Hanover founded a rival town next to Bremerhaven and called it Geestemünde (1845). Both towns grew and established the three economic pillars of trade, shipbuilding and fishing. Following inter-state negotiations at different times, Bremerhaven's boundary was several times extended at the expense of Hanoverian territory. In 1924, Geestemünde and

5891-481: The German Empire in 1871, Emperor Wilhelm II wished to consolidate German influence on the sea and thus decrease that of the British. In 1889, the Emperor himself had attended a naval review in honour of the jubilee of his grandmother Queen Victoria . There he saw the strength and size of these British ships, notably the latest and then-largest liner owned by White Star, RMS  Teutonic . He particularly admired

6028-696: The German Maritime Museum ( Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum ) by Hans Scharoun from 1975, featuring the Hansekogge , a vintage cog dating from 1380, excavated in Bremen in 1962, and the historical harbour ( Museumshafen ) with a number of museum ships , such as the Type XXI U-boat Wilhelm Bauer (a museum of its own), and the salvage tug Seefalke from 1924. The Bremerhaven Zoo reopened on 27 March 2004, after

6165-542: The SS  Andrea Doria , which later sank in 1956 after a collision with MS  Stockholm . 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, and/or incapable of the range needed for transoceanic flights; all were expensive and had a small passenger capacity. The war accelerated development of large, long-ranged aircraft. Four-engined bombers, such as

6302-576: The Titanic II , is a modern replica of the original RMS Titanic , which sank in 1912. The ship is owned by Blue Star Line and is bought by Australian businessman Clive Palmer , the ship is set to be launched by 2027. Four ocean liners made before the Second World War survive today as they have been partially or fully preserved as museums and hotels . The Japanese ocean liner Hikawa Maru (1929), has been preserved in Naka-ku, Yokohama , Japan, as

6439-604: The flagship of the company's fleet. Because all U.S. registered ships counted as an extension of U.S. territory, the National Prohibition Act 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, SS  Bremen and SS  Europa . Bremen won

6576-563: The 12th century, and Geestendorf was "mentioned in documents of the ninth century". These tiny villages were built on small islands in the swampy estuary. In 1381, the city of Bremen established de facto rule over the lower Weser stream, including Lehe, later therefore called Bremerlehe. Early in 1653, Swedish Bremen-Verden 's troops captured Bremerlehe by force. The Emperor Ferdinand III ordered his vassal Christina of Sweden , then Duchess regnant of Bremen-Verden, to restitute Bremerlehe to Bremen. However, Swedish Bremen-Verden began

6713-546: The 1897 Kaiserschleuse , then the largest lock worldwide. Bremerhaven has a temperate maritime climate ; severe frost and heat waves with temperatures above 30 °C (86 °F) are rare. On average, the city receives about 751 mm (29.6 in) of precipitation distributed throughout the year, with a slight peak in the summer months between June and August and a slightly drier season in late winter and early spring. Snow does fall in winter and early spring and, more rarely, in late autumn. However, it usually does not stay on

6850-752: The Allied Powers were compensated by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. This led to the awarding of many German liners to the victorious Allies. The Hamburg America Line's trio ( Imperator , Vaterland , and Bismarck ) were divided between the Cunard Line, White Star Line, and the United States Lines , while the three surviving ships of the Kaiser class were requisitioned by the US Navy in

6987-667: 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 of France in 1855. The steam engine also allowed ships to provide regular service without

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7124-406: 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

7261-528: The Blue Riband from Britain's Mauretania after the latter had held it for twenty years. Soon, Italy also entered the scene. The Italian Line completed SS  Rex and SS  Conte di Savoia in 1932, breaking the records of both luxury and speed ( Rex won the westbound Blue Riband in 1933). France reentered the scene with SS  Normandie of the French Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT). The ship

7398-518: The British would retaliate. However, the NDL soon lost the riband in 1900 to the new German superliner, Deutschland of the Hamburg America Line . This change in events was acceptable to Germans, who were able to relax in the knowledge that they were still the owners of the fastest liner; however, NDL promptly ordered that Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse undergo a refit to ensure that they were the dominant German company. This refit included

7535-478: 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 SS  Imperator . She was followed by SS Vaterland in 1914. The construction of the third liner, SS  Bismarck , was paused by the outbreak of the First World War. The First World War was a hard time for

