The first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The first steamer to cross the Atlantic

Carried away by the competition, the owners of transatlantic packet boats did not immediately notice that they had a terrible enemy that, after a couple of decades, would begin to displace sailing ships from all ocean routes. They were steamers.

It is not the purpose of our book to tell you how and where the first steam ships appeared. We will confine ourselves only to the information that by the time the first regular line was founded on the Atlantic, in different countries dozens of steamers have already been built around the world. But then they did not pose the slightest threat to the packet boats, since their main place of work was rivers and canals.

When John Fitch, one of the founders of the early steamers, prophesied in the presence of a group of entrepreneurs that the time would come when steamers, especially passenger steamers, would be preferred over all other means of transport, one of the participants in this meeting whispered to another: “Poor fellow! ! ". And one of the major scientists of the early 19th century, Dionysius Lardner, quite authoritatively stated that a steamer would never be able to take on board as much fuel as is necessary to cross the ocean, and therefore the creation of a steamer operating on the New York - Liverpool line is the same absurdity, like traveling from New York to ... the moon.

Nevertheless, life refuted these prophecies, and steamers gradually began to make their way through disbelief and prejudice.

When the sailing ship Savannah was being built at one of the American shipyards, no one thought that it would be included in all books on the history of navigation. The sailboat owes this to the excellent sailor Moses Rogers, who commanded the first steamers of Robert Fulton and so believed in the future of steam ships that he decided to found his own steamship company. To this end, he purchased a steam engine and was now looking for a ship to put this unit on. The choice fell on the newly built Savannah.

The vessel had a gracefully curved bow and, as if chopped off, the so-called transom stern. Among the three tall masts carrying the sails, a bizarre pipe, which consisted of two elbows, looked very unusual, so that it could be turned in different directions so that smoke and sparks did not fall on the sails. On the sides of the Savannah, paddle wheels with a diameter of 4.6 m were installed, which, when sailing under sail, were removed, folded in a fan and in this form were laid on the deck, where they did not take up too much space. To protect the deck and people on it from splashes, removable tarpaulin shields were mounted above the paddle wheels.

The Savannah had two saloons and first class cabins for 32 passengers. The speed of Savannah when the steam engine was running was a turtle: only 6 knots.

Initially, Rogers intended to exploit Savannah along the Atlantic coast of the United States, but at that time the country fell into depression, and the owner decided to drive the ship across the ocean, there it would be profitable to sell it and establish a more profitable enterprise.

On May 19, 1819, the following announcement appeared in the Savannah Republican newspaper: "Steamer Savannah (Captain Rogers) will sail for Liverpool tomorrow, the 20th, under any circumstances." As for "any circumstance," the captain overestimated his capabilities somewhat. But on May 22 - a day that is still celebrated in America as a sailing holiday - Savannah still set out on a voyage with 75 tons of coal and about 100 m 3 of firewood on board. Puffs of black smoke enveloped the onlookers who had gathered on the shore to navigate the outlandish ship. As soon as the coast was out of sight, the fire was extinguished in the furnaces, and the further part of the path Savannah went mainly under sail.

However, despite the extremely rare use of the steam engine, the more than modest fuel reserves very quickly came to an end, and on June 18, the log appeared in the logbook: "No coal to maintain steam." Fortunately, Rogers had an energy crisis near the coast of England, so the ship reached the nearest port of Kinsale without any special incidents and replenished its supplies.

And two days later, there was a sensation at the port of Liverpool. The Coast Guard saw a ship engulfed in smoke, and several ships rushed to its aid. Imagine the surprise of the sailors when they were convinced that the ship being rescued was leaving them briskly enough and its crew did not want to be rescued at all.

So after 27 days 11 hours after leaving the American port of Savannah reached Liverpool. In England, the novelty was treated with great curiosity, but no more. Nobody wanted to buy a steamer. Rogers' commercial affairs in Stockholm and St. Petersburg ended just as unsuccessfully. Savannah, who had been eating in the late autumn of the same year, returned back to America. During the entire voyage from west to east and back, the Savannah steam engine worked only 80 hours, and therefore the British in no way agree to recognize this ship as the first transatlantic steamer.

Returning to the United States, Moses Rogers was on the verge of ruin and, in order to somehow save the situation, offered Savannah to the naval department, but his offer was rejected. With great difficulty, Rogers sold Savannah at auction to a small New York-based sailing packet boat company. The new owners first removed the steam engine from the ship, and then put it on the New York-Savannah line. But the work of the ex-steamer turned out to be very short-lived. A year later, Savannah sat on the rocks off Long Island and was not even filmed. Rogers himself returned to the river steamers, but soon died of a fever.

After Savannah, there were several steam ships that were not at all intended to conquer the Atlantic, but by chance, directed across the ocean, they, partially using the energy of the wind, reached their goal. Among these pioneers of the Atlantic were the warship Rising Star; the sailing schooner Caroline, on which, as well as on Savannah, a steam engine was subsequently installed: the steamer Calpe, which was renamed Curacao a few years later; Steamer Royal William. The last ship, built in 1831, is interesting because among the 235 of its shareholders-co-owners were Samuel Cunard, whose name is associated with the entire subsequent history of transatlantic shipping, as well as his two brothers: Henry and Joseph.

The ship was laid down in Quebec in September 1830 and launched on April 29, 1831. On the occasion of the descent, the mayor of Quebec announced a day off. The ceremony was attended by thousands of residents of the city, orchestras thundered and cannons fired. The launched vessel was towed to Montreal, where two steam engines with a total capacity of about 300 liters were put on it. with.

Outwardly, Royal William resembled a traditional sailing schooner with a sharp nose and a long bowsprit, but between the three masts was a modest thin chimney.

On the sides of the wooden hull, rowing wheels were spinning and desperately paddling in the water - as does a man who cannot swim, who has fallen into the river. The vessel could take on board 130 passengers: 50 cabins and 80 cabins.

Initially, Royal William was intended for short voyages between the Canadian ports of Halifax and Quebec, but passengers did not indulge this "flammable" vessel with their attention, and when a cholera epidemic broke out in Canada, the steamer was completely out of work. And then the owners of Royal William decided to do the same that the owner of Savannah Moses Rogers did ten years ago: to try to sell a ship that no one needed in Europe.

Canadian newspapers widely advertised this flight, scheduled for August 1, 1833. Passengers were promised "tastefully decorated, elegant cabins" and excellent service. The ticket cost was £ 20 excluding wine.

Despite widespread advertising, the steamer's owners managed to seduce only seven passengers (all British), who entrusted their lives to the fire-breathing monster. The ship's cargo was also small: stuffed birds - samples of the fauna of Canada, which a certain master McCulloch sent to London for sale.

On August 4, 1833, at 5 o'clock in the morning, the ship left Quebec. At the port of Pictou, Nova Scotia, the steamer accepted coal and other supplies, and the pedantic customs officer made the following entry in the register:

"17 August. Royal William. 363 reg. Tons, 36 people. Port of destination - London. Cargo - about 330 tons of coal, a box of stuffed birds, six spare spars, a box, ten chests of luggage. Some furniture and a harp." ...

The Atlantic met Royal William with a terrible storm. The foremast was broken, one of the two steam engines was out of order. With great difficulty, Captain John McDougall and the mechanic managed to repair the car. Every fourth day, the machines had to be stopped in order to clean the boilers from scale.

Nevertheless, the steamer safely reached England, and, unlike Savannah, was able to sell it profitably - for 10 thousand pounds sterling. The new owner did not use the steamer for long and, not without profit, resold it to Spain, where, under the name Isabella Sehunda, the former Royal William became the first steamer in the Spanish Navy. It is noteworthy that McDougall was invited to the post of commander of this ship, who so skillfully brought the steamer from America to Europe.

In 1837, another Royal William was built - this time on the other side of the Atlantic, in Liverpool. This is the first steamer to have watertight iron bulkheads, although the hull was still made of wood.

The new Royal William embarked on its maiden voyage on July 5, 1838, with 32 passengers on board. According to eyewitnesses, the steamer sat in the water so deep that the passengers had to bend over the bulwark to wash themselves.

The Atlantic greeted the liner with severe storms, so it took 19 days to cross the ocean. Nevertheless, the Americans praised the ship. Advertisements of the following character appeared in American newspapers:

"English Steamship Royal William, 617 reg. T, Captain Swenson. This beautiful steamer, newly arrived in New York, will leave for Liverpool on Saturday 4th August at 4 pm. The ship was built just 16 months ago. Thanks to its design (split five watertight compartments) it is considered one of the safest ships in England. The ship has spacious and comfortable cabins. The fare is $ 140, including food and wine. Mailing cost is 25 cents per sheet or one dollar per ounce. "

As announced, on August 4 at 4 p.m. the steamer departed from New York for Europe and crossed the Atlantic in a very good time- 14.5 days. This steamer served for a very long time and was scrapped only in 1888.

Among the ships - the predecessors of steam transatlantic liners one cannot fail to note the steamer Liverpool, named after the city where it was launched. For its time, it was a rather large vessel with a length of 70 m, taking on board 700 tons of cargo and 450 tons of coal. As the Liverpool Mercury newspaper wrote on October 12, 1838, it is "a floating leviathan with the mighty means to overcome thousands of miles against wind and head currents."

Floating Leviathan Liverpool

Liverpool went down in the history of transatlantic shipping as the first twin-tube steamer. The interior design of the cabins and other premises on this ship already appeared those elements of luxury, which later turned the liners into floating palaces and hotels.

