Un transatlántico es un barco de pasajeros que se utiliza principalmente como medio de transporte a través de mares u océanos. Los transatlánticos también pueden transportar carga o correo y, a veces, pueden utilizarse para otros fines (como cruceros de placer o barcos hospitales ). [1]
Los buques de carga que operan según un horario a veces se denominan transatlánticos . [2] La categoría no incluye transbordadores u otros buques dedicados al comercio de corta distancia, ni cruceros dedicados donde el viaje en sí, y no el transporte, es el propósito principal del viaje. Tampoco incluye vapores vapores , incluso aquellos equipados para manejar un número limitado de pasajeros. Algunas compañías navieras se refieren a sí mismas como "líneas" y sus buques portacontenedores , que a menudo operan en rutas determinadas de acuerdo con horarios establecidos, como "transatlánticos".
Los transatlánticos suelen estar fuertemente construidos con un francobordo alto para soportar mares agitados y condiciones adversas que se encuentran en mar abierto. Además, a menudo están diseñados con placas de casco más gruesas que las que se encuentran en los cruceros y tienen una gran capacidad para combustible, alimentos y otros consumibles en viajes largos. [3]
Los primeros transatlánticos se construyeron a mediados del siglo XIX. Las innovaciones tecnológicas como la máquina de vapor y el casco de acero permitieron construir transatlánticos más grandes y rápidos, dando lugar a una competencia entre las potencias mundiales de la época, especialmente entre el Reino Unido y Alemania. Una vez que la forma dominante de viaje entre continentes, los transatlánticos se volvieron obsoletos en gran medida por la aparición de aviones de larga distancia después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Los avances en la tecnología del automóvil y el ferrocarril también influyeron. Después de que RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 se retirara en 2008, el único barco que sigue en servicio como transatlántico es el RMS Queen Mary 2 .
Descripción general
Los transatlánticos fueron el modo principal de viajes intercontinentales durante más de un siglo, desde mediados del siglo XIX hasta que comenzaron a ser reemplazados por aviones de pasajeros en la década de 1950. Además de pasajeros, los transatlánticos transportaban correo y carga. Los barcos contratados para transportar British Royal Mail usaban la designación RMS . Los transatlánticos también fueron la forma preferida de mover oro y otras cargas de alto valor. [4]
La ruta más transitada para los transatlánticos estaba en el Atlántico Norte con barcos que viajaban entre Europa y América del Norte. Fue en esta ruta que viajaron los transatlánticos más rápidos, más grandes y más avanzados, aunque la mayoría de los transatlánticos históricamente fueron buques de tamaño mediano que sirvieron como los transportistas comunes de pasajeros y carga entre naciones y entre las metrópolis y sus colonias y dependencias en el pre - era del jet . Tales rutas incluyeron Europa a las colonias africanas y asiáticas, Europa a América del Sur y el tráfico de migrantes de Europa a América del Norte en el siglo XIX y las dos primeras décadas del siglo XX, y a Canadá y Australia después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
Las líneas navieras son empresas que se dedican al envío de pasajeros y carga, a menudo en rutas y horarios establecidos. Los viajes regulares programados en una ruta establecida se denominan "viajes en línea" y los buques (de pasajeros o carga) que comercian en estas rutas con un horario se denominan transatlánticos. La alternativa al comercio de línea regular es el "vagabundeo" mediante el cual se notifica a los buques sobre una base ad hoc sobre la disponibilidad de una carga para ser transportada. (En un uso más antiguo, "transatlántico" también se refería a los barcos de línea , es decir, barcos de línea de batalla, pero ese uso ahora es poco común). El término "transatlántico" se ha utilizado indistintamente con "transatlántico de pasajeros". ", aunque puede referirse a un revestimiento de carga o un revestimiento de carga y pasajeros.
El advenimiento de la era de los reactores y el declive del servicio de barcos transoceánicos provocaron una transición gradual de los barcos de pasajeros a los modernos cruceros como medio de transporte. [5] Para que los transatlánticos sigan siendo rentables, las líneas de cruceros modificaron algunos de ellos para operar en rutas de cruceros, como el SS France . Ciertas características de los transatlánticos más antiguos los hacían inadecuados para la navegación, como un alto consumo de combustible, un calado profundo que les impedía ingresar a puertos poco profundos y cabinas (a menudo sin ventanas) diseñadas para maximizar el número de pasajeros en lugar de la comodidad. La línea italiana 's SS Michelangelo y SS Raffaello , los revestimientos de última océano que se construirán sobre todo para cruzar el Atlántico Norte, no pudo ser convertido económicamente y tenía carreras cortas. [6]
Historia
Siglo 19
A principios del siglo XIX, la Revolución Industrial y el comercio intercontinental hicieron imperativo el desarrollo de vínculos seguros entre continentes. Al estar en la cima entre las potencias coloniales, el Reino Unido necesitaba rutas marítimas estables para conectar diferentes partes de su imperio : el Lejano Oriente , India, Australia, etc. [7] El nacimiento del concepto de agua internacional y la falta de cualquier reclamarlo navegación simplificada. [8] En 1818, Black Ball Line , con una flota de veleros, ofreció el primer servicio regular de pasajeros con énfasis en la comodidad de los pasajeros, desde Inglaterra hasta Estados Unidos. [9]
En 1807, Robert Fulton logró aplicar máquinas de vapor a los barcos. Construyó el primer barco propulsado por esta tecnología, el Clermont , que logró viajar entre la ciudad de Nueva York y Albany, Nueva York en treinta horas antes de entrar en servicio regular entre las dos ciudades. [10] Poco después, se construyeron otras embarcaciones utilizando esta innovación. En 1816, Élise se convirtió en el primer barco de vapor en cruzar el Canal de la Mancha . [11] Otro avance importante se produjo en 1819. El SS Savannah se convirtió en el primer barco de vapor en cruzar el Océano Atlántico. Dejó la ciudad del mismo nombre y llegó a Liverpool, Inglaterra en 27 días. La mayor parte de la distancia se recorrió navegando; la energía de vapor no se utilizó durante más de 72 horas durante el viaje. [12] El entusiasmo del público por la nueva tecnología no fue alto, ya que ninguna de las treinta y dos personas que habían reservado un asiento a bordo abordó el barco para ese viaje histórico. [13] Aunque Savannah había demostrado que un barco de vapor era capaz de cruzar el océano, el público aún no estaba preparado para confiar en tales medios de transporte en mar abierto y, en 1820, la máquina de vapor fue retirada del barco. [12]
