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For other uses, see White star.
White Star Line logo and burgee.
White Star Line logo and burgee. A maritime flag is a Flag designated for use on Boats and other watercraft

The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, more commonly known as the White Star Line, was a prominent British shipping company, most famous for its ill-fated luxury flagship, the RMS Titanic, and the World War I loss of her sister ship, Britannic. Shipping is physical process of Transporting goods and Cargo. Construction The Titanic was a White Star Line ocean liner built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All History Post- Titanic design changes Following the loss of the Titanic and the subsequent enquiries several design changes were made to the remaining In 1933, the line merged with its chief rival, Cunard Line, which still operates today. Cunard Line is a British shipping company operator of the Ocean liners RMS ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' ( QE2) RMS ''Queen Mary 2'' (

Contents

History

Early history

The first company bearing the name White Star Line was founded in Liverpool, England by John Pilkington and Henry Threlfall Wilson, and focused on the U. Liverpool ( is a City and Metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland K. - Australia trade, which had increased following the discovery of gold there. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 The fleet initially consisted of chartered sailing ships, RMS Tayleur, the Blue Jacket (later renamed White Star), the Red Jacket, the Ellen and the Iowa. The RMS Tayleur was a fully-rigged Iron Clipper chartered by the White Star Line, and her fate would be a black mark on The fate of Tayleur, the largest ship of its day, would haunt the company for years, for it was wrecked on its maiden voyage to Australia off the coast of Ireland. The RMS Tayleur was a fully-rigged Iron Clipper chartered by the White Star Line, and her fate would be a black mark on Lambay Island ( lies off the coast of north County Dublin, Ireland, north of Ireland's Eye. The company acquired its first steamship in 1863, the Royal Standard. Year 1863 ( MDCCCLXIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common

The original White Star Line merged with other small lines, the Black Ball and Eagle Lines to form a conglomerate called the Liverpool, Melbourne and Oriental Steam Navigation Company Limited. This did not prosper and White Star broke away and concentrated on the Liverpool to New York service. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Heavy investment in new ships was financed by borrowing, but the company's bank, the Royal Bank of Liverpool, failed in October 1867 leaving the company with an outstanding debt of £527,000, and it was forced into bankruptcy. Year 1867 ( MDCCCLXVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting

The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company

Thomas Ismay, a director of the National Line, purchased the house flag, trade name White Star Line, and goodwill of the bankrupt company for 1,000 pounds sterling on 18 January 1868, with the intention of operating large ships on the North Atlantic service. Thomas Henry Ismay ( 7 January 1837 &ndash 23 November 1899) was the founder of the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company more commonly known Events 350 - Generallus Magnentius deposes Roman Emperor Constans and proclaims himself Emperor Year 1868 ( MDCCCLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Ismay established the company's headquarters at the Albion House, Liverpool. Albion House, 30 James Street Liverpool, England, was built between 1896 and 1898

Over a game of billiards with Gustav Christian Schwabe, a prominent Liverpool merchant, and his nephew, Gustav Wilhelm Wolff, Ismay was told that if he agreed to have his ships built by Wolff's company, Harland and Wolff, Schwabe would agree to finance the new line. Liverpool ( is a City and Metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary Gustav Wilhelm Wolff ( 14 November 1834 &ndash 17 April 1913) was a British shipbuilder and politician. Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a diversified heavy industrial company specialising in Shipbuilding, Ship breaking, Offshore construction [1] Ismay agreed, and a partnership with Harland and Wolff was established. Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a diversified heavy industrial company specialising in Shipbuilding, Ship breaking, Offshore construction The shipbuilders received their first orders on 30 July 1869. Events 1419 - First Defenestration of Prague. 1502 - Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off Year 1869 ( MDCCCLXIX) is a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The agreement was that Harland and Wolff would build the ships at cost plus a fixed percentage and would not build any vessels for the White Star's rivals. In 1870 William Imrie joined the managing company. As the first ship was being commissioned, Ismay formed the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company to operate the steamers in the process of construction.