On October 20, 1838, the steamer left Liverpool with 50 passengers on board. 150 tons of cargo, 563 tons of coal. But already on the sixth day of the voyage, the captain saw that the fuel supplies were melting at a catastrophic speed, and he had no choice but to return to the port of Cork. to refill the bunker.

Only on November 6, the steamer set out for the second voyage and on November 23, on the 17th day of the voyage, arrived in America. I must say that Liverpool did not have much success: well-designed interiors could not compensate for the poorly made hull of the ship, through the grooves of which water seeped inside during storms, and the liner was inferior in speed not only to steam, but also to many sailing ships. Therefore, after several voyages to America and back with the same results (there - in 17, back - in 15 days), the steamer was sold to another company, which began to call it Great Liverpool, and under this name in 1846 the liner died.

The first ship to cross the Atlantic without wind was the relatively small steamboat Sirius, built in 1837 to carry cargo and passengers between London and the Irish port of Cork.

In those years, the London businessman Junius Smith founded a transatlantic steamship company and ordered a steamer for it, which later received the name British Queen. The steamer was designed in such a way that it could not cross the Atlantic without the help of the wind. But unexpectedly, the company that built the ship went bankrupt, and it remained unfinished.

Meanwhile, the outstanding engineer Brunel (we will devote a lot of space to him on the pages of our book) was finishing the construction of his first-born Great Western. Smith had no doubt that Brunel's steamer would be the first to cross the Atlantic without the help of the wind, which Smith did not want to allow, and he makes a desperate decision: to find a suitable steamer and send it to America to get ahead of Great Western.

Of course, Smith did not find a suitable steamer - there were simply no such ships then, and therefore, after a long search, he opted for the steamer Sirius, which was clearly not adapted for his historical mission. The only thing an entrepreneur could hope for was luck and the desperate Captain Roberts, an ardent lover of steam engines.

On April 3, 1838, at 10:30 am, Sirius embarked on a voyage with 98 passengers and 450 tons of coal on board. The overloaded steamer sat in the water almost up to the deck. If a small squall had happened, and Sirius would have inevitably capsized, but, apparently, fate itself protected the ship - the weather was excellent.

In total, Sirius had 37 crew members, including two cabin boy, a flight attendant and a "attendant" whose functions are still a mystery.

Almost at the same time Great Western went on the flight, but it was clear to everyone that only a miracle could bring victory to Sirius. But this miracle happened: at the very beginning of the journey to Great Western there was a fire, and he had to return to port. So Captain Roberts got an unexpected head start, and he used it to the fullest. If the sailor did not act quickly enough, the captain pulled out the pistol and he had to move. When the steamer ran out of supplies of coal, pieces of a mast, furniture and ... a wooden doll, requisitioned for a noble purpose from a small passenger, flew into the furnace, chopped into firewood.

On April 22, late in the evening, Sirius completed the transition, and on the morning of April 23, he entered New York port with triumph with a result of 18 days 2 hours. The following lines appeared in the newspaper "Kurir Incuyerer" on April 24:

"We cannot judge how cost-effective it is to use steamships on regular mail lines in terms of fuel consumption. But if we talk about the very possibility of crossing the Atlantic under steam ... - this is a question even the most convinced skeptics should stop doubting."

On May 1, Sirius embarked on a return voyage and on the 18th did well at Falmouth Harbor. For this feat, Roberts was appointed captain of the large steamship British Queen, but his triumph was short-lived. Soon Captain Roberts was killed along with the steamer President. Sirius himself was no longer sent across the Atlantic, and he modestly worked on the London-Cork line.

As for the competitor of Sirius - the large steamer Great Western, it went on a voyage after repairs three days later and was only six hours behind Sirius. But if all the fuel resources on Sirius were used up, then there was still a fair amount of coal left on Great Western.

We have already mentioned the British Queen, which was to be the first steamer to cross the Atlantic without the help of the wind. When it was finally built, newspapermen called this liner "the most beautiful example of London shipbuilding, which is unmatched for elegance, strength and perfection of proportions." Launched on May 24, 1838, British Queen became the world's largest steamship. It was a three-masted liner with a barque sails. The nose of the wooden case was decorated with a sculpture of Queen Victoria. It was assumed that the ship will be named Princess Victoria, but while construction was underway, Victoria became queen, and the steamer was named British Queen, that is, the British queen. The completion of the ship was delayed until the summer of 1839, and when the work was completed, Great Western was already reigning supreme in the Atlantic.

On the first voyage, British Queen, under the command of our friend Captain Roberts, crossed the Atlantic in 15 days. The new liner returned from New York on August 1. By coincidence, on the same day Great Western went on a voyage, and many passengers and New Yorkers made a bet: which of the two ships would come first. Perhaps it was then, at the New York pier, that the idea of ​​the symbolic Blue Ribbon prize was born, under the banner of which the entire subsequent history of transatlantic passenger shipping passed. I must say that Great Western won this race, 12 hours ahead of the competitor.

With great difficulty the steamer won its right to exist, and this was understandable. After all, for a long time the steamer lost to sailing ships in almost all respects - in terms of construction cost, operating costs, safety. After all, in the period 1816-1838 alone, 260 American river steamers, including 99 - as a result of a boiler explosion.

The reliability of steam engines was extremely low - they often broke down. And they needed so much fuel that the captain was always in danger of being left in the middle of the ocean without coal. Therefore, even many decades later, when steamships completely replaced the packet boats, they still had masts with sails for a long time "just in case".

The steamers were losing very much also by purely aesthetic criteria. There was nothing in them from the beauty and elegance of their ancestors - sailing ships and nothing from the grandeur and power of their descendants - steamers, turboships and motor ships. Dirty, smoky, with awkward pipes, ugly architecture, they looked like the ugly duckling from Andersen's fairy tale, and it took enormous efforts, the creative effort of scientists and designers of several generations to turn the ugly duckling into a beautiful swan.

Even the most important factor, which, it would seem, should have become the decisive argument in favor of the steamer - speed - at the first stage of the development of steam ships turned against them. Sailboat captains, who had vast experience in navigation, overtook steamers, although today this seems incredible. And yet it is so. By the early 30s of the last century, steamships crossed the Atlantic in 15-20 days, and back in 1815, the Galatea sailing ship traveled from Newfoundland to Liverpool in 11 days, the Yorktown sailing ship crossed the Atlantic in 13.5 days, Oxford took about 14 days, and the clipper Dreadnought in one of its flights covered the distance from New York to Queenstown in ... 9 days 17 hours! Decades passed before steamships broke these sailing records. And it was necessary to have the gift of great foresight in order to see in the first, so far from perfect steam ships that decisive force that would later make the steamer the master of the sea: namely, the ability to get out of the power of the elements, become independent from the whims of the winds and ensure the regularity of navigation ...

The 19th century is called the century of steam. The steam engine, patented by the English physicist and inventor James Watt in 1784 and then continuously improved, became a universal engine in all industries of the 19th century. It has had such an impact on the progress of mankind, which has had only a few other discoveries in the history of its development. The desire to find its application in transport - on land or on water - was natural, and the result was not long in coming. A steam locomotive appeared. Then a number of inventors tried to use the steam engine to propel ships.

At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, more or less successful projects were born in several countries, but the main problems were still that the steam engine of those times often broke down, was inefficient, heavy and took up too much space. Only its improvement would make it possible to take a decisive step forward and put it in the service of future ships.

In 1802, Scottish engineer William Symington built the first serviceable paddlewheel steam vessel at the stern, named Charlotte Dundas. For a time it was used to tow barges along the Fort Clyde Canal, but since the waves generated by the wheel eroded the banks of the canal, it had to be abandoned.

The Americans also had their say. In 1809, John Stephens of New York built the paddle steamer Phoenix with a total capacity of 176 reg. t. Thirteen days later the steamer arrived from New York to Philadelphia, becoming the first ship with a steam engine to sail on the high seas. Three years later, engineer Robert Fulton of Pennsylvania built the 40-meter, 315 gross tonnage sailing vessel Claremont, which for several years successfully transported cargo on the Hudson River between New York and Albany. Claremont is the first steam-powered vessel used for regular service.

In 1812, Scottish mechanic Henry Bell built a small steam ship "Comet" with a capacity of only 30 brt. In addition to the sails that were mandatory in those years (Bell originally solved the problem of the mast by installing a tall pipe instead), the ship had a 10 hp steam engine that set in motion two wheels on both sides. The Comet was the first passenger steamer in European waters — for a fixed fee, it carried passengers between Glasgow, Helensboro and Greenock on the Clyde River.

The steamers of that time had many shortcomings, and they often became the objects of ridicule. The boilers were fired with wood, flames and sheaves of sparks burst from the pipes, the escaping steam hissed, and the steam engines made incredible noise. The passengers of the steamer, over which clouds of smoke rose, gradually got used to all these inconveniences, and it was clear that no amount of ridicule would make them refuse to step on its deck; only in England and America in those years, several hundred of these ships sailed along rivers and along the coasts. There were also desperate heads, like Henry Bell, who argued that the day would come when steamships would regularly run between Europe and America.

