143-405: Superliner may refer to: Superliner (passenger ship) , an ocean liner of more than 20,000 gross tons Superliner (railcar) , a double-decker passenger car used by Amtrak Mack Super-Liner , a heavy-duty truck manufactured by Mack Trucks Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
286-551: A bulbous bow to reduce drag and thereby increase speed, range, and fuel efficiency . While of a design similar to that of Queen Elizabeth 2 , Queen Mary 2' s funnel has a slightly different shape, because a taller funnel would have made it impossible for the ship to pass under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York City at high tide. The final design permits a minimum of 13 feet (4.0 m) of clearance under
429-800: 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 ,
572-510: 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
715-509: 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
858-576: A casino, a ballroom, a theatre, and the first planetarium at sea. Queen Mary 2 is the flagship of Cunard Line. She was constructed to replace the ageing Queen Elizabeth 2 , which was the Cunard flagship from 1969 to 2004 and the last major ocean liner built before Queen Mary 2 . Queen Mary 2 had the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) prefix conferred on her by the Royal Mail when she entered service in 2004, as
1001-460: A celebratory fireworks display; Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Victoria made a tandem crossing of the Atlantic for the meeting. This marked the first time three Cunard Queens have been present in the same location. Cunard stated this would be the last time these three ships would ever meet, due to Queen Elizabeth 2' s impending retirement from service in late 2008. However this would prove not to be
1144-710: A combined 67,200 kW (90,100 hp ) at 514 rpm, and two General Electric LM2500 + gas turbines , provide a further 50,000 kW (67,000 hp); these drive electric generators , which in turn provide the power to drive four 21,500 kW (28,800 hp) Alstom electrical motors located inside the podded propulsors (and thus entirely outside the vessel's hull). Such an arrangement, known as integrated electric propulsion (IEP), provides for economical cruising at low speed combined with an ability to sustain much higher speeds when required, and has been common in naval vessels for several decades. The Queen Mary 2' s gas turbines are not housed along with her diesels in
1287-530: 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,
1430-496: 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
1573-503: 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
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#17328443262771716-466: A cruise to South America. Upon departure from Fort Lauderdale, one of her propeller pods was damaged when it struck a channel wall, forcing the ship to sail at a reduced speed, which resulted in Commodore Warwick's decision to skip several calls on its voyage to Rio de Janeiro . Many of her passengers threatened to stage a sit-in protest because of the missed calls, before Cunard offered to refund
1859-442: A day there, she headed first upriver into the harbor, using her bow thrusters and swivel-pod motors to negotiate the tight turnaround to come back down close to the cityfront. A 21-gun salute and bagpipe band honored the ship. From Halifax, the ship sailed to Boston and was there for a full day at the cruise terminal (Boston was the terminus of the original crossing in 1840). In the evening the ship backed out into Boston Harbor , where
2002-526: 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
2145-445: 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,
2288-644: A fireworks display was presented before Queen Mary 2 sailed away. After a night and day at sea, the vessel entered New York Harbor early the morning of 14 July and docked at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. Later in the evening the vessel sailed to the lower harbor, between the Statue of Liberty and the Battery, for the Forever Cunard Queen Mary 2 Light Show. When COVID-19 started to spread around in
2431-536: A first ever circumnavigation of Australia, to Japan, then back to Southampton along the south coastline of Eurasia and through the Suez Canal. Three years after the first Cunard Royal Rendezvous on the same date, Queen Mary 2 met up with Queen Victoria and the then brand-new MS Queen Elizabeth for another Royal Rendezvous in New York City on 13 January 2011. Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth made
2574-458: 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
2717-474: A gesture to Cunard's history. Queen Mary 2 is not a steamship like many of her predecessors, but is powered primarily by four diesel engines , with two additional gas turbines providing extra power when required; this integrated electric propulsion configuration is used to produce the power to drive her four electric propulsion pods as well as the ship's hotel services. The spaces for these prime movers are also split, and controls are also backed up, with
