RMS Mauretania (1906) — BrandWiki

RMS Mauretania (1906)

Overview

RMS Mauretania

yard number
namesake	Mauretania
owner	1906–1934: Cunard Line 1934–1935: Cunard White Star Line
country	United Kingdom
operator	House flag of the Cunard Line.svg Cunard Line
registry	🇬🇧 Liverpool
route	1907–1919 Liverpool–Queenstown–New York 1919–1934 Southampton–Cherbourg–New York
ordered	1904
builder	Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Northumberland, England

RMS Mauretania was a British ocean liner built for the Cunard Line by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson at Wallsend on the River Tyne, England, launched in 1906. She was the world's largest ship until the launch of RMS Olympic in 1910. Mauretania captured the eastbound Blue Riband speed record on her maiden return voyage in December 1907, then claimed the westbound record during her 1909 season. She held both speed records for 20 years.

The liner was requisitioned by the British government for military service during World War I as a hospital ship and troopship, and was later returned to Cunard in 1919. Mauretania remained in service until September 1934, when Cunard-White Star retired her. She was scrapped in Rosyth in 1935.

RMS Lusitania, built by John Brown & Co, Clydebank, was her nearly identical sister ship.

Background

In 1897 the German liner SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse

laid down	18 August 1904

launched	20 September 1906

christened	20 September 1906, by the Duchess of Roxburghe

acquired	11 November 1907

maiden voyage	16 November 1907

in service	1907–1934

out of service	September 1934

identification	UK Official Number 124097‡R1R‡ Code letters "HLTQ"‡R1R‡ * *Marconi Radio Call Letters "MGA"

fate	Scrapped in 1935 at Rosyth, Scotland

Design and construction

Mauretania and Lusitania were both designed by Cunard naval architect Leonard Peskett, with Swan Hunter and John Brown working from plans for an ocean greyhound with a stipulated service speed of twenty-four knots in moderate weather, as per the terms of the mail subsidy contract. Peskett's original configuration for the ships in 1902 was a three-funnel design, when reciprocating engines were destined to be the powerplant. A giant model of the ships appeared in Shipbuilder's magazine in this configuration. Cunard decided to change power plants to Parsons' new turbine technology, and the ship's design was again modified when Peskett added a fourth funnel to the ship's profile. Construction of the vessel finally began with the laying of the keel in August 1904.[6] By tradition, the hull was painted in a light grey colour for photographic purposes during her launch; a common practice of the day for the first ship in a new class, as it made the lines of the ship clearer in the black-and-white photographs. Her hull was painted black before her maiden voyage.[7]

In 1906, Mauretania was christened and launched by the Duchess of Roxburghe. The ship's name was taken from the ancient Roman province of Mauretania on the northwest African coast, not the modern Mauritania to the south. Similar nomenclature was also employed by Mauretania's sister ship RMS Lusitania, which was named after the Roman province directly north of Mauretania, across the Strait of Gibraltar in Portugal.

At the time of her launch, she was the largest moving structure ever built,[8] and slightly larger in gross tonnage than Lusitania. The main visual differences between Mauretania and Lusitania were that Mauretania was five feet longer and had different vents.[3] Mauretania also had two extra stages of turbine blades in the forward turbines, making her slightly faster than Lusitania. Mauretania and Lusitania were the only ships with direct-drive steam turbines to hold the Blue Riband; in later ships, reduction-geared turbines were mainly used.[9] Mauretania's usage of the steam turbine was the largest application yet of the then-new technology, developed by Charles Algernon Parsons. During speed trials, these engines caused significant vibration at high speeds; in response, Mauretania received strengthening members aft and redesigned propellers before entering service, which reduced vibration.