The first milestone in the fulfillment of Bell's dream was the voyage of the sailing ship Savannah, which in May 1819 sailed from the United States across the North Atlantic to the shores of Europe. Above the deck of the vessel, which had a length of 33 meters and a total capacity of 320 reg. t, three masts with 18 sails were raised, but at the same time the Savannah was equipped with an auxiliary single-cylinder steam engine with a capacity of 72 hp, which set in motion two impellers. After 29 days, the ship dropped anchor in the English port of Liverpool; during the voyage, the steam engine worked for a total of 80 hours - 70 tons of coal and 90 cubic meters of firewood were not enough for more reserves. The Savannah was the first ship in history to cross the Atlantic Ocean to partially use a steam engine. This marked the beginning of the glorious period of transatlantic steam shipping, which lasted for almost 120 years.

In 1827 the wooden three-masted ship Curacao, which belonged to the Dutch navy, crossed the Atlantic. A 100 hp steam engine was installed on it, which set in motion the blades of two wheels. He traveled from Rotterdam to Paramaribo on the coast of Netherlands Guiana in 28 days, partially using a steam engine. A year later, the ship repeated the same route, but this time the journey took 25 days, while the first 13 days the three-masted ship went thanks to the work of a steam engine.

Already without sails, the Canadian wooden three-masted ship Royal William, which had a 200 hp steam engine, crossed the ocean. and two wheels with a diameter of 5.6 meters. On August 18, 1833, he left Nova Scotia on the southeast coast of Canada and reached England 25 days later, completing the entire route with only a steam engine. At the same time, 330 tons of coal were consumed.

These successes, which proved not only the possibility of crossing the Atlantic with a steam engine, but also the enormous advantages of the steam engine, led to the fact that in the 30s 19th century on shipping lines between Europe and North America a real struggle broke out between sailing ships and steamers and, of course, the shipping companies to which they belonged.

In the midst of this rivalry, Great Western Steamship ordered the Great Western from Patterson's shipyards in Bristol in the mid-1930s. It was designed by the talented engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It was supposed to be the largest sailing steamer of that time with a capacity of 1320 grt, 72 meters long, with four masts, two paddle wheels and a two-piston steam engine weighing 200 tons and a power of 450 hp. The design of the new ship aroused great interest: for example, the Louis XV style saloon area alone was 175 square meters, the ship had cabins for 140 passengers, of which 120 were in the 1st class and 20 cabins in the II class; if necessary, it was possible to accommodate another 100 passengers.

The rival shipping company British and American Steam Navigation at the same time ordered an even larger British Queen sailing and wheeled ship with a total capacity of 1862 reg. t. But difficulties arose with the installation of boilers, and the work was suspended. There was a fear that Great Western would be ready to sail earlier, so British and American Steam Navigation hired from another ship owner a two-masted wooden vessel Sirius with a total capacity of only 703 reg. tons and a steam engine with a capacity of 250 hp. and hastily sent him on the flight. In a bet to cross the Atlantic from Europe to America, steam was the only priority given.

The Sirius left Queenstown, Irish (present-day Cork) on April 4, 1838, with a crew of 35 and 40 passengers on board. The cargo and the maximum supply of coal (450 tons) were too large, therefore, when the ship got into a severe storm, it almost sank. The team began to grumble and demand to go back. But determined and fearless, Captain Roberts regained discipline with a revolver. The ship continued on its way west. At the end of the voyage, unfavorable stormy weather led to unforeseen fuel consumption, and just before New York, the bunkers were almost empty. It seemed that there was no other way out but to raise the sails and get to the shores of America with their help. But Captain Roberts did not intend to surrender almost at the very goal. He gave orders to chop down masts, break handrails and bridges, and use them to heat boilers. The fire in the furnaces flared up again, and as a result, the Sirius entered the port of New York on April 23, where it was greeted by cheering crowds.

The Sirius became the first ship to travel from Europe to America only on the power of a steam engine, and at the same time the first owner of the Atlantic Blue Ribbon, a symbolic prize awarded to a ship that crossed the ocean in the shortest time. Over the next more than a hundred years, dozens of ships fought for the "Atlantic Blue Ribbon". According to the rules, it became the owner of the ship that covered the fastest route between Queenstown and New York with a length of 2,700 nautical miles, or 5,157 kilometers. However, "Sirius" was proud of his victory for the shortest time. Within four hours after his arrival in New York, the Great Western entered the port and accepted the award. His voyage lasted 18 days and 10 hours.

Immediately after leaving the sea, Great Western failed. On March 31, 1838, two hours later, as the ship said goodbye to Bristol, the main boiler room was engulfed in fire. The situation was so critical that the captain gave the order to run aground. And although they soon managed to cope with the fire and nothing threatened the ship, the accident frightened the passengers so much that 50 of 57 people returned to the shore. On April 8, the Great Western resumed the interrupted voyage and reached the shores of America without complications. On the opposite side of the ocean, its size, elegance, equipment aroused well-deserved interest, but the primacy in crossing the Atlantic with the help of a steam engine still belonged to "Sirius".

The historic voyage of "Sirius" and "Great Western" became a landmark in the sea traffic between the Old and New Worlds: now it was already possible to speak of regular shipping between the two continents.

The convincing result achieved by both ships finally resolved the long-standing dispute over whether steamboats were capable of crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Before that, doubts were expressed not only by amateurs and skeptics, but also by many influential persons. For example, at a meeting of the Royal Institution in Liverpool in 1835, Dr. Dionysius Lardner stated that to travel from Liverpool to New York on steam is a chimera, as well as a trip to the moon. A little time passed, and Mr. Professor, apparently, regretted his hastily spoken words.

The ships that plowed the waters of the Atlantic Ocean in the first decades of the 19th century and sought to win primacy were sailing steamers equipped with both a sail and a steam engine that turned the blades of the wheels that were located on the sides of the vessel. The wheels were by no means ideal for large marine Vehicle... They limited maneuverability, their rotation unpleasantly shook the entire vessel, and with slight excitement and rolling, they worked unevenly, which significantly reduced their efficiency. If they were damaged, the sails had to be raised, and then the bulky wheels, breaking the smooth line of the hull, did not allow the wind to be used properly.

It became necessary to replace the wheels with another system. The problem was solved by the propeller, for the introduction of which words of gratitude should be said to the Czech inventor, a native of the city of Chrudim, Josef Russel. He received a patent already in 1827, but since he could not find support for his invention for a long time, the patent became invalid. Others took advantage of Russell's idea and became undeservedly famous. And an outstanding Czech inventor died of typhus in obscurity and poverty.

Nevertheless, the idea of ​​a propeller survived, and the clumsy wheels along the sides gradually disappeared. In April 1845, the British confirmed the advantages of the propeller. They carried out an interesting experiment: with a thick rope they connected two ships astern to each other, each of which had a steam engine of the same power. One of the ships was driven by wheels, the other by a propeller. When the mechanisms of both ships were launched, it became obvious that the wheeled ship had no chance of success. Despite the fact that the blades raked in with might and main, the propeller-driven vessel was towing its rival at a speed of three knots aft forward. The propeller has been victorious in all respects and has been performing reliably to this day.

Another vessel that left a significant mark on the history of shipping was the Great Britn, owned by the Great Western Steamship. It was built by the already mentioned designer I. Brunel. Construction took six years, with Brunel redesigning the project five times. The vessel was considered a masterpiece of marine engineering of the time. It was the first all-metal ocean-going vessel powered by a six-bladed propeller (although it had six masts with twelve sails) with a diameter of 4.7 meters. Another novelty was the 1014 hp steam engine, specially designed for this vessel. Finally, for the first time, a ship had a double bottom and watertight bulkheads. The Great Britn was at that time the largest merchant ship in the world with a total capacity of 3,618 reg. t, 98 meters long and 15.4 meters wide. From the very beginning, its construction was accompanied by numerous difficulties, since the shipbuilders did not yet have sufficient experience in working with metal as a building material. Difficulties were also created by the size of the new vessel: they did not allow it to "get out" from the Bristol dock in which it was built, and it had to be remodeled. Until the shipping channel connecting the dock to the sea was widened, which took 17 months, the ship could not go out to sea. After overcoming all obstacles in July 1843, the Great Britn was finally launched. But the ship set off on its maiden voyage to New York only two years later.

Great Britn has had a long and exciting destiny. It sailed across the Atlantic for a little over a year, but then, due to a navigational error, it got stuck among the rocks of the Irish coast. It took eleven months before he was freed, and shortly thereafter, he was acquired by Gibbs, Bright & Co. The new owner converted the ship into a sailboat, installed a steam engine on it, which, however, performed only an auxiliary function, and sent it to the routes of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The ship transported troops to India, immigrants to Australia, and during the Australian gold rush brought thousands of miners to the continent. In 1881, the owner changed again. The ship was rebuilt again, this time the steam engine was removed, and the Great Britn became a three-masted sailboat. Five years later, near Cape Horn, he was caught in a violent storm and was so damaged that literally with the last of his strength and only thanks to great luck, he dragged himself to Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands. There it was bought by the Falkland Islands Company and until 1937 the Great Britn was used as a floating warehouse. Then he was towed into a small bay, the kingstones were opened and run aground. A few years later in England, a group of enthusiasts remembered the famous ship, which was once the best and most modern that English shipbuilding had at its disposal. They formed a rescue committee, and in 1970 the dilapidated hull was raised from the bottom of the sea. After carrying out the necessary repairs, he was loaded onto a pontoon and sent to England. On July 5, 1970, a huge crowd greeted the ship in Bristol, where it was built 127 years ago at the William Patterson & Sons shipyards. Today, after a major renovation, the Great Britn is used as a maritime museum.