7672-468: The Geeste, which belonged to Hanover (and later Prussia ). Geestemünde united with neighbouring Lehe  [ de ] to form the city of Wesermünde  [ de ] in 1924, and Bremerhaven was itself annexed to Wesermünde in 1939, but the entire conurbation was restored to Bremen in 1947. The town was founded in 1827, but neighboring settlements such as Lehe were in the vicinity as early as

7809-652: The Germans. In 1902, J. P. Morgan 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 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. RMS  Oceanic and

7946-485: The Imperial family. The interiors of her sister ships were also placed in the hands of Poppe. The first class salon was noted for its tapestries and its blue seating. The smoking room, a traditionally male preserve, was made to look like a typical German inn. The dining room, capable of holding all passengers in one sitting, rose several decks and was crowned with a dome. The room also had columns and had its chairs fixed to

8083-642: The Marconi Company installed one in February 1900. Communications were demonstrated with systems installed at the Borkum Island lighthouse and Borkum Riff lightship 30 km (16 nmi; 19 mi) northwest of the island, as well as with British stations, and the first ship-to-shore message was sent on 7 March. By 1911 her call sign was DKW. The ship was propelled by two had two 22 ft 3.75 in (6.8 m) propellers , each powered by

8220-596: The Second World War the three worst disasters were the loss of the Cunarder Lancastria in 1940 off Saint-Nazaire 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 Wilhelm Gustloff , 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

8357-546: The US military units and their personnel were assigned to the city's Carl Schurz Kaserne. One of the longest based US units at the Kaserne was a US military radio and TV station, an "Amerikanischer Soldatensender", AFN Bremerhaven , which broadcast for 48 years. In 1993, the Kaserne was vacated by the US military and returned to the German government. In 1947 the city became part of the federal state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and

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8494-525: 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 RMS  Britannia began its first regular passenger and cargo service by a steamship, sailing from Liverpool to Boston , 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

8631-535: The United States during this time. The year 1858 was marked by a major accident: the sinking of SS  Austria . The ship, built in Greenock 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 latter after being bought by Thomas Ismay in 1868), competed strongly against each other in

8768-438: The added amenity of large portholes, electricity and running water. The size of ocean liners increased from 1880 to meet the needs of immigration to the United States and Australia. RMS  Umbria and her sister ship RMS  Etruria 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

8905-438: The cabin class and the steerage class. The passengers travelling on the former were wealthy passengers and they enjoyed certain comfort in that class. The passengers travelling 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

9042-453: The city government and various interest groups. Bremerhaven has three active passenger rail stations: Bremerhaven Hauptbahnhof in the city centre, Bremerhaven-Lehe north of the centre and Bremerhaven-Wulsdorf in the southern part of the city. All three stations are served by hourly Bremen S-Bahn trains on the line RS 2 as well as regional services to Cuxhaven and Buxtehude on the line RB 33 . Additionally, Bremerhaven Hauptbahnhof

9179-652: The city was destroyed in the Allied air bombing of Bremen in World War II ; however, key parts of the port were deliberately spared by the Allied forces to provide a usable harbour for supplying the Allies after the war. All of Wesermünde, including those parts which did not previously belong to Bremerhaven, was a postwar enclave run by the United States, separate to but within the British zone of northern Germany. Most of

9316-421: The coast of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea , including Blohm & Voss and AG Vulcan Stettin . Many of these shipyards were destroyed during World War II; some managed to recover and continue building ships. In France, major shipyards included Chantiers de Penhoët in Saint-Nazaire , known for building SS  Normandie . This shipyard merged with Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire shipyard to form

9453-425: The collision. New York City mayor William Jay Gaynor was embarking on a European vacation when he was shot aboard the ship on 9 August 1910. A technological evolution of steamships soon made NDL's express steamers outdated. Cunard's RMS  Lusitania and RMS  Mauretania outmatched their German rivals in all fields, and when the future White Star's RMS  Olympic entered service in 1911, luxury on

9590-414: The company Verkehrsgesellschaft Bremerhaven AG (VGB) . There are numerous regional buses operated by other companies that depart from Bremerhaven Central Station, to Bad Bederkesa , Beverstedt , Hagen, Nordholz and Otterndorf . In addition, Bremerhaven is also served by buses from Flixbus . Bremerhaven had a tram service from 1881 to 1982. In its heyday, in 1949, there were six lines. The last line

9727-417: The competition from Cunard Line, White Star Line ordered the Olympic -class liners at the end of 1907. The first of these three liners, RMS  Olympic , completed in 1911, had a fine career, although punctuated by incidents. This was not the case for her sister, the RMS  Titanic , which sank on her maiden voyage on 15 April 1912, resulting in several changes to maritime safety practices. As for

