Big Four (White Star Line)

The "Big Four" were a quartet of early-20th-century 20,000-ton ocean liners built by the Harland & Wolff shipyard for the White Star Line, to be the largest and most luxurious ships afloat. The group consisted of RMS Celtic (1901), RMS Cedric, RMS Baltic (1903) and RMS Adriatic (1906).

Origin

In 1899, White Star Line commissioned the RMS Oceanic (1899), which exceeded the SS Great Eastern in length but not tonnage. After Thomas Ismay's death, the order of Oceanic's sister-ship, Olympic was cancelled. Instead, resources were transferred to the company's new project; to build the grandest fleet of ships that had ever sailed the seas, the "Big Four".[1]

History

In 1901, the White Star Line ordered a series of four ships that were to be larger than Great Eastern, terming these ships the "Big Four".

Ships' careers

Celtic

RMS Celtic (1901) was the first of the "Big Four", entering service in 1901. She was the first ship to exceed the Great Eastern in tonnage. Her career was marred by several accidents. Transformed into an auxiliary cruiser during the First World War, she struck a mine in 1917, killing 17 people. In 1918, she was torpedoed by a German submarine, but once again remained afloat. In 1925, she was in collision with another vessel, but neither ship suffered serious damage. She was involved in another collision in 1927. Finally, in 1928, she struck rocks off Cobh and was considered unrecoverable. It took five years for the ship to be completely dismantled.[7][8]

Cedric

RMS Cedric entered service in 1903. Her commercial career was divided into transatlantic crossings and cruises. When the RMS Titanic sank, Cedric was docked in New York. After the sinking it was reported that J. Bruce Ismay, managing director of the White Star line, had attempted to arrange, by wireless with the White Star New York offices, to delay the sailing of Cedric until RMS Carpathia arrived in port so that he and the surviving crew members of Titanic could return to England without setting foot in the United States. However Cedric sailed on schedule.[9] During the First World War, Cedric was transformed into an auxiliary cruiser. On she collided with the Canadian Pacific ship Montreal off Morecambe Bay. Montreal was taken in tow but sank the next day 14 mi from the Mersey Bar lightvessel. On 30 September 1923, Cedric collided with RMS Scythia of the Cunard Line in Queenstown harbour during dense fog. Neither vessel was seriously damaged. She was decommissioned in 1931 and was scrapped the following year.[10]

Baltic

Commissioned in 1904, the RMS Baltic (1903) was involved in rescues at sea on a number of occasions. In 1909, she received a call for help from the RMS Republic (1903), which had collided with SS Florida of Lloyd Italiano. On 15 April 1912, Baltic received the distress call from Titanic, but was unable to assist. She was also involved in a rescue on, when she assisted the sinking schooner Northern Light. On 17 February 1933, she sailed for Osaka where she was scrapped.[11] Baltic was commonly accompanied by White Star tender SS Magnetic, which serviced her throughout most of her career. The two ships appear together on many White Star Line postcards.

Adriatic

RMS Adriatic (1906) entered service in 1907. She was the largest, the fastest, and the most luxurious of the Big Four, being the first ocean liner to have an indoor swimming pool and a Victorian-style Turkish bath.[12] Adriatic enjoyed a successful commercial career, which included war service during the First World War when the ship made several voyages as a troop transport.[13] Adriatic was devoted full-time to cruising from 1933, and was retired the following year, then sold by the White Star Line for scrapping in Japan in 1935.

builders	Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Harland and Wolff, Belfast
operators	House flag of White Star Line.svg White Star Line
class before	RMS Oceanic (1899)
class after	Athenic-class ocean liner
built range	1901–1906
in service range	1901–1934
total ships planned	4
total ships completed	4
total ships lost	1
total ships retired	3