2860-581: A glass case, aft of the Chart Room lounge. On 10 January 2007, Queen Mary 2 started her first world cruise, circumnavigating the globe in 81 days. On 20 February, she met her fleet-mate, Queen Elizabeth 2 , also on her 2007 world cruise, in Sydney harbour. This is the first time two Cunard Queens had been together in Sydney since the original Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth served as troop ships in 1941. Despite
3003-467: A greater passenger capacity. As is the case with many modern passenger ships, many of the major public rooms on board Queen Mary 2 are on the lowest public decks of the ship, with the passenger cabins stacked above. Deck 2, the lowest passenger deck, contains the Illuminations theatre, cinema and planetarium (the first at sea); Royal Court Theatre; Grand Lobby; "Empire Casino"; "Golden Lion Pub"; and
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#17328443262773146-425: 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
3289-595: A locked steamer trunk, the first United States copy of J. K. Rowling 's book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince , autographed by the author. In a promotional press release for the event, Cunard said that this marked the first time a book had been transported to its international launch on an ocean liner. The signed copy was given to the West Asheville Library, located in the city of Asheville, North Carolina . In January 2006 Queen Mary 2 embarked on
3432-542: A maximum speed of just over 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) and a cruising speed of 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph), which is faster than a contemporary cruise ship. Instead of the common diesel-electric configuration, Queen Mary 2 uses integrated electric propulsion to achieve her top speed. Diesel engines, augmented by gas turbines , are used to generate electricity for electric motors for propulsion and for on-board use. Queen Mary 2 ' s facilities include fifteen restaurants and bars, five swimming pools,
3575-566: 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
3718-634: 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
3861-441: A replacement satellite phone , drogue anchor and groceries. Queen Mary 2 changed her course by 20 degrees and only added 14 nautical miles (26 km) to the overall distance of the crossing. On 6 July 2013 Queen Mary 2 departed New York en route to Southampton on her 200th transatlantic voyage. On board speakers were Stephen Payne OBE —the ship's designer—and presenter and newsreader Nick Owen , who presented talks about
4004-483: A replica of the first American combat submarine within 200 feet (61 m) of Queen Mary 2 , which was docked at the cruise ship terminal in Red Hook, Brooklyn . The replica was created by New York artist Philip "Duke" Riley and two out-of-town residents, one of whom claimed to be a descendant of David Bushnell , who had invented it. The Coast Guard issued Riley a citation for having an unsafe vessel, and for violating
4147-529: 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
4290-505: 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
4433-516: 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
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4576-501: A steamship was capable of crossing the ocean, the public was not yet prepared to trust such means of travel on the open sea, and, in 1820, the steam engine was removed from the vessel. Work on this technology continued and a new step was taken in 1833. Royal William managed to cross the Atlantic by using steam power on most of the voyage; sail was used only when the boilers were cleaned. There were still many skeptics, and in 1836, scientific writer Dionysius Lardner declared that: As
4719-511: A strong connection between Boston and the Cunard Line. It is believed that the cup was presented to Sir Samuel Cunard sometime in 1840, but for much of its life it was missing. It was discovered in an antique shop in 1967 and returned to Cunard, where it was placed aboard Queen Elizabeth 2 . In 2004, when Queen Mary 2 became the flagship, the Boston Cup was placed aboard Queen Mary 2 . It is in
4862-399: A suite, and dine in the "Queens' Grill". Those in the two latter categories are grouped together by Cunard as "Grill Passengers", and they are permitted to use the "Queens' Grill Lounge" and a private outdoor area on deck 11 with its own whirlpool. This feature is also present on both Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth . However, all other public areas can be used by all passengers. As
5005-467: 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
5148-502: A tandem crossing of the Atlantic for the event. All three ships met in front of the statue of Liberty at 6:45 pm for Grucci fireworks. The Empire State Building was lit up in red to mark the event. On 5 June 2012, the three met again, but this time in Southampton to celebrate the Diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II . Queen Mary 2 has rendezvoused with ocean rowing teams in
5291-452: 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