9864-471: 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: RMS  Lusitania and RMS  Mauretania , 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

10001-588: The construction of the Queen Mary 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 Queen Elizabeth , was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War . The Second World War was

10138-475: The context of the conflict and then retained. The Tirpitz , whose construction was delayed by the outbreak of war eventually became the RMS ; Empress of Australia . Of the German superliners, only Deutschland , because of her poor state, avoided this fate. After a period of reconstruction, the shipping companies recovered quickly from the damage caused by the First World War. The ships, whose construction

10275-409: 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, SS Great Western (1,340 GRT) and SS Great Eastern (18,915 GRT) were constructed in 1838 and 1858 respectively. The record set by SS Great Eastern was not beaten until 43 years later in 1901 when RMS  Celtic (20,904 GT)

10412-417: The dawn of the jet age . 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

10549-795: The deck, a typical feature of ocean liners of the era. On 6 September 2013, the Salam Association for the Protection of the Environment and Sustainable Development in Morocco captured underwater footage of what was left of the wreck, with the ship's name on the hull visible. This was confirmed by the Moroccan Ministry of Culture on 8 October 2013. [REDACTED] Media related to SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse at Wikimedia Commons Ocean liner An ocean liner

10686-409: 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 RMS  Lusitania and RMS  Mauretania reached

10823-532: The east-bound speed rekord was held by SS Kaiser Wilhelm II . The company stated that the four liners were of the renowned Kaiser class and decided to market them as the Four Flyers , a reference to their speed and associations with the Blue Riband. In June 1900 at her quay in Hoboken, New Jersey , Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was the victim of a fire which killed one hundred staff who were trying to remove

10960-466: The enemy capture the onetime pride of Germany, Reymann ordered the ship to be scuttled using dynamite, which was already in position should this situation ever arise. On detonation, the explosives tore a massive hole in the ship, causing her to capsize . This version of events was disputed by the British, who stated that Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse had been badly damaged and sinking when Reymann ordered it to be abandoned. The British firmly believed that it

11097-405: The entire upper deck. Like many four-funnelled liners, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse did not actually require that many. She had only two uptake shafts from the boiler rooms, which each branched into two to connect to the four funnels—this design is the reason for the funnels being unequally spaced. Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse became the first liner to have a commercial wireless telegraphy system when

11234-408: The event of a sudden war. In fact, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was soon fitted with cannons and thus transformed into an auxiliary cruiser . Across the world, supply ships carrying weapons and provisions were ready to convert merchant vessels into armed auxiliary cruisers. On 4 August 1914, Great Britain declared war on Germany after the Germans invaded Belgium and Luxembourg. Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse

11371-542: The fact that these ships could easily be converted to auxiliary cruisers in time of conflict. Leaving a lasting impression, the emperor was heard to say that "We must have some of these..." Norddeutscher Lloyd , commonly called NDL, or in English, North German Lloyd, was one of only two German maritime companies which had any influence in the hugely profitable North Atlantic shipping market. Neither of these lines had shown any interest in operating large liners. NDL, however,

11508-403: The first auxiliary cruiser 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 of Germany, who wanted to see his country endowed with a modern fleet. In 1870, the White Star Line's RMS  Oceanic set a new standard for ocean travel by having its first-class cabins amidships, with

11645-558: The first ship that was powered by this technology, the Clermont , which succeeded in travelling between New York City and Albany, New York in thirty hours before entering into regular service between the two cities. Soon after, other vessels were built using this innovation. In 1816, the Élise became the first steamship to cross the English Channel . Another important advance came in 1819, when SS  Savannah became

11782-569: The first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. She left the U.S. city of the same name and arrived in Liverpool, England 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

11919-569: The ground for long. The hottest temperature ever recorded was 35.9 °C (96.6 °F) on 20 July 2022, and the coldest was −18.6 °C (−1.5 °F) on 25 February 1956. Due to its unique geographic situation, Bremerhaven suffers from a few transportation difficulties. The city has been connected to the autobahn network since the late 1970s. The A 27 runs north–south, east of the city, connecting Bremerhaven to Bremen and Cuxhaven . Road connections to Hamburg , however, are poor. The Bundesstraße 71 and secondary roads therefore carry most of