Mauretania was designed to suit Edwardian tastes. The ship's interior was designed by the architect Harold Peto, the public rooms were fitted out by two notable London design houses – Ch. Mellier & Sons and Turner and Lord,[10] with twenty-eight different types of wood, along with marble, tapestries, and other furnishings such as the stunning octagon table in the smoking room.[10] Wood panelling for the first class public rooms was supposedly carved by three hundred craftsmen from Palestine but this seems unlikely, unnecessary and was probably executed by the yard or subcontracted, as were the majority of the second and third class areas. The multi-level first-class dining saloon of straw oak was decorated in Francis I style and topped by a large dome skylight. A series of elevators, then a rare new feature for liners, with grilles composed of the relatively new lightweight aluminium, were installed next to Mauretania's walnut grand staircase. A new feature was the Verandah Café on the boat deck, where passengers were served beverages in a weather-protected environment, although this was enclosed within a year as it proved unrealistic.[10]

Early career (1906–1914)

Stormy beginning

Mauretania departed Liverpool on her maiden voyage on 16 November 1907 under the command of Captain John Pritchard, but failed to capture the Blue Riband, due to a rough storm. Whilst weathering that storm, the spare anchor on the forecastle broke free, necessitating its resecurement. She also suffered minor damage to her superstructure. On the return voyage (30 November – 5 December 1907), however, she captured the record for the fastest eastbound crossing of the Atlantic, with an average speed of 23.69 kn.[11]

On 23 December 1907, Mauretania was again at New York City and moored to Pier 54 in the North River when a squall with high winds struck, causing mooring posts on Pier 54 to give way. Mauretania went partially adrift, and her bow swung around and struck several barges which were bringing her coal and taking off ashes; the barges Roan and Tomhicken and the boats Eureka 32 and Eureka 36 were damaged and the barge Ellis P. Rogers was lost. In subsequent litigation, Cunard was found liable for damages.[12][13]

On 24 March 1908, the bridge was badly damaged when it was hit by an 80-foot (24.4-metre)-tall rogue wave. Six bridge windows were smashed, injuring an officer.[14] She later damaged her propellers in May, losing two blades.[15]

In September 1908, during another stormy Atlantic crossing to New York, Mauretania entered a trough between two 'colossal' waves, exposing her propellers. Unhindered by water, they spun wildly and one of the low pressure-driven propellers lost a blade due to the immense centrifugal forces. The unbalanced propeller caused severe vibrations described as a 'hammering on Mauretania's sides', just as the ship plummeted into the wave trough, causing a panic among the passengers. The engines were stopped, the damaged propeller was disabled, and the crossing continued without issue.[16]

Blue Riband capture

In September 1909, Mauretania captured the Blue Riband for the fastest westbound crossing—a record that was to stand for more than two decades.[11] In December 1911, as in New York City in December 1910, Mauretania broke loose from her moorings while in the River Mersey and sustained damage that caused the cancellation of her special speedy Christmas voyage to New York. In a quick change of events Cunard rescheduled Mauretania's voyage for Lusitania, which had just returned from New York, under the command of Captain James Charles. Lusitania completed Christmas crossings for Mauretania,[3] carrying travellers back to New York. Mauretania was on a westbound voyage from Liverpool to New York, beginning 13 April 1912, and was docked at Queenstown, Ireland, at the time of the RMS Titanic disaster. Mauretania was transporting Titanic's cargo manifest carried by registered mail. Traveling on Mauretania at the time was the chairman of Cunard, A. A. Booth, who organised a vigil for the Titanic victims.[17]

In July 1913, King George and Queen Mary were given a special tour of Mauretania, then Britain's fastest merchant vessel, adding further distinction to the ship's reputation.

