A postcard of SS United States.

An ocean liner is a passenger ship or passenger-cargo ship that transports people and often freight from one port to another along regular trans-oceanic routes according to a schedule. The term also refers to vessels designed to engage in such trades, even if temporarily used for other purposes (such as on cruises or as troopships). The category does not include ferries or other vessels engaged in short-sea trading, nor cruise ships where the voyage itself, and not transportation, is the prime purpose of the trip. Nor does it include tramp steamers even if equipped to handle limited numbers of passengers, nor other cargo vessels (although many shipping companies refer to themselves as "lines" and their container ships, which often operate over set routes according to established schedules, as "liners"). Ocean liners typically were strongly built with high freeboards to withstand sea states and adverse conditions encountered in the open ocean, and had large capacities for fuel and other stores which would be consumed on their multi-day or multi-week voyages. This is a picture postcard showing the SS United States. ... This is a picture postcard showing the SS United States. ... The SS United States (also known as The Big U) is an ocean liner built in 1952. ... A passenger ship is a ship whose primary function is to carry passengers. ... USS John Land (AP-167) in San Francisco Bay sometime in 1945-46; soldiers crowd the decks in anticipation of homecoming. ... The ferryboat Dongan Hills, filled with commuters, about to dock at a New York City pier, ca. ... Pacific Sky sails under Sydney Harbour Bridge A cruise ship or a cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ships amenities are considered an essential part of the experience. ... A tramp steamer, or tramp for short, is any ship which does not have a fixed schedule or published ports of call. ... Container ship in Istanbul Container ships are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size containers, in a technique called containerization. ... Freebord model X-80, bottom side Freebords are a recent modification of the skateboard. ... Sea state refers to the height, period, and character of waves on the surface of a large body of water. ...

Ocean liners were the primary mode of intercontinental travel for over a century, from the mid-19th century to the 1960s, when they were finally supplanted by airliners. In addition to passengers, liners also carried mail and cargo. Ships contracted to carry British Royal Mail used the designation RMS. Liners were also the preferred way to move gold and other high value cargos. ^[1] An Airbus A340 airliner operated by Air Jamaica An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft with the primary function of transporting paying passengers. ... It has been suggested that first class mail be merged into this article or section. ... Royal Mail is the national postal service of the United Kingdom. ... Royal Mail Ship (or Steamer), usually seen in its abbreviated form RMS, is the ship prefix used of any seagoing vessel that carries mail under contract to the British Royal Mail. ...

The busiest route for liners was on the North Atlantic with ships traveling between Europe and North America. It was on this route that the fastest, largest and most advanced liners travelled. But while in contemporary popular imagination the term "ocean liners" evokes these transatlantic superliners, most ocean liners historically were mid-sized vessels which served as the common carriers of passengers and freight between nations and among mother countries and their colonies and dependencies in the pre-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 Nineteenth and first two decades of the Twentieth Centuries and to Canada and Australia after the Second World War. For other uses, see Atlantic (disambiguation) The Atlantic Ocean is Earths second-largest ocean, covering approximately one-fifth of its surface. ... World map showing the location of Europe. ... North America North America is a continent [1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... The term transatlantic refers to something occurring all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. ... Superliner is a term sometimes used for an ocean liner of over 10,000 gross tons. ...

Definition

Shipping lines are companies engaged in shipping passengers and cargo, often on established routes and schedules. Regular scheduled voyages on 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 a cargo liner or cargo- passenger liner. Ships of the line were 1st, 2nd, or 3rd-rated ships in the rating system of the Royal Navy. ...

History

The 19th century

Brunel before the launching of the SS Great Eastern.

In 1818, Black Ball Line, with a fleet of clipper ships, offered the first regular passenger service with emphasis on passenger comfort, from England to United States. From the early 1800s, steam engines began to appear in ships, but initially they were inefficient and offered little advantage over sailing ships. Download high resolution version (461x714, 80 KB)Isambard Kingdom Brunel. ... Download high resolution version (461x714, 80 KB)Isambard Kingdom Brunel. ... The SS Great Eastern was an iron sailing steam ship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. ... For other uses, see Clipper (disambiguation). ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130... Brunel before the launching of the Great Eastern. ... Traditional wooden cutter under sail. ...