12056-455: The heavy lorry traffic. A proposed solution is the construction of the A 22 , the so-called Küstenautobahn (or "coastal motorway"), which would link Bremerhaven to Hamburg and Wilhelmshaven / Oldenburg (using the Weser tunnel ). Roads leading to the overseas port are frequently overloaded with freight traffic, and solutions are presently being discussed, including a deep-cut road favoured by

12193-696: The heavy research icebreaker RV Polarstern . It also runs the Neumayer Station III in the Antarctic. The Fraunhofer Society Institute for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology  [ de ] maintains research laboratories in Bremerhaven for development and testing of Wind Power components. The German Maritime Museum is part of the German Leibniz Association . The Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences  [ de ] (Hochschule Bremerhaven)

12330-496: The high seas was taken one step further. As a result, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was rebuilt in 1913 to carry third-class passengers only. It seemed that her glory was fading regardless of her career as the first "four stacker". From 26 January 1907, she was charged with carrying passengers between the Mediterranean Sea and New York, effectively ending the public career of the first of the "four flyers". From 1908, German naval captains had been receiving orders to make preparations in

12467-604: The installation of wireless telegraphy , then new technology which allowed Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse to transmit telegraphic messages to a port, emphasising her image of security. The NDL took the competition even further. 1901 saw the addition to their fleet of another four-funnel liner, named Kronprinz Wilhelm in honour of Crown Prince William , heir to the German throne, and they subsequently commissioned another two superliners, Kaiser Wilhelm II and Kronprinzessin Cecilie of 1903 and 1907 respectively. From 1904 to 1907

12604-517: The last ocean liners to be built primarily for crossing the North Atlantic, could not be converted economically and had short careers. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution 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 :

12741-399: 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, RMS  Teutonic became

12878-534: The liners. Some of them, like the Mauretania , Aquitania , 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 to reduce

13015-438: 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 SS  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 baths and

13152-551: The neighbouring municipality of Lehe were united to become the new city of Wesermünde, and in 1939 Bremerhaven (apart from the overseas port) was removed from the jurisdiction of Bremen and made a part of Wesermünde, then a part of the Prussian Province of Hanover . Bremerhaven was one of the important harbours of emigration in Europe. As possibly the most critical North Sea base of the Kriegsmarine , 79% of

13289-582: 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 Neville Chamberlain proposed to merge the two companies in order to solve their financial problems. The merger took place in 1934 and launched

13426-553: 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 , three active or former liners were requisitioned for war service by the British Government . The liners Queen Elizabeth 2 and Canberra , were requisitioned from Cunard and P&O to serve as troopships, carrying British Army personnel to Ascension Island and

13563-403: The only ship still in service as an ocean liner is RMS  Queen Mary 2 . 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 airliners in the 1950s. In addition to passengers, liners carried mail and cargo. Ships contracted to carry British Royal Mail used the designation RMS . Liners were also

13700-606: 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, SS  Great Eastern . 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 and Norddeutscher Lloyd were sailing from major German ports, such as Hamburg and Bremen, to

13837-465: 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 other countries and their colonies and dependencies before

13974-460: 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 SS  Sirius left Liverpool on 4 April and arrived in New York eighteen days later on 22 April after a turbulent crossing. Too little coal

14111-533: The risk of being torpedoed by enemy submarines . The war was marked by the loss of many liners. Britannic , while serving as a hospital ship, sank in the Aegean Sea in 1916 after she struck a mine. Numerous incidents of torpedoing took place and large numbers of ships sank. Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was defeated and scuttled after a fierce battle with HMS  Highflyer off the coast of west Africa, while her sister ship Kronprinz Wilhelm served as

14248-438: The safety of an ocean liner with the number of "stacks" or funnels they had. Some passengers would in fact refuse to board ships if they did not have four funnels. In an age when ocean travel was not as safe as today, it was important to ensure that passengers felt at ease. The special improvement in the arrangement of this steamer, as compared with other express steamers previously built by the NDL or other companies, consisted in

14385-566: The second oldest team in Germany. Local association football clubs are Leher TS , SFL Bremerhaven and until 2012 FC Bremerhaven . TSV Wulsdorf and OSC Bremerhaven also have a football teams but as part of a multi-sport club . Bremerhaven is home to the Alfred Wegener Institute , a national research institute which is concerned with maritime sciences and climate and keeps a number of research vessels , amongst them