Explosion during annual refit

On 26 January 1914, while Mauretania was in the middle of annual refit in Liverpool, three men were instantly killed and eight injured when a gas cylinder exploded while they were working on one of her steam turbines.[18] One of those injured later died of their injuries, bringing the number of those killed to four in total.[19]

At an inquest on 13 February 1914, it was determined that the explosion was the result of an oxygen cylinder being accidentally mis-identified as a coal gas cylinder and being delivered with mixed contents.[19]

Damage to the ship was minimal; she was repaired in the new Gladstone drydock and returned to service two months later.[20][18]

First World War (1914–1919)

Outbreak and passenger service

After Great Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914, Mauretania made a dash for safety in Halifax, Nova Scotia, arriving on 6 August. Shortly after, she and Aquitania were requested by the British government to become armed merchant cruisers,[3] but their huge size and massive fuel consumption made them unsuitable for the duty,[21] and they resumed their civilian service on 11 August. Unlike her sister ship Lusitania, she was not repainted in dark greys with black funnels, with those precautionary measures not being deemed advisable for Mauretania.[22] Due to lack of passengers crossing the Atlantic, Mauretania was out of service in Liverpool at the time that Lusitania was sunk by a German U-Boat.[23]

Government service

Mauretania was planned to replace the Lusitania on the Transatlantic run after the Lusitania was sunk, but she was ordered by the British government to serve as a troop ship to carry British soldiers during the Gallipoli campaign.[21] She avoided becoming prey for German U-boats because of her high speed and the seamanship of her crew.

When combined forces from the British empire and France began to suffer heavy casualties, Mauretania was ordered to serve as a hospital ship, along with the Aquitania and White Star's Britannic, to treat the wounded until 25 January 1916. In medical service the vessel was painted white with buff funnels and large medical cross emblems[24] surrounding the vessel and possibly illuminated signs starboard and port. Seven months later, Mauretania once again became a troop ship late in 1916 when requisitioned by the Canadian government to carry Canadian troops from Halifax to Liverpool.[21]

Her war duty was not yet over when the United States declared war on Germany in 1917, and she carried around 35,000 American troops to Europe from New York, with around 5,000 per voyage.[25]

During the war Mauretania received dazzle camouflage, a type of abstract colour scheme designed by Norman Wilkinson in 1917 in an effort to confuse enemy ships. The last of her schemes was a geometric design mostly consisting of blues and greys with some black.[26] She was returned to her Cunard livery from her camouflage scheme in February 1919.[27]

Post-war career (1919–1934)

Mauretania returned to civilian service on 21 September 1919, now serving on the Southampton to New York route. Her busy sailing schedule prevented her from having an extensive overhaul scheduled in 1920.

Conversion from coal to oil

In 1921, Cunard removed her from service when fire broke out on E deck and decided to overhaul the ship.[28] She returned to the Tyne shipyard where she was built, where her boilers were converted to oil firing,[11] and returned to service in March 1922. Cunard noticed that Mauretania struggled to maintain her regular Atlantic service speed.

With conversion, the engineering staff of Mauretania was reduced from 446 to 175, and enabled her to complete a full round trip from Southampton to New York and back without having to refuel.[29] It was estimated she would burn 600 LT of oil per 24 hours, compared to 1000 LT of coal previously.[30]

In May 1922, she broke her record for an eastbound transatlantic crossing, demonstrating the success of her oil conversion.[31]

Further refits

It was during these years her promenade was enclosed temporarily, and her funnels were modified to have an ovoid shape, making them look nearly identical to Lusitania. Cunard decided that the ship's once revolutionary turbines were in desperate need of an overhaul.[28] In 1923, a major refitting was begun in Southampton. Mauretania's turbines were dismantled. Halfway through the overhaul, the shipyard workers went on strike and the work was halted, so Cunard had the ship towed to Cherbourg, France, where the work was completed at another shipyard.[32] In May 1924, the ship returned to Atlantic service.[28]

The next several years would prove to Cunard that the changes made to Mauretania had helped, and she was a very popular and successful vessel during this time. In 1928, Mauretania was refurbished with a new interior design and in the next year her speed record was broken by the German liner SS Bremen (1928),[11] with a speed of 28 kn. On 27 August, Cunard permitted the former ocean greyhound to have one final attempt to recapture the record from the newer German liner, but even her best efforts could only come just short of Bremen's record.