The clipper domination was challenged when SS Great Western, designed by railway engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, began its first Atlantic service in 1837. It took 15 days to cross the Atlantic compared to two months for sail powered ships. Unlike the clippers, the steamers offer a consistent speed and the ability to keep up schedules. The early steam ships still had sails as well though, as engines at this time still required large quantities of fuel. Having sails enabled vessels like the Great Western to take advantage of favourable weather conditions and minimise fuel consumption. The steamship SS Great Western (named for the Great Western Railway Company) was the first steamship purposely built for the Atlantic crossing. ... Brunel before the launching of the Great Eastern. ... Paddle steamers - Lucerne-Switzerland Left: original paddlewheel from a paddle steamer on the lake of Lucerne. ...

In 1840, Cunard Line’s Britannia began its first regular passenger and cargo service by a steamship, sailing from Liverpool to Boston. Despite some advantages offered by the steamships, clippers remained dominant. In 1847, SS Great Britain became the first screw driven ship with an iron hull to cross the Atlantic. More efficient propellers began to replace bulkier paddle wheels, found on earlier ocean liners. The Cunard Line, formerly Cunard White Star Line, is a British cruise line, operator of ocean liners RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) and RMS Queen Mary 2 (QM2). ... Paddle steamers - Lucerne-Switzerland Left: original paddlewheel from a paddle steamer on the lake of Lucerne. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A paddle steamer, paddleboat, or paddlewheeler is a ship driven by one or more paddle wheels driven by a steam engine. ...

In 1870, White Star Line’s RMS Oceanic set a new standard for ocean travel by placing the first class cabin amidships, adding large portholes and offering running water and electricity. The size of ocean liners increased from 1880 onward because of massive immigration to United States. Babylon 5 starships, see the article White Star. ... The RMS Oceanic(I) was the White Star Lines first liner and an important turning point in passenger liner design. ...

RMS Umbria and her sister ship RMS Etruria were the last two Liners that were fitted with auxiliary sails. Umbria was built by John Elder & Co of Glasgow, Scotland in 1884. Umbria and Etruria by the standards of the time were record breakers. They were the largest liners then in service and they plied the Liverpool to New York Service. RMS Umbria and her sister ship RMS Etruria were the last two Cunarders that were fitted with auxiliary Sails. ... RMS Etruria and her sister ship RMS Umbria were the last two Cunarders that were fitted with auxiliary Sails. ...

The 20th century

RMS Mauretania at sea.

The period between the end of the 19th century and World War II is considered the "golden age" of ocean liners. Driven by strong demand created by European emigration to the United States and Canada, international competition between passenger lines and a new emphasis on comfort, shipping companies built ever larger and faster ships. Image File history File links The RMS Mauretania at sea File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links The RMS Mauretania at sea File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

Canadian Pacific Railway became one of the largest transportation system in the world combining with ships and railways operating from Canada. In 1891 CPR shipping division began its first Pacific operation. In 1903, CPR began its first Atlantic service because of rising migration of Europeans to western Canada as the result of free land offered by the Canadian government. An eastbound CPR freight at Stoney Creek Bridge in Rogers Pass. ... CP Ships is a large Anglo-Canadian shipping company owned by Canadian Pacific Limited. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... System of government Canada is a constitutional monarchy as a Commonwealth Realm (see Monarchy in Canada) with a federal system of parliamentary government, and strong democratic traditions. ...

