The new British giants Ocean liner

rms mauretania of 1907



the sinking of rms titanic in 1912 led serious re-examination of safety measures @ sea.

although german liners dominated in terms of speed, british liners dominated in terms of size. rms oceanic , big 4 of white star line first liners surpass ss great eastern largest passenger ships. however, ultimately, owner american (as mentioned above, white star line had been absorbed j. p. morgan s trust). faced major competition, british government contributed financially cunard line s construction of 2 liners of unmatched size , speed, under condition available conversion armed cruisers when needed navy. result of partnership completion in 1907 of 2 sister ships: rms lusitania , rms mauretania, both of won blue riband during respective maiden voyages. latter retained distinction twenty years. great speed achieved use of turbines instead of conventional expansion machines. in response competition cunard line, white star line ordered olympic-class liners @ end of 1907. first of these 3 liners, rms olympic, completed in 1911, had fine career, although punctuated incidents. not case sister, infamous rms titanic, sank on maiden voyage on 15 april 1912, resulting in several changes maritime safety practices.

at same time, france tried mark presence completion in 1912 of ss france owned compagnie générale transatlantique. germany responded competition british. 1912 1914, hamburg america line completed trio of liners larger white star line s olympic-class ships. first completed, in 1913 ss imperator. followed ss vaterland in 1914. construction of third liner, ss bismarck, paused outbreak of world war i.