Cruise career

In 1930, with a combination of the Great Depression and newer competitors on the Atlantic run, Mauretania became a dedicated cruise ship[11] running six day cruises from New York to Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.[34] On 19 November 1930, Mauretania rescued 28 people and the ship's cat of the Swedish cargo ship SS Ovidia which foundered in the Atlantic Ocean 400 nmi south east of Cape Race, Newfoundland.[35][36] In 1933, she was painted white for cruise service.[37] When Cunard Line merged with White Star Line in 1934, Mauretania, along with RMS Olympic, RMS Homeric (1913), and other aging ocean liners, were deemed surplus to requirements and withdrawn from service.[38]

Retirement and scrapping

Cunard White Star withdrew Mauretania from service following a final eastward crossing from New York to Southampton in September 1934. The voyage was made at an average speed of 24 kn, equaling the original contractual stipulation for her mail subsidy. She was then laid up at Southampton, her twenty-eight years of service at a close.[11]

In May 1935 her furnishings and fittings were put up for auction by Hampton and Sons and on 1 July that year she departed Southampton for the last time to Metal Industries shipbreakers at Rosyth.[11] One of her former captains, the retired commodore Sir Arthur Rostron, captain of RMS Carpathia during the RMS Titanic rescue, came to see her on her final departure from Southampton. Rostron refused to go aboard Mauretania before her final journey, stating that he preferred to remember the ship as she was when he commanded her.[43]

En route to Rosyth, Mauretania launched rockets off the coast of Scarborough overnight,[44] and stopped at her birthplace on the Tyne for half an hour, where she drew crowds of sightseers. Rockets were fired from her bridge, messages relayed, and she was boarded by the Lord Mayor of Newcastle. The mayor bade her farewell from the people of Newcastle, and her last captain, A. T. Brown, then resumed his course for Rosyth.[45] Approximately 30 miles north of Newcastle is the small seaport of Amble, Northumberland. The local town council sent a telegram to the ship stating, "Still the finest ship on the seas." To which Mauretania replied with, "to the last and kindliest port in England, greetings and thanks."[46] Amble, to this day, is still known as 'Amble, the Friendliest Port', and this is still seen on signs when entering the town. With masts cut down to fit, the ship passed under the Forth Bridge and was delivered to the breakers.[47]

Mauretania arrived at Rosyth in Fife in the early hours of 4 July 1935 during a half-gale, passing under Forth Bridge. She passed the entrance to the Metal Industries yards under the command of local pilots. A lone kilted piper, Piper Macgillivray of the Black Watch, was present at the quayside, playing Auld Lang Syne (a traditional farewell song) for the popular vessel.[48]

Mauretania had her last public inspection on 8 July, 20,000 attended on 7 July, a Sunday, with Metal Industries charging one shilling for adults and sixpence for children, raising £375 for charity.[49] The access granted to visitors had to be severely limited, as souvenir hunters had broken into cabins to remove valuable fittings and panelling.[50]

Scrapping began shortly after and progressed quickly. She was cut up afloat in drydock, cut down almost to water level. She was then beached at the tidal basin at Metal Industries and her remaining structure was scrapped by June 1936.[51]

To prevent a rival company using the name and to keep it available for a future Cunard White Star liner, arrangements were made for the Red Funnel Paddle Steamer Queen to be renamed Mauretania in the interim before the launch of the new RMS Mauretania (1938) in 1938, when the paddle steamer was renamed again to Corfe Castle, releasing the name.[52]

The demise of the beloved Mauretania was protested by many of her loyal passengers, including President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who wrote a private letter against the scrapping.[2]

Post-scrapping

The ship's bell is in the reception of the Lloyd's Register, Fenchurch Street, London. Annually for Remembrance Day, Lloyds Register observe two minutes of silence and lay a wreath at its base in honour of servicemen and women.

