RMS Homeric

In 1913 HAPAG completed liners of enormous size (Imperator, Vaterland, Bismarck) to compete with Cunard and White Star, North German Lloyd began to complete modern vessels, not as fast or as large, but economical to run and designed to be very luxurious and the most stable at sea. NDL would offer the most comfortable crossings. Two ships were laid down in Danzig, the Columbus  and Hindenberg.  Construction was well advanced but halted because of the war.  Both vessels remained in the yards for the duration of the war. 

 The launching of Columbus (Norddeutscher Lloyd) at Schichau shipyard, Danzig.  December 17, 1913.
Photographer unknown, Weltrundschau zu Reclams Universum 1913.

At war’s end, the Columbus was nearer completion than her sister and was seized by the allies as reparations (with many other German vessels).  The completed vessel was handed over to White Star Line in 1922 and renamed Homeric.  The new owners made many alterations to the vessel and make her appeal more to British tastes.  She was one of the most “plush” vessels of her day and the largest ship built in the world with twin screws (in an era when all of the express liners had three or four).

First class gallery (long corridor).

Homeric made her maiden voyage in February, 1924. She was one of White Star’s “Big Three” of the 1920s alongside Olympic and Majestic. She was a fitting match for her fleet mates in terms of luxury, but not speed.  Her 18 knot service speed (increased to 19 with oil conversion in 1923) rendered her unable to keep pace with the faster vessels. 

Diorama scene. 1:1250  Homeric model by Carlo Marquart (CM) and 1:1200 Aquitania model and harbor accessories by Tri-ang Minic.

However, travelers appreciated the stability of the vessel and she quickly gained a following. The stability was due to fine hull design and able seamanship of the crew.  There were no anti-roll tanks, gyro-stabilizers, or anything of the kind.

White Star Line postcard, ca. 1924.

Yet, White Star could not maintain a reliable weekly schedule with such a slow vessel.  In 1930, she was replaced on the transatlantic route by Britannic and Georgic, smaller vessels with faster service speeds.  Homeric became White Star’s full-time cruise ship.

 

Homeric in port.  Note the cargo booms alongside the foremast.

Unfortunately, she was one of the hardest hit by the Depression.  When Cunard and White Star merged in May 1934, Homeric continued with cruise services.  Laid up in September 1935, had sold for scrap in February, 1936.

Homeric  and Aquitania quayside.  Aquitania is raising steam for departure.

Meanwhile, the Hindenberg remained with her German owners.  Work progressed slowly and the completed ship was re-named Columbus in 1924.  Her machinery was reconfigured to steam turbines, rather than reciprocating engines as installed in the former sister ship.  In 1929 her funnels were redesigned to match those of Bremen and Europa.  She was converted to oil fuel as well (rather late compared to other liners of the day which were converted earlier in the decade).  She re-entered service in 1930 and made an around the world cruise. She was intercepted by a British cruiser in December, 1939 and scuttled by her crew to avoid capture. 

RMS Homeric (ex-Columbus) built by Schichau Shipyards, Danzig, Germany, 1913-1922.  Sailed for White Star Line, 1922-1935.  34,351 GRT, 774 feet long, 82 feet wide.  Steam triple-expansion engines geared to twin screw.  Service speed 19 knots.  2,766 total passengers (529 first class, 487 second class, 1,750 third class).  Later changed to a total of 1,678 passengers in the 1930s, most of them in second, now “cabin” class.

The Little Ship That Could

Ocean liners were only one of the many vessels steamship companies owned and operated.  Cunard, White Star, HAPAG, and the others managed a fleet of cargo vessels, cargo-liners, tankers, colliers, cattle haulers, and passenger tenders.  SS Magnetic entered service in 1891 as White Star Line’s passenger tender in Liverpool. Some passengers, primarily those in first and second class passengers boarded from the Landing Stage, closest to the hotels and railroad stations.  However, many passengers, baggage, and mail, arrived by tenders.

Magnetic served many of the line’s great liners including Oceanic (1899) pictured here. 

In 1903 she was tender to RMS Baltic exclusively, as the Baltic was for a time, the largest ship to call Liverpool home.  In addition to tending passengers and baggage for White Star liners, Magnetic sailed as Mersey excursion boat, a tugboat, and as a water carrier.  She was a versatile vessel.

SS Magnetic and RMS Baltic

Magnetic was in service with White Star until 1932 when she was sold to Alexandria Towing Company and renamed SS Ryde.  She continued working as a tender and excursion boat until 1935 when she was scrapped.

White Star had several tenders operating in ports where large ships could not dock.  For example, at Cherbourg, France, the liners were served by Nomadic(preserved today) and Traffic.

SS Magnetic (1891-1932, as SS Ryde 1932-1935) built by Harland and Wolff, Ltd.,  Belfast, Ireland for White Star Line.  619 GRT, 170 feet long, 32 feet wide.  Service speed 13.5 knots.