El trabajo en esta tecnología continuó y se dio un nuevo paso en 1833. Royal William logró cruzar el Atlántico utilizando energía de vapor principalmente en todo el viaje. La vela se usó solo cuando se limpiaron las calderas. [12] Todavía había muchos escépticos, y en 1836, el escritor científico Dionysius Lardner declaró que:
Como proyecto de hacer el viaje directamente de Nueva York a Liverpool, era perfectamente quimérico, y bien podrían hablar de hacer el viaje de Nueva York a la luna. [14]
El último paso hacia los viajes de larga distancia utilizando energía de vapor se dio en 1837 cuando SS Sirius salió de Liverpool el 4 de abril y llegó a Nueva York dieciocho días después, el 22 de abril, tras una travesía turbulenta. Se preparó muy poco carbón para la travesía y la tripulación tuvo que quemar muebles de cabina para completar el viaje. El viaje se realizó a una velocidad de 8,03 nudos. [15] El viaje fue posible gracias al uso de un condensador, que alimentaba las calderas con agua dulce, evitando tener que apagar periódicamente las calderas para eliminar la sal. [14] La hazaña duró poco. Al día siguiente, SS Great Western , diseñado por el ingeniero ferroviario Isambard Kingdom Brunel , llegó a Nueva York. Salió de Liverpool el 8 de abril y superó el récord de Sirius con una velocidad media de 8,66 nudos. Se inició la carrera de la velocidad y, con ella, la tradición del Blue Riband . [dieciséis]
Con Great Western , Isambard Kingdom Brunel sentó las bases para nuevas técnicas de construcción naval. Se dio cuenta de que la capacidad de carga de un barco aumenta con el cubo de sus dimensiones, mientras que la resistencia al agua solo aumenta con el cuadrado de sus dimensiones. Esto significa que los barcos grandes consumen menos combustible, algo muy importante para los viajes largos a través del Atlántico. [14] [17] Por tanto, la construcción de grandes barcos resultó más rentable. [18] Además, la migración a las Américas aumentó enormemente. Estos movimientos de población fueron una ganancia financiera inesperada para las compañías navieras, [19] algunas de las más importantes se fundaron durante este tiempo. Algunos ejemplos son la P&O del Reino Unido en 1822 y la Compagnie Générale Transatlantique de Francia en 1855. [20]
La máquina de vapor también permitió a los barcos proporcionar un servicio regular sin el uso de velas. Este aspecto atrajo particularmente a las empresas postales, que alquilaron los servicios de barcos para atender a clientes separados por el océano. En 1839, Samuel Cunard fundó la Cunard Line y se convirtió en el primero en dedicar la actividad de su naviera al transporte de correos, asegurando así servicios regulares en un horario determinado. Los buques de la compañía operaban las rutas entre el Reino Unido y los Estados Unidos. [21] Con el tiempo, la rueda de paletas, poco práctica en alta mar, fue abandonada en favor de la hélice. [10] En 1840, el RMS Britannia de Cunard Line comenzó su primer servicio regular de pasajeros y carga en un barco de vapor , navegando desde Liverpool a Boston. [22]
A medida que aumentaba el tamaño del barco, el casco de madera se volvía frágil. Comenzando con el uso de un casco de hierro en 1845, y luego los cascos de acero, resolvió este problema. [23] El primer barco con casco de hierro y equipado con una hélice de tornillo fue el SS Great Britain , una creación de Brunel. Su carrera fue desastrosa y corta. Fue encallada y varada en la bahía de Dundrum en 1846. En 1884, fue retirada a las Islas Malvinas, donde fue utilizada como almacén, barco de cuarentena y casco de carbón hasta que fue hundida en 1937. [24] La empresa estadounidense Collins Line adoptó un enfoque diferente. Equipaba sus barcos con cámaras frigoríficas, sistemas de calefacción y varias otras innovaciones, pero la operación era cara. El hundimiento de dos de sus barcos supuso un duro golpe para la empresa que se disolvió en 1858. [25]
In 1858, Brunel built his third and last giant, SS Great Eastern. The ship was, for 43 years, the largest passenger ship ever built. She had the capacity to carry 4,000 passengers.[26] Her career was marked by a series of failures and incidents, one of which was an explosion on board during her maiden voyage.[27]
Many ships owned by German companies like Hamburg America Line and Norddeutscher Lloyd were sailing from major German ports, such as Hamburg and Bremen, to the United States during this time. The year 1858 was marked by a major accident: the sinking of SS Austria. The ship, built in Greenock and sailing between Hamburg and New York twice a month, suffered an accidental fire off the coast of Newfoundland and sank with the loss of all but 89 of the 542 passengers.[28]
In the British market, Cunard Line and White Star Line (the latter after being bought by Thomas Ismay in 1868), competed strongly against each other in the late 1860s. The struggle was symbolised by the attainment of the Blue Riband, which the two companies achieved several times around the end of the century.[29] The luxury and technology of ships were also evolving. Auxiliary sails became obsolete and disappeared completely at the end of the century. Possible military use of passenger ships was envisaged and, in 1889, RMS Teutonic became the first auxiliary cruiser in history. In the time of war, ships could easily be equipped with cannons and used in cases of conflict. Teutonic succeeded in impressing Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, who wanted to see his country endowed with a modern fleet.[30]
In 1870, the White Star Line’s RMS Oceanic set a new standard for ocean travel by having its first-class cabins amidships, with the added amenity of large portholes, electricity and running water.[31] The size of ocean liners increased from 1880 to meet the needs of immigration to the United States and Australia.
