156-579: RMS Adriatic was a British ocean liner of the White Star Line . She was the fourth of a quartet of ships of more than 20,000 GRT , dubbed The Big Four . The Adriatic was the only one of the four which was never the world's largest ship. However, she was the largest, the fastest, and the most luxurious of the Big Four, being the first ocean liner to have an indoor swimming pool and Victorian-style Turkish baths . She began her career on
312-810: 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 ,
468-524: 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
624-430: A 1.25-mile (2km) network of temporary pontoons in the water. Around 350 of the boats are exhibited afloat at these pontoons, where potential customers have the opportunity to try them out. In total, 500 exhibitors show over 1000 boats in nearly 12 acres (5 ha) of exhibition space. South of Woolston, Southampton has a shingle beach within its boundaries at Weston Shore. The area is popular for sailing small dinghies; in
780-520: 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
936-525: A charity, she operates an excursion programme, in addition to providing educational and other services. The first Southampton International Boat Show took place in 1969. It has been held annually ever since and has become the biggest water-based event of its type in Europe. It usually takes place over ten days in September. The venue is Mayflower Park, overspilling into land at a nearby hotel, and also onto
1092-473: A combined 59,660 passengers for an average of 1,612 passengers per crossing. Olympic carried 28,458 passengers over 16 crossings for an average of 1,779 passengers per crossing. Adriatic carried a career high 31,202 passengers over 21 crossings for an average of 1,486 passengers per crossing. Adriatic was finally withdrawn from the Southampton route after a last crossing, on 14 December 1921, in view of
1248-544: 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,
1404-500: 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
1560-513: 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
1716-561: A dedicated terminal for fresh fruits and vegetables. The port handles 80,000 tons (tonnes) of such produce, much of it from the Canary Isles , each year. The Esso refinery at nearby Fawley is the largest in the country, providing 20 per cent of the nation's capacity. Its mile-long marine terminal handles 2000 ship movements and 22 million tons (tonnes) of crude oil annually, making it the largest independently owned docks facility in Europe. A direct pipeline, completed in 1972, connects
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#17327972874751872-531: 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
2028-445: 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,
2184-549: A few hundred tons), but she was equipped significantly more powerful machines in order to allow her to maintain a better speed. Her name, in reference to the Adriatic Sea , was also given to her in reference to a previous liner of the same name which served the company for almost thirty years at the end of the previous century. She was launched on 20 September 1906, the same day as the Cunard Line 's Mauretania . She
2340-458: 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
2496-440: A gross tonnage of 184,700 and a passenger capacity of 5,200. In 2005, the number of passengers using the port totalled 738,000, higher than it had been in any one year of the previous century. Since then it has increased year on year, and the figure for 2019 was 1.9 million passengers, representing approximately 520 calls by passenger ships. On average, each docking is worth £1.25 million to the local economy. The Port of Southampton
2652-460: A growing variety of cruises. Through the 1990s cruising's growing popularity saw huge increases in ship size and numbers as well as terminal capacity, with Southampton becoming one of the busiest cruise ports in the world. Cruise ship sizes have risen substantially in recent years. The largest vessel using the Port of Southampton is P&O Cruises Arvia , with a length of 345 m (1,132 ft),
2808-425: 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
2964-583: 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
3120-650: 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
3276-593: A new one near Timsbury. The seven ton (tonne) models are powered, and have control systems which simulate the realistic handling of real ships. The new facility for them at Timsbury Lake near Romsey features models of berths, ship canal locks, narrow channels etc. for use in training the next generation of ships' officers. Across the Solent from Warsash, the ABP Harbour limit is at Stone point, near Lepe Country Park . The Department of Transport has responsibility for
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#17327972874753432-521: A part of the city's main eastern approach route, linking Bitterne Manor to Northam , and the railway bridge which carries the lines linking Southampton with Portsmouth and Brighton . Upstream of these, only a little commercial activity takes place on the river or its banks. Some residences having river frontages use them as moorings for small boats, and a number of private houseboats are berthed. One more large road bridge, Cobden Bridge , connects St Denys and Bitterne Park . More houseboats are berthed to