Some of the furnishings from Mauretania were installed in a bar/restaurant complex in Bristol called the Mauretania Bar (now Illuminati Bristol), situated in Park Street. The bar was panelled with great quantities of richly carved and gilt old growth African mahogany, which came from her first class lounge.[53] The neon sign made for the 1937 opening on the south wall still advertises Mauretania and her bow lettering was used above the entrance.

Additionally, nearly the complete first class reading-writing room, with the original chandeliers and ornate gilt grilled bookcases, has been serving as the boardroom at Pinewood Studios, west of London. The colour is no longer shimmering silver sycamore – it has been altered over the years to an amber.[2] According to a Channel 4 programme about coast properties the whole of the Second Class drawing room from the ship form the interior of a white and blue house overlooking Poole Harbour; the drawing room is overlooked by a balustraded circular veranda which is also original. Other panels and fittings were used to decorate the foyer and auditorium areas of the now defunct Windsor Cinema in Carluke.[54] Some of the timber panelling was also used in the extension (completed in 1937) of St John the Baptist's Catholic Church in Padiham, Lancashire.[55]

An original model of Mauretania is displayed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. after a long stay on the retired RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. Originally with a black hull, it was repainted to show her white cruising paint scheme in the 1930s after it was gifted to the Queen Mary by Franklin D. Roosevelt.[56]

Another scale model of Mauretania is displayed at the Discovery Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne. It is still in its original colour scheme.

A large builder's model, showing Mauretania in her white cruising paint scheme, is displayed in the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic's Cunard exhibit in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Originally a model of Lusitania, it was converted to represent Mauretania after Lusitania was torpedoed.[57]

Another large builder's model is situated aboard the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2, currently located in Dubai.[58]

A model of the vessel which was commissioned by Cunard is now held in the collection of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.[59]

Mauretania appears on one of the stained-glass windows of Newcastle Cathedral as part of a memorial window to Andrew Laing.[60] Laing designed Mauretania's engines.[61]

In popular culture

Mauretania is remembered in a song, "The fireman's lament" or "Firing the Mauretania", collected by Redd Sullivan.[62] The song starts "In 19 hundred and 24, I ... got a job on the Mauretania"; but then goes on to say "shovelling coal from morn till night" (not possible in 1924 as she was oil-fired by then).[29] The number of "fires" is said to be 64. Hughie Jones also recorded the song but the last verse of Hughie's version calls upon "all you trimmers" whereas Redd Sullivan's version calls upon "stokers".[62]

The Clive Cussler Isaac Bell novel The Thief is set aboard Mauretania. A terrible fire engulfs the forward storage area but it is brought under control.

Mauretania is also mentioned in Rudyard Kipling's poem "The Secret of the Machines":

The boat-express is waiting your command!

You will find the Mauretania at the quay,

Till her captain turns the lever 'neath his hand,

And the monstrous nine-decked city goes to sea.

Mauretania is mentioned at the beginning of James Cameron's 1997 film Titanic. When Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) says of Titanic, "I don't see what all the fuss is about. It doesn't look any bigger than the Mauretania", her snobbish fiancé Caledon Hockley (Billy Zane) accurately says to her that Titanic is "over a hundred feet longer" and that she is "far more luxurious" than her older competitor.

The historical novel Maiden Voyage by British writer Roger Harvey set in Newcastle in the 1900s gives an accurate account of the building of Mauretania and features characters involved with her turbine engines. The climax of two love stories and a thriller comes as the ship approaches New York on her maiden voyage.[63]

Mauretania is ship that Spencer Dutton used to return the message from his aunt to return to the Yellowstone Ranch in the American Western drama television series 1923.

One of the episodes involving the ship takes place in the 1976 animated series Candy Candy. According to the plot, the main character, Candy White, goes to study from New York to London on the Mauretania, and after a while, presumably on the same ship, Candy's lover, Terrus Granchester, leaves for New York.

The ship is the central piece of, and gives its title to, one of the adventure scenarios contained in The Asylum & Other Tales, a 1983 sourcebook of Chaosium's tabletop roleplaying game, Call of Cthulhu.