RMS Umbria[32] and her sister ship RMS Etruria were the last two Cunard liners of the period to be fitted with auxiliary sails. Both ships were built by John Elder & Co. of Glasgow, Scotland, in 1884. They were record breakers by the standards of the time, and were the largest liners then in service, plying the Liverpool to New York route.
SS Ophir was a 6814-ton[33] steamship owned by the Orient Steamship Co., and was fitted with refrigeration equipment. She plied the Suez Canal route from England to Australia during the 1890s, up until the years leading to World War I when she was converted to an armed merchant cruiser.
In 1897, Norddeutscher Lloyd launched SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse. She was followed three years later by three sister ships. The ship was both luxurious and fast, managing to steal the Blue Riband from the British.[34] She was also the first of the fourteen ocean liners with four funnels that have emerged in maritime history. The ship needed only two funnels, but more funnels gave passengers a feeling of safety and power.[35] In 1900, the Hamburg America Line competed with its own four-funnel liner, SS Deutschland. She quickly obtained the Blue Riband for her company. This race for speed, however, was a detriment to passengers' comfort and generated strong vibration, which made her owner lose any interest in her after she lost the Blue Riband to another ship of Norddeutscher Lloyd.[36] She was only used for ten years for transatlantic crossing before being converted into a cruise ship.[37] Until 1907 the Blue Riband remained in the hands of the Germans.
Early 20th century
In 1902, J. P. Morgan embraced the idea of a maritime empire comprising a large number of companies. He founded the International Mercantile Marine Co., a trust which originally comprised only American shipping companies. The trust then absorbed Leyland Line and White Star Line.[38] The British government then decided to intervene in order to regain the ascendancy.
Although German liners dominated in terms of speed, British liners dominated in terms of size. RMS Oceanic and the Big Four of the White Star Line were the first liners to surpass SS Great Eastern as the largest passenger ships. Ultimately their owner was American (as mentioned above, White Star Line had been absorbed into J. P. Morgan's trust). Faced with this major competition, the British government contributed financially to Cunard Line's construction of two liners of unmatched size and speed, under the condition that they be available for conversion into armed cruisers when needed by the navy. The result of this partnership was the completion in 1907 of two sister ships: RMS Lusitania and RMS Mauretania, both of which won the Blue Riband during their respective maiden voyages. The latter retained this distinction for twenty years.[39] Their great speed was achieved by the use of turbines instead of conventional expansion machines.[40] In response to the competition from Cunard Line, White Star Line ordered the Olympic-class liners at the end of 1907.[41] The first of these three liners, RMS Olympic, completed in 1911, had a fine career, although punctuated by incidents. This was not the case for her sister, the RMS Titanic, which sank on her maiden voyage on 15 April 1912, resulting in several changes to maritime safety practices.[42] As for the Third Sister HMHS Britannic, she never served her intended purpose as a passenger ship, as she was drafted in World War I as a Hospital ship, and sank to a sea mine in 1916
At the same time, France tried to mark its presence with the completion in 1912 of SS France owned by the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique.[43] Germany soon responded to the competition from the British. From 1912 to 1914, Hamburg America Line completed a trio of liners significantly larger than the White Star Line's Olympic-class ships. The first to be completed, in 1913 was SS Imperator. She was followed by SS Vaterland in 1914.[44] The construction of the third liner, SS Bismarck, was paused by the outbreak of World War I.[45][46]
The First World War was a hard time for the liners. Some of them, like the Mauretania, Aquitania, and Britannic were transformed into hospital ships during the conflict.[39][47][48][43] Others became troop transports, while some, such as the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, participated in the war as warships.[49] Troop transportation was very popular due to the liners' large size. Liners converted into troop ships were painted in dazzle camouflage to reduce the risk of being torpedoed by enemy submarines.[50]
The war was marked by the loss of many liners. Britannic, while serving as a hospital ship, sank in the Aegean Sea in 1916 after she struck a mine.[51] Numerous incidents of torpedoing took place and large numbers of ships sank. Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was defeated and scuttled after a fierce battle with HMS Highflyer off the coast of west Africa, while her sister ship Kronprinz Wilhelm served as a commerce raider.[52] The torpedoing and sinking of RMS Lusitania on 7 May 1915 caused the loss of 128 American lives at a time when the United States was still neutral. Although other factors came into play, the loss of American lives in the sinking strongly pushed the United States to favour the Allied Powers and facilitated the country's entry into the war.[53]
The losses of the liners owned by the Allied Powers were compensated by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. This led to the awarding of many German liners to the victorious Allies. The Hamburg America Line's trio (Imperator, Vaterland, and Bismarck) were divided between the Cunard Line, White Star Line, and the United States Lines, while the three surviving ships of the Kaiser-class were requisitioned by the US Navy in the context of the conflict and then retained. The Tirpitz, whose construction was delayed by the outbreak of war eventually became the RMS Empress of Australia. Of the German superliners, only Deutschland, because of her poor state, avoided this fate.[37]
