RMS Lucania
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The RMS Lucania was an ocean liner put into service in 1893 by the British shipping company Cunard Line , which was used in passenger and freight traffic on the Liverpool - Queenstown - New York route. Until 1897 she was the largest ship in the world and a holder of the Blue Ribbon , an award for the fastest passenger ship on the North Atlantic route.
background
The Lucania and her identical sister ship , the RMS Campania , were built at a time when the steamship industry was booming and the leading shipping companies were sending ever larger, more luxurious and faster ships in the race for the favor of the paying public. Only recently had the Inman Line set records for size and speed with its two newest ships, the City of New York and City of Paris , and won the Blue Ribbon. The White Star Line then put the Teutonic and the Majestic into service, which turned out to be immediate competitors. Then Cunard also ordered two new ships in order to remain competitive.
The construction of the two ships was co-financed by the British Admiralty . The agreement of Cunard with the British government provided that both ships should be adapted to the needs of the Admiralty as compensation, if the ships should be used in the event of war. Cunard had to agree that the two ships could be called up by the government as auxiliary cruisers of the reserve of the Royal Navy if necessary .
According to the agreement, it should be two large and fast twin screw steamers with triple expansion steam engines. The contract for the construction of the ships was awarded to the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. in Govan near Glasgow , which was one of the largest ship manufacturers at the time. Construction began in 1891 just 43 days after the order was placed by the Cunard Line.
The Lucania ran on 2 February 1893 by the stack and was designed by Sir William Pearce, chairman of Fairfield Shipbuilding and member of the British Parliament, was baptized. On September 2, 1893, the ship ran from Liverpool under the command of Captain Alexander McKay on its maiden voyage to New York, where it arrived on September 9. It was used throughout its service on the prestigious route Liverpool – Queenstown – New York. For years the Lucania and Campania were considered the most important ships of the Cunard Line. In the years that followed, German shipping companies such as Norddeutsche Lloyd or HAPAG managed to overtake the previously dominant British shipping companies such as Cunard and White Star with their ships. Cunard responded with the new record breakers Mauretania and Lusitania .
The Lucania moved into the background and only served as an occasional replacement. Her last voyage (the only one in 1909) took place on July 7, 1909, after which she was laid up in Huskisson Dock in Liverpool. At around 7 p.m. on August 14, 1909, a fire broke out on board that was already out of control when the fire fighters arrived at the dock. Until the early morning fire water was pumped into the hull, so that the Lucania list accepted. The fire was not completely extinguished until around noon on August 15 . The Lucania was almost completely destroyed by the fire. Although another trip was planned two months later, after an inspection it was decided that it would not be worth repairing. The Lucania was sold to the Thomas Ward demolition yard in Swansea and scrapped there. The remains of the interior were auctioned.
Records and innovations
At 12,952 GRT, she was only two GRT larger than the Campania , but was able to replace her as the largest ship in the world. It also took the title of Blue Ribbon holder for the fastest Atlantic crossing from the Campania . It was only exceeded in both records in 1897 by Kaiser Wilhelm der Große of North German Lloyd.
In 1903, the world's first ship's newspaper was introduced on the Lucania , which was supplied with information from radio messages that the ship received at sea. The so-called Cunard Daily Bulletin quickly caught on on Cunard steamers.
machinery
Two five-cylinder steam engines with vertical triple expansion were installed on the Lucania . Each machine was provided with two low pressure cylinders. The Lucania and Campania were the two largest ships in Cunard's history to be fitted with steam engines of this type, and their engines were the largest to be built into a ship at the time. This was the highlight of this design - a few years later the ships were equipped with more modern turbines . The machines were both housed in separate watertight compartments so that in the event of a water ingress only one machine would fail and the ship could enter the next port with the help of the other. The hull of the Lucania was divided into 16 transverse watertight compartments. The ship was able to remain buoyant with two flooded compartments.
The machines were almost three decks high and enabled an output of 28,000 PS (31,000 PSi ). The average cruising speed of the Lucania was 22 knots (40.7 km / h) and the top speed was 23.5 knots (43.5 km / h). 2900 tons of coal were burned for a crossing. The ship 189.6 meters long and 19.81 meters wide had two chimneys, two masts and a double screw.
Furnishing
The cabins and salons on the Lucania and Campania were lavishly furnished and reflected the style of the Victorian era . The luxury cabins on the upper deck and the first class lounges were paneled with oak, satinwood, and mahogany and covered with thick carpets. Silk curtains hung in front of portholes and windows, and the sofa sets were richly upholstered and color-coordinated with the rooms.
The predominant style was Art Nouveau, but there was also French Renaissance, for example in the first class lobby and Elizabethan style , for example in the first class smoking room, which also had an open fireplace. One of the most impressive rooms was the first class dining room, which was 30 meters long, 19 meters wide and 3.5 meters high. Its design has been described as a "slightly modified Italian style". A light shaft three decks high stretched above the room, ending in a skylight . The coffered ceiling , supported by Ionic columns , was white and gold. The mahogany paneling on the walls was decorated with ivory inlays and carvings. A library was also available to the passengers .
The British naval historian and photographer Basil Greenhill (1920–2003) described the interior of the Lucania and Campania in his work Advent of Steam: Merchant Steamship Before 1900 as a perfection of Victorian style, which could not be surpassed in later ships.
Literature / sources
- 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).
- Mark D. Warren: The Cunard Royal Mail Twin-Screw Steamers Campania and Lucania. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1991.
- Denis Griffiths: Power of the Great Liners. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1990.
- Cunard Steamship Co Ltd .: The Cunard Passenger Log Book (Campania & Lucania). 1894.
Web links
- The Lucania in the Clydebuilt Ships Database (with photo )
- Detailed description of the ship (almost at the bottom)
- Excerpt from the history of the ship (English)