Since the 1830s ships had unofficially been competing for the honor of making the fastest Atlantic crossing. This honor came to be known as the Blue Riband; in 1897 Germany took the award with a series of new ocean liners, starting with the SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Große. In 1905, British company Cunard fitted their liner Carmania with steam turbines and it outperformed its near identical sister Caronia, which was powered by triple expansion steam engines. At the time, these were the largest ships in the Cunard fleet, and the use of the different propulsion methods in otherwise similar ships allowed the company to evaluate the merits of both. The engines in Carmania proved to be a success and consequently in 1907, the Cunard Line introduced the much larger Lusitania and Mauretania, both powered by steam turbines. The Mauretania would go on to hold the Blue Riband for an astonishing 20 years. The Blue Riband is an award held by the ship with the record for a transatlantic crossing. ... Kaiser Wilhelm der Große, (Kaiser William the Great), named after the then Kaisers grandfather, Kaiser Wilhelm I, was a German ocean liner of the Norddeutscher Lloyd shipping line. ... The RMS Carmania (I) was a British passenger liner of the Cunard Line, which in World War I was converted to an armed merchant cruiser. ... The Cunard Line, formerly Cunard White Star Line, is a British cruise line, operator of ocean liners RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) and RMS Queen Mary 2 (QM2). ... RMS Lusitania was a Cunard Line ocean liner, sister ship of the Mauretania, that was built by the John Brown & Co. ... Two ocean liners of the Cunard Line have been named RMS Mauretania, after the ancient territory of Mauretania. ... A rotor of a modern steam turbine, used in a power plant A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into useful mechanical work. ...

Cunard's dominance of the Blue Riband did not keep other lines from competing in terms of size and luxury. In 1910 White Star launched the Olympic, the first of a trio of 45,000 plus gross ton liners that was also to include the Titanic and Britannic. These ships were almost 15,000 tonnes larger and 100 feet longer than the Lusitania and Mauretania. RMS Olympic was the first of her class of ocean liners built for the White Star Line, which also included the ill-fated liners Titanic and Britannic. ... RMS Titanic was a British Olympic class passenger liner that became famous for her collision with an iceberg on 14 April 1912 and dramatic sinking on 15 April 1912. ... HMHS Britannic (1914), the third Olympic-class ocean liner of the White Star Line, sister ship of RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic, sank in 1916 after hitting a mine with the loss of 30 lives. ...

Hamburg-America Line also ordered three giant ships, Imperator, Vaterland and Bismarck; all over 51,500 gross tons. The first of these ships, Imperator, was launched in 1912. The largest, Bismarck, would be the largest ship in the world until 1935. These ships would see little or no service with Hamburg-America before World War I. After the war they were seized as war reparations and given to British and American lines. Hapag-Lloyd is a German transportation company comprising a cargo container shipping line and a cruise line. ... SS Imperator as RMS Berengaria. ... The Vaterland was a three-funneled impressive ocean liner built in Germany in 1914, second ship of the Imperator class. ... RMS Majestic, originally christened the Bismarck, was launched in 1914 and was, at 56,551 gross tonnes, the largest ship in the world until the construction of the French Lines Normandie in 1935. ...

The surge in ocean liner's size outpaced the shipping regulations. In 1912, Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg, claiming more than 1,500 lives. A factor contributing to the high loss of life was that there were not enough lifeboats for everyone. After the Titanic disaster, the regulation was revised to require all ocean liners to carry enough lifeboats for all passengers and crew. In addition, International Ice Patrol was established to monitor the busy north Atlantic shipping lanes for icebergs. Severn class lifeboat in Poole Harbour, Dorset, England. ... The International Ice Patrol monitors the presence of icebergs in the northern Atlantic Ocean and reports their movements for safety purposes. ...

Until the 1920's most shipping lines relied heavily on emigration for sales and they were hard hit when the US Congress introduced a bill to limit immigration into the United States. As the result, many ships took on cruising and the least expensive cabins were reconfigured from third class to tourist class. To make matters worse, the great depression put many shipping lines into bankruptcy. The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States of America. ... A cruising sailboat anchored in the San Blas Islands, in Panama. ...