After World War I
After a period of reconstruction, the shipping companies recovered quickly from the damage caused by the First World War. The ships, whose construction was started before the war, such as SS Paris of the French Line, were completed and put into service.[54] Prominent British liners, such as the Olympic and the Mauretania, were also put back into service and had a successful career in the early 1920s. More modern liners were also built, such as SS Île de France (completed in 1927).[55] The United States Lines, having received the Vaterland, renamed her Leviathan and made her the flagship of the company's fleet. Because all U.S. registered ships counted as an extension of U.S. territory, the National Prohibition Act made American liners alcohol-free, causing alcohol-seeking passengers to choose other liners for travel and substantially reducing profits for the United States Lines.[44]
In 1929, Germany returned to the scene with the two ships of Norddeutscher Lloyd, SS Bremen and SS Europa. Bremen won the Blue Riband from Britain's Mauretania after the latter had held it for twenty years.[56] Soon, Italy also entered the scene. The Italian Line completed SS Rex and SS Conte di Savoia in 1932, breaking the records of both luxury and speed (Rex won the westbound Blue Riband in 1933).[57] France reentered the scene with SS Normandie of the French Line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT). The ship was the largest ship afloat at the time of her completion in 1932. She was also the fastest, winning the Blue Riband in 1935.[58]
A crisis arose when the United States drastically reduced its immigrant quotas, causing shipping companies to lose a large part of their income and to have to adapt to this circumstance.[59] The Great Depression also played an important role, causing a drastic decrease in the number of people crossing the Atlantic and at the same time reducing the number of profitable transatlantic voyages. In response, shipping companies redirected many of their liners to a more profitable cruise service.[60] In 1934, in the United Kingdom, Cunard Line and White Star Line were in very bad shape financially. Chancellor of the Exchequer Neville Chamberlain proposed to merge the two companies in order to solve their financial problems.[61] The merger took place in 1934 and launched the construction of the Queen Mary while progressively sending their older ships to the scrapyard. The Queen Mary was the fastest ship of her time and the largest for a short amount of time, she captured the Blue Riband twice, both off Normandie.[62] The construction of a second ship, the Queen Elizabeth, was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II.[63]
The Second World War was a conflict rich in events involving liners. From the start of the conflict, German liners were requisitioned and many were turned into barracks ships. It was in the course of this activity that the Bremen caught fire and was scrapped in 1941.[64] During the conflict, RMS Queen Elizabeth and RMS Queen Mary provided distinguished service as troopships.[65]
Many liners were sunk with great loss of life; in World War II the three 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 more than 3,000 lives;[66] the sinking of Wilhelm Gustloff, after the ship was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, with more than 9,000 lives lost, making it the deadliest maritime disaster in history;[67] and the sinking of SS Cap Arcona with more than 7,000 lives lost, both in the Baltic Sea, in 1945.[68]
SS Rex was bombarded and sunk in 1942, while Normandie caught fire, capsized and sank in New York in 1942 while being converted for troop duty.[69] Many of the superliners of the 'twenties and 'thirties were victims of U-boats, mines or enemy aircraft. Empress of Britain was attacked by German planes, then torpedoed by a U-boat when tugs tried to tow her to safety.[70]
Decline of long-distance line voyages
After the war, some ships were again transferred from the defeated nations to the winning nations as war reparations. This was the case of the Europa, which was ceded to France and renamed Liberté.[71] The United States government was very impressed with the service of the Cunard's Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth as troopships during the war. To ensure a reliable and fast troop transport in case of a war against the Soviet Union, the U.S. government sponsored the construction of SS United States and entered it into service for the United States Lines in 1952. She won the Blue Riband on her maiden voyage in that year and held it until Richard Branson won it back in 1986 with Virgin Atlantic Challenger II.[72] One year later, in 1953, Italy completed the SS Andrea Doria, which later sank in 1956 after a collision with MS Stockholm.[73]
Before World War II, aircraft had not been a significant threat to ocean liners. Most pre-war aircraft were noisy, vulnerable to bad weather, few had the range needed for transoceanic flights, and all were expensive and had a small passenger capacity. The war accelerated development of large, long-ranged aircraft. Four-engined bombers, such as the Avro Lancaster and Boeing B-29 Superfortress, with their range and massive carrying capacity, were natural prototypes for post-war next-generation airliners. Jet engine technology also accelerated due to wartime development of jet aircraft. In 1953, the De Havilland Comet became the first commercial jet airliner; the Sud Aviation Caravelle, Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 followed, and much long-distance travel was done by air. The Italian Line's SS Michelangelo and SS Raffaello,[6] launched in 1962 and 1963, were two of the last ocean liners to be built primarily for liner service across the North Atlantic. Cunard's transatlantic liner, Queen Elizabeth 2, was also used as a cruise ship.[5] By the early 1960s, 95% of passenger traffic across the Atlantic was by aircraft. Thus the reign of the ocean liners came to an end.[74] By the early 1970s, many passenger ships continued their service in cruising.