3588-537: 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
3744-505: 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
3900-526: 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
4056-557: 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
4212-471: 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
4368-452: 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
4524-487: A troop transport. After the war, she was refitted several times and was gradually used for cruises, which became her main services in the 1930s. When Cunard Line and White Star Line merged in 1934, she was quickly deemed unnecessary and sold at the end of the year. She was scrapped in Osaka in 1935. At the end of the 19th century, White Star Line, under the leadership of Thomas Henry Ismay , changed its policy to embark on
4680-535: Is Hythe, which is associated with Sir Christopher Cockerell . The father of the modern hovercraft lived here for a long time. His friend, Lawrence of Arabia, also lived here, but only for a short time. Hovercraft development and manufacture took place principally at Cowes and Woolston, but also at other locations in the Solent area. There is a museum devoted to them at Lee-on-Solent to the East. The Hythe Village marina
4836-404: Is a road bridge that charges tolls, connecting the docks area with Woolston. It spans 2,625 ft (800 m) and the clearance for shipping is 23 metres above Highest Astronomical Tide , 95 ft (29 m) above chart datum . In 1977 it replaced a chain ferry known as the floating bridge , which had been operating since 1838. Storage warehouses once lined the banks of the lowest part of
RMS Adriatic (1906) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4992-523: Is approximately 4 metres (13 feet), with 17 hours per day of rising water thanks to the port's "double tides". These allow the largest container and cruise ships access to the port for up to 80 per cent of the time, according to the container terminal operator DP World Southampton. This is a result of tidal flow through the English Channel : high tide at one end of the Channel ( Dover ) occurs at
5148-706: Is estimated at £4,000, a very significant sum for the time. Another incident occurred in November 1909, when the liner ran aground in the entrance to the Ambrose Channel on its way to New York, then in August 1910 when the liner's stokers mutinied in Southampton. On 26 June 1911, following the entry into service of the Olympic , the Adriatic made her last crossing from Southampton before joining her sister ships on
5304-558: Is even more famous than the Itchen in the world of fly fishing. The village of Eling , with its sailing club and moorings for small boats, faces the container terminal to the south-west. It features a Norman parish church, one of the two working tide mills left in Britain, and a mediæval toll bridge that still charges users. Two miles (3.2 km) of undeveloped foreshore, mainly reeds, shingle and mud lie downstream from Eling, opposite
5460-481: 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
5616-404: Is set in a river estuary noted for its wildlife. There is a small oil terminal slightly further north on Southampton Water. For much of the last century, however, Hamble was the village with three airfields, at the centre of an area with up to 26 aircraft manufacturers. The Hamble Aerostructures factory remains busy today. It was a centre for air training from 1931 to 1984. Sir Winston Churchill
5772-655: Is situated to the north of the village. Between this marina and the Marchwood Military Port , 800 acres (324 ha) of land extending from the shore to a line roughly 900 yards (1 km) inland, is owned by ABP. It is held in reserve for, and likely eventually to be used for, further development of the container port. It adjoins part of the eastern boundary of the New Forest National Park, and port development proposals are always highly emotive and contentious locally. The Itchen Bridge
5928-464: Is the busiest cruise turnaround port in Northern Europe. Southampton is now the base of these cruise ships: and the ocean liner: In addition, Southampton is a regular port of call for ships of other cruise companies, including: The container terminal is operated by DP World Southampton. The container port has 210 acres (85 ha) of land – not counting the 375 acres (152 ha) in
6084-666: 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 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
6240-456: Is the sole owner of DP World Southampton, having acquired ABP's 49 per cent stake, having been owned and operated by ABP since 1982. It is the busiest cruise terminal and second largest container port in the UK. By volume of port traffic, Southampton is a Medium-Port City globally. The port is ten miles (16 km) inland, between the confluence of the rivers Test and Itchen and the head of
