Laurence Dunn: North Atlantic Liners 1899-1913.

Hugh Evelin, London, 1961, ca. 50 Seiten, davon 25 Bildtafeln. Gebunden Kartoniert.

For more than a century the North Atlantic has been the field of operations of the world's finest liners. Throughout this period the elite of these have plied to and from New York, whatever their British or Continental terminal might be. In addition to the limited number of major, prestige ships — usually of high speed — there has always been a far larger proportion of intermediate type vessels of more modest power which, besides their complement of passengers, could also carry a considerable amount of cargo. The presence of this cargo won them a large following — many passengers preferring the resulting steadiness to the marked liveliness and vibration so often found on the slim-lined express ships. Many of these intermediate type liners provided secondary services to New York, others serving such ports as Boston and Baltimore. Of those ships that operated on the Canadian run even the finest could not compare with their contemporaries on the New York run, either in terms of size or speed. The turn of the century marked a particularly important point in the development of the North Atlantic ferry, for it was then that the big ship era really began. To be more precise, it was in September 1899 that this phase started, with the entry into service of the White Star Line's Oceanic. Then the world's largest ship, she had a gross tonnage of over 17,000 — a very far cry from her namesake of 1871 which, despite her tonnage of 3,700, had been famed for her size and speed as well as for the high standard of her accommodation. The intervening years had thus been ones of great progress and had brought final emancipation from sail, the evolution of new forms of construction, improved hull forms and the development of propelling machinery that combined reliability with reasonable efficiency. With the advent of the second Oceanic the stage was set for a phase of yet greater development, during which the North Atlantic liner was to evolve into a ship of giant size, one offering hitherto undreamed-of standards of comfort and luxury. Thus, during the short period of fifteen years, the second Oceanic was followed by liners of over 50,000 tons. The slim-hulled ships of the previous century, with their characteristic long, low superstructure, gave way to a type with relatively a far more beamy hull, topped by a massive, built-up superstructure. The low profile of British ships had been the result of a long outmoded regulation which forbade the carriage of passengers on more than two decks — with the exception that, for every 100 tons of the ship's registered tonnage, one passenger might be carried in a poop or deck house. In other countries, where there were no such restrictions, a far greater number of passengers were carried above the upper deck, an arrangement which permitted considerably better standards of accommodation. This British restriction was abolished in 1906, the Act being amended to the effect that, instead, passengers were not to be carried on more than one deck below the waterline. As a result of this change the designers of the Lusitania and Mauretania were able to introduce a new three-tier style of superstructure. Today the size and shape of the superstructure on the latest liners are ... - List of colour plates - Oceanic 1899 - Saxonia 1900 - Kaiser Wilhelm II 1903 - Virginian 1905 - Empress of Britain 1905 - Nieuw Amsterdam 1906 - Mauretania 1907 - President Grant 1907 - Olympic 1911 - France 1912 - Bergensfjord 1913 - Imperator 1913.