SS Normandie

Despite the harsh economic conditions, a number of companies continued to build larger and faster ships. In 1929 the German ships Bremen and Europa beat the crossing record set by the Mauretania 20 years earlier with an average speed of almost 28 knots. The ships used bulbous bows and oil fired boilers to reach these high speeds while maintaining economical operating costs. In 1933 the Italian 51,100 ton ocean liner SS Rex captured the westbound Blue Riband, which she held for two years. In 1935 the French liner SS Normandie used a revolutionary new hull design and powerful turbo-electric propulsion to take the Blue Riband from the Rex. Because of the poor economic conditions the British government forced Cunard Line and White Star Line to merge. The newly merged company countered with its liners RMS Queen Mary and RMS Queen Elizabeth; the Queen Mary was to hold the Blue Riband from 1936-37 and 1938-52. Image File history File links SS_Normandie. ... Image File history File links SS_Normandie. ... Image:SS Bremen 1920 profile NYC.png The profile of the Bremen as originally built - the funnels were raised by five meters in 1930. ... The SS Europa was one of a pair of fast ocean liners built in the late twenties for the North German Lloyd line (NDL) for the transatlantic passenger service. ... The bulbous bow of the U.S. Navy carrier USS Ronald Reagan is clearly visible in this photograph. ... The SS Rex was a product of Navigazione Generale Italiana (later become Italian Line - Italia Società di Navigazione). ... The Normandie was a French ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire France for Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. ... UP 18, a locomotive with a turbo-electric drivetrain A turbo-electric transmission uses electric generators to convert the mechanical energy of a turbine (steam or gas) into electric energy and electric motors to convert it back into mechanical energy to power the driveshafts. ... types/51 sh/sh liner/36 qma/qma. ... RMS Queen Elizabeth was a steam-powered ocean liner of the Cunard Steamship Company. ...

The post World War II era was a brief but busy period. Notable transatlantic liners included the SS United States, which was the last ocean liner to hold the Blue Riband and the SS France, which held the record for the longest passenger ship from when she entered service in 1961 until the launch of RMS Queen Mary 2 in 2003. Australian Government sponsored immigration resulted in a busy trade between Europe and Australia, producing such notable ships as the SS Oriana and SS Canberra. These two, operating on the P&O-Orient Line service, were the last, largest and fastest liners built for the Australian route. The RMS Queen Mary 2 (QM2) is a Cunard Line ocean liner named after the earlier Cunard liner Queen Mary, which was in turn named after Mary of Teck. ... SS Oriana was the last of the Orient Steam Navigation Company (Orient Lines) ocean liners. ... Canberras official stamp SS Canberra was a liner and cruise ship in the P&O fleet from 1961 to 1997. ... The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company or P&O is a shipping line which started in 1840 after the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company won the British Admiralty contract to carry the mail overseas in 1837. ... ss Oriana, the last Orient Line ship The Orient Steam Navigation Company, also known as the Orient Line, was a British shipping company with roots going back to the late eighteenth century. ...

The end

SS Norway, formerly SS France, docked in Bremerhaven, Germany

Prior to World War II, aircraft weren’t a huge threat to ocean liners. Most pre-war aircraft were noisy, cramped and vulnerable to bad weather, few had the range needed for transoceanic flights, and all were expensive and had a small passenger capacity. However, World War II accelerated the development of aircraft. Four engine bombers such as the Avro Lancaster and Boeing B-29, with their long range and massive carrying capacity, were a natural prototype for a next generation airliner. Jet aircraft technology also accelerated after the development of jet aircraft for military use in World War II. In 1953, the De Havilland Comet became the first commercial jet airliner; the Sud Aviation Caravelle, Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 followed later. The T/S Michelangelo and T/S Raffaello, built in 1962 and 1963 for Italian Line, were two of the last ocean liners to be built primarily for liner service across the North Atlantic, as in the 1960s airlines gradually took over the business formerly done by ships. By the early 1970s passenger ships were used almost exclusively for cruising. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 453 KB) Description: Ship Norway anchoring in Bremerhaven, Germany Source: Photographed it myself in february 2004 Photographer: Thorsten Pohl Thpohl File links The following pages link to this file: SS France (1961) Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 453 KB) Description: Ship Norway anchoring in Bremerhaven, Germany Source: Photographed it myself in february 2004 Photographer: Thorsten Pohl Thpohl File links The following pages link to this file: SS France (1961) Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added... Bremerhaven is a city in the federal state of Bremen, Germany. ... Look up aircraft in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Avro Lancaster was a British four-engine Second World War bomber aircraft made initially by Avro for the British Royal Air Force (RAF). ... The Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Boeing Model 341/345) was a four-engine heavy bomber flown by the United States Army Air Force. ... An Airbus A340 airliner operated by Air Jamaica An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft with the primary function of transporting paying passengers. ... Jet aircraft are aircrafts with jet engines. ... This article is about the de Havilland Comet jet airliner. ... The SE 210 Caravelle was the first short/medium-range jet airliner, produced by the French Sud Aviation firm starting in 1955 (when it was still known as SNCASE). ... The Boeing 707 is a four-engine commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. ... The Douglas DC-8 is a four-engined jet airliner, manufactured between 1959 and 1972. ... T/S Michelangelo was an Italian ocean liner built in 1965 for Italian Line by Ansaldo Shipyards, Genoa. ... T/S Raffaello was an Italian ocean liner built in 1965 for Italian Line by Cantieri Riuniti dell Adriatico, Monfalcone. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Italian Line, also known as the Società di navigazione Italia, was a passenger shipping line that operated regular transatlantic service between Italy and the United States. ... For other uses, see Atlantic (disambiguation) The Atlantic Ocean is Earths second-largest ocean, covering approximately one-fifth of its surface. ...