14522-416: The ship took place on 4 May 1897 in the presence of the Imperial family; it was the emperor who baptised the ship whose name honoured his grandfather Emperor William I, " the Great ". The liner was completed and internally decorated at Bremerhaven . Her maiden voyage was scheduled for September the same year. Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was the first ship to have four funnels. For the next two decades they were

14659-489: The silting up of the Weser around the old inland port of Bremen. Bremerhaven (literally in English: Bremer Haven/Harbour ) was founded to be a haven for Bremen's merchant marine, becoming the second harbour for Bremen, despite being 50 km (31 mi) downstream. Due to trade with, and emigration to, North America, the port and the town grew quickly. In 1848, Bremerhaven became the home port of

14796-485: The sinking of SS  Cap Arcona with more than 7,000 lives lost, both in the Baltic Sea , in 1945. SS Rex was bombarded and sunk in 1944, and 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-boats , mines or enemy aircraft. Empress of Britain was attacked by German planes, then torpedoed by

14933-685: The standards of the time, and were the largest liners then in service, plying the Liverpool to New York route. SS  Ophir 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 when she was converted to an armed merchant cruiser . In 1897, Norddeutscher Lloyd launched SS  Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse . She

15070-424: The task of refuelling her. The task of coaling was still going on on 26 August, when the British cruiser HMS  Highflyer appeared. Reymann quickly prepared his ship and crew for battle and steamed out to engage the enemy after disembarking his prisoners of war. A fierce battle took place, but came to a dramatic end when Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse ran out of ammunition. According to the Germans, rather than let

15207-470: The third sister, HMHS  Britannic , she never served her intended purpose as a passenger ship, as she was drafted in the First World War as a hospital ship , and sank to a naval mine in 1916. At the same time, France tried to mark its presence with the completion in 1912 of SS  France owned by the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique . Germany soon responded to the competition from

15344-742: The threat as the ship was towed to safety in the Hudson River. Six years later, on 21 November 1906, she was in collision with the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company liner RMS  Orinoco in Cherbourg Harbour. Five passengers aboard Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse and three crewmen aboard Orinoco were killed, and Orinoco ' s clipper bow made a 8 m (26 ft) tear in the starboard side of Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse ' s hull. A court of inquiry found Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse wholly responsible for

15481-460: 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 founded the Cunard Line 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

15618-488: The voyage itself, and not transportation, is the primary purpose of the trip. Nor does it include tramp steamers , even those equipped to handle limited numbers of passengers. Some shipping companies refer to themselves as "lines" and their container ships , which often operate over set routes according to established schedules, as "liners". Though ocean liners share certain similarities with cruise ships, they must be able to travel between continents from point A to point B on

15755-418: Was 627.4 ft (191.2 m), her beam was 66.0 ft (20.1 m) and her depth was 35.8 ft (10.9 m). Her tonnages were 14,349  GRT , 5,521  NRT and 24,300 long tons (24,700 t) displacement. Her dimensions were similar to those of the 1860 Great Eastern , which was the largest ship of its time. As already noted, her four funnels were her most unusual feature. People associated

15892-661: Was Line 2 from the north of the city to the main train station; but this was shut down on July 30, 1982. Bremerhaven has only a few historical buildings, and the high street and city centre are almost entirely post-war. The main attractions for tourists are found at the Havenwelten and include an attraction about climate change, the Klimahaus Bremerhaven 8° Ost  [ de ] , the German Emigration Center (since August 8, 2005) and

16029-462: Was also in a collision in the French port of Cherbourg in 1906. With the advent of her sister ships, she was modified to an all-third-class ship to take advantage of the lucrative immigrant market travelling to the United States. Converted into an auxiliary cruiser at the outbreak of World War I, she was given orders to capture and destroy enemy ships. She destroyed several before being defeated in

16166-673: Was beached in Zhanjiang, China as a tourist attraction called Hai Shang Cheng Shi in 1998, though has been closed as of 2022. Funchal was purchased by Brock Pierce 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. 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

16303-529: Was broken in 2012 by the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant , with 1,000 boats. The passenger terminal Columbuskaje , built at the Weser bank in 1927 to avoid time-absorbing locking, has been transferred into a cruise terminal (Columbus Cruise Center Bremerhaven/CCCB). Also three marinas are available, the latest accessible through a new lock at Neuer Hafen . Bremerhaven has a city council with 49 members. It also elects 15 members of

16440-435: Was commenced, and, with it, the tradition of the Blue Riband . 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