In 1982, during the Falklands War, three active or former liners were requisitioned for war service by the British Government. The liners Queen Elizabeth 2[75] and Canberra, were requisitioned from Cunard and P&O to serve 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 served after the war as a troopship until the RAF Mount Pleasant station was built at Stanley, which could handle trooping flights.[76]
21st century
By the first decade of the 21st century, only a few former ocean liners were still in existence, some like SS Norway, were sailing as cruise ships while others, like Queen Mary, were preserved as museums, or laid up at pier side like SS United States. After the retirement of Queen Elizabeth 2 in 2008, the only ocean liner in service was Queen Mary 2, built in 2003–04, used for both point-to-point line voyages and for cruises.
Supervivientes
Four ocean liners that were made before World War II survive today as they have been preserved as museums, and hotels. The Japanese ocean liner Hikawa Maru, has been preserved in Naka-ku, Yokohama, Japan, as a museum ship, since 1961. RMS Queen Mary was preserved in 1967 after her retirement, and became a museum/hotel in Long Beach, California. In the 1970s, SS Great Britain was also preserved, and now resides in Bristol, England as another museum.[77] The latest ship to undergo preservation is MV Doulos, which became a dry berthed hotel on Bintan Island, Indonesia.[78]
Post-war ocean liners still extant are United States (1952), docked in Philadelphia since 1996; Rotterdam (1958), moored in Rotterdam as a museum and hotel since 2008;[79] and Queen Elizabeth 2 (1967), floating luxury hotel and museum at Mina Rashid, Dubai since 2018.[80]
MV Astoria (1948) (originally MS Stockholm, which collided with Andrea Doria in 1956[81]) was in active service until the COVID-19 pandemic. She was returned to the Portuguese bank that owns her after Cruise & Maritime Voyages ceased operations in July, 2020.[82]
Caracteristicas
Size and speed
Since their beginning in the 19th century, ocean liners must meet growing demands. The first liners were small and overcrowded, leading to unsanitary conditions on board.[19] Eliminating these phenomena required larger ships, to reduce the crowding of passengers, and faster ships, to reduce the duration of transatlantic crossings. The iron and steel hulls and steam power allowed for these advances. Thus, SS Great Western (1,340 GRT) and SS Great Eastern (18,915 GRT) were constructed in 1838 and 1858 respectively.[26] The record set by Great Eastern was not beaten until 43 years later in 1901 when RMS Celtic (20,904 GT) was completed.[83] The tonnage then grew profoundly: the first liners to have a tonnage that exceeded 20,000 were the Big Four of the White Star Line. The Olympic-class ocean liners, first completed in 1911, were the first to have a tonnage that exceeded 45,000. SS Normandie, completed in 1935, had a tonnage of 79,280.[84] In 1940, RMS Queen Elizabeth raised the record of size to a tonnage of 83,673. She was the largest passenger ship ever constructed until 1997.[85] In 2003, RMS Queen Mary 2 became the largest, at 149,215 GT.
In the early 1840s, the average speed of liners was less than 10 knots (a crossing of the Atlantic thus took about 12 days or more). In the 1870s, the average speed of liners increased to around 15 knots the duration of a transatlantic crossing shortened to around 7 days, owing to the technological progress made in the propulsion of ships: the rudimentary steam boilers gave rise to more elaborate machineries and the paddlewheel gradually disappeared, replaced first by one helix then by two helixes. At the beginning of the 20th century, Cunard Line's RMS Lusitania and RMS Mauretania reached a speed of 27 knots. Their records seemed unbeatable, and most shipping companies abandoned the race for speed in favor of size, luxury, and safety.[29] The advent of ships with diesel engines, and of those whose engines were oil-burning, such as the Bremen, in the early 1930s, relaunched the race for the Blue Riband. The Normandie won it in 1935 before being snatched by RMS Queen Mary in 1938. It was not until 1952 that SS United States set a record that remains today: 34.5 knots (3 days and 12 hours of crossing the Atlantic).[29] In addition, since 1935, the Blue Riband is accompanied by the Hales Trophy, which is awarded to the winner.[86]
Passenger cabins and amenities
The first ocean liners were designed to carry mostly migrants. On-board sanitary conditions were often deplorable and epidemics were frequent. In 1848, maritime laws imposing hygiene rules were adopted and they improved on-board living conditions.[87] Gradually, two distinct classes were developed: the cabin class and the steerage class. The passengers traveling on the former were wealthy passengers and they enjoyed certain comfort in that class. The passengers traveling on the latter were members of the middle class or the working class. In that class, they were packed in large dormitories. Until the beginning of the 20th century, they did not always have bedsheets and meals.[88] An intermediate class for tourists and members of the middle class gradually appeared. The cabins were then divided into three classes.[40] The facilities offered to passengers developed over time. In the 1870s, the installation of bathtubs and oil lamps caused a sensation on board RMS Oceanic.[89] In the following years, the number of amenities became numerous, for example: smoking rooms, lounges, and promenade deck. In 1907, RMS Adriatic even offered turkish baths and a swimming pool.[90] In the 1920s, SS Paris was the first liner to offer a movie theatre.[91]
A first-class cabin on board Titanic in 1912
The second class smoking room on board Mauretania
The first class dining room on board Queen Mary
The first class dining room on board Andrea Doria
Constructores y navieras
Shipyards
British and German
The British and the Germans were the most famed in shipbuilding during the great era of ocean liners. In Ireland, Harland & Wolff shipyard of Belfast were particularly innovative and succeeded in winning the trust of many shipping companies, such as White Star Line. These gigantic shipyards employed a large portion of the population of cities and built hulls, machines, furnitures and lifeboats.[92] Among the other well-known British shipyards were Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, the builder of RMS Mauretania, and John Brown & Company, builder of RMS Lusitania.[93]
Germany had many shipyards on the coast of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, including Blohm & Voss and AG Vulcan Stettin. Many of these shipyards were destroyed during World War II; some managed to recover and continue building ships.[94]
Other nations
In France, major shipyards included Chantiers de Penhoët in Saint-Nazaire, known for building SS Normandie.[95] This shipyard merged with Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire shipyard to form the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard, which has built ships including RMS Queen Mary 2.[96] France also had major shipyards on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.[97]
Italy and the Netherlands also had shipyards capable of building large ships (for example, Fincantieri).[98]
Shipping companies
British
There were many British shipping companies; two were particularly distinguished: Cunard Line and White Star Line. Both were founded during the 1830s and engaged in strong competition against one another, possessing the largest and fastest liners in the world in the early 20th century. It was not until 1934 that financial difficulty caused the two to merge, forming Cunard White Star Ltd.[99] The P&O also occupied a large part of the business.