5434-399: Is 1,100,000 litres (290,000 US gal) per day with a capacity of 1,890,000 litres (500,000 US gal) so that there is ample spare capacity. The ship could easily be supplied by only two of the three plants. Potable water tanks have a capacity of 3,830,000 litres (1,010,000 US gal), enough for more than three days of supply. If the engines are running on low load (when
5577-539: Is a post-Panamax ship, too wide to use the Panama Canal before its expansion in 2016. As a result, she had to circumnavigate South America to transit between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The decision not to constrain her width to transit the Panama Canal was taken as Queen Elizabeth 2 only transited once a year, during the world cruise. Cunard decided to pass up the convenience of the occasional passage in favour of
5720-429: Is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships ). The Queen Mary 2 is the only ocean liner still in service to this day. The category does not include ferries or other vessels engaged in short-sea trading, nor dedicated cruise ships where
5863-492: Is fixed, but the aft pair can swivel through 360°, removing the need for a rudder . Queen Mary 2 is the first quadruple-propeller passenger ship completed since the SS France in 1961. Queen Mary 2 carries eight spare blades on the foredeck, immediately forward of the bridge screen. In addition to the primary thrusters, the ship is also fitted with three bow thrusters , with a power output of 3.2 MW each. These allow
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6006-481: 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
6149-452: Is supplied primarily by steam and cooling water from the ship's gas turbines and diesel engines, or if needed by steam from the ship's two oil-fired boilers. The traditional multiple-effect distillation technology has been improved for the ship's plant, so that scaling of plates is reduced, vastly reducing maintenance required. The desalinated water has a very low salt content of less than five parts per million. Average total water production
6292-476: Is the son of William (Bil) Warwick, who had also been a senior Cunard officer and the first captain of Queen Elizabeth 2 . The ship returned to Southampton late from her maiden voyage after bow doors covering the thrusters failed to shut in Portugal. During the 2004 Summer Olympics Queen Mary 2 sailed to Athens and docked at Piraeus for two weeks for use as a floating hotel, serving the then Prime Minister of
6435-612: 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
6578-558: 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
6721-739: 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 . Queen Mary 2 RMS Queen Mary 2 ( QM2 ) is a British ocean liner . She has served as the flagship of the Cunard Line since January 2004, and as of 2024, is the only active, purpose-built ocean liner still in service. Queen Mary 2 sails regular transatlantic crossings between Southampton and New York City , in addition to short cruises and an annual world voyage. She
6864-529: 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
7007-511: 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
7150-534: 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
7293-564: The SS Normandie and SS France of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique . The QM2's keel was laid down on 4 July 2002, in the construction dock at Saint-Nazaire , France, with the hull number G32 . Approximately 3,000 craftsmen spent around eight million working hours on the ship, and around 20,000 people were directly or indirectly involved in her design, construction, and fitting out. In total, 300,000 pieces of steel were assembled into 94 "blocks" off
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#17328443262777436-565: 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
7579-511: The engine room deep in her hull, but instead are in a soundproofed enclosure directly beneath the funnel. This arrangement allows the turbines to be supplied with sufficient air without having to run large diameter air ducts the height of the ship, which would have wasted valuable interior space. The propulsors are Rolls-Royce Mermaid azimuth thruster type podded propulsion units , each with one forward-facing low-vibration propeller with separately bolted blades. The forward pair of thrusters
7722-585: 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
7865-562: The undefaced Red Ensign rather than the Bermuda Red Ensign. Carried aboard Queen Mary 2 is the Boston Cup. Sometimes referred to as The Britannia Cup , this artefact was created for Sir Samuel Cunard in Boston , United States, to commemorate the arrival of his first vessel RMS Britannia . Cunard had selected Boston as the American port for his Atlantic service, which resulted in
8008-663: The "Queen's Grill Lounge", and the "Queen's Grill" and "Princess Grill" restaurants for higher-fare passengers. The public rooms on Deck 8 include the à la carte "Verandah Restaurant" an 8,000-volume library (the largest of any cruise ship ), a book shop and the upper part of the Canyon Ranch Spa. Also on Deck 8 is a large outdoor pool and terrace at the stern. The kennels , located aft on starboard side of Deck 12, are available only for transatlantic crossings. They can accommodate up to twenty-two dogs (the kennels will also take cats) in small and large cages. The King's Court area on
