Tag: World War I

RMS Mauretania: Queen of the Atlantic

Every ship has a soul, but the Mauretania had one you could talk to. Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

In 1935, President Roosevelt donated his own large-scale model of the RMS Mauretania to the Smithsonian Institution, where it remains part of the maritime collection. And now another one of Max’s love letters to these wonderful ships.

Her sister was Lusitania; the minute she sank, she became a legend. After her sister sank, Mauretania just kept working and working. There is a parallel to the RMS Olympic, which became a runner-up to her sister, Titanic. Both the Olympic and Mauretania were great ships and worked for decades, unlike their more famous sisters. The ship’s interior is incredible. There are many pictures of this one because she sailed into the 1930s after being launched in 1906. The Edwardian period had great tastes in decor.

The RMS Mauretania was the fastest passenger liner in her era, bar none. She and her sister, RMS Lusitania, would swap out as the fastest ships, but Mauretania would take the record, as we will see. She was built for the Cunard Line during a time when ocean liners were becoming symbols of national pride. Launched in 1906 and entering service in 1907, she was designed to compete with the great German liners that were dominating the Atlantic. Along with her sister ship, she represented the latest in shipbuilding technology. She was powered by steam turbines, an innovation at the time, and quickly proved herself to be one of the fastest ships in the world.

After Cunard came out with Lusitania and Mauretania, White Star Line came out with Olympic, Titanic, and Britannic. The Cunard Line and White Star were something like the Apple and Microsoft of North Atlantic travel. They were enormous rivals, and every new ship was measured against what the other company had built. Beautiful ships came out of this competition.

Not long after entering service, Mauretania captured the Blue Riband (unofficial accolade given to the passenger ocean liner that achieved the fastest average speed on a regular crossing of the North Atlantic) for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic. She held the record for more than twenty years! That is an achievement that has never been matched. Passengers were impressed not only by her speed but also by her comfort. Her interiors featured grand public rooms, elegant dining areas, and luxurious accommodations. For many travelers, sailing on Mauretania was just as much about the experience as it was about reaching New York. At the time, she was just as famous as her sister.

When World War I began, Mauretania’s career changed dramatically. Like many large liners, she was called into government service. She served as a troopship and later as a hospital ship. During the Gallipoli campaign and other military operations, she transported thousands of soldiers and wounded personnel. Mauretania survived the war and returned to civilian service.

After the war, Mauretania returned to carrying passengers across the Atlantic and remained popular with travelers. In 1927, she carried Leonard and Phil Chess, two Polish immigrant boys who later built Chess Records. Four years later, Charlie Chaplin sailed aboard her alongside Malcolm Campbell, who had just set a new land-speed record in his Blue Bird automobile. When Mauretania reached Southampton, Campbell learned that King George V had approved his knighthood.

In June 1922, the Marx Brothers crossed the Atlantic aboard the Mauretania on their way to their first British tour. Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo were aboard, years before Hollywood made them household names. They returned to New York aboard White Star’s Cedric the following month.

However, newer ships were beginning to appear. Vessels such as the German Bremen and Europa were faster and more modern. By the early 1930s, Mauretania was showing her age. Although still admired, she could no longer compete with the newer generation of liners entering service.

In 1935, after nearly three decades on the Atlantic, Mauretania was retired and sold for scrap. Many people were saddened by the news. Crowds gathered to see her one last time as she made her final voyage. Today, she is remembered as one of the greatest ocean liners ever built. She combined speed, reliability, and elegance in a way few ships ever have. For many maritime historians, the Mauretania represents the high point of the great Edwardian liners and a time when crossing the Atlantic by ship was an adventure in itself.

Among the small group aboard for Mauretania’s final voyage was an unnamed couple who reportedly had spent their honeymoon on her maiden voyage in 1907. Nearly 28 years later, they returned to say goodbye to the ship that had helped begin their married life.

Olympic was the reliable old friend.

Mauretania was the reliable old friend who raced you home.

A very sad picture. The two were fierce rivals for 24 years, Olympic and Mauretania, heading toward the scrapyard. Olympic is on the left and Mauretania on the right. I’ve come to hate this picture because they should be hotels/museums today, not scrapped and lost to history.

RMS Olympic: Old Reliable

If I could snap my fingers and have any ship alive and well today? The RMS Olympic would be it! There was a reason my first real post was The Three Sisters. The ship survived and served passengers and the WWI effort for 24 years.

Before the Titanic’s maiden voyage, it was actually the RMS Olympic that was White Star Line’s best-known and most celebrated liner. She had already established her reputation with passengers and the public. Only after the Titanic disaster did history forever shift the spotlight to her younger sister. While Titanic became the legend, Olympic became the ship that proved the design could succeed.

I’ve grown to love this ship even more than her almost twin younger sister, Titanic. Olympic never sank. She survived World War I and returned to passenger service afterward, sailing for nearly twenty-four years. In many ways, she became everything the Olympic-class ships were meant to be. She carried thousands of American and Canadian troops during the war and quietly earned the nickname “Old Reliable.” The press had called Titanic “unsinkable,” but Olympic was the ship that truly lived up to that reputation.