Campania: Cunard Line's First True Steamship

The Campania was Cunard’s first true steamship and one of the first liners with no handy means to be rigged for sail.  Following the HAPAGs’ Augusta Victoria (1889), Cunard competed for passengers and speed records with a twin-screw liner.  When Campania departed for her maiden voyage in 1893, the Blue Ribband was in the hands of the Inman Line’s City of Paris (1889), an elegant twin-screw liner that looked both to the past and the future.  Her hull was clipper shaped and she carried masts that could be rigged for sail.  Inside, her machinery was state of the art- with immensely powerful engines and dynamos for electricity.  Inman built the most luxurious interiors for the City-class liners and featured a tremendously popular froward dining saloon capped with an ornate skylight.  Cunard had stiff competition from Inman, White Star (Teutonic and Majestic) and HAPAG.

RMS Etruria (1884) with sails set.  Photographer and date unknown.

Cunard’s 1880s vessels were blend of past and future.  The crack shops, Umbra (1884) and Etruria (1884), had steel hulls, electricity, and two towering funnels. Yet, the ships masts had yards for sail and the engine, though powerful, ran a single propellor.  Single-screw ships suffered badly from propellor failures, as the were literally dead in the water until sails picked up wind or the vessel was towed.  Twin-screw vessels, of course, avoided these embarrassing problems and were proven superior in speed and reliability. 

RMS Campania, a true steamship.  1:1250 model by Navis. 

Campania and her sister ship Lucania introduced the most innovative features to Cunard ships and reflected the rapid advances in naval technology.  The builders, Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, were at the forefront of ship design and the engineers accumulated two generations of steamship know-how.  With Cunard’s naval architects, they turned out outstanding vessels with impressive statistics.  The ships were nearly 13,000 tons and over 600 feet long.  They were the largest vessels of the day.  The engines generated 30,000 ihp and required 13 boilers with 100 furnaces.  To reach speeds of 22 knots, 20 tons of coal were needed for each boiler every hour.

One of the triple-expansion engines of RMS Campania and RMS  Lucania.

The exterior design featured a simple, balanced design of two masts and two funnels.  With sails no longer needed, steamship masts supported cargo booms, positions for lookouts, kept wireless ariels aloft, and hoisted signal flags.  Rather than a series of deckhouses, low to the boat deck as in the earlier liners, Campania and Lucania had true superstructures and tiered decks.  The forward superstructure was gracefully curved, a hint at future designs.  The bridge, properly forward, supported a pilot house five decks above the waterline.  At this height, the helmsmen could see over bow.  In 1901 Lucania was the first vessel equipped with wireless telegraphy and maintained constant contact with shore stations.  Similar radio equipment was later installed in Campania and the rest of the Cunard fleet.

Campania and Lucania had balanced profile of two masts and two funnels.

Campania’s interiors marked the apex of Victorian styling in ocean liners.  The ship had an elegant and unified design the presaged Art Nouveaux.  The first class spaces had walls of oak or mahogany and plush carpets.  Velvet curtains covered portholes and windows in the upper deck public rooms.  These were the first liners to include single cabins in first class, a separate children’s dining saloon and working fireplaces in the lounge and smoking room.  The first class dining saloon stretched nearly the full width of the ship and was crowned by a domed skylight.  This was the most splendid room on both vessels.

Campania in the Mersey, ca. 1900. 

Reproduction number: LC-DIG-ppmsc-09098 from Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Campania won the Blue Ribband (westbound record) from Inman Line’s City of Paris in June 1893. This was the first time the record was achieved with speeds in excess of 21 knots. She also made a record eastbound passage with a run from Sandy Hook to Queenstown (Cobh) in 5 days, 17 hours, and 27 minutes at an average speed of 21.09 knots.  In 1894, Lucania took the Blue Ribband from her sister and beat Campania’s eastbound record by 9 hours.  Over time, Lucania proved to be the faster vessel.

Neither vessel sailed long and competition on the Atlantic rendered them antiquated.  They were taken off the premier run from Liverpool to New York in 1907 when Lusitania and Mauretania entered service.  Many of the smaller “intermediaries” of the early twentieth century were technologically superior as well with more comfortable passenger accommodations and much more cargo space than the older vessels (or the new super liners for that matter).  In 1909 the Lucania was severely damaged by a fire in Liverpool.  Rather than restore the vessel Cunard sold her for scrap.  The engines remained functional and she sailed under her own power to the breakers in Swansea. 

Diorama of Campania in harbor.  Accessories by Tri-ang Minic.

Campania continued on the secondary runs longer than her sister.  When war erupted in 1914, she returned to the New York run briefly, but proved too old and slow to safely make passages under war clouds.  After 250 voyages, she was retired from service.  While destined for the scrapyard, the Royal Navy purchased Campania and converted her into a seaplane carrier.  Her conversion consisted of installation of massive booms to assist hauling planes, a flight deck, and the forward funnel was divided in two small, thin pipes.  Painted in a dazzle scheme, HMS Campania, she served virtually the entire war.   On November 5, 1918, her mooring broke in a storm and she collided with the battleship HMS Royal Oak in the Firth of Forth.  The damage was severe and she slowly sank by the stern.  The half-submerged remains were a hazard to shipping and were cut down on the spot.

RMS Campania (1893-1914, as HMS Campania, 1914-1918).  Built for Cunard Line by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company; Govan, Scotland.  12,950GRT, 622 feet long, 65 feet wide.  Steam triple expansion engines, twin screw.  Service speed 22 knots.  2,000 total passengers (600 first class, 400 second class, 1000 third class).