The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company operated as a state-owned enterprise with its close relationship with the government. Over the course of its history, it took over many shipping companies, becoming one of the largest companies in the world before legal problems led to its liquidation in 1931. The Union Castle Line operated in Africa and the Indian Ocean with a fleet of considerable size.[100]
German, French and Dutch
Two rival companies, Hamburg America Line (often referred to as "HAPAG") and Norddeutscher Lloyd, competed in Germany. The First and Second World Wars dealt much damage to the two companies, both forced to renounce their ships to the winning side in both wars. The two merged to form Hapag-Lloyd in 1970.
The ocean liner industry in France also consisted of two rival companies: the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (commonly known as "Transat" or "French Line") and Messageries Maritimes. The CGT operated on the North Atlantic route with well-known liners such as SS Normandie and SS France, while the MM operated in French colonies in Asia and Africa. Decolonization in the second half of the 20th century led to a sharp decline in profit for the MM, and it merged with the CGT in 1975 to form the Compagnie Générale Maritime.[101]
The Netherlands had 3 main company’s, on the one hand they had the Holland America Line that operated mostly on the north Atlantic route and with well known ships like the SS Nieuw Amsterdam and SS Rotterdam. Unlike the French and German industry the Holland America line had no domestic rival and thus only had to compete with foreign lines. the other two dutch lines were the Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland (SMN), otherwise known as the Netherland Line and the Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd (KRL) they both offered regular service between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies, the Dutch colony in South East Asia now known as Indonesia and had a long-lasting friendly rivalry.
Other nations
In the United States, the United States Lines tried to impose itself on the international scene but failed to compete with European companies. In Italy, the Italian Line was founded in 1932 as a result of a merger of three companies. It was known for operating liners such as SS Rex and SS Andrea Doria.[102] The Japanese established Nippon Yusen, also known as NYK Lines, which ran trans-Pacific liners such as the Hikawa Maru and the Asama Maru.
Rutas
North Atlantic
The most important of all routes taken by ocean liners was the North Atlantic route. It accounted for a large part of the clientele, who traveled between ports of Liverpool, Southampton, Hamburg, Le Havre, Cherbourg, Cobh, and New York City. The profitability of this route came from migration to the United States. The need for speed influenced the construction of liners for this route, and the Blue Riband was awarded to the liner with the highest speed.[16] The route was not without danger, as storm and icebergs are common in the North Atlantic. Many shipwrecks occurred on this route, among them that of RMS Titanic, the details of which have been recounted in numerous books, films and documentaries.[103] This route was the preferred route for major shipping companies and was the scene of fierce competition between them.[104]
South Atlantic
The South Atlantic was the route frequented by liners bound for South America, Africa, and sometimes Oceania. The White Star Line had some of its ships, such as the Suevic, on the Liverpool-Cape Town-Sydney route.[105] There was no competition in the South Atlantic as there was in the North Atlantic. There were fewer shipwrecks.[106] The Hamburg Süd operated on this route. Among its ship was the famed SS Cap Arcona.[107]
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea was frequented by many ocean liners. Many companies benefited from migration from Italy and the Balkans to the United States. Cunard's RMS Carpathia served on the Gibraltar-Genoa-Trieste route.[108] Similarly, Italian liners crossed the Mediterranean Sea before entering the North Atlantic Ocean.[109] The opening of the Suez Canal made the Mediterranean a possible route to Asia.[110]
Indian Ocean and the Far East
Colonization made Asia particularly attractive to shipping companies. Many government officials must travel there from time to time. As early as the 1840s, the P&O organized trips to Calcutta via the Suez Isthmus, as the canal had not yet been built.[111] The time it took to travel on this route to India, Southeast Asia, and Japan was long, with many stopovers.[112] The Messageries Maritimes operated on this route, notably in the 1930s, with its motor ships.[113] Similarly, the La Marseillaise, put into service in 1949, was one of the flagships of its fleet. Decolonization caused the loss in the profitability of these ships.[114]
Otro
National symbol
The construction of some ocean liners was a result of nationalism. The revival of power of the German navy stemmed from the clear affirmation of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to see his country become a sea power. Thus, the SS Deutschland of 1900 had the honor to bear the name of its mother country, an honor which she lost after ten years of a disappointing career.[37] RMS Lusitania and RMS Mauretania of 1907 were built with the help of the British government with the desire that the United Kingdom would regain its prestige as a sea power.[39] SS United States of 1952 was the result of a desire by the United States government to possess a large and fast ship that is convertible into a troop transport.[72] SS Rex and SS Conte di Savoia of 1932 were constructed at the demands of Benito Mussolini.[115] Finally, the construction SS France of 1961 was a result of Charles de Gaulle's desire to build on French national pride and was financed by the French government.[116][117]