Four ships were initially constructed for the Oceanic class; the Oceanic (I), Atlantic, Baltic, and Republic and the line began operating again in 1871 between New York and Liverpool (with a call at Queenstown (Cobh)). RMS Oceanic was the White Star Line 's first liner and an important turning point in passenger liner design RMS Atlantic was a Transatlantic Ocean liner of the White Star Line that operated between Liverpool, United Kingdom SS Republic was an Ocean liner built in 1871 by Harland and Wolff for the White Star Line. Year 1871 ( MDCCCLXXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Liverpool ( is a City and Metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary Cobh (pronounced /koːv/ "cove" An Cóbh is a sheltered seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland.

It has long been customary for many shipping lines to have a common theme for the names of its ships. In the case of the White Star Line, this was to use the suffix -ic (e. g. Titanic, similarly to Cunard's use of -ia (e. Construction The Titanic was a White Star Line ocean liner built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland Cunard Line is a British shipping company operator of the Ocean liners RMS ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' ( QE2) RMS ''Queen Mary 2'' ( g. Carpathia) or the Allan Line's use of -ian (i. History The RMS Carpathia was built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson at their Newcastle upon Tyne, England shipyard The Allan Line was founded in 1854 as the "Montreal Ocean Steamship Company" e. S. S. Parisian) . The line also adopted a buff-coloured funnel with a black top as a distinguishing feature for its ships, as well as its distinctive house flag (or burgee), a red broad pennant with two tails with a white five-pointed star. A maritime flag is a Flag designated for use on Boats and other watercraft A maritime flag is a Flag designated for use on Boats and other watercraft A broad pennant is a swallow-tailed tapering flag flown from the Masthead of a ship to indicate the presence of a commodore on board

For the rest of the 19th century the White Star Line would own such famous ships as Britannic (I), Germanic, Teutonic and Majestic (I). Britannicjpg|right|thumb| Britannic and Germanic 2x4 carte de visite circa 1870 The SS Germanic was an ocean liner built by Harland and Wolff in 1875 and operated by the White Star Line. The SS Teutonic was a steamship built for the White Star Line in Belfast and was the first Armed merchant cruiser. The SS Majestic was a steamship built in 1890 for and operated by the White Star Line. Several of these ships would eventually take the Blue Riband, awarded to the fastest ship to make the Atlantic crossing. For use of the related term "Blue Ribbon" see Blue ribbon (disambiguation.

In 1899, Thomas Ismay commissioned one of the most beautiful steam ships constructed during the 19th century, the Oceanic (II). Year 1899 ( MDCCCXCIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Beginning The Keel was laid in 1897, and the ship was built under the supervision of its designer Thomas Ismay, the shipwright and owner of the She was the first ship to exceed the Great Eastern in length (although not tonnage). History Concept After the Great Exhibition of 1851 which had publicized Australia's wealth and natural resources waves of people were eager to emigrate from The building of this ship marked the point where White Star departed from competition in speed with her rivals and concentrated solely on comfort and economy of operation.

Between 1901 and 1907, a quartet of ships known as The Big Four, all over 20,000 tons, were brought into service: Celtic, Cedric, Baltic and Adriatic. Trans-Atlantic service For the next 11 years she plied the Atlantic crossing with out any major incident RMS Adriatic was an Ocean liner belonging to the White Star Line. In the 19th and early 20th century, the efficiency of coal engines only allowed a feasible speed of about 24 knots (44. An engine is a mechanical device that produces some form of output from a given input 4 km/h/27. 6 mph). Going above this speed introduced a logarithmic proportion in direct relation to fuel consumption and speed, in that for every knot increased, the required fuel was the previous fuel required plus itself. In Mathematics, the logarithm of a number to a given base is the power or Exponent to which the base must be raised in order to produce Fuel is any material that is burned or altered in order to obtain energy For this reason, the White Star Line committed to comfort and reliability rather than to speed. Speed is the rate of motion, or equivalently the rate of change in position often expressed as Distance d traveled per unit of As an example, the Titanic was designed for travel at 21 knots (39 km/h), while the Cunard Line's Mauretania held the speed record in 1926 for 27 knots (48 km/h). Cunard Line is a British shipping company operator of the Ocean liners RMS ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' ( QE2) RMS ''Queen Mary 2'' ( Beginning In 1897 the German liner became the largest and fastest ship in the world Year 1926 ( MCMXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