From the middle of the 19th century, new shipping companies emerged, which very quickly concentrated their monopoly on transatlantic transport in their hands. Ships equipped with steam engines are no longer dependent on the weather and winds and are able to arrive at their destinations at a predetermined time; it becomes possible to adhere to a certain schedule. This was a huge step forward compared to sailing ships, for which the journey across the ocean took from 30 to 100 days and was accompanied by significant inconveniences, including in providing passengers with food. The most famous shipping company still in existence was founded in 1840 by Samuel Cunard, a Quaker merchant from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Working for many years as a representative of the British East India Company, he was able to get a complete picture of the state of maritime transport and soon realized that steamships would soon take over the transatlantic lines and allow maintaining regular communication between Europe and America. And he decided not to miss the opportunity. Cunard traveled to England with the intention of convincing wealthy City businessmen of the need to organize regular flights across the Atlantic on time and to obtain the necessary financial support for this project. In London, he did not achieve anything, but his proposal met with a positive response from the famous Scottish entrepreneur George Burns and his trading partner David McIver. And when the talented designer Robert Napier joined them, a group was formed that took on the implementation of Cunard's plan with such enthusiasm that they soon managed to overcome all obstacles. The collected 270,000 pounds allowed the creation of the shipping company Cunard, which remained a solid business for more than 100 years. After the company entered into an agreement with the government for regular transport mail between Liverpool, Halifax and Boston, she immediately began building the necessary ships.

The first Cunard steamers to sail the Atlantic were called Britannia, Acadia, Caledonia and Columbia. These were seventy-meter wooden paddle steamers with three masts, with a total capacity of 1150 reg.t. They were driven by steam engines designed by Napier with a power of 700 hp, which allowed them to reach a speed of 8.5 knots. They carried cargo, passengers and mail, becoming the first mail steamers in history.

On her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Boston, the Britannia departed on 4 July 1840 with 63 passengers on board, including Samuel Cunard himself. In 14 days and 8 hours, she crossed the Atlantic Ocean, the return journey took 10 days. Britannia became the owner of the Atlantic Blue Ribbon. The ship had two decks: the upper one housed the officer's cabins, a salon and a kitchen, and the lower one - two dining rooms and passenger cabins. The latter were served by 27 stewards and cooks. Even a few cows were kept in the bow of the ship in order to constantly have fresh milk. But despite all her efforts, "Britain" has not yet been able to offer its passengers the comfort that distinguished the floating hotels of later decades.

At the beginning of 1842, the writer Charles Dickens sailed to America on the "Britain", and the convenience of the ship did not delight him at all. In his American Notes, he wrote that his cabin "Extremely uncomfortable, hopelessly dull and absolutely ridiculous box", but about his bunk he said that, "Perhaps only in the coffin it is even closer to sleep." When Dickens regained consciousness after all the troubles associated with seasickness, his mood gradually improved. Here is how he described the small pleasures provided by the cabin of a passenger ship in the 40s of the last century:

“At one o'clock the bell rings, and a stewardess comes downstairs, carrying a steaming dish of fried potatoes and another - with baked apples; she also brings jelly, ham and corned beef, or a steamed dish with a mountain of excellently cooked hot meats. We pounce on these goodies; we eat as much as possible (we now have an excellent appetite), and linger at the table as long as possible. If a fire comes on in the stove (and sometimes it does), we all come in the best mood. If not, we begin to complain to each other about the cold, rub our hands, wrap ourselves in coats and capes, and before dinner we go to sleep again, talk or read (again, if it's light enough). "

Despite the criticism of the great writer, Britain was popular on the American Atlantic coast. When at the beginning of 1844 in the Boston port it was clamped by a two-meter thick ice floe, the residents organized a fundraiser and paid for the release of the ship from the ice captivity, for which it was necessary to cut a channel 11 meters long. Since one of the most important tasks of "Britain" was the delivery of mail, the Office of the British Postal Service intended to return the amount collected, but the residents of Boston did not accept the money. This case showed that the Boston winter could disrupt sailing and expose residents to significant expenses. Therefore, the Cunard Company has chosen the never-freezing New York as the main port of destination on the American continent.

The sailing of the Kunard steamers was watched with increasing discontent by the American shipowners. Once, when the Britannia departed from Liverpool, the American Ocean Steam Navigation vessel Washington, a 3-masted three-masted steamer with a capacity of 3,408 brt, departed from the same port. Its captain did not hide his intentions to leave "Britain" far behind him and gain the upper hand in the competition with England. However, when the Washington approached New York, the Britannia had been unloading in port for several days.

The inglorious result of the first international transatlantic competition deeply touched the pride of Americans. So the Collins Line Company was soon formed, ordering, with government support, four wooden paddle steamers to restore the shaky reputation of the American shipbuilding industry. The new ships, in comparison with the British ones, were twice as large - about 2860 grt, and the power of their steam engines was strengthened by the installation of water tube boilers. The ships were named "Arctic", "Atlantic", "Baltic" and "Pacific". To avoid having to wait for the tide to enter the port in Liverpool and New York, they were flat-bottomed. Each ship could take on board 200 passengers, who were provided with such comfort that no transatlantic vessel had ever offered: the cabins had ventilation, steam heating, bathrooms and smoking rooms.

The Atlantic was the first to sail on April 27, 1850. On the way to Europe, there was a wheel breakdown, and the ship arrived in Liverpool with a significant delay. After the repair, the return journey took him 9 days and 17 hours, as a result of which the Atlantic received the Atlantic Blue Ribbon. It didn't take long before the Collins Line ships really left behind the steamers of the British Cunard Company, and the thriving company itself received lucrative mail transport contracts from the American government. She replenished her fleet with new ships and over time became the most popular company providing communication between the two continents. The Americans were very pleased, but arrogance precedes the fall. Collins Line lost in maritime disasters two ships, while several hundred people died, and the trust of passengers - remember what they called. Profits began to plummet, and after the refusal of government support in 1858, Collins Line, after eight years of brilliant activity, ceased to exist.

In 1850, another famous British shipping company, Inman Line, was formed in Liverpool. She sent several ships to the transatlantic lines, which attracted attention with significant design innovations, confirming that the development of shipbuilding is moving forward by leaps and bounds. First of all, it was about the use of iron as a building material.

Only five years later, in 1856, the first all-metal vessel Persia, owned by the Cunard Company, set out to sea, a two-masted paddle steamer with a capacity of 3,300 grt, which was said to be the most beautiful ship of its time. His cars with a capacity of 4000 hp. allowed a speed of almost 14 knots. That is why the results of the contest between Persia (this was her first voyage) with the Collins Line steamer Pacific were expected with such great interest. The ships simultaneously left Liverpool and headed for New York. "Persia" approached the shores of America with a significant delay, caused by a collision with an iceberg, which, fortunately, did not receive serious damage. "Pacific" did not appear at all, disappeared without a trace. This disaster remained shrouded in mystery for a long time and became one of the reasons that contributed significantly to the collapse of the Collins Line company. "Persia" after the second voyage across the ocean received the "Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic" and held it for six years.

The choice of iron as a building material by a conservative company such as Cunard finally resolved the still controversial question in British shipbuilding: whether to build ships from traditional material, like wood remained for centuries, or from iron. It soon became clear that ships with an all-metal hull were not only stronger, but also lighter with the same tonnage. Their sizes could increase without restrictions, which the tree did not allow, and the greater the displacement, the proportionally less space was required for storing fuel and, naturally, more area was left for the cargo. In addition, the transition to the construction of all-metal ships allowed the British to solve their problem - the lack of their own stocks of the corresponding species of wood. The building of ships over several centuries depleted the forests of the British Isles to such an extent that a threat arose: the countries with large forest resources would become the main centers of shipbuilding, and in the Atlantic the United States was the most dangerous competitor of Great Britain. On the other hand, if the new steamers are built from steel, huge reserves of high-quality iron ore and a powerful metallurgical industry will provide all the conditions for a sharp increase in the volume of work in British shipyards.

The era of ocean giants was opened by the ship "Great Eastern" of the British company "Eastern Steamship Navigation", the construction of which began on May 1, 1854 according to the project of engineer Brunel. It was supposed to have an unprecedented capacity - 18,915 grt, four times more than the largest ship that had been built up to that time. The Great Eastern was 211 meters long and 25.15 meters wide. The ship had five metal masts and one wooden, almost 6,000 square meters of sails; on the sides there were two wheels with a diameter of 17 meters, and at the stern - a four-bladed propeller with a diameter of 7.3 meters; the ship could reach speeds of up to 15 knots. The hold housed two four-cylinder main steam engines: one with a capacity of 2000 hp. for driving the wheels and the second with a capacity of 1622 hp. to rotate the screw. The operation of pumps, windlass, cranes and other mechanisms was provided by auxiliary steam engines. Nine bulkheads divided the hull into ten watertight compartments, and double sheathing of steel sheets was installed from the keel to the waterline. In fact, the ship had two hulls, which played a huge role in its safety. If it received a hole in the outer casing, water penetrated only into the space between it and the inner "hull"; it did not reach other hold compartments. The bunkers held 18,000 tons of coal, and with all engines fully loaded, the daily fuel consumption was 380 tons. The crew consisted of 418 people, the vessel was designed to carry 4,000 passengers. Luxurious equipment for the premises of the first class was envisaged: comfortable stylized furniture, crystal mirrors in frames of rare wood species, ventilation, warm water, sliding walls and so on in the cabins. The Great Eastern was to be launched on November 3, 1857.