She didn’t become famous because she sank. She became famous because she didn’t. To me, she is the most beautiful ocean liner ever built. She isn’t flashy. She is simply regal and timeless. Others like the Normandie and the SS United States were beautiful, but Olympic’s outward appearance was hard to beat.

The White Star Line built the RMS Olympic because they were locked in a battle with the Cunard Line in the early 1900s. Cunard had shocked the shipping world with the fast and luxurious RMS Lusitania and RMS Mauretania. Those ships held the speed records of the Atlantic and became symbols of British pride. White Star knew they could not win by building the fastest ships. They would create huge liners built around comfort, size, and luxury instead of outright speed. That idea became the Olympic-class ships, Olympic, Titanic, and later Britannic.

When Olympic entered service in 1911, people were stunned by her size. She had grand staircases, elevators, electric lights, Turkish baths, a swimming pool, a gymnasium, and first-class rooms that looked more like expensive hotels. Even second-class accommodations were considered better than first-class on many older ships. White Star advertised her as a steady and comfortable ship for wealthy travelers and immigrants alike. She was not designed to break speed records. She was designed to make passengers feel safe and relaxed crossing the Atlantic. That was her selling point. While Lusitania and Mauretania were faster, they were also known for rolling in rough seas. Olympic was built for comfort, and passengers appreciated the smoother ride. She had quite a few captains in her career. Captain Edward John Smith was the first captain and later would go to captain the Titanic.

After the loss of the RMS Titanic in 1912, Olympic suddenly carried a heavy burden. Many people feared that the Olympic-class ships were cursed or unsafe. But Olympic slowly rebuilt public confidence. She returned to service with major safety improvements, including more lifeboats and a strengthened double hull. She then became a war hero. Olympic was converted into a troopship during World War I. If you’d like to learn how passenger liners were transformed for military service, see our companion page: From Luxury to War: How Ocean Liners Became Troopships.

During World War I, she served as a troopship and carried thousands of soldiers across dangerous waters. In 1914, she spotted HMS Audacious, a battleship that was sinking. She stopped and risked being hit by a U-boat to rescue over 200 sailors. For a more complete story, go to the companion page. She even rammed and sank a German U-boat in 1918, something almost unheard of for a passenger liner. A reconstructed animation of this event is at the bottom of the page. She was also dressed up in her Dazzle Paint (She looked like a sixties rock band logo).

She kept sailing while many famous ships disappeared through war, accidents, or financial trouble. Passengers trusted her. Crews respected her. She crossed the Atlantic hundreds of times and carried everyone from immigrants to celebrities. In many ways, Olympic became the ship White Star had hoped for from the beginning: dependable, elegant, and respected. She even became something of a movie star, appearing in several films that can still be seen today. Among her passengers were Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Prince Edward, Cary Grant, Marie Curie, and many others. The Olympic ended up completing 257 round trips across the Atlantic (not counting the war) and traveled over 1.8 million miles.

On November 18, 1929, while crossing the North Atlantic near the resting place of her sister, the Titanic, Olympic experienced an unusual vibration that ran through the entire ship. At the time, no one knew why. The answer came later: she had been near one of the largest undersea earthquakes ever recorded in the North Atlantic. It was a strange coincidence that forever linked the two sisters once again, not through tragedy this time, but through one of nature’s most powerful events.

Among Olympic’s crew was stewardess Violet Jessop, who was aboard during the 1911 collision with HMS Hawke. She later survived the sinking of Titanic as a stewardess and Britannic as a wartime nurse. Depending on how you look at it, Jessop was either the unluckiest woman ever to work at sea, or the luckiest.

By the mid-1930s, Olympic was still a wonderful ship, but the world around her had changed. The Great Depression hurt the shipping business badly. Fewer people could afford ocean travel. Newer ships were also coming along that were faster and more modern. White Star Line was struggling for money and merged with Cunard in 1934. Olympic was already over 20 years old by then. Even though she was still running well, she cost a lot to operate and still had steam engines. In the end, the company decided to scrap her in 1935. It shocked many people because she had survived collisions, wartime service, bad storms, and decades at sea. To many, she still seemed full of life. Even in retirement, Olympic continued to serve. Her dismantling at Thomas W. Ward’s scrapyard in Jarrow provided nearly two years of employment during the depths of the Great Depression.

It’s easy to imagine what might have been. Had Olympic been preserved like the Queen Mary, millions of people could have walked her decks and experienced the closest thing to sailing on the Titanic. But forget the Titanic; it’s the friggin Olympic! But those were the years of the Great Depression, and preserving a ship wasn’t a realistic option. You cannot look at things like that with presentism. Even so, Olympic still lives on. Parts of her survive today! She is in the White Swan Hotel, where her beautiful wood paneling, windows, and fixtures continue to be admired. In a small way, the ship still welcomes guests and is not a museum piece. Parts of her are still working after over 100 years.

If I could travel back in time and sail on any ocean liner, Olympic would be my choice. Others were faster. Some were even more luxurious. But I would choose the ship that quietly did her job for nearly a quarter of a century and earned the nickname Old Reliable. I can’t think of a finer legacy than that.

Olympic wearing her World War I DAZZLE paint camouflage. The bold geometric patterns weren’t meant to hide the ship. They were designed to make it more difficult for German U-boat commanders to judge her speed, course, and heading through a submarine periscope.

A 30-minute short documentary of Olympic