In 1902, the White Star Line was absorbed into the International Mercantile Marine Co. (IMM), a large American shipping conglomerate. Year 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting The International Mercantile Marine Co, originally the International Navigation Co By 1903, IMM had managed to absorb the American Line, Dominion Line, Atlantic Transport Line, Leyland Line, and Red Star Line. The American Line was a Shipping company based in Philadelphia that existed from 1871 to 1902 The Atlantic Transport Line was a Baltimore Maryland -based passenger Shipping line that was folded into the International Mercantile Marine The Red Star Line was a passenger ocean line that existed between its founding in 1871 and its amalgamation into the International Mercantile Marine Co They also came to trade agreements with the German lines Hamburg-Amerika and Norddeutscher Lloyd. The Hamburg Amerikanische Packetfahrt Actien Gesellschaft ( HAPAG for short often referred to in English as Hamburg America Line, sometimes also Hamburg-Amerika Hapag-Lloyd is a German transportation company comprising a cargo container Shipping line Hapag-Lloyd Container Line, and a cruise Bruce Ismay ceded control to IMM in the face of intense pressure from shareholders and J.P. Morgan, who threatened a rate war. John Pierpont Morgan ( April 17, 1837 &ndash March 31, 1913) was an American financier banker and art collector who

The White Star Line during the Golden age of Immigration

During what is called "The Golden age of Immigration" many thousands of people moved from Europe and Asia to the United States or Canada. The White Star Line was among the first shipping lines to have passenger ships with less expensive accommodation for Third Class passengers, in addition to First and Second Class. Liners of the Oceanic Class were built to carry up to 1,000 Third Class passengers; as time went on that number increased. The second Celtic was built to carry 2,350 Third Class passengers. The White Star Line did a great deal of advertising for immigrants traveling to America and Canada. Most passengers came from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and the Scandinavian countries Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. Passengers also came from Central and Southern Europe, and later from as far away as Lebanon.

Olympic class ships

The Cunard Line was the direct competition to White Star Line as their fame and success mounted. Competition is a rivalry between individuals groups nations or animals for territory or resources As a competition piece the White Star Line began construction on their new series, the Olympic class; the Olympic (II), Titanic, and Britannic. History J Bruce Ismay, the chairman of White Star Line, and William Pirrie, the chairman of Harland and Wolff Shipyard Construction The Titanic was a White Star Line ocean liner built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland History Post- Titanic design changes Following the loss of the Titanic and the subsequent enquiries several design changes were made to the remaining Whilst the Cunard Line was famed for the speed of it's ship, the Olympic class were designed to be the biggest and most luxurious ships in the world. Britannic was originally to have been much larger than Titanic at one thousand feet and named Gigantic; her name was changed shortly after the sinking of Titanic. [1]. The Olympic was the only ship of this class that gave White Star Line a profit. Titanic sank on its maiden voyage, while Britannic sank without carrying a paying customer. Britannic was requisitioned by the British government before she was fully fitted, and was used as a hospital ship during World War I. A hospital ship is a Ship designated for primary function as a medical treatment facility or Hospital; most are operated by the Military

Mergers

In 1927 the White Star Line was purchased by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company (RMSPC), making RMSPC the largest shipping group in the world[2][3]. The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by Scot James Macqueen

In 1928 a new Oceanic (III) was proposed and her keel was laid down that year at Harland & Wolff, but the final ship was never completed. She was to have a new diesel-electric propulsion system and maintain the thousand foot dimensions that had originally been planned for Gigantic and the unbuilt Ceric (1913). Oceanic's keel was dismantled and the steel was used in two new smaller ships built for the White Star: RMS Georgic and RMS Britannic (1929). MV Britannic was the third White Star Line ship to bear the name Both of these ships entered service in 1930 and were the last liners White Star ever built.

The RMSPC ran into financial trouble, and the British government investigated its affairs in 1930. As a result chairman Lord Kylsant was imprisoned in 1931 for misrepresenting the state of the company to shareholders. RMSPC was liquidated in 1932, and a new company, Royal Mail Lines Limited, took over the ships of RMSPC proper and those of other group companies trading to South America[4].