6396-416: The Adriatic proved to be very popular with customers for her luxurious facilities (she was the first ocean liner to have Turkish baths and an indoor swimming pool) despite a lower service speed than her Southampton running mates. An incident occurred on 10 October 1908, when it was discovered that four crew members were stealing passenger luggage and concealing it in the ship for subsequent resale. Their booty
RMS Adriatic (1906) - Misplaced Pages Continue
6552-637: 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
6708-575: 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
6864-606: The Cedric was scrapped. She was followed the following year by the Baltic . Nevertheless, the company decided to keep the Adriatic as a reserve ship, as the British economy seemed to recover little by little. The following summers were not more prolific and the liner only made a few cruises off the Iberian Peninsula and occasional crossings of the Atlantic. In 1934, Adriatic ' s code letters HKNW were superseded by
7020-525: 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 . Port of Southampton The Port of Southampton is a passenger and cargo port in the central part of the south coast of England . The modern era in the history of the Port of Southampton began when the first dock
7176-542: 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
7332-523: 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
7488-542: 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
7644-576: 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
7800-811: The call sign GLSJ. On 24 February 1934, the Adriatic made her last transatlantic crossing. After Calgaric 's successful 1933 "Peace Cruise" in the Baltic, in 1934, the British Boy Scouts and Girl Guides chartered her for a similar cruise with Robert Baden-Powell on board in the Mediterranean, under the command of Commander CP Freeman, RD . Adriatic sailed from Liverpool on 29 March 1934, and called at Gibraltar , Villefranche-sur-Mer , Malta , Algiers , and Lisbon . During that spring, White Star Line merged with its rival Cunard Line forming Cunard-White Star Line . The Adriatic became part of
7956-604: 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
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#17327972874758112-752: 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
8268-731: 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
8424-466: 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
8580-528: 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
8736-478: 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
8892-652: 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
9048-652: The Liverpool route. She remained there until World War I, although she also made cruises between New York and the Mediterranean during the winter of 1911. Adriatic sailed from Liverpool on 18 April 1912 and arrived in New York on 27 April 1912. Some of Titanic ' s rescued passengers and crew returned to Britain aboard her, departing from New York on 2 May 1912. The passengers included disgraced White Star Line chairman J. Bruce Ismay and Millvina Dean ,
9204-576: The MV Huelin Dispatch from Associated British Ports who in turn had purchased her from the receiver of the Huelin-Renouf bankruptcy. The port has facilities for the import and export of vehicles. Seven multi-storey car park type storage facilities have been constructed, to provide 53 acres (21 ha) of above-ground storage (with another under construction as of 2019). Roll on – roll off vehicle transporters serve all parts of
9360-481: The Schneider Trophy and the world's first port radio and radar station all also feature in the history of this tiny village. Beyond Calshot lies the oil-fired 1GW Fawley Power Station ; beyond that is the huge Fawley Oil Refinery , with its associated piers for tankers. Away from the built up areas and industrial facilities, the western shore is dominated by salt marshes, with some reeds. The next village
9516-596: 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
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#17327972874759672-432: The Solent area, over 60 dinghy sailing clubs cater for this pastime. This is in addition to the 70 plus yacht and sailing clubs and 40 marinas for bigger vessels. Just beyond the Southampton boundary lies Netley village, famous for its well-preserved medieval Cistercian monastery, Netley Abbey . Royal Victoria Country Park on the shore is centred on a chapel which is all that survives of what, when completed in 1836,
9828-525: 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
9984-535: 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
10140-438: 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
10296-570: The arrival of the Majestic and the Homeric . After an overhaul in Belfast, she rejoined her sisters on the Liverpool route on 13 May 1922. On a westbound voyage at 01:30 on 10 August 1922 near Cobh , the Adriatic suffered a gas explosion in her number three hold, which she was using as a reserve coal bunker. The explosion killed five crewmen, severely injured another three, tore the hatch off