Bad luck began to pursue this giant literally from the first steps. Engineer Brunel made serious mistakes when trying to lower the giant ship on 120 iron rollers instead of the usual wooden runners. After two and a half months of enormous stress and an expense of £ 120,000, Brunel had to accept that he would not be able to carry out even the traditional descent astern, since the width of the Thames, on which the shipyard stood, would not allow such a large vessel. And for the first time in history, Brunel decided on the so-called side descent. This was the first accident in the chain of others: the 12,000-ton bulk got stuck in the wooden scaffolding in which it was enclosed. Failure of one of the winches led to the death of two workers, five were injured. Only on January 31, 1858, at a very high tide, the ship was finally launched. Huge responsibility and a series of failures upset the famous shipbuilder so much that everything ended in a nervous shock and Brunel died without waiting for his last and largest ship to set off on its maiden voyage.

During a test voyage, one of the boilers exploded and a fire broke out in the engine room, causing significant damage to the ship and the death of five people. Then "Great Eastern" for a long time defended at anchor in the port of Holyhead on the west coast of England, where once during a strong storm the anchor chains broke and the ship narrowly escaped death. On July 17, 1860, the Great Eastern set out on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic. Its enormous capacity remained practically unused - there were only 35 passengers on the ship. And although the Great Eastern, the largest ship in the world, received an enthusiastic welcome in New York, from an economic point of view, this voyage and all subsequent voyages were regarded as bankruptcy. The situation was aggravated by the fact that, due to its size, the Great Eastern could not enter most of the ports that served the bulk of merchant ships at all.

A new disaster struck on October 10, 1861. Shortly after leaving Liverpool, Great Eastern was caught in a violent storm. The damaged giant became uncontrollable, gusty winds and huge waves drove the ship straight to the rocky coast of Ireland. By inhuman efforts, the team managed to prevent the disaster, another renovation followed, but the glory of the loser did not recede. Then the Great Eastern was used as a cable ship and became famous for laying two transatlantic telegraph cables. Later it was bought by a French company, and after a major reconstruction, the Great Eastern became the world's first ship with steering control. He continued to sail across the Atlantic, but in 1888 his career ended when the ship was sold for scrap. Until the beginning of the 20th century, it held the title of the largest ship in the world.

Regular flights of transatlantic steamships made it possible to transport from continent to continent not only merchants and industrialists, but also tens of thousands of immigrants who left Europe in search of work and better life in the countries of the New World. Numerous adventurers followed to America, tempted by the possibility of quick and easy enrichment, especially during the gold rush. But on most ships of that time there were a limited number of cabins with relative amenities, they were expensive and were available only to wealthy people. Poor people, who set off in the hope of a better life, doomed themselves to a tedious journey in the cramped spaces of the hold, in cold, dark and dampness. It was only much later that the conditions for class III passengers became more bearable.

The transport of huge masses of people brought considerable profits to the shipping companies, and soon a fierce competition broke out between English, American, German, French, Italian and Scandinavian shipping companies. She forced shipowners to improve the equipment of ships and increase their speed. In the second half of the 19th century, all this led to an unprecedented development of shipbuilding, which embodied the best achievements of technology of that time.

In 1867, the shipping company Wilson & Chambers, burdened with exorbitant debt, filed for bankruptcy. This company managed, however, to build a flotilla of sailing clippers, which at one time belonged to the best and fastest ships of this class. They served on the Europe-Australia line, where they gained such popularity that their red flag with a white five-pointed star continued to fly on the masts even after the bankrupt company was bought by entrepreneur Thomas Henry Ismay. About two years later, with financial support from the Harland & Wolff shipyard, Ismay created a new company, Oceanic Steam Navigation, which, while retaining the white star on its flag, went down in transatlantic shipping history as the White Star Line.

The Harland & Wolff shipyard, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland, was considered the best shipbuilder in Europe in those years, but also the most expensive. The shipyard was very proud of its reputation and almost completely provided the production of ships with its own funds, only a small part of the equipment was manufactured by subcontractors. Excellent ships descended from her stocks. Ismay immediately ordered four sailboats from Harland & Wolff for the newly formed shipping company, and in 1871 announced the start of regular operation on the Liverpool-New York line. One of these ships was the Oushenik, a four-masted metal-hulled ship with a total capacity of 3707 reg. tons and a machine capacity of 1060 hp, which set in motion the propeller. There were no wheels on the ship. A special and highly beneficial relationship has developed between White Star Line and Harland & Wolff. According to long-term agreements, the shipyard undertook guarantees not to build ships for competitors of the White Star Line, and the latter, in turn, pledged never to place orders with another shipyard. The deal gave Harland & Wolff the right to build ships at their own discretion, regardless of costs, and White Star Line did pay big bucks for new ships, plus a fixed percentage. This collaboration between the shipping company and shipbuilders has resulted in some major advances in both the design and equipment of new ships. Many of the new products were then used on the ships of other companies.

The most recent advances were first applied on the Oushenik, launched in August 1870. Starting with it, the shipyard abandoned the traditional forms of the hulls of merchant ships and switched to streamlined forms, reminiscent of sports yachts, with a completely unusual length-to-width ratio - 10: 1. For the convenience of passengers, especially those who could pay a large sum for a ticket, the 1st class cabins and the main salon were moved from the stern, where they were always located, to the center. This made it possible to remove them from the noise of the propeller and place them where the pitching was least felt. A canopy was erected above the main deck, which made it possible for passengers to walk even in unfavorable weather. New spaces, including lounges, smoking rooms and dining rooms, required the creation of a second deck. In the bright and spacious cabins of the 1st class, with a much larger size than it was before, the windows were supplied with water supply and steam heating, electric calls made it possible to call the steward. For thousands of settlers traveling in the hold, trade in a variety of goods was organized.

Despite the fact that the steam engine more and more clearly consolidated its position, sailing ships, which for centuries dominated sea routes, including the Atlantic Ocean, were very slowly losing ground. And although steam engines were installed on most ships that served long-distance lines in the second half of the 19th century, all ships had sails, which, with a fair wind, helped the machines, but above all served as a guarantee in case of possible malfunctions. However, thanks to the technical improvement of steam engines, they became more reliable and more powerful, confidence in them increased, the number of sails decreased, and the steam, step by step, conquered the wind. A heavy blow to the sail was struck in 1869 in connection with the opening of the Suez Canal. Sailing ships were prohibited from entering the canal, because by difficult and sometimes very long maneuvering, depending on the strength and direction of the wind, they slowed down the rhythmic operation of the canal.

The last large ships equipped with both steam engines and sails were the City of Paris and the City of New York of the English company Inman Line. These were three-masted vessels with a total capacity of 10 786 reg. tons, the power of their machines was equal to 20,000 hp, and they had two propellers. They were the largest and fastest ships of their time, and both were owners of the Atlantic Blue Ribbon. The City of Paris, launched in 1888 in Glasgow, received her on her maiden voyage, when in April 1889 she crossed the Atlantic in 5 days and 22 hours. He became the first ship in history that managed to do this in less than 6 days.

A number of vessels were equipped with two propellers even before the launch of the aforementioned ships of the Inman Line shipping company. However, before it was possible to fully appreciate the advantages of the multi-rotor system, a number of technical problems had to be solved. In a stormy sea, overcoming high waves, the bow of the ship often sank, and the stern rose, while the propeller turned out to be above the water. The lack of resistance of the cut water led to the fact that the screw began to work like a horse that broke off the bridle. In such situations, it happened that the shaft could not withstand unexpected stress and broke. For a ship with one propeller, it was a disaster: it was immediately carried away by waves, currents and wind, in bad weather it could sink. At best, he was taken in tow by another vessel, but for the owner, this option was associated with the payment of a huge reward for the assistance provided. If such a nuisance happened to a ship equipped with two propellers, things were not so bad: with the help of the second propeller, it could get to the nearest port. If the steering device was damaged at sea, then the ship with one propeller from that moment became uncontrollable. In the presence of two propellers, their alternate engagement or reduction in the speed of one or the other propeller made it possible to keep the ship on course. Often, even difficult maneuvering when entering the port was much easier to carry out if the ship had two propellers. It was the experience of the City of Paris and the City of New York that, despite all the doubts, proved the effectiveness of the multi-screw drive. Later, three and four screws were installed on large ocean-going ships.

Since the 70s of the XIX century passenger ships on the Atlantic lines are beginning to transform into luxury floating hotels. This trend, most pronounced on the large British steamships, was the result of increased competition from German, French and Dutch companies. In 1870, the ships Abyssinia and Aljiria first had separate bathrooms, and the outfitting of the steamboat Gallia, launched in 1879, was a harbinger of the wasteful luxury of the future. His salon was executed in Japanese style: the walls were covered with panels, covered with jasper-red lacquer, on which birds and flowers were painted in gold and pastel colors; there was even a fountain in the center of the smoking parlor. In 1880, electric lamps were lit for the first time on the Inman Line steamer City of Berlin. The ships had luxurious luxury cabins, dance halls in mirrors, concert halls with expensive pianos, gyms, swimming pools, gambling halls, beauty salons, libraries. The first of the expensive ships of the new generation were the Kunard ships - Campania and Lucania, which received the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic in 1893.