Some liners did gain great popularity. Mauretania and Olympic had many admirers during their careers, and their retirement and scrapping caused certain sadness. The same was true of Île de France, whose scrapping aroused strong emotion from her admirers.[118] Similarly, Queen Mary was very popular with the British people.[119]
Maritime disasters and incidents
Some ocean liners are known today because of their sinking with great loss of lives. In 1873, RMS Atlantic struck an underwater rock and sank off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, killing at least 535 people.[42] In 1912, the sinking of the RMS Titanic, which took approximately 1,500 lives, highlighted the overconfidence of the shipping companies in their ships, such as the failure to put enough lifeboats on board. Safety measures at sea were reexamined following the incident.[104] Two years later, in 1914, RMS Empress of Ireland sank in the Saint Lawrence River after colliding with another ship. 1,012 people died.[120]
Among the other sinkings are the torpedo sinking of the RMS Lusitania in 1915, which resulted in the loss of 1,198 lives and provoked an international outcry, the naval mine sinking of the HMHS Britannic in 1916, and that of MS Georges Philippar, which caught fire and sank in the Gulf of Aden in 1932, killing 54 people.[121] In 1956, the sinking of SS Andrea Doria, with the loss of 46 lives, after a collision with MS Stockholm made the headline.
In 1985, MS Achille Lauro was hijacked off the coast of Egypt by members of the Palestinian Liberation Front, resulting the death of one of the hostages being held by the hijackers. In 1994, she caught fire and sank off the coast of Somalia.[122][123]
En la cultura popular
Literature
Ocean liners have a strong impact on popular culture, whether during their golden age or afterwards. In 1867, Jules Verne recounted his experience aboard SS Great Eastern in his novel A Floating City. In 1898, writer Morgan Robertson wrote the short novel Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan, which features a British ocean liner Titan that hits an iceberg and sinks in the North Atlantic with great loss of lives. The similarities between the plot of the novel and the sinking of the RMS Titanic 14 years later led to the assertion of conspiracy theories regarding Titanic.[124]
Films
Ocean liners were often a setting of a love story in films, such as the 1939's Love Affair[125][126] Liners were also used as a setting of disaster films. The 1960 film The Last Voyage was filmed on board the Íle de France, which was used as a floating prop and was scuttled for the occasion.[127] The 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure has become a classic of the genre and has spawned many remakes.[128]
The sinking of Titanic also attracted attention of filmmakers. Nearly fifteen films were made to depict it, with James Cameron's 1997 film being the most commercially successful.[129]
Ver también
- List of cruise lines
- List of cruise ships
- List of ocean liners
- Mail boat
- Packet boat
Referencias
Citations
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- ^ http://chriscunard.com/history-fleet/translantic-liner/ Ocean Liner vs. Cruise Ship. Chris Frame's Cunard Page.
- ^ Pickford, Nigel (1999). Lost Treasure Ships of the Twentieth Century. Washington, D.C: National Geographic. ISBN 0-7922-7472-5.
- ^ a b Norris, Gregory J. (December 1981). "Evolution of cruising". Cruise Travel. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
- ^ a b Goossens, Reuben (2012). "T/n Michelangelo and Raffaello". ssMaritime.com. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
- ^ Ferulli 2004, p. 11
- ^ Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 14
- ^ Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 12
- ^ a b Piouffre 2009, p. 10
- ^ Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 13
- ^ a b c Le Goff 1998, p. 8
- ^ Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 16
- ^ a b c Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 19
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 9
- ^ a b Piouffre 2009, p. 100
- ^ Rolt, L.T.C., "Victorian Engineering", 1970, Allen Lane The Penguin Press, ISBN 0-7139-0104-7
- ^ Piouffre 2009, p. 13
- ^ a b Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 21
- ^ Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 25
- ^ Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 20
- ^ "Ship History". The Cunarders. Archived from the original on 2016-04-04. Retrieved 2010-04-24.
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 11
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 12
- ^ Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 27
- ^ a b Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 29
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 16
- ^ L'incendie de L'Austria
- ^ a b c Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 47
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 22
- ^ "THE WHITE STAR LINE". The Red Duster. Archived from the original on 2010-08-19.
- ^ "Umbria". Chris' Cunard Page. Archived from the original on 2010-04-06. Retrieved 2010-04-24.
- ^ "SS Ophir". Clydemaritime.
