RMS Mauretania
Cigarette of Mauretania (about 1925)
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The RMS Mauretania was a passenger ship of the British shipping company Cunard Line . The passenger steamer, completed in 1907 at the Swan Hunter shipyard in Wallsend , was the largest ship in the world until the White Star Line's Olympic commissioned in 1911. The ship, named after the Roman province of Mauritania , was used in transatlantic traffic between Liverpool and New York City . After being used on cruises , the Mauretania was scrapped in 1935.
Together with her sister ship Lusitania , she set new standards in the size and technical performance of passenger ships. The turbine ship became particularly famous for its extraordinarily high speed: the Mauretania - one of the most famous transatlantic liners - was in continuous possession of the Blue Ribbon for 22 years .
Building history
The plans for the construction of the Mauretania and her sister ship Lusitania originated in 1903. At this point in time, North German Lloyd had launched a series of extremely successful high-speed steamers that were the largest ships in the world and, from 1897, the prestigious Blue Ribbon for the fastest Atlantic crossing held in German possession. The Cunard Line then agreed to build two ships of outstanding size and high speed that would restore the reputation of British passenger shipping. In order to raise the necessary funds, Cunard agreed with the British government on a low interest loan of 2.6 million pounds sterling . In return, the Royal Navy asked to be able to use both ships as auxiliary cruisers in the event of war .
Both Cunard and the Royal Navy expected the new steamers to travel at least 24.5 knots (45.4 km / h). With the two shipyards responsible was agreed that each additional tenth node that should be the ships including a penalty of 10,000 pounds sterling is payable.
The first drafts for the construction of the new ships envisaged a relatively conventional design that included piston steam engines on three propellers and three funnels. The plans were initially based on the dimensions 750 feet (229 meters) in length and 75 feet (22.9 meters) in width, but it quickly became clear that a greater length would be necessary for the high speeds sought. In addition, it was recognized - also based on consuming carried out model experiments - that the required machine performance should be better distributed over four instead of three propellers to overload the screw shafts to avoid. The final design therefore envisaged - for the first time in passenger shipping - four propellers with a diameter of 5.20 meters.
The keel laying of Mauretania was in 1904 in Wallsend at the shipyard Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson instead; the launch was on September 20, 1906. The sister ship Lusitania was built around the same time at John Brown & Company in Clydebank .
The ship
Machine system
The Mauretania and the Lusitania were at the time of its completion by far the most modern and advanced ships of its time. They were the first ships of this size to have a drive from a total of six Parsons turbines , four of which were intended for forward travel and two for reverse travel. Each of the four steam turbines for forward travel developed around 17,000 hp and each drove a propeller. The turbines for reversing were coupled to the two middle propellers. 25 steam boilers fed the drive system.
In order to test the new propulsion system, the Cunard-Line had a corresponding test system installed in the Carmania steamer, which was completed in 1905 . When the efficiency of the new propulsion system became apparent during its maiden voyage, plans to equip the two superliners under construction with a conventional piston steam engine were finally dropped. The propulsion system guaranteed the two ships an average speed of around 24 knots (44.5 km / h) and a maximum speed of then sensational 28 knots (51.8 km / h). Acquiring the Blue Ribbon back was only a matter of time and favorable travel conditions.
construction
As intended by the British government, Mauretania and Lusitania had to be available as armed auxiliary cruisers in the event of war. It was hoped that the size and outstanding speed of the ships would be an immense advantage for naval warfare. Due to their high coal consumption of several hundred tons per day and the lack of armor, the two ships would hardly have been suitable for long-term operations or even battles with opposing warships. Nevertheless, the construction plans contained elements that were not found on normal passenger ships of that time, such as longitudinal bulkheads along the boiler and engine rooms, which had an inwardly curved slope at hull level in order to keep damage from shell hits from inside the ship. On deck there were also fixings for guns, which could be installed quickly in an emergency without major modifications. In addition, the two sister ships also had a double bottom and a subdivision into a total of 36 watertight compartments with lockable bulkhead doors. Overall, both Mauretania and Lusitania were considered " unsinkable " when they were completed . By contrast, the RMS Titanic of the White Star Line, which is now exclusively associated with this rating , has always only been described as "practically unsinkable".
Furnishing
Although the Mauretania and the Lusitania were built according to the same general plan, the two sisters differed considerably in their interiors. For the design of the premises on the Mauretania drew Harold Peto responsible. On the ship, Peto mainly used dark woods for the wall paneling and thus created a conservative British flair in the typical style of the Edwardian VII era , while on the Lusitania the color white dominated the interiors.