In 1933 White Star and Cunard were both in serious financial difficulties because of the Great Depression, falling passenger numbers and the advanced age of their fleets, particularly White Star's. Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Cunard Line is a British shipping company operator of the Ocean liners RMS ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' ( QE2) RMS ''Queen Mary 2'' ( Work had been halted on Cunards's new giant, Hull 534 (later the Queen Mary), in 1931, to save money. Naming and construction With Germany launching their and into service the British did not want to be left out in this ship building race In 1933 the British government agreed to provide assistance to the two competitors on the condition that they merge. The agreement was completed on 30 December 1933. Events 1460 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Wakefield. 1816 - The Treaty of St Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

The merger took place on 10 May 1934, creating Cunard-White Star Limited. Events 1291 - Scottish Nobles recognize the authority of Edward I of England. Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Cunard Line is a British shipping company operator of the Ocean liners RMS ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' ( QE2) RMS ''Queen Mary 2'' ( White Star contributed 10 ships to the new company while Cunard contributed 15 ships. Because of this, and since Hull 534 was Cunard's ship, 62% of the company was owned by Cunard's shareholders and 38% of the company was owned by White Star's shareholders. A year after this merger, the last of the "Olympic Class" ships the Olympic was removed from active duty. History J Bruce Ismay, the chairman of White Star Line, and William Pirrie, the chairman of Harland and Wolff Shipyard Two years later, in 1937, she was scrapped. Panelling from her First Class lounge was salvaged and installed in the restaurant of the White Swan Hotel, Alnwick, Northumberland, England. Alnwick ( IPA /ˈænɪk/ is a small Market town in north Northumberland, England.

In 1947, Cunard acquired the 38% of Cunard White Star it did not already own, and on 31 December 1949 it acquired Cunard White Star's assets and operations, and reverted to using the name "Cunard. Events 406 – Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gallia. Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. " From the time of the 1934 merger, the house flags of both lines had been flown on all its ships, with each ship flying the flag of its original owner above the other; after 1950, only Georgic and Britannic, the last surviving White Star liners, continued to fly the White Star burgee on a regular basis, above the Cunard house flag. Built at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, the RMS Georgic was the last ship built for the White Star Line before its merger with the MV Britannic was the third White Star Line ship to bear the name All other ships flew the Cunard flag over the White Star flag until 1968.

White Star Line today

The White Star Line's London offices, named Oceanic House, still exist today. Located just a block off Trafalgar Square, here one can still see the name on the building over the entrances. The Texas Embassy Cantina (restaurant) is located on the main level of the building. [2]

The French passenger tender Nomadic, the last surviving vessel of the White Star Line, was purchased by the Northern Ireland Department of Social Development in January 2006. History The keel of Nomadic was laid down in the Harland and Wolff Shipyards Belfast in 1910 (yard number 422 She has since been returned to Belfast, where she is to be restored under the auspices of the Nomadic Preservation Trust along with assistance by her original builders, Harland and Wolff. Belfast ( is the capital city of Northern Ireland and the seat of government in Northern Ireland. Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a diversified heavy industrial company specialising in Shipbuilding, Ship breaking, Offshore construction She is intended to serve as the centerpiece of a museum dedicated to the history of Atlantic steam, the White Star Line, and its most famous ship, the Titanic.

Also, the Cunard Line has introduced the White Star Service as the name of its brand of services found on its ships, the Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth 2. The company has also created the White Star Academy, an in-house program with the purpose of preparing new crew members for Cunard ships. The White Star flag is raised on the Queens on every April 15th, in memory of the Titanic disaster.

Disasters of the Line

Of the three Olympic class ships, two never completed a commercial voyage. However, the Olympic, the first of the three to be built, did have a long and successful career and was the only merchant ship in World War I known to have sunk a warship. On 12 May 1918 she rammed and sank the U-boat U-103 which had tried, and failed, to torpedo her. Events 1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre. Year 1918 ( MCMXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common In 1934, while steaming in a fog, the Olympic rammed the Lightship Nantucket, sinking it and killing seven of the crew. History Lightships and their crews were exposed to many dangers

White Star Line ships with year of acquisition

Notable captains

References

  1. ^ Barczewski, Stephanie (2006). Titanic: A Night Remembered. Continuum International Publishing Group, page 213. ISBN 1852855002. Retrieved on 2008-03-27. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 196 BC - Ptolemy V ascends to the throne of Egypt. 1309 - Pope Clement V excommunicates  
  2. ^ http://www.texasembassy.com/texasmain.htm Texas Embassy History with reference to Titanic

External links

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