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, several significant innovations appeared in shipbuilding. High-quality steel becomes the material for the construction of the hull, two or four propellers are driven into rotation by a powerful steam turbine of a new design. An automatic door closing system is installed on watertight bulkheads, remotely controlled from the navigating bridge. After the Italian engineer Guglielmo Marconi managed to establish radio communication between the stations of the British peninsula of Cornwall and the island of Newfoundland, located on the opposite side of the Atlantic, a new epoch-making discovery - radio - was used on ships. In 1900, the German merchant ship Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse became the first ship to be equipped with a radiotelegraph. The enterprising Marconi quickly convinced the owners of the largest English and Italian shipping companies of the importance of wireless telegraph and began to install his own radio stations on their ships. The first British steamer to be equipped with a wireless telegraph, also in 1900, was the Lucania.

At the turn of the century, ships belonging to Germany appeared on the transatlantic lines. With broad government support, German companies have made tremendous strides over the years. The Hamburg-America Line owned the largest fleet of passenger steamers in the world (75 ships with a total capacity of 412,000 reg. Tons). Another German company, North German Lloyd (73 ships, 358,000 grt), was not far behind. The largest British shipping company, British India Steam Navigation, had 108 vessels with a total capacity of 370,500 reg. tons, but most of them sailed the waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. White Star Line owned 24 vessels with a tonnage of 188,000 GRT, Cunard - 23 vessels with a tonnage of 140,000 GRT.

German shipping companies fought to get their share of the profits from transatlantic traffic using the steamer Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse on these lines. It was a 209-meter vessel with a total capacity of 14 349 reg. t, equipped with two steam engines with a capacity of 27,000 hp. and capable of a speed of 22.5 knots. It was built at the Stettin shipyard for the North German Lloyd. British shipowners followed closely his maiden voyage, which the ship set off on September 26, 1897. After this voyage, the steamer Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse received the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic. In 1900, he crossed the Atlantic Ocean along the New York - Southampton route in 5 days and 16 hours, but in the same year he lost the lead to another, even larger vessel of the Hamburg-America Line company, the Deutschland.

A little time passed, and the Atlantic Ocean turned into a kind of "sports ground" of the Germans, where only two rivals competed in major competitions between the shores of Europe and America: "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" and "Deutschland". None of the British courts could argue with them. The year 1901 was also successful for the Germans, when they launched the Kronprinz Wilhelm steamer on the routes, and the next, when they launched the Kaiser Wilhelm II steamer. Both were owned by North German Lloyd and both won Atlantic Blue Ribbon.

Speed ​​was a great advertisement for the shipping companies in attracting passengers, but it also had a downside that did not contribute to the growth of profits. The British, soberly assessing the situation, put up with the second place in the rivalry, although their prestige of the sea power suffered. At the turn of the century, British shipowners focused on increasing the size of ships, turning a blind eye even to their low speed, as an increase in speed of only half a knot was associated with a significant increase in shipbuilding costs. For example, the Kunard company in 1900 put into operation two ships - Ivernia and Saxony, each with a capacity of 13,800 brt. At a speed of 16.5 knots, they had an enviable stability, which provided passengers with maximum protection from the unpleasant seasickness. The two vessels each cost £ 325,000, carried 1,960 passengers and 250 crew members, had a deadweight of 11,000 tons, and consumed 150 tons of coal per day. The construction of the German steamboat "Deutschland" cost 660,000 pounds, while its total capacity was 16,502 reg. t. He could take on board 900 passengers less than the ships of the "Kunard" company, the crew consisted of 550 people, the carrying capacity was only 600 tons, and the consumption of coal per day was 570 tons. Construction costs in comparison with the ships of the "Kunard" company were twice as high, the size of the crew was also twice as large, almost four times higher fuel consumption, significantly fewer passengers and negligible carrying capacity - these are significant disadvantages that could not be balanced no speed records. And while British companies received regular profits, the intentions of the Germans in this direction remained unfulfilled. Their ships, crowned with the "Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic", were often unprofitable, and their achievements in speed could only flatter German national pride.

In 1905, the Kunard company launched two new vessels, the Karmania and Karonia, on the Atlantic lines. Each of them could take on board 2,600 passengers and 10,000 tons of cargo. Their steam engines have a capacity of 21,000 hp. allowed a speed of 18 knots, on both ships there were hydraulic drives for closing doors on watertight bulkheads, remotely controlled from the navigating bridge.

The construction of these ships was marked by a significant event: the testing of a new type of power plant - a steam turbine. In 1884, the British engineer Charles A. Parsons designed a jet turbine that had a number of advantages over the classical steam engine. At first, it was installed on only a few small vessels, but after overcoming some difficulties, the British company Allen Line in 1905 installed the turbine on its steamships Victorian and Virginian, plying the route Europe - Canada. The results were so good that Kunard additionally equipped the Caronia with a steam engine that powered two propellers, and installed three turbines on the Karmania, powered by three propellers. "Karmania" fully justified the hopes, and a new power plant for large ships, such as a steam turbine, aroused the interest of all renowned shipowners.

The relentless rivalry between British, German, American, French and Scandinavian shipping companies to seize the greatest possible volume of passenger traffic between Europe and North America led to a constant decline in charges and fares. Companies' revenues were falling, and if the governments did not provide them with financial support, as was the case with German companies, then funds for the construction of new ships that would correspond in their parameters to the progress made in shipbuilding, and would meet the increasing demands of wealthy passengers for luxury. and speed, they did not have. It can be said that at the turn of the century, transatlantic shipping found itself in a state of crisis for some time. And at that moment the American financier and entrepreneur J. Pierpont Morgan entered the game. His plan was simple: to create a giant international trust dominated by American capital, which would have the right to control all the major American and European shipping companies. Then competitors can be easily brought to their knees, and all that remains is to dictate the amounts that provide the necessary profit.

In a short time, Morgan really managed to take possession of almost all American shipping and two of the largest German companies - Hamburg-America Line and North German Lloyd. As for other companies, for example the Dutch Holland America Line, he became the owner of most of the shares. In early 1902, the Morgan Trust, called International Mercantile Marine K, or IMM, made an offer to the British company Cunard. This step caused serious concern both in the British public and in the British Admiralty, which for many years had supported large British shipping companies with various subsidies, but stipulated for itself the right, in the event of war, to attract appropriate vessels for their needs as auxiliary floating equipment. Morgan's plan jeopardized this entire system, which had worked reliably until now. The American financier was a completely unknown figure for the British Admiralty, and one should not take risks on matters of principle.

Therefore, the Admiralty immediately took the necessary steps. Parliament has banned the transfer from the British register of ships received by the Morgan Trust, and negotiations have begun for financial assistance to Cunard. The negotiations ended with an agreement under which the Admiralty took over the financing of the construction of two new ships. The conditions were as follows: firstly, construction costs must not exceed £ 2,600,000 and, secondly, the vessels must be capable of a speed of 24.5 knots. The second condition was dictated by the fact that the admiralty did not exclude a possible clash with imperial Germany. The fastest German passenger ship at that time was the steamer Kaiser Wilhelm II, whose machines allowed a speed of 23.5 knots. The new British ships were supposed to have a higher speed.

An agreement between the Admiralty and Kunard led to the construction of the Lusitania and the Mauritania, the two largest ships of the time. The Lusitania's corps was laid down in September 1904. On June 7, 1906, the ship was launched, and when on September 7, 1907, it set off on its maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York, 200 thousand people came to see it off. Without exaggeration, it was a huge floating palace. The length of the vessel was 240 meters with a width of 27 meters, the power of the machines reached 68,000 hp, it had six decks, its total capacity was 31,500 reg. t. The first class could accommodate 563 passengers, the second - 464 and the third - 1138. A team of 900 people took care of them.

Since the advent of transoceanic passenger lines (which emerged in the 1840s for regular passenger traffic between continents), the passenger liners serving them have gained weight rather slowly: the tonnage of a typical 19th century liner steamer usually totaled only a few thousand register tons. After the first unsuccessful experience in creating a giant steamer - we are talking about a British liner Great eastern 1858 (tonnage 18,915 register tons) - shipping companies have long been wary of building large ships. Only at the end of the 1880s, the first passenger steamers began to appear in the size of more than 10,000 registered tons (in total, 37 of them were built before 1900), then in 1901 the first liner with a tonnage of more than 20,000 tons appeared - Celticcompany "White Star", and in 1907 appearedLusitania and Mauretania"Kunarda", overcame the milestone of 30,000 tons. In 1911, the 40,000-ton milestone was finally crossed: White Star Line launched the first giant liner of the 20th century - Olympic 45,324 gross tonnes to serve the Southampton-New York passenger line.





The first giant liner turned out to be a lucky ship - even a meeting with a German submarine in the First World War ended with the fact that it was not the giant liner that went to the bottom, but the German submarine itself;Olympic calmly worked on the North Atlantic lines until 1935, after which he died a natural death of the ship - was written off for scrap. But the brothers "Olympic" became famous for their sad glory. O the fate of the liner launched in 1911 Titanic needless to say - the whole world knows that this steamer died on its first voyage, taking more than 1,500 lives with it to the bottom.
Titanic, 46 328 tons

The third of the brothers turned out to be a little more fortunate - Britannic(48,158 tons). Launched in 1914, due to the outbreak of the war, she did not have time to work on passenger lines, but in 1915 it was converted into a hospital ship of the British Navy and, as such, made five flights to the Eastern Mediterranean. The sixth flight in November 1916 turned out to be fatal: Britannic died in the Aegean Sea after being blown up by an enemy mine, becoming the largest ship sunk in the First World War; together with the ship, 30 people were killed.