10452-410: The brand new route from Southampton to New York before joining, from 1911, her sister ships on the secondary route from Liverpool. They were in fact slow liners intended to provide a service at moderate prices. When World War I broke out, the Adriatic was among the ships that continued their civilian transatlantic service, while carrying many provisions. In 1917, she was requisitioned and served as
10608-438: 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
10764-421: 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
10920-417: 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
11076-471: 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
11232-693: The conflict, viewed the ship with suspicion, fearing she might make a secret stopover in Halifax to recover Canadian troops. From 12 April 1917 to 28 February 1919, the ship served under the Liner Requisition Scheme and carried troops and ammunition across the Atlantic after the entry by the United States into the war. During the war, the bunkers of the Adriatic were often used to supply the Royal Navy with fuel. During this period, on 26 January 1918, while docked at Pier 60 in New York, she
11388-585: The construction of ships which no longer sought to dominate in the area of speed, but to transport passengers en masse and regularly on spacious and comfortable liners. This resulted in the commissioning of the Big Four , four large, moderate-speed liners ordered at the start of the new century. The first, the Celtic , entered service in 1901, followed by the Cedric in 1903 and the Baltic in 1904. The fourth ship in
11544-588: 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
11700-411: The container port; then comes industrialised Marchwood , facing the western docks. A high-efficiency gas-fired 840 MW power station opened here in early 2010, replacing an older facility. The prominent 360 ft (110m) wide by 118 ft (36m) high aluminium dome is an electricity-generating refuse incinerator known as Marchwood Incinerator ; it too has recently replaced an outdated predecessor. There
11856-475: 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
12012-579: The crossing in 7 days, 1 hour and 45 minutes at an average speed of 17.02 knots. The liner sailed under the command of Captain Edward Smith , who transferred from the Baltic . After her maiden voyage, she was transferred to the Southampton – New York route, arriving in Southampton to a very warm welcome on the evening of 30 May 1907 after briefly calling at Plymouth and Cherbourg, and inaugurating White Star's Southampton service on 5 June 1907. She
12168-409: 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)
12324-659: The cruise ships visiting the port. Marina facilities are available at Hythe Village Marina across Southampton Water to the south, and at several locations on the River Itchen. Close to the Itchen Bridge there is the Ocean Village Marina to the south of the bridge and to the north there is Itchen Marine Towage's marina along with their tug fleet. Shamrock Quay and Saxon Wharf marinas lie on
12480-678: The damage at less than $ 1,000. Temporary repairs were made before she began her return voyage to Liverpool on 19 August. From 1923 onwards, the Big Four made regular stops in Boston before arriving in New York. In 1925, the Adriatic was chartered by Welsh people living in the United States who wanted to go to the Eisteddfod Genedlaethol . In May of the same year, and despite her being eighteen years of age, she broke her speed record by crossing between New York and Liverpool in 7 days and 6 minutes, at an average speed of 17.86 knots. At
12636-417: 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
12792-770: The disaster's youngest and last living survivor. Alexander Agassiz died in 1910 while a passenger in Adriatic . When World War I broke out, the Adriatic and the Baltic continued to provide regular service on the Liverpool route while other White Star liners were requisitioned. They were quickly joined by three ships of the Red Star Line , the Vaderland , the Zeeland and the Lapland . The Adriatic 's large cargo hold enabled her to carry large quantities of provisions in wartime, but U.S. authorities, then neutral in
12948-488: The docks now extend close to the bridges carrying the main Southampton – Bournemouth railway line and the busy A35 dual carriageway. The tidal section of the river, and the area of the navigation authority of The Port of Southampton, end in Redbridge, at a point close to these transport structures. The name of the bridge here comes from the abundant reeds in the area – "Reedbridge"; it was never red in colour. The River Test
13104-409: 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
13260-403: 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
13416-494: 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
13572-569: 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
13728-403: The hold, broke and twisted girders and beams and started a coal fire. Some of the dead and injured were stokers who had gone into the hold to work coal for her furnaces. One was an electrician, Leslie Ablett, who was rigging a cluster of electric lights by which the stokers were to work. Three were stokers who had been sleeping in the open on the hatch cover because it was a hot summer night. One of