After the end of the large scale passenger liner business, many ships continued in use as cruise ships; as of 2003 a small number of former liners were still in service. A few more, such as RMS Queen Mary, are still afloat but permanently docked and used for other purposes; in the case of the Queen Mary, as a museum ship. The only large liner still used on scheduled line voyages in 2006 is Cunard Line's RMS Queen Mary 2, which replaced the line's Queen Elizabeth 2 on the transatlantic route in 2004. QE2 made her maiden voyage in 1969 and was the only major operational ocean liner for several decades, but now is given over to cruising. USS Wisconsin, one of three Iowa class battleships opened to the public as a museum, and was one of two Iowas maintained in the US Mothball fleet. ... The RMS Queen Mary 2 (QM2) is a Cunard Line ocean liner named after the earlier Cunard liner Queen Mary, which was in turn named after Mary of Teck. ... RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) is a Cunard Line ocean liner named after the earlier Cunard liner RMS Queen Elizabeth. ...

At war

Ocean liners played a major role in World War I. Large ocean liners, such as Mauretania and Olympic, were used as troopships and hospital ships while smaller ocean liners were converted to armed merchant cruisers. The Britannic, sister to the Titanic and Olympic, never served on the liner trade for which she was built, instead entering war service as a hospital ship as soon as she was completed; she lasted a year before being sunk by a mine. Some other liners were converted to Q-ships purposely designed to hunt down submarines. In 1915, Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat, despite its speed and supposed non-military role. Germany justified the attack by claiming Lusitania was carrying military cargo. Contrary to popular belief, there has never been any proof to support these allegations. The work of respected marine archeologists such as Dr Robert Ballard have failed to find any evidence of military items on board. This lack of evidence supports the Lusitania's original manifest which did not declare any cargo of military origin. “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Two ocean liners of the Cunard Line have been named RMS Mauretania, after the ancient territory of Mauretania. ... RMS Olympic was the first of her class of ocean liners built for the White Star Line, which also included the ill-fated liners Titanic and Britannic. ... USS John Land (AP-167) in San Francisco Bay sometime in 1945-46; soldiers crowd the decks in anticipation of homecoming. ... USNS Comfort takes on supplies at Mayport, FL enroute to Gulf Coast. ... HMHS Britannic (1914), the third Olympic-class ocean liner of the White Star Line, sister ship of RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic, sank in 1916 after hitting a mine with the loss of 30 lives. ... RMS Titanic was a British Olympic class passenger liner that became famous for her collision with an iceberg on 14 April 1912 and dramatic sinking on 15 April 1912. ... RMS Olympic was the first of her class of ocean liners built for the White Star Line, which also included the ill-fated liners Titanic and Britannic. ... A hidden gun on a Q-ship in World War I. The Q-ship or Q-boat was a weapon used against German U-boats during World War I primarily by Britain and during World War II primarily by the United States. ... Alvin in 1978, a year after first exploring hydrothermal vents. ... RMS Lusitania was a Cunard Line ocean liner, sister ship of the Mauretania, that was built by the John Brown & Co. ... U-boat is also a nickname for some diesel locomotives built by GE; see List of GE locomotives October 1939. ... Dr. Robert D. Ballard Robert Duane Ballard, Ph. ...