For the first class rooms on board the Mauretania , a previously unseen degree of magnificence was sought. Although facilities that were available on other contemporary ships - such as swimming pools and steam baths or winter gardens - were dispensed with, the built-in rooms set new standards in terms of size and equipment. The wood used for the paneling and ceilings was of exceptional quality. For example, the ship's large staircase, which connected the boat deck to the E-deck, was completely paneled with French walnut . A special edition of the British magazine "Engineering" on the maiden voyage of the Mauretania reported enthusiastically that timber stores across Great Britain and France had been emptied to obtain the necessary quantities. The two elevators of the ship running in the stairwell were surrounded by a mesh of polished aluminum - another technical innovation: never before had such a large-area filigree been made from this material. The library of the Mauretania was a little smaller than that of its sister ship Lusitania , but it was particularly lavishly furnished: The wall panels were made of silver-gray plane tree wood , which was inlaid and decorated with gilded carvings . Polished to a high gloss, the wood gave the impression of a marble wall. The room was dominated by a glass dome with wrought iron mesh and gold-plated elements. Also on the boat deck was the large common room of the ship, which was also known as the "music salon" because concerts were regularly held in it. Executed in richly gilded mahogany and also crowned by an oval glass dome, it was one of the most opulent rooms on the ship. Its wall and ceiling paneling has been preserved and is now part of a bar in Bristol . Immediately behind him was the smoking room - covered by a cylindrically arched glass roof and executed in the Italian Renaissance style - and the ship's small veranda café. The last-mentioned room formed the end of the superstructure on the boat deck and was a terrace open to the aft, which was adorned with potted plants and climbing plants and, when the weather was fine, was a focal point of the outdoor activities on board. The central room on the ship was the first-class dining room, two decks high and crowned by an oval dome. It was executed in the Renaissance style and covered with light Austrian oak . The ornate wall panels were famous for the fact that no two of them were identical - the carvings were all custom-made. The seating in the room, on the other hand, was conventional - the chairs were narrow and high and could only be rotated but not moved. This fixation was due to the not always easy conditions on the North Atlantic , but as the size of the ships increased, such security measures gradually became unnecessary. On the Olympic of the White Star Line, which was completed in 1911, the seats were to be freely movable for the first time. On the C-deck of the ship there was also a small dining room especially for the children of the first class; a room paneled in white and dark colors that could also be used as a playroom. The most expensive cabins on board were the two Regal Suites (royal suites), which comprised two bedrooms, a living room, a private dining room as well as a bathroom and a toilet.
Comparatively spacious rooms were also planned for the second class, such as a domed dining room, a lounge and a smoking room. The third class (tween deck) was primarily designed for pragmatic use, but meant a considerable improvement in comparison to smaller ships of the time, especially in the areas of cleanliness, sanitary facilities and space.
Mission history
The maiden voyage under Captain John Pritchard on the Liverpool - New York route began on November 16, 1907. Due to poor weather conditions, the Mauretania, contrary to all expectations, did not succeed in winning the Blue Ribbon immediately . Only on the way back did she receive the honor for the fastest Atlantic crossing in an easterly direction. She would improve her record seven more times by 1924. With an average speed of 26.06 knots for the passage in a westerly direction, she also set the record for the crossing to the west in September 1909, thus removing the award she had won in 1907 from the sister ship Lusitania .
In 1908 she lost a propeller when she hit the ground, but was still able to continue all journeys on time and reliably. The Cunard line saw this as a suitable occasion to have all propellers replaced. These no longer had three, but four wings, made the Mauretania faster and at the same time reduced the vibrations in the stern.
When the First World War broke out in 1914, the Mauretania was requisitioned by the British Admiralty as planned and converted to use as a troop transport in the following year due to negative experiences with armed auxiliary cruisers . Until the end of the war she was either in this role or as a hospital ship in use, where she was unofficially called HMS Tuber Rose . She returned to Great Britain in 1919 and was restored for regular service. In 1921 the Mauretania narrowly escaped a disaster: cleaning fluid caught fire and destroyed almost all the first class cabins. However, the fire was extinguished in time, although the Mauretania almost capsized. In the course of the repair work that was then necessary, it was converted from coal to oil firing, which made its operation much more economical.
The Atlantic liner was used for charter cruises to the Mediterranean as early as the mid-1920s, especially during the winter months . Later, multi-day cruises to the Caribbean were also offered between two transatlantic passages from New York . The Mauretania was actually unsuitable for such missions due to its spatial design, but the ship was still very popular with mainly American travelers. However, the economic downturn of the late 1920s made such operations necessary in order to be able to post urgently needed additional sales. During this time, the Mauretania made a name for itself when, thanks to her high speed, she was able to come to the aid of a Swedish freighter in distress and get the crew off just in time.
The ship was able to keep the coveted Blue Ribbon continuously until 1929, when it was accepted by the German Bremen .
From 1930 the old ship - now painted completely white - was almost exclusively used on cruises. In 1934, after the merger of the Cunard Line with the White Star Line, the ship was finally decommissioned for reasons of age, and on July 1, 1935, the Mauretania began her last voyage to the scrapping yard in Rosyth, Scotland . For many English, it was considered a great loss, as the Mauretania, together with the Aquitania, was one of the most popular and well-known ships in the world. Due to her long service life and her "classic" design, she is still one of the most famous ships of this era.
Others
The Mauretania and her sister ship Lusitania were visually quite similar. The most striking distinguishing feature was the shape of the fans mounted on the roof of the superstructure: While those on the Lusitania were only very low and in a simple cylinder shape , the Mauretania already had the towering ship fans in a classic shape (see picture above).
literature
- Robert D. Ballard , Ken Marschall : Lost Liners - From the Titanic to Andrea Doria - the glory and decline of the great luxury liners . Wilhelm Heyne Verlag GmbH & Co., Munich 1997, ISBN 3-453-12905-9 (English: Lost Liners: From the Titanic to the Andrea Doria. The ocean floor reveals its greatest lost ships. Translated by Helmut Gerstberger).
Individual evidence
- ↑ thebartender.co.uk ( Memento of March 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ): Interior of the "Mauretania Bar" in Bristol , which is equipped with the original wall and ceiling paneling of the first class lounge of the ship.