"Kunard" - the eternal rival of the "White Star" - could not help reacting to the creation of three giant ships at once by the rival. In 1913, the company launched its first giant liner - it was Aquitaniawith a tonnage of 45 647 tons, which sailed the seas from 1914 to 1949, survived both world wars; by the end of the 30s, the liner remained the only operating four-pipe ship in the world.

Aquitania compared to the United States Capitol

The creation by the British of four giants at once prompted the German shipping company "Hamburg-America" ​​to create its own super-large passenger liners, surpassing the ships of the British. The first of the "Big Three" in 1913 was Imperator(52,117 t), then they were launched Vaterland("Vaterlyand", 54,282 tons) and Bismarck(56 551 t). Due to the outbreak of war in August 1914, the first of the brothers had a very short time to swim on the Hamburg-New York line, and Bismarck and never went on a flight under the German flag. With the outbreak of war Vaterland was blocked in New York and in 1917 went to the Americans, two other ships after the war had to be given to the British as reparation payments.

Imperator went to the Kunard company and received the name Berengaria


Bismarck was given to "White Star Line" and received the name Majestic... In 1914-1935 he held the title of the largest ship in the world.




Vaterland remained with the Americans under a new name Leviathan and until 1934 sailed on the New York-Cherbourg-Southampton-Hamburg line

World War I dealt a severe blow to transatlantic passenger shipping: by the end of the 1920s, passenger traffic between North America and Europe again exceeded 1,000,000 passengers a year (for comparison, 2.6 million passengers crossed the Atlantic in 1913). At the same time, towards the end of the 1920s, the rivalry between the shipping companies of Europe revived again. The German company "Norddeutscher Lloyd" on the money received from the United States (those were compensation payments for the German ships confiscated in 1917) decided to create two new giant liners:
Bremen Built in 1928, 51,656 Gross Tons


and Europa 1930, 49,746 tons.

The new German liners turned out to be the most technically advanced ships of their time - Bremen the first of the giant ships became the owner of the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic (before him, the giant liners did not show speed records), and Europa - second. Both record-breaking liners served German passenger lines until 1939, when the war broke out. Bremen did not survive the war (it burned down in 1941), but Europa in 1945 it became a trophy of the Americans, who handed over this liner to France as compensation for the Normandy they had burned (more about it below). The French under the name Liberte this liner sailed until 1962 when it was scrapped.

And the French themselves in the late 1920s did not sit idly by. It was put into operation in 1927 Ile de France- the first French giant liner (43,153 tons). To the one who created it French line l Einer worked over 30 years.


Photo after World War II.


Then, in 1930, the French launched the L "Atlantique, 40 945 tons - the first giant liner created to operate on non-North Atlantic lines ( L "Atlantique sailed on the line Bordeaux - Rio de Janeiro - Buenos Aires). The hull of this vessel was designed by Russian engineer Vladimir Ivanovich Yurkevich. The hallmark of the two French giants is the magnificent and innovative interior design in the Art Deco style. Unlike Ile de France this ship lived a very short life.


Finally, in the early 30s, a completely new player appeared in the giant steamer race - Italy, where, at the initiative of the ambitious leader Benito Mussolini, steamship companies began to create two new large-scale liners. The first was launched into the water Rex(51,062 tons).

Was then launched Contents di savoia, 48 502 tons. Both liners since 1932 sailed on the Genoa-New York line. The most famous of the two Italian brothers was Rex, who won the Blue Ribbon from the Germans in 1933. Smaller Contents di savoia did not set high-speed records. On the line oh ba liner operated until the spring of 1940, then, after Italy entered the war, they were laid up and ingloriously killed under the bombs of Anglo-American aircraft.
Contents di savoia



Britain also joined the resumed race: bypassing the temporarily lagging "Cunard" and "White Star", the Canadien Pacific Company distinguished itself - in 1931 it launched a liner on the Southampton-Quebec-Montreal line. Empress of Britain(42,348 registered tons). In September 1939, this ship was requisitioned for the British Navy and in October 1940 it was sunk by a German submarine, becoming the largest casualty of the Kriegsmarine in World War II.

For the giant liners, 1932 became a kind of acme - then 12 ships with a tonnage of more than 40,000 register tons each poured the waters of the Atlantic Ocean; in descending order of tonnage starting with the largest:

Majestic

Leviathan

Berengaria

Contents di savoia

Aquitania

Ile de France

Empress of Britain

L "Atlantique
However, the year 1932 cannot be called a happy time for trans-Atlantic shipping - the Great Depression was raging, so that year the North Atlantic was crossed by only 751,592 transatlantic passengers, by 1934 their number had completely dropped to 460,000. After 1932, the size of the League of Giants began to sharply thin out: after swimming for only 15 months in January 1933 , in the second half of the 1930s decommissioned and scrappedOlympicand three captured Germans (Leviathan,Majestic and Berengaria); Aquitaniaremained the only giant ship of the 1910s in service.
But they were replaced by more than a worthy replacement - three supergiant liners measuring more than 80,000 register tons each.

The first of these was a French liner Normandie, which launched its maiden voyage in May 1935. This liner became the most Russian of the giant ships of the 20th century: the ship's hull was developed by the already mentioned engineer Vladimir Yurkevich,the unsinkability system for the "Normandy" was developed by other Russian engineers - I.P. Poluektov, I.N. Bokhanovsky and B.C. Verzhebsky, the propellers for the ship were developed by another Russian emigrant - Alexander Kharkevich, and the artist Alexander Yakovlev took part in creating the luxurious interior of the ship. At the time of creation, the tonnage of the vessel was 79,280 tons, but then the tonnage was increased to 83,423 tons; up to 1940Normandieheld the title of the largest passenger ship in the world and at the same time in 1935-36 and 1937-38 she held the title of the fastest ship in the world - the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic - became the first, after the "Lusitania" and "Mauritania", passenger ship of the twentieth century, who beat both a record of magnitude and a record of speed.








But NormandieIt was not destined to live a long life - in August 1939, the liner arrived in New York and got stuck here due to the outbreak of war in Europe, in December 1941, after the US entered the war, the liner was requisitioned by the American government, the liner was re-equipped for military transport. In the midst of the work in February 1942, a fire broke out on the ship, 1 person died, and with him died andNormandie.

The main rivalNormandiein the second half of the 30s became an EnglishwomanQueen mary(1936, 81,237 tons) of the new combined company "Cunard White Star".

The liner was 311 meters long.


The liner survived the Second World War and after the war in 1949-1967 continued to work on the Southampton-New York line; for 15 years, this ship held, not without difficulty, theNormandieThe blue ribbon of the Atlantic. In 1967Queen mary was taken to the Californian port of Long Beach, where it still serves as a hotel.

(Near Queen marythere is a B-427, a former submarine of the Pacific Fleet of the USSR, now a museum ship)

Sister was launched in 1940 Queen Mary - liner Queen elizabeth(83 673 tons), the largest passenger liner of the twentieth century. From 1946 to 1968, this ship sailed on the Southampton-Cherbourg-New York line, then was sold to Hong Kong for alteration; in January 1972, in the same place in Hong Kong, this ship burned down.
Queen elizabeth

Europe took a long time to recover from the consequences of World War II, so the first post-war giant liner was an American - a shipUnited States 1952 year , 53 329 tons. The American liner became the last owner of the Atlantic Blue Ribbon and held it until its retirement in 1969.

In 1969 United Stateswas laid up in Philadelphia and has been - or rather, rotting - there for 46 years.

By the end of the 50s, transatlantic passenger navigation revived again - in 1957 and 1958 more than 2 million passengers crossed the North Atlantic on a ship (and the same number crossed the ocean by air). 15 years after the end of the war, the Europeans again began to build giant ships. France retired in 1958Ile de Franceand began to create a replacement for it - in 1961 the liner was launchedFrance(66 343 t), intended for operation on the Le Havre-Southampton-New York line.

In the early 60s, the British company Peninsula & Orient put into operation two new giant liners created to operate on the Southampton - Suez Canal line (but after June 1967 they sailed through South Africa) - Australia; they were linersOriana(41,910 t) and Canberra(45 270 t). Both ships served the passenger line until 1973, and then were converted to cruise ships.
Oriana




Canberra




In the 1960s, Italy returned to the already dying race of giant liners - in 1963, it launched a linerRaffaello(45 933 t), a year later - liner Michelangelo(45,911 t). Both sisters worked on the Genoa-New York line.
Raffaello




Michelangelo

By the mid-60s, 8 giant liners continued to sail on ocean passenger lines - the maximum number since the 1930s; 6 out of 8 giant liners served the European-North American route, 2 - the European-Australian route. But such a mode of transport as an ocean liner was already living out its last years: in 1961, 750 thousand passengers crossed the North Atlantic by water, and 2 million by air, by 1964 the share of ships in the transatlantic passenger traffic decreased to 17% (in 1957 it was 50%) , and by 1970 it had dropped to 4% altogether. One after another, shipping companies began to withdraw their liners from service on passenger lines, and the lines themselves were closed - in 1969 they were removed from the line.United States, in 1974 - France(sold to Norway and sent to work on cruises), the Italians finished their work in 1975Raffaello and Michelangelo(after many ordeals they were scrapped).
And this very "era of decay" in 1969, the last giant passenger liner of the 20th century, an Englishwoman, entered the Southampton-New York line.Queen elizabeth 2(69,053 register tons), combining work on the passenger line with cruise activities. By the mid-70s, the only competitors of this liner on the North Atlantic route were the Soviet medium-sized liners Alexander Pushkin and Mikhail Lermontov, and the Polish liner Stefan Batory, but in the next decade these rivals also disappeared.
Passenger linerQueen elizabeth 2entered the XXI century in splendid isolation.