Ocean liners such as Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth were used again in World War II, although not as merchant cruisers--they were mostly used as troopships and hospital ships. Normandie sailed to the United States in 1942 for conversion to a troopship, but never saw service in that role. A fire during the conversion work caused her to capsize because of the water poured into her full while docked in New York. Salvage attempts failed and she was scrapped in 1946. The majority of the superliners of the '20s and '30s were victims of U-boats, mines or enemy aircraft. The Empress of Britain was attacked by Nazi planes, then torpedoed by a U-boat when tugs tried to tow her to safety. She was the largest British ocean liner to sink during WW II. Germany's speed queen Bremen fell victim to a disgruntled crew member in 1941 - she was set aflame and became a total loss. Italy's giants, the Rex and the Conte di Savoia were destroyed by the British RAF and the retreating Nazis, respectively. The United States lost the American President Lines' SS President Coolidge to, of all things, an Allied mine in the South Pacific. No shipping line was untouched by WW II. types/51 sh/sh liner/36 qma/qma. ... RMS Queen Elizabeth was a steam-powered ocean liner of the Cunard Steamship Company. ... The Normandie was a French ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire France for Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... U-boat is also a nickname for some diesel locomotives built by GE; see List of GE locomotives October 1939. ... “Minefield” redirects here. ... Side elevation plans of the Empress of Britain. ... German soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the worlds nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. ... Image:SS Bremen 1920 profile NYC.png The profile of the Bremen as originally built - the funnels were raised by five meters in 1930. ... Look up rex in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Conte di Savoia was a large Italian ocean liner built in 1932 at Cantieri Riuniti delAdriatico, Trieste. ... American President Lines Ltd. ... The SS President Coolidge was a luxury ocean liner that messured 654ft in length and was originally built, along with her sister ship the SS President Hoover, for Dollar Steamship Lines. ... German soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the worlds nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. ...

More recently, during the Falklands War, three ships that were either active or former liners were requisitioned for war service by the British Government. The Cunard liner QE2 and P&O cruise ship and former England to Australia liner Canberra served as troopships, carrying British Army personnel to Ascension Island and 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, after the war, served as a troopship until an airport was built at Port Stanley that could handle RAF trooping flights. Combatants Argentina United Kingdom Commanders President Leopoldo Galtieri Vice-Admiral Juan Lombardo Brigadier-General Ernesto Crespo Brigade-General Mario Menéndez Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse Rear-Admiral John “Sandy” Woodward Major-General Jeremy Moore Casualties 649 killed 1,068 wounded 11,313 taken prisoner 75 fixed... The United Kingdom is a unitary state and a democratic constitutional monarchy. ... Cunard may refer to: Samuel Cunard (1787–1865), British shipping magnate. ... RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) is a Cunard Line ocean liner named after the earlier Cunard liner RMS Queen Elizabeth. ... The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company or P&O is a shipping line which started in 1840 after the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company won the British Admiralty contract to carry the mail overseas in 1837. ... Pacific Sky sails under Sydney Harbour Bridge A cruise ship or a cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ships amenities are considered an essential part of the experience. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130... Canberras official stamp SS Canberra was a liner and cruise ship in the P&O fleet from 1961 to 1997. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... Anthem: God Save the Queen Capital Georgetown Largest city Georgetown Official languages English Government Dependency of St. ... The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company or P&O is a shipping line which started in 1840 after the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company won the British Admiralty contract to carry the mail overseas in 1837. ... British India Steam Navigation Company was formed in 1856 as the Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company. ... SS Uganda was a passenger liner, then cruise ship, hospital ship and troop ship between 1952 and 1986. ... From the air Port Stanley, also known as Stanley (briefly renamed Puerto Argentino during the Argentine occupation in the Falklands War), is the capital and only town in the Falkland Islands, located on the isle of East Falkland. ... RAF is an three letter acronym for: Royal Air Force -- the Air Force of the United Kingdom (see also Air Ministry) Red Army Faction (Rote Armee Fraktion) -- a German terror organisation Rigas Autobusu Fabrika -- a factory making buses in Riga, Latvia Rapid Action Force in India Računarski Fakultet RAF...