8151-663: 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
8294-625: 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
8437-460: 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
8580-512: 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
8723-564: The Britannia Restaurant takes up the full width of the ship on two decks, a 'tween deck, called Deck 3L, was devised to allow passengers to walk from the Grand Lobby to the Queen's Room without traversing the dining room mid-meal. The deck consists of two corridors that run beneath the upper balcony of the restaurant on Deck 3, and above the main dining area on Deck 2. This is why the balcony of
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#17328443262778866-571: The Britannia has tiers that step up towards the hull. This arrangement is illustrated on the hull where there is a stack of three rows of windows in the area where the main restaurant sits, the two upper and lower most rows illuminate the dining room, while the centre row serves Deck 3L. There is a similar arrangement through the Royal Court Theatre. As well, the passages that run on either side of Illuminations on Deck 3 ramp upwards to compensate for
9009-471: 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
9152-502: The Canyon Ranch Spa Club, and on Deck 12. The Pavilion Pool on Deck 12 is covered with a retractable magrodome . In common with liners such as RMS Queen Mary , there is a continuous wrap-around promenade deck (Deck 7). This passes behind the bridge screen and allows passengers to circumnavigate the deck while protected from the winds; one circuit is 620 m (2,030 ft) long. The flanking promenades are created by
9295-504: The Chef's Galley, which offers an interactive experience to food preparation. The passengers' dining arrangements on board are dictated by the type of accommodation in which they choose to travel. Around 85% of passengers are in Britannia class, and, therefore, dine in the main restaurant. However, passengers can choose to upgrade to either a "junior suite", and dine in the "Princess Grill"', or
9438-633: 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
9581-584: The Mermaid pod propulsion systems fitted to Queen Mary 2 were inherently defective in design, and that Rolls-Royce knew about the design deficiencies and deliberately conspired to mislead, deceive and defraud in the course of winning the contract. In January 2011, the court awarded Carnival US$ 24 million (approximately UK£15 million at the time of verdict). Queen Mary 2 has a fully integrated bridge system designed by British firm Kelvin Hughes , which controls
9724-562: The Seas (a cruise ship ) in April 2006, but remains the largest ocean liner ever built. Queen Mary 2 was intended for regular crossings of the Atlantic Ocean; the final construction cost was approximately $ 300,000 per berth. The cost was increased by the high quality of materials; having been designed as an ocean liner, 40% more steel was required than for a standard cruise ship. Queen Mary 2 has
9867-745: The Seas , which has a service speed of 22.6 knots (41.9 km/h; 26.0 mph); Queen Mary 2 ' s normal service speed is 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph). While the hull of a cruise ship will typically have a block coefficient of 0.73 (1.0 would represent a rectangular block) Queen Mary 2 is more fine-lined, with a block coefficient of 0.61. Cunard completed a design for a new class of 84,000 GT , 2,000 passenger liners on 8 June 1998, but revised them upon comparing those specifications with Carnival Cruise Line 's 100,000 GT Destiny -class cruise ships and Royal Caribbean International 's 137,276 GT Voyager class . In December 1998, Cunard released details of Project Queen Mary ,
10010-576: 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
10153-417: The United Kingdom Tony Blair and his wife Cherie , French President Jacques Chirac , then United States President George W. Bush , and the United States Olympic men's basketball team. According to Cunard, Queen Mary 2' s passengers have also included jazz musician Dave Brubeck and singers Rod Stewart , Carly Simon , and James Taylor . One 2005 transatlantic crossing saw Queen Mary 2 carrying, in
10296-525: 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
10439-530: 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
10582-438: 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
10725-457: The bridge. As Queen Mary 2 is too large to dock in many ports, passengers are often ferried to and from the ship in tenders , which can also be used as lifeboats. These are stored at sea in davits alongside the lifeboats. To transport passengers ashore the tenders pull up to one of four loading stations, each of which has a large hull door that opens hydraulically to form a boarding platform, complete with railings and decking. Queen Mary 2
10868-438: 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
