For many years, the transatlantic steamship was indeed the 'Only way to cross', and these ships would transport hundreds of thousands of emigrants from the old world the the new. in their golden age, these liners offered great luxury, elegance and speed, until their decline in the 1950s and 60s as the jet age took over.
For hundreds of years, the journey from Europe to the United States had been a highly perilous one, involving wooden ships which would often take weeks to cross the Atlantic Ocean and were often very vulnerable to the natural forces of the sea. These journeys could take anywhere from mere weeks to months on end. Yet the introduction of the steamship in 1807 and innovations by designers like Isambard Brunel would change global travel forever.
Though migration from Europe to the United States had been going on since the 16th century, the journey often meant that passengers were taking their lives into their own hands on ships made primarily out of wood, and powered by sails. Particularly strong winds, ice and choppy seas were conditions that many ships were not equipped to deal with, and many would sadly succumb to these forces, never to be seen or heard from again. Those that successfully made the journey very rarely made it on schedule; their total reliance on sails made these ships highly dependant on sea conditions, meaning a voyage could take anywhere between six weeks and four months. In fact, the first packet ship to arrive at her destination on the correct date and time was the James Monroe, operated by Black Ball Line, on 5th January 1818. If this didn't put you off your journey, life on board these ships would be anything but comfortable. Cramped conditions, rats, dirt and a high risk of disease spread saw a mortality rate of somewhere between 10 and 20 percent of passengers on board.
Yet the tide would begin to turn in the early 19th century, primarily due to the efforts of a man called Robert Fulton, who built the first successful passenger steamship, the Clermont, in 1807. His plan came from the Lady Dundas, a steamship built in 1803 by William Symington, the closest that anyone had yet come to building a successful steamship. Fulton would use the plans of the mechanics from this ship to build the Clermont, which would take passengers from New York City to Albany.
A drawing of the North River Steamboat (a.k.a Clermont)
Over the next few years, the number of steamships in Europe and America would grow. These ships only made relatively short voyages, until 1819, when the Savannah became the first steamship to make the Transatlantic journey. She was powered with a combination of coal and sails (her voyages did mainly rely on sails) but the large engine took up a significant amount of space which would otherwise have been used for cargo and public hesitancy to travel on a still fairly experimental ship would mean that Savannah would be converted back into a fully-sail powered ship in June 1819.
Savannah in her original form as a steamship, 1819
It wasn't until 1833 that a ship would cross the Atlantic almost entirely using steam power; the SS Royal William, which departed Nova Scotia and arrived at Gravesend, 25 days later.
However, on 8th April 1838, Isambard Brunel's SS Great Western made her maiden voyage from Bristol to New York, arriving 14 days later with an average speed of 8.6 knots, faster than any other ship before. Her design would be echoed in later ships, including Cunard's Britannia. In 1845, Great Western would receive a running mate, the SS Great Britain, the first steamship containing both an iron hull and screw propellors (over the previously popular paddle wheel). In many ways, these features made SS Great Britain the first ocean liner as we now know it.
A painting of SS Great Britain
SS Great Britain now refurbished and returned to her home city of Bristol
Over the course of the first half of the 19th century, transatlantic voyages would be reduced from at least 6 weeks, down to just 14 days. The developments in technology would soon spread to a number of packet companies, including Cunard, the Peninsular Steam Navigation Co. (now known as P&O), Hamburg America Line and Norddeutscher Lloyd. With the priority to build a ship to cross the Atlantic in the shortest time, a contest would emerge which later became known as the Blue Riband.
In 1850, a new technology emerged, the compound steam engine. This enabled ships to hold more and more tonnage, and over the next few decades, the size of ocean liners would grow seemingly exponentially over the coming decades.
Although steamships were rapidly growing in size and tonnage, none would do it quite like Brunel's Great Eastern, launched in January 1858. With a length of 692 feet, she was nearly twice the length of the largest passenger ship of the time, the Adriatic (launched in 1856), which stood at 354 feet. Not only that, Great Eastern held nearly four times the tonnage, carrying 19,000 tonnes, compared to the Adriatic at 5,233 tonnes. She was so great in size that her length would not be surpassed until 1899 by RMS Oceanic, and her tonnage in 1901 by RMS Celtic. Unfortunately for this ambitious project, Great Eastern was really too ahead of her time. In 1859, she suffered a massive steam explosion; this, coupled with the continued number of technical issues she suffered between 1859 and 1862 and high debts accrued by her owners and builders, meant her career as an ocean liner would be short-lived. In 1864, she was sold off and recommissioned to lay the first transatlantic telegraph cable. Great Eastern would be the last ship designed by Brunel, as he died of a stroke in 1859, merely days after the steam explosion.
Drawing of SS Great Eastern
As technology rapidly improved, ocean liners became bigger, faster and far more luxurious. At the same time, migration to the new world was steadily growing. The transatlantic trade was become ever-increasingly profitable, which helped enable the development of bigger, and better ships. Over the span of just a few decades, passengers went from travelling on long, perilous journeys in deplorable conditions, to travelling in luxury that most people had never experienced before, on a journey that would take just days. Quicker journeys also meant the quicker travel of mail, which was carried on these ships.
In 1889, City of Paris took the Blue Riband for the fastest westbound crossing in just 5 days and 23 hours, and in 1892 City of New York would make the fastest eastbound crossing in 5 days and 19 hours. It is incredible to think that in less than a century, ocean travel would develop from journeys that could take anywhere up to four months, to regular scheduled crossings in just a few days.
Picture of City of New York (Renamed 'New York' in 1893)
The emergence of the ocean liner made the world a much smaller place, and made global travel and migration a much more accessible option for the average person. In the 20th century, ocean liners would continue to get bigger and better as they entered their golden era. It was during this time that some of the greatest ships to ever sail the seas were constructed; Olympic, Mauretania, Normandie, Bremen, Queen Mary, and a personal favourite, Aquitania.
Photo of RMS Olympic (1911-1935)
SS Normandie (1935-42)
RMS Queen Mary (1936-67)
In the 1924, the US passed the Immigration Act, limiting immigration into the country. Migration made up a large proportion of demand for ocean liners, so shipping companies had to adapt and start catering to the tourist demand, most notably with the introduction of a new class of passengers known as 'Tourist Class', which would eventually make up most demand on liners. This would mark the beginning of the shift in ocean travel, as tourism became ever more popular and migration decreased.
The golden age of the ocean liner would come to a fairly abrupt end in the 1950s and 1960s, as the jet age 'took off' and the ocean liner started to become obsolete. Some of the last ocean liners included SS Michelangelo and RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, which would later be used as a cruise ship alongside her transatlantic voyages. As the world seemingly no longer needed ocean liners, companies such as Cunard and P&O would adapt and turn their attention to the cruise industry, making them into the companies we know today. After the QE2's retirement in 2008, the only true ocean liner left in service today is Queen Mary 2, launched by Cunard in 2003.
It is sad, although understandable, that ocean liners have little place in modern travel, but to me they truly do represent amazing feats in engineering, style and elegance. They have an incredible history, and perhaps one day demand for them may return. For now, I am grateful that we still have the QM2, for she can still provide us with an experience of the traditional transatlantic voyage.
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