13884-429: The home of Southampton F.C. – stands close to the river here, just inland of the coasters' yards. A shipbuilding firm, Day Summers & Co. , was active between 1840 and 1929 in this area. Today this part of the river is occupied by the marinas, and also by many more small wharves, quays and shipyards, which provide homes for small to medium-sized boating-related businesses. The next two crossings are Northam Bridge ,
14040-405: The largest ships in the world, White Star had asked the shipyards to enlarge the Baltic during its construction; the ship measured nearly 3,000 tons more than its predecessor, but it was in return slightly slower: its machines not having been modified. In the case of the Adriatic , it was decided to give her a size similar to the Baltic (her tonnage nevertheless surpassing that of the Baltic by
14196-581: 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 :
14352-574: The last seagoing paddle-steamer in the world, runs a small number of slightly longer day cruises from Southampton each year. SS Shieldhall is a heritage ship included in the National Historic Fleet (as is Waverley ) and based at Southampton. She is the largest seaworthy working steamship of her type in Britain and probably Europe. As a "Clyde sludge boat", she spent her working life dumping treated sewage, first from Glasgow , later from Southampton. Restored now and managed by
14508-399: 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
14664-534: 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
14820-484: The luxury of her facilities. In addition to the sumptuous dining room topped with a glass roof, the smoking room adorned with stained glass, the veranda café and the lounges she shared with its sister ships, she was the first liner to be equipped with Turkish baths , as well as an indoor swimming pool. At the start of her career, the Adriatic could carry 425 first class, 500 second class, and 1,900 third class passengers (all accompanied by 560 crew members). From 1919, she
14976-478: The main channel was increased by dredging to 19 m (63 ft). This enabled the berths to accommodate the largest container vessels in service. Work on the project was undertaken by VolkerStevin, part of the VolkerWessels group. On 20 September 2013, it was announced that Channel Island Lines would continue the "lift-on lift-off" container service between Southampton and Jersey and would purchase
15132-438: 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
15288-460: The mile-wide drowned valley known as Southampton Water . The mouth of the inlet is protected from the effects of foul weather by the mass of the Isle of Wight , which gives the port a sheltered location. Additional advantages include: a densely populated hinterland; proximity to London, and good rail and road links to the rest of Britain which bypass the congestion of London. The average tidal range
15444-444: The new fleet, but was clearly superfluous given her age. After a final voyage in September, she was immobilised, and sold in November to Japanese wreckers for £48,000. She left Liverpool for the last time on 19 December 1934, her longest voyage ever; to be scrapped at Osaka , Japan , in 1935. Being the last of the Big Four, the Adriatic displayed similar dimensions to the Baltic with a 222.2 m length, 23 m width and 16 m draft. She
15600-563: The north of it on the Western side, otherwise the riversides are occupied by parkland and the Portswood Sewage Treatment Works for much of the next stretch, as far as Woodmill Bridge. The tidal section of the river, for which the Port of Southampton is the navigation authority, ends here. The river Itchen upstream is noted as one of the world's premier chalk streams for fly fishing . Car storage compounds within
15756-582: 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
15912-553: 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
16068-420: The older Western Docks – available for port operations. Loading and unloading operations can be performed simultaneously on four large deep-sea container ships, plus one smaller ship 150 m (500 ft) in length. This container terminal is Britain's second largest deep-sea terminal, after that at Felixstowe . The railway line from Southampton has been upgraded to the relatively large W10 loading gauge on
16224-403: 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
16380-606: 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
16536-421: The passenger terminals, Berth 104 (Fruit Terminal) is generally used for fruit transport but has been used for passenger ships during busy times. The first full-time cruise ship was Ceylon, a P&O liner converted in 1881. Until then, ship owners had occasionally used liners for off-season cruising. From 1881 the cruise industry grew slowly until the 1970s, when major shipping operators were badly affected by