Queen elizabeth 2was "retired" in 2008.

December 1, 1930 the ceremonial laying of the ship took place at the John Brown shipyard, located in the county of Clydebank "Queen Mary"- one of the most ambitious passenger ships... For this significant date, we have prepared an overview of the most interesting ships that have left their mark on the history of shipbuilding.

Royal william

Great eastern

Servia

Kaiser wilhelm der grosse

Titanic

Normandie

Queen mary

Voyager of the seas

Queen mary 2

Allure of the seas

The first steamer, like its counterparts, is a variant of a piston steam engine. In addition, this name applies to similar devices equipped with a steam turbine. For the first time the word in question was introduced into everyday life by a Russian officer. The first version of a domestic ship of this type was built on the basis of the Elizaveta barge (1815). Previously, such ships were called "pyroscafs" (in the Western manner, which means boat and fire). By the way, in Russia a similar unit was first built at the Charles Bendt plant in 1815. This passenger liner ran between St. Petersburg and Kronstadt.

Peculiarities

The first steamer was equipped with paddle wheels as propellers. There was a variation from John Fish who experimented with steam powered oars. These devices were located on the sides in the compartment of the frames or behind the stern. At the beginning of the twentieth century, an improved propeller came to replace paddle wheels. Coal and petroleum products were used as energy carriers on the machines.

Now such vessels are not being built, but some of them are still in working order. The steamers of the first line, in contrast to steam locomotives, used steam condensation, which made it possible to reduce the pressure at the outlet of the cylinders, significantly increasing the efficiency. The technology under consideration can also use efficient boilers with a liquid turbine, which are more practical and more reliable than the flame-tube counterparts mounted on steam locomotives. Until the mid-70s of the last century, the maximum power indicator of steamboats exceeded that of diesel engines.

The first screw steamer was absolutely not picky about the grade and quality of fuel. The construction of machines of this type lasted several decades longer than the production of steam locomotives. River modifications left serial production much earlier than their marine "competitors". There are only a few dozen operating river models left in the world.

Who Invented the First Steamer?

Steam energy was used to give the object of movement even by Heron of Alexandria in the first century BC. He created a primitive turbine without blades, which was operated on several useful attachments. Many such units were noted by chroniclers of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.

In 1680, a French engineer living in London provided the local royal society with a project for a steam boiler with a safety valve. After 10 years, he substantiated the dynamic thermal cycle of a steam engine, but he never built a finished machine.

In 1705, Leibniz presented a sketch of a steam engine by Thomas Savery, designed to raise water. A similar device inspired the scientist to new experiments. According to some reports, in 1707 a voyage was carried out in Germany. According to one version, the boat was equipped with a steam engine, which is not confirmed by official facts. The ship was subsequently destroyed by angry competitors.

History

Who built the first steamer? Thomas Savery demonstrated a steam pump for pumping water from mines back in 1699. A few years later, an improved analogue was presented by Thomas Newkman. There is a version that in 1736, an engineer from Great Britain, Jonathan Hals, created a ship with a wheel at the stern, which was propelled by a steam device. Proofs of successful testing of such a machine have not survived, however, given the design features and the amount of coal consumption, the operation can hardly be called successful.

Where was the first steamer tested?

In July 1783, the French Marquis Claude Joffoy presented the Piroscaf-class vessel. It is the first officially documented steam powered vessel to be propelled by a horizontal single cylinder steam engine. The machine rotated a pair of paddle wheels, which were placed along the sides. The tests were carried out on the Seine River in France. The ship covered approximately 360 kilometers in 15 minutes (approximate speed 0.8 knots).

Then the engine went out of order, after which the Frenchman stopped the experiments. The name "Piroscaf" has long been used in many countries as a designation for a vessel with a steam power plant. This term in France has not lost its relevance to this day.

American projects

The first steamer in America was introduced by the inventor James Ramsey in 1787. The test of the boat was carried out on the ship was moved using water-jet propulsion mechanisms operating on steam energy. In the same year, the engineer's compatriot tested the steam ship Perseverance on the Delaware River. This machine was set in motion by means of a pair of oars, which were powered by a steam installation. The unit was created together with Henry Voigot, as Britain blocked the possibility of exporting new technologies to its former colonies.

The name of the first steamer in America was Perseverance. Following this, Fitch and Voigot built an 18-meter vessel in the summer of 1790. The steam vessel was equipped with a unique oar propulsion system and operated between Burlington, Philadelphia and New Jersey. The first passenger steamer of this brand was capable of carrying up to 30 passengers. In one summer, the vessel covered about 3 thousand miles. One of the designers stated that the boat covered 500 miles without any problems. The boat's rated speed was about 8 miles per hour. The design in question turned out to be quite successful, however, further modernization and improvement of technologies made it possible to significantly modify the ship.

Charlotte Dantes

In the fall of 1788, Scottish inventors Symington and Miller designed and successfully tested a small wheeled steam-powered catamaran. The tests took place at Dalswinston Loch, ten kilometers from Dumfries. Now we know the name of the first steamer.

A year later, they tested a catamaran of a similar design with a length of 18 meters. The steam engine used as the engine was able to deliver a speed of 7 knots. After this project, Miller abandoned further development.

The first ship in the world of the "Charlotte Dantes" type was manufactured by the designer Sinmington in 1802. The vessel was built from 170 millimeters thick wood. The power of the steam engine was 10 horsepower. The ship was effectively operated to transport barges in the Fort Clyde Canal. The owners of the lake feared that the steam jet emitted by the steamboat could damage the coastline. In this regard, they banned the use of such ships in their water area. As a result, the innovative ship was abandoned by the owner in 1802, after which it fell into complete disrepair, and then it was dismantled for spare parts.

Real models

The first steamer, which was used for its intended purpose, was built in 1807. The model was originally called the North River Steamboat and later the Claremont. It was propelled by paddle wheels and tested on Hudson flights from New York to Albany. The movement distance of the specimen is quite decent, considering the speed of 5 knots or 9 kilometers per hour.

Fulton was happy to appreciate such a trip in the sense that he was able to get ahead of all the schooners and other boats, although few believed that the steamer was able to go at least one mile per hour. Despite the sarcastic remarks, the designer put the improved design of the unit into operation, which he did not regret a bit. It is believed that he was the first to build a structure such as the "Charlotte Dantes" fixture.

Nuances

An American paddle-wheel vessel called the Savannah crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1819. At the same time, the ship sailed most of the way. Steam engines in this case served as additional engines. Already in 1838 the steamer Sirius from Britain crossed the Atlantic completely without using sails.

In 1838, the Archimedes screw steamer was built. It was created by the English farmer Francis Smith. The vessel was a design with paddle wheels and screw analogs. At the same time, a significant improvement in performance was outlined in comparison with competitors. At a certain period, such ships drove sailboats and other wheeled analogs out of service.

In the navy, the introduction of steam power plants began during the construction of the Demologos self-propelled battery, led by Fulton (1816). At first, this design did not find widespread use due to the imperfection of the wheel-type propulsor, which was bulky and vulnerable to the enemy.

In addition, the difficulty was with the placement of the warhead of the equipment. A normal on-board battery was out of the question. For weapons, there were only small gaps of free space at the stern and bow of the ship. With a decrease in the number of guns, the idea arose to increase their power, which was implemented in equipping ships with large-caliber guns. For this reason, it was necessary to make the extremities heavier and more massive from the sides. These problems were partially solved with the advent of the propeller, which makes it possible to expand the scope of the steam engine not only in the passenger, but also in the military fleet.

Modernization

Steam frigates - this is the name given to medium and large combat units on steam. It is more logical to class such machines more as classic steamers than frigates. Large ships could not be successfully equipped with such a mechanism. Attempts at such a design were undertaken by the British and French. As a result, the combat power was incomparable with its counterparts. The first combat frigate with a steam power unit is considered to be the Homer, which was created in France (1841). It was equipped with two dozen guns.

In conclusion

The middle of the 19th century is famous for the complex conversion of sailboats into steam-powered ships. The improvement of the ships was carried out in wheeled or propeller modifications. The wooden body was cut in half, after which a similar insert was made with a mechanical device, the power of which ranged from 400 to 800 horsepower.

Since the location of heavy boilers and machines was moved to a part of the hull under the waterline, the need to receive ballast disappeared, and it also became possible to achieve a displacement of several tens of tons.

The propeller is located in a separate slot located in the stern. This design did not always improve movement by creating additional resistance. So that the exhaust pipe does not interfere with the arrangement of the deck with sails, it was made of a telescopic (folding) type. Charles Parson in 1894 created an experimental ship "Turbinia", the tests of which proved that steam ships can be fast and can be used in passenger transportation and military equipment. This "Flying Dutchman" showed a record speed at that time - 60 km / h.