Famous and infamous

RMS Titanic in Belfast

The most well-known liner was the Titanic, infamous for sinking on her maiden voyage from Britain to the United States in 1912 with the loss of 1,523 lives. In 1914 the Empress of Ireland sank in the Saint Lawrence River with 1,012 lives lost. The Lusitania was lost in 1915 to a German U-Boat during World War I while on passage from the United States to Britain. The 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 over 3,000 lives; the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff with over 9,000 lives lost, and the sinking of the Cap Arcona with over 7,000 lives lost in the Baltic Sea in 1945. The Italian liner Andrea Doria sank after colliding with Stockholm in heavy fog in 1956, despite the fact that Andrea Doria was fitted with RADAR. The Cunard Line's Mauretania and Aquitania were widely considered the finest liners of their generation and in the following decade many people had a similar affection for the Normandie. Image File history File links RMS_Titanic_sea_trials_April_2,_1912. ... Image File history File links RMS_Titanic_sea_trials_April_2,_1912. ... RMS Titanic was a British Olympic class passenger liner that became famous for her collision with an iceberg on 14 April 1912 and dramatic sinking on 15 April 1912. ... The Empress of Ireland was a transatlantic ocean liner owned by the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company that sailed between Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, and Liverpool, United Kingdom. ... TheSaint Lawrence River (In French: fleuve Saint-Laurent) is a large west-to-east flowing river in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. ... RMS Lusitania was a Cunard Line ocean liner, sister ship of the Mauretania, that was built by the John Brown & Co. ... U-boat is also a nickname for some diesel locomotives built by GE; see List of GE locomotives October 1939. ... The RMS Lancastria was a Cunard liner sunk on June 17, 1940 during World War II with the loss of, possibly, 4,000 lives. ... The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was the British army sent to France and Belgium in World War I and British Forces in Europe from 1939–1940 during World War II. The BEF was established by Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane following the Second Boer War in case the... The Wilhelm Gustloff slides into the water during launch ceremonies. ... Memorial of Cap Arcona victims, Neustadt in Holstein. ... The Baltic Sea is located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. ... The SS Andrea Doria was an ocean liner for the Italian Line (Società di navigazione Italia) home ported in Genoa, Italy. ... There have been three ocean liners named Stockholm. ... This long range radar antenna, known as ALTAIR, is used to detect and track space objects in conjunction with ABM testing at the Ronald Reagan Test Site on the Kwajalein atoll. ... Two ocean liners of the Cunard Line have been named RMS Mauretania, after the ancient territory of Mauretania. ... The Aquitania was an ocean liner built by John Brown and Company, Clydebank, Scotland, for the Cunard Line. ... The Normandie was a French ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire France for Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. ...

See also

• List of ocean liners
• Transatlantic
• Packet ship

This is a list of ocean liners, listed alphabetically by name. ... The term transatlantic refers to something occurring all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. ... A packet ship is a vessel employed to carry Post Office mail packets to and from British colonies and outposts. ...

References

1. ^ Pickford, Nigel Lost Treasure Ships of the Twentieth Century, National Geographic Society, 1999 ISBN 0-7922-7472-5

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Ocean liners

• Encyclopedia Titanica (includes Ocean liner and Titanic discussions)
• Gare Maritime : A Journey into the Golden Age of Travel
• 20th Centuy Ships
• Historic Ocean Liners
• The Great Ocean Liners
• Monsters of the Sea: The Great Ocean Liners of Time
• Martin Cox and Peter Knego's "Maritime Matters"
• The Last Ocean Liners 1950s-1960s
• Kevin Tam's "Ships of State:The Great Atlantic Liners"