16692-462: The port approach stands on Calshot Spit , a mile long (1.6 km) shingle bank, and housed a military garrison until as late as 1956. The area was a base and centre of activity for military flying boats. The hangars along the spit for them now accommodate a large activities centre, with climbing walls, velodrome and dry ski slope. There are also stations and facilities for the lifeboat and coastguard services. Saxon landings in 495, Lawrence of Arabia ,
16848-480: The port area. Solent Towage, based at Fawley, operates four fire-fighting tugs. Svitzer Marine operates a number of fire-fighting tugs based at Dock Head. Williams Shipping operates a small fleet of tugs, workboats and barges. Itchen Marine, based on the Itchen River, operates a fleet of tugs, mooring launches and barges. John H Whitaker operates a small fleet of tankers offering bunkering and other services to
17004-465: 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
17160-404: 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
17316-526: The refinery with the West London Terminal in Hounslow , supplying aviation fuel for Heathrow Airport . A replacement pipeline was completed in November 2023. The BP Oil Terminal at Hamble provides storage and distribution facilities for crude oil and refined petroleum products. The crude oil arrives by pipeline, and leaves in sea tankers, destined for refineries; refined products reach
17472-473: The rise in popularity of long-haul jet air travel. Faced with falling demand for their mail and passenger services, they turned their business to holiday cruises: voyages that usually end where they begin, providing short leisure visits to other ports on the way. At Southampton at the time, the ships affected included Cunard 's Queen Elizabeth 2 and the P&O vessels SS Oriana and SS Canberra : all originally built as fast liners, they began to offer
17628-533: 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
17784-411: The river, but have been demolished. North of the bridge, on the western side, there are yards and wharves used by coastal vessels. These handle low-value, non-perishable and non-urgent bulk goods, including timber, scrap, metals, cement, sand and other quarry products. This trade accounts for 24 per cent by weight of internal goods transport in Britain. The imposing modern structure of St Mary's Stadium –
17940-483: The route along with the Lapland , to ensure provisional service pending the return of requisitioned ships and the arrival of new liners. In December, the Lapland was returned to Red Star Line service. From January through June 1920, Adriatic maintained the Southampton service on her own, until the Olympic returned to service on 25 June. Throughout 1920, Olympic and Adriatic made a combined 37 crossings and carried
18096-648: The route between the container port and the ABP terminal in Birmingham , where it links with lines that have already received this treatment. This allows the railway line to handle the taller containers now in widespread use. Permission was obtained from the Marine Management Organisation to extend the container terminal into berths 201 and 202. The quay was rebuilt in 2014 to accommodate 400 m (1,300 ft) vessels. The depth of water in
18252-490: The safety of navigation within the Western Solent beyond this limit, as it lies outside the jurisdiction of any of the harbour authorities. The foreshore from here to Calshot , the first village to the north-east, is a lightly frequented and rather muddy beach. At Calshot, with the long row of beach huts, the beach is shingle, and there is much of historical interest. Calshot Castle , built by Henry VIII to govern
18408-491: The same time as low tide at the other end ( Land's End ). Points near the centre have one high water as the tidal swell goes from west to east, another as it then goes from east to west. Neither is as high as the one at each end of the English Channel. The principal berths are divided into three areas: There are five active passenger terminals in the port of Southampton servicing passenger ships. In addition to
18564-434: The same time, with less transatlantic traffic, the Adriatic was increasingly used for cruises. In 1928, when she returned from the Mediterranean, she was reconverted again, this time to become a "cabin class" ship offering more affordable rates. Making her first crossing in this capacity on 28 April 1928; she quickly met with great success in this area. In 1929, cruises no longer managed to be profitable enough. The Adriatic
18720-598: The series, the Adriatic , was ordered from Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast in December 1903, but she wasn't completed until May 1907, a strangely long delay. This delay could be explained by the fact that the shipyards were building the Amerika at the same time, with a similar profile. Harland and Wolff built Adriatic on slipway number three of its North Yard in Belfast , Northern Ireland . To continue to own
18876-487: The ship had four masts intended to serve as support for the lookout's nest, as well as for the cables of the wireless telegraphy. She had four continuous decks, as well as an upper deck and several superstructures. In 1911, she distinguished herself from her sister ships by having the front part of her promenade deck fitted with windows. Like the other ships in the series, the Adriatic was propelled by two propellers operated by quadruple-expansion steam engines . Between them