11011-595: The case, as the three Queens met in Southampton on 22 April 2008. Queen Mary 2 rendezvoused with Queen Elizabeth 2 in Dubai on Saturday 21 March 2009, after the latter ship's retirement, while both ships were berthed at Port Rashid . With the withdrawal of Queen Elizabeth 2 from Cunard's fleet and its docking in Dubai, Queen Mary 2 became the only ocean liner left in active passenger service. On 3 August 2007 three men were stopped by police while escorting and piloting
11154-494: The change in deck elevation between the entrance to Illuminations and an elevator bank forward of the room. More than 5,000 commissioned works of art are visible in Queen Mary 2' s public rooms, corridors, staterooms and lobbies, having been created by 128 artists from sixteen countries. Two of the most notable pieces are Barbara Broekman's tapestry , an abstract depiction of an ocean liner, bridge, and New York skyline which spans
11297-579: 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
11440-515: 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
11583-471: 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
11726-567: 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
11869-420: 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
12012-409: 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)
12155-417: 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
12298-422: The departure of Queen Mary 2 to Saint Peter Port , Guernsey . On 2 July 2015, Queen Mary 2 began a 175th Anniversary Crossing in Southampton. She sailed first to Liverpool, leaving that city after a fireworks display on 4 July, the actual anniversary date of Cunard's first transatlantic voyage. Queen Mary 2 followed the route of the original ship Britannia , calling first at Halifax, Nova Scotia. After
12441-443: The dry dock, which were then positioned and welded together to complete the hull and superstructure. After floating out on 21 March 2003, the Queen Mary 2 was fitted out in the large fitting out basin ("Bassin C"), the first ship to use this huge dry dock since the shipyard built large tankers in the 1970s, such as MV Gastor . Her sea trials were conducted during 25–29 September and 7–11 November 2003, between Saint-Nazaire and
12584-409: 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
12727-502: The early arrival time of 5:42 am, the Queen Mary 2' s presence attracted so many viewers that the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Anzac Bridge were blocked. With 1,600 passengers leaving the ships in Sydney, Cunard estimated the stopovers injected more than $ 3 million into the local economy. On 10 January 2012, the ship embarked on a three-month world cruise from Southampton, travelling south and then east around Africa,
12870-403: 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
13013-546: 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
13156-500: 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
13299-638: The full height of the Britannia Restaurant, and the British sculptor John McKenna's sheet bronze relief mural in the Grand Lobby, a seven square metre portrait of the ship fabricated in bronze inspired by the Art Deco mural in the main dining room of the original Queen Mary . The 10th Deck Pavillion features a glass ellipse sculpture by Tomasz Urbanowicz called "Blue Sun Setting in the Ocean". Queen Mary 2's power plant comprises four sixteen-cylinder Wärtsilä 16V46CR EnviroEngine marine diesel engines , generating
13442-500: The hull of the ship. Concentrated salt solution ( brine ) is discharged to the sea closer to the ship's stern together with cooling water from the engines. On 12 January 2004 Queen Mary 2 set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton , England, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida , in the United States, carrying 2,620 passengers. She was under the command of captain Ronald Warwick, who had previously commanded Queen Elizabeth 2 . Warwick
13585-453: The intention of preventing a single failure from disabling the ship. Like her predecessor Queen Elizabeth 2 she is built for crossing the Atlantic Ocean, and is also regularly used for cruising. In the winter season she cruises from New York to the Caribbean. Queen Mary 2' s 30-knot (56 km/h; 35 mph) open ocean speed sets the ship apart from cruise ships, such as MS Oasis of
13728-565: 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 :
13871-399: 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
14014-508: The liner was officially named by Queen Elizabeth II . In June 2016, Queen Mary 2 underwent a $ 132 million/£90 million renovation at Blohm+Voss over 25 days. Major changes include the addition of fifteen single-occupancy staterooms, thirty additional balcony staterooms, and ten more animal cages for an enlarged kennels. According to Blohm+Voss, the refit included the installation of exhaust gas scrubbers and filters to reduce emissions. Queen Mary 2' s principal naval architect
14157-521: 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
14300-420: The lower level of the "Britannia Restaurant". Deck 3 holds the upper levels of "Illuminations", the "Royal Court theatre" and the "Britannia Restaurant", as well as a small shopping arcade, "Veuve Cliquot champagne bar", the "Chart Room", "Sir Samuel's" wine bar, the "Queen's Room", and the "G32" Nightclub. The other main public deck is Deck 7, on which are the "Canyon Ranch Spa", "Carinthia Lounge", "King's Court",