16577-493: Was completed. 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 Olympic -class ocean liners , first completed in 1911, were the first to have a tonnage that exceeded 45,000 and the Imperator -class ocean liners first completed in 1913 became the 1st liners with tonnage exceeding 50,000. SS  Normandie , completed in 1935, had

16714-462: Was consequently renamed from Wesermünde to Bremerhaven. Today, Bremerhaven is a city in its own right, but also part of the city-state of Bremen, which is for all intents and purposes a state comprising two cities. In addition to being part of the federal state, the city of Bremen has owned the "overseas port" within Bremerhaven since 1927. This and other parts of Bremerhaven owned by the city of Bremen are known as stadtbremisch . To complicate matters,

16851-402: Was done by air. The Italian Line's SS  Michelangelo and SS  Raffaello , 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, Queen Elizabeth 2 , 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

16988-479: 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 competed with its own four-funnel liner, SS  Deutschland . She quickly obtained

17125-580: Was founded in 1975 and is expanding since with more than 3.000 students in 2009. The university is attended by a large number of students from all over the world. Among the courses offered are Process Engineering, Information Technology and the BA Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Leadership programme, the first programme modelled after the Finnisch Team Academy format in a German language higher educational institution. Bremerhaven

17262-670: Was gunfire from HMS Highflyer which sank the German ship. Reymann managed to swim to shore, and he made his way back to Germany by working as a stoker on a neutral vessel. Most of the crew were taken prisoner and held in the Amherst Internment Camp in Nova Scotia for the remainder of the war. The downfall of such great liners in the event of war was their huge fuel consumption. Most liners were subsequently converted from cruisers to hospital ships or troopships. Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse ' s registered length

17399-669: Was not until 1952 that SS  United States 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 , which is awarded to the winner. 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:

17536-600: 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, SS  Great Western , designed by railway engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel , 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

17673-607: Was reported to have been sold for scrap in January 2023, but this has been denied by the ship's owner. United States has been docked in Philadelphia since 1996, but following a legal dispute between the organization that owns United States and the pier owners, she was purchased by Okaloosa County , Florida to be turned into the world's largest artificial reef. There are plans for a land-based museum and several pieces of United States are planned to be preserved. Brazil Maru

17810-515: Was requisitioned and turned into an armed cruiser, painted in grey and black. Her commander at the time, Captain Reymann, operated not only under the rules of war, but also the rules of mercy. Reymann soon sank three ships, Tubal Cain , Kaipara , and Nyanza , but only after taking their occupants on board. Further south in the Atlantic, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse encountered two passenger liners: Galician and Arlanza . Reymann's first intention

17947-621: Was started before the war, such as SS  Paris of the French Line , 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 SS  Île de France (completed in 1927). The United States Lines , having received the Vaterland , renamed her Leviathan and made her

18084-400: Was the first company to name any of their liners in honour of members of the Imperial family, purely to flatter the emperor. The company also had important links with the naval architects AG Vulkan of Stettin . NDL then approached Vulkan and commissioned them to build a new "superliner", which was to be named Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse . The new ship would set a new style for ocean liners. She

18221-426: Was the first liner to be a Four funnel liner and is considered to be the first "super liner." The first of four sister ships built between 1903 and 1907 for Norddeutscher Lloyd (the others being Kronprinz Wilhelm , Kaiser Wilhelm II and Kronprinzessin Cecilie ), she marked the beginning of a change in the way maritime supremacy was demonstrated in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. The ship began

18358-481: Was the largest and longest liner afloat and would have been the largest ever had it not been for Great Eastern of 1860. She was the first liner to have suites with sleeping quarters including a private parlor and bath. She was built with decks strengthened to mount eight 15 cm (5.9 in) guns, four 12 cm (4.7 in) guns, and fourteen machine guns ; although fewer and smaller guns were actually mounted in her ultimate wartime conversion. The launching of

18495-400: Was the largest ship afloat at the time of her completion in 1935. 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 also played an important role, causing a drastic decrease in

18632-545: Was to sink both vessels, but, discovering that they had many women and children on board, he let them go. In this early stage of the war, it was thought that it could be fought in a chivalrous fashion. However, soon it was to become a total war and ships would no longer be warned before being fired upon. As Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse approached the west coast of Africa, her coal bunkers were almost empty and needed refilling. She stopped at Río de Oro , ( Villa Cisneros , former Spanish Sahara) where German and Austrian colliers started

18769-674: 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 SS  United States 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 won it back in 1986 with Virgin Atlantic Challenger II. One year later, in 1953, Italy completed

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