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 23
- ^ Ferulli 2004, p. 124
- ^ Piouffre 2009, p. 26
- ^ a b c Le Goff 1998, p. 25
- ^ William B. Saphire, « The White Star Line and the International Mercantile Marine Company » Archived 2008-01-28 at the Wayback Machine, Titanic Historical Society. Accessed 11 July 2010
- ^ a b c Le Goff 1998, p. 33
- ^ a b Piouffre 2009, p. 16
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 37
- ^ a b Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 54
- ^ a b Le Goff 1998, p. 47
- ^ a b Le Goff 1998, p. 52
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 61
- ^ Chirnside 2004, p. 223
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 39
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 55
- ^ Ferulli 2004, p. 120
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 50
- ^ Layton, J. Kent (2009). "H.M.H.S. Britannic". Atlantic Liners. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
- ^ « Kronprinz Wilhelm » Archived 2012-09-18 at the Wayback Machine, The Great Ocean Liners. Accessed 12 July 2010
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 34
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 58
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 65
- ^ Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 63
- ^ Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 69
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 84
- ^ Chirnside 2004, p. 111
- ^ Chirnside 2004, p. 117
- ^ Chirnside 2004, p. 122
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 93
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 100
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 70
- ^ Piouffre 2009, p. 42
- ^ Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 86
- ^ Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 87
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 69
- ^ Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 83
- ^ Newman, Jeff (2012). "Empress of Britain (II)". Great Ships. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 73
- ^ a b Le Goff 1998, p. 109
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 112
- ^ Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 93
- ^ Ljungström, Henrik. "Queen Elizabeth 2: 1969 – Present Day". The Great Ocean Liners. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
- ^ "Introduction to the SS Uganda". SS Uganda Trust. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
- ^ "Visit Bristol's attraction – Brunel's ss Great Britain". ssgreatbritain.org. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
- ^ "DOULOS PHOS TO BECOME HOTEL (p.5)" (PDF). The Porthole. New York, NY: World Ship Society, Port of New York. November 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
- ^ "The history of the SS Rotterdam". Steamship Rotterdam Foundation. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
- ^ Morris, Hugh (January 13, 2016). "'Forlorn' QE2 is not coming home from Dubai, campaigners concede". Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
- ^ "CMV to replace Discovery from the UK". travelmole.com. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
- ^ Robert McGillivray (January 4, 2021). "Iconic Cruise Ship Marco Polo To Be Scrapped". Cruise Hive.
- ^ « The Largest Passenger Ships in the World » Archived 2017-02-27 at the Wayback Machine, The Great Ocean Liners. Accessed 12 July 2010
- ^ « The Evolution of Size » Archived 2012-12-29 at the Wayback Machine, The Great Ocean Liners. Accessed 2 July 2010
- ^ « Queen Elizabeth » Archived 2010-08-26 at the Wayback Machine, The Great Ocean Liners. Accessed 12 July 2010
- ^ Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 46
- ^ Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 26
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 30
- ^ Chirnside 2004, p. 8
- ^ Shifrin, Malcolm (2015). "Chapter 23: The Turkish bath at sea". Victorian Turkish Baths. Historic England. ISBN 978-1-84802-230-0.
- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 59
- ^ Chirnside 2004, p. 13
- ^ Ferulli 2004, pp. 86–87
- ^ Ferulli 2004, p. 89
- ^ Ferulli 2004, p. 85
- ^ (in French) « Queen Mary 2 » Archived 2010-01-07 at the Wayback Machine, Musée national de la Marine. Accessed 12 July 2010
- ^ Ferulli 2004, p. 84
- ^ Ferulli 2004, pp. 90–93
- ^ Ferulli 2004, pp. 64–65
- ^ Ferulli 2004, pp. 78–79
- ^ Ferulli 2004, p. 63
- ^ Ferulli 2004, pp. 72–73
- ^ Piouffre 2009, p. 101
- ^ a b Piouffre 2009, p. 112
- ^ « Suevic » Archived 2009-10-10 at the Wayback Machine, The Great Ocean Liners. Accessed 13 July 2010
- ^ Piouffre 2009, p. 164
- ^ « Cap Arcona » Archived 2014-07-12 at the Wayback Machine, The Great Ocean Liners. Accessed 13 July 2010
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- ^ Piouffre 2009, p. 211
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- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 81
- ^ Mars & Jubelin 2001, p. 97
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- ^ Le Goff 1998, p. 77
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Bibliography
- Rémy, Max; Le Boutilly, Laurent (2016). Les "Provinces" Transatlantiques 1882–1927 (in French). Éditions Minimonde76. ISBN 9782954181820.
- Brouard, Jean-Yves (1998). Paquebots de chez nous (in French). MDM. ISBN 9782909313535.
- Chirnside, Mark (2004). The Olympic Class Ships : Olympic, Titanic, Britannic. Tempus. ISBN 9780752428680.
- Ferulli, Corrado (2004). Au cœur des bateaux de légende (in French). Hachette Collections. ISBN 9782846343503.
- Le Goff, Olivier (1998). Les Plus Beaux Paquebots du Monde (in French). Solar. ISBN 9782263027994.
- Mars, Christian; Jubelin, Frank (2001). Paquebots (in French). Sélection du Reader's Digest. ISBN 9782709812863.
- Piouffre, Gérard (2009). L'Âge d'or des voyages en paquebot (in French). Éditions du Chêne. ISBN 9782812300028.
- Scull, Theodore W. (1998). Ocean Liner Odyssey, 1958-1969. London: Carmania Press. ISBN 0951865692.
- Scull, Theodore W. (2007). Ocean Liner Twilight: Steaming to Adventure, 1968-1979. Windsor: Overview Press. ISBN 9780954720636.
- Scull, Theodore W. (2017). Ocean Liner Sunset. Windsor: Overview Press. ISBN 9780954702687.
- Server, Lee (1998). L'Âge d'or des paquebots (in French). MLP. ISBN 2-7434-1050-7.
Otras lecturas
- Russell, Mark A. "Steamship nationalism: Transatlantic passenger liners as symbols of the German Empire." International Journal of Maritime History 28.2 (2016): 313–334. Abstract.
enlaces externos
- Ocean Liners at Curlie