White Star Line

Cunard’s chief British rival was the White Star Line.  White Star, formally the Oceanic Steamship Navigation Company, was founded some thirty years after Cunard by Thomas Ismay.  White Star pioneered the construction of larger and better ships and though a smaller line than Cunard, managed to keep pace in terms of tonnage and passenger popularity.  As Cunard built the fastest ships and then later lost the honor to the Germans, White Star sought to build the most comfortable and well-appointed vessels.  Indeed it was a White Star ship, Teutonic, that captured the Kasier’s attention at Spithead.  In the late 1890s White Star competed with Cunard, and the upstart Germans for size.  One of White Star's finest liners was built while it was still an independent company.  The liner Oceanic of 1899 was a record breaker- the first ship to exceed 700 feet in length.  She was larger than the German record breaker Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, then the world’s fastest ship.  Externally, Oceanic was a cross between the old and the new.  She had three masts to balance her profile and remind nostalgic travelers of age of sail.  She also had a graceful, but knife-like (then an ideal!) prow and rounded stern and two funnels.  The ship exuded reliability and comfort.  Steerage and Third Class passengers had more spacious accommodations than in other vessels of the day and, unlike “rolling Billy” and the fastest ships, Oceanic promised a stable ride. 

Oceanic's balanced profile.  1:1200 Scale model produced by Carlo Marquardt.

            

Her First Class accommodations were exquisite for the day.  Passengers dined beneath a twenty-one foot dome and oversized portholes flooding the space with natural light.   She had one of the finest libraries at sea and her public rooms featured the finest woods from the Empire.  The ship proved very popular from her debut and gained a loyal following among frequent travellers.  Her career ended rather abruptly when she ran aground while in Admiralty service in 1914.

Oceanic and her subsequent fleet mates of 1901-1907 Celtic, Cedric, Baltic, and Adriatic were each an improvement on a design for a large and comfortable vessel.  The capital available to White Star from J.P. Morgan's combine, IMM (International Mercantile Marine) from 1902 onward enabled director J. Bruce Ismay to push the envelope with ship design and comfort at sea.  To me, one can look at Oceanic and see how the basic shape of the Olympic class liners evolved from this design.  Just like Oceanic, the Olympic in many ways looked as much to the past as to the future.

R.M.S. Oceanic (1899-1914).  Built by Harland & Wolff, Ltd. Belfast, Ireland.  17,272 gross tons, 704 feet long, 63 feet wide.  Steam triple expansion engines geared to twin screw. Service speed 19 knots. Total capacity of 1,710 passengers (410 first class, 300 second class, 1,000 steerage).