19032-485: 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
19188-628: 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
19344-407: The stokers sleeping on the hatch cover was blown overboard Two liners, CGT 's Lafayette and United States Lines ' Reliance , changed course to come to Adriatic ' s assistance. Adriatic ' s crew fought and extinguished the fire. Her Second Engineer , James Corrigan, entered the burning hold and rescued two injured men. At 03:55 Adriatic ' s wireless operator signalled that there
19500-455: The terminal by ship and pipeline and are then distributed to customers by road tanker, ship and pipeline. Red Funnel ( The Southampton Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Public Company Ltd ) provides two ferry services from the Town Quay area in Southampton to the Isle of Wight . The car ferry service to East Cowes, with a journey time of 50 minutes, is operated by
19656-592: The third of the three rivers that formed Southampton Water, is controlled by its own harbour authority. Warsash is another village in which sailing plays an important role, and also has a history of shipbuilding. In addition it is the home of the Maritime Academy , which provides training for future Merchant Navy Officers. Its famous model ships, used for practising operation of large marine vessels picture were moved in May 2011 from their old base at Marchwood to
19812-470: 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
19968-538: The three 'Raptor' class vessels: Red Falcon , Red Eagle and Red Osprey . The Fast Passenger Ferry service runs to Cowes (which is called "West Cowes" by Red Funnel) in 22 minutes. It is provided by the Red Jet catamarans: 4 , 6 and 7 . A fourth ferry in Red Funnel's fleet, Red Kestrel is dedicated to freight traffic, entering service in May 2019. There has been a passenger ferry from Town Quay to
20124-537: The two engines were rated at 1,720 NHP . 51,120 cu ft (1,448 m) of her cargo holds were refrigerated . However, in view of her higher tonnage, the White Star had her fitted with more powerful machines, capable of reaching an average speed of 17 knots, higher than that of her sister ships but still significantly lower than the fastest liners on the route. Normally, she consumed 260 tonnes of coal per day. The Adriatic stood out from her sister ships for
20280-401: 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
20436-653: The village of Hythe , across Southampton Water, since the Middle Ages. This cuts out a lengthy journey by land across the mouth of the River Test . A 2000 ft (610m) pier opened in 1881; a 2-foot (610 mm) gauge railway, the oldest pier railway in the world, has run along it since 1922. White Horse Ferries of Swindon, the former operator, was replaced in 2017 by the Blue Funnel Group . The crossing takes about 15 minutes. Four companies operate tugs in
20592-551: The western end of the Docks area there are additional berthing and anchoring possibilities, at Marchwood Yacht Club and Eling Sailing Club. Blue Funnel Cruises offer harbour cruises to view the ships in port, as well as other short day cruises in the Solent area, and "Party Night" type trips etc. The Barkham family began the operation in the 1930s; the current name was adopted in 1965. They run three vessels, Ocean Scene , Ashleigh R and Jenny R from Ocean Village. PS Waverley ,
20748-543: The western side of the river further upstream, while Kemps Quay marina is on the eastern side. Town Quay marina has a central location close to the Red Jet fast ferry berths. Hythe Village and Shamrock Quay have each been awarded "5 Gold Anchors" classifications from The Yacht Harbour Association . Ocean Village has 3 "Gold Anchors". The Eastern Docks is home to a variety of transport companies and marine service providers, including Williams Shipping who occupy 21 Berth. Towards
20904-625: The world; car trains as well as car transporter lorries provide vehicle transport to and from the port within Britain. Southampton has been the UK's leading port for vehicle exports in recent years. The terminal for bulk goods handles over a million tons annually. A facility processes waste glass into glass cullet , suitable for making new glass bottles. Crushed rocks, gravel, sand, fertilisers, grains and scrap are also handled. A Rank Hovis flour mill formerly dealt with 70,000 tonnes of wheat each year but closed in 2018. There are 156,000 square feet (14,500 m ) of refrigerated storage facilities and
21060-673: 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
21216-435: 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
21372-493: 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
21528-402: 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
21684-550: 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