14443-438: 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
14586-434: The middle of the Atlantic. On 30 July 2010 she met up with Artemis Investments , whose rowing crew were Don Lennox , Livar Nysted , Ray Carroll , Leven Brown . Carroll had been a former engineer and was patched through via marine VHF radio and Queen Mary 2's public address system to speak to the captain and crew. On 26 September 2013 Queen Mary 2 resupplied solo-rower Mylène Paquette and her vessel Hermel with
14729-402: The need to step the superstructure to allow space for lifeboats . By SOLAS standards, these should have been lower on the hull (15 m (49 ft) above the waterline), but for the sake of appearance as well as to avoid the danger of large waves damaging the boats, Payne convinced SOLAS officials to exempt Queen Mary 2 from this requirement, and the boats are 25 m (82 ft) above
14872-570: 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
15015-538: 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
15158-552: The offshore islands of Île d'Yeu and Belle-Île. The final stages of construction were marred by a fatal accident on 15 November 2003, when a gangway collapsed under a group of shipyard workers and their relatives who had been invited to visit the vessel. In total, 16 people were killed and another 32 people injured after a 15-metre (49 ft) fall into the drydock. Construction was completed on schedule. On 22 December 2003, Queen Mary 2 left Saint-Nazaire and arrived in Southampton, England, on 26 December 2003. On 8 January 2004,
15301-403: 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
15444-606: 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
15587-454: The original RMS Queen Mary , which is permanently docked at Long Beach, California . Escorted by a flotilla of smaller ships, the two Queens exchanged a "whistle salute" which was heard throughout the city of Long Beach. Queen Mary 2 met the other serving Cunard liners Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth 2 on 13 January 2008 near the Statue of Liberty in New York City harbour, with
15730-465: 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
15873-455: 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
16016-438: The project to develop a liner that would complement Queen Elizabeth 2 . Harland and Wolff of Northern Ireland , Aker Kværner of Norway, Fincantieri of Italy, Meyer Werft of Germany, and Chantiers de l'Atlantique of France were invited to bid on the project. The contract was finally signed with Chantiers de l'Atlantique, a subsidiary of Alstom , on 6 November 2000. This was the same yard that built Cunard's former rivals,
16159-485: The reinstallation of the repaired propeller pod. At the same time, sprinkler systems were installed in all of the vessel's balconies to comply with new safety regulations which had come into effect since the MS Star Princess fire. Additionally, both bridge wings were extended by two metres to improve visibility. After completing the journey around South America, on 23 February 2006, Queen Mary 2 met her namesake,
16302-527: 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
16445-503: The security zone around Queen Mary 2 . On 19 October 2011, Queen Mary 2 had her registry changed to Hamilton, Bermuda , from her previous home port of Southampton, to allow the ship to host on-board weddings. This marked the first time in its 171-year history that Cunard has not had a ship registered within the UK. Bermuda is a member of the Red Ensign Group and the ship continues to fly
16588-524: The ship is open twenty four hours a day, serving as a buffet restaurant for breakfast and lunch. The overall space is divided into quarters, with each section decorated according to the theme of the four separate alternate dining venues that are "created" each evening through lighting, tableware, and menus: Lotus, which specialises in Asian cuisine ; the Carvery, a British style grille; La Piazza, with Italian food ; and
16731-406: The ship is running at a slow speed) the engine jacket cooling water temperature is insufficient to heat the seawater to run the desalination plants. In that case steam from oil-fired boilers is used to heat the sea water. This is uneconomical as generating steam is expensive. It may be cheaper, therefore, to buy water in a particular port than to produce it on board. The seawater intakes are located in
16874-413: The ship to turn in its own length while in port, to conduct more complex docking manoeuvres. The propulsor pods fitted to Queen Mary 2 have been prone to failure, attributed to the motors' thrust bearings, which continued to show a tendency to fail even after numerous attempts at redesign. In January 2009, Carnival, through its Cunard division, sued Rolls-Royce in the United States. The line alleged that
17017-504: The ship's design. On 25 May 2015, all three Queens met, once again, at Liverpool , in order to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the shipping line. After arriving at Liverpool the previous day, Queen Mary 2 made a brief excursion to the entrance of the River Mersey to welcome her two fleetmates into port in the early afternoon. The three Cunarders then sailed, in formation, towards Liverpool. The ships spent several hours together, before
17160-536: The ship's navigation systems, radar, dynamic positioning system, and engine monitoring system. Kelvin Hughes supplied many of the ship's components, including the Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) and eight multifunction display units. Fresh water aboard Queen Mary 2 is supplied by three Alfa Laval multiple effect plate (MEP) evaporators, each with a capacity of 630,000 litres (170,000 US gal) per day. The plants' energy
17303-427: 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
17446-612: 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
17589-556: The superstructure, which are to recall the appearance of the crossovers of the forward decks on the first Queen Mary . Queen Mary 2 has 14,164 square metres (152,460 sq ft) of exterior deck space, with wind screens to shield passengers in rough seas. The ship was originally constructed with five swimming pools. However, the shallow "Splash Pool" on Deck 13 was removed during the ship's 2016 refurbishment to make room for additional staterooms. Two of her remaining four swimming pools are outdoors. There are indoor pools on Deck 7, in
17732-463: 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
17875-482: The title Superliner . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Superliner&oldid=1257653176 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Superliner (passenger ship) An ocean liner
18018-401: 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
18161-554: The voyage costs. Queen Mary 2 continued to operate at a reduced service speed and several itinerary changes were necessary until repairs had been completed after the ship returned to Europe in June, where Queen Mary 2 paid a went into drydock and the damaged propeller pod was unseated. In November, Queen Mary 2 was drydocked once more at the Blohm+Voss yard in Hamburg (drydock Elbe 17 ) for
18304-488: The voyage itself, and not transportation, is the primary purpose of the trip. Nor does it include tramp steamers , even those equipped to handle limited numbers of passengers. Some shipping companies refer to themselves as "lines" and their container ships , which often operate over set routes according to established schedules, as "liners". Though ocean liners share certain similarities with cruise ships, they must be able to travel between continents from point A to point B on
18447-443: The waterline. Payne's original intention was for a stern profile with a spoon shape, similar to most previous liners, but the mounting of the propeller pods required a flat transom . The compromise was a Costanzi stern – a combination of the two, which provides the transom required for azimuthal pod propulsors and has better seaholding characteristics in a following swell. In common with many modern ships, Queen Mary 2 has
18590-640: The world in 2020, Queen Mary 2 was in the midst of a world cruise. In early February, Cunard cancelled the Asian leg of the voyage, and the vessel stopped in Singapore only to refuel and sailed to Australia. On 15 March, Cunard cancelled the remainder of the voyage, disembarked all passengers at Fremantle , and then the ship returned to Southampton. It stopped briefly on 2 April in Durban to disembark six South African crew members before continuing to its home port. Due to
18733-403: Was Carnival 's in-house designer, Stephen Payne . He intended many aspects of the ship's design to resemble notable aspects of former ocean liners, such as the ship's predecessor Queen Elizabeth 2 and her predecessors Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth . These include the three thick black lines known as " hands " that wrap around either edge of the ship's bridge screen, and at the stern end of
18876-664: 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
19019-435: 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
19162-545: 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
19305-505: Was designed by a team of British naval architects led by Stephen Payne , and was constructed in France by Chantiers de l'Atlantique . At the time of her construction, Queen Mary 2 was the longest , at 1,131.99 ft (345.03 m), and largest , with a gross tonnage of 148,528 GT , passenger ship ever built. She no longer holds these records after the construction of Royal Caribbean International 's 154,407 GT Freedom of
19448-402: 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
19591-541: 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
19734-658: 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:
19877-600: 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
20020-596: 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
20163-605: 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
20306-400: 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
20449-658: 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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