21840-495: Was inaugurated in 1843. After the Port of Felixstowe , Southampton is the second largest container terminal in UK, with a handled traffic of 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). It also handles cruise ships, roll-on roll-off, dry bulk, and liquid bulk (mainly crude oil). In 2015, DP World extended its operating license for DP World Southampton until 2047, following a deal with Associated British Ports (ABP). DP World
21996-457: Was no further danger, so Lafayette and Reliance resumed their normal courses. The injured were treated in the ship's sick bay . Two of the ship's stewardesses were trained nurses and helped to tend the injured and dying. All of the dead and injured were from Liverpool . Before Adriatic reached New York, her passengers raised $ 7,000 to help their families. Adriatic reached New York on 13 August. Marine insurance agents came aboard and assessed
22152-669: 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:
22308-502: Was one of the many thousands who took flying lessons here. To the south of the village, lies the site of an Iron Age promontory hillfort , Hamble Common Camp . Across the river Hamble, and linked to it by a small ferry for passengers and pedal cyclists, lies Warsash . This is the last village before the border of the area controlled by ABP Southampton with that controlled by the Queen's Harbourmaster Portsmouth. The River Hamble itself,
22464-600: 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
22620-524: Was put to rest in Liverpool throughout the winter as the economic crisis erupted. She was now only used during the summer. The arrival of the Britannic and the Georgic further contributed to rendering the Adriatic useless. She served as an experimental ground for a very low-cost weekend cruise in the summer of 1931, but the operation was inconclusive and her September cruises were cancelled. In 1932,
22776-516: Was redesigned to carry 400 first class, 465 second class and 1,300 third class passengers. Finally, from 1928, her capacities were transformed to carry 506 cabin class, 560 tourist class, and 404 third class passengers. Ocean liner An ocean liner 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
22932-607: 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
23088-557: Was slightly bulkier than her predecessor, with a gross tonnage of 24,541 and a net tonnage of 15,638, making her one of the largest liners in the world when she entered service (the Kaiserin Auguste Victoria only exceeding her by 40 gross tons). However, her appearance remained the same as with her three sister ships. The Adriatic therefore had a black hull with a red base, all topped by a white superstructure. Her funnels were buff-colored crowned with black cuff, and
23244-567: 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
23400-607: Was the first White Star liner to use Southampton's newly built dock, named the White Star Dock. (In 1922 it was renamed the Ocean Dock.) This port, hitherto little frequented by British companies, was indeed chosen to serve as the base for the new express service desired by White Star, in view of the arrival of its Olympic-class liners . It also had the advantage of allowing a French stopover in Cherbourg . The Adriatic
23556-400: 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
23712-487: Was the longest building in the world. This is the Royal Victoria Military Hospital, or Netley Hospital , Britain's largest military hospital when in use. It treated 50,000 war wounded from WW I, 68,000 casualties of WW II, and many others before, between and since. Hamble-le-Rice is the next village to the south. Today it is known to yachtsmen as "the heart of British yachting"; the village
23868-518: Was the victim of a fire when barrels of oil stored on her deck caught fire. The firefighters managed to control the flames by flooding the bridge and throwing the burnt barrels into the sea. When the war was over, the liner was fully refurbished, and her facilities were modified to carry fewer passengers. The Adriatic returned to service on 3 September 1919, once again on the Southampton-Cherbourg-New York service, reopening
24024-580: Was then completed in dry dock and delivered to her company on 25 April 1907, before sailing to Liverpool for her maiden voyage. When the Adriatic entered service, she was celebrated by the White Star Line as "the largest ship in the world" (although the Kaiserin Auguste Victoria overtook her by only 40 tons), and the company organized a departure with great fanfare for her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York on 8 May 1907, arriving in New York on 16 May 1907 with 2,502 passengers onboard (365 first class, 335 second class and 1,802 third class), completing
24180-630: Was thus assigned to this new service alongside the Oceanic , the Teutonic and the Majestic . At the same time, Liverpool becomes a secondary port of departure for services provided by the Baltic , the Cedric , the Celtic , and the Arabic . The Adriatic ran the Southampton route until 1911 when RMS Olympic replaced her. Adriatic then returned to the Liverpool route. During this service,
24336-727: 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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