Everything about Rms Aquitania totally explained
The RMS Aquitania
|
| Career |
|
| Nationality: |
British |
| Owners: |
Cunard Line |
Builders:
|
John Brown and Company yards in Clydebank, Scotland |
| Laid down: |
December, 1910 |
| Launched: |
April 21, 1913 |
| Christened: |
April 21, 1913 by the Countess of Derby |
| Maiden voyage: |
May 30, 1914 |
| Fate: |
Scrapped in Faslane, Scotland 1950. |
| General characteristics |
| Tonnage: |
45,647 gross |
| Length: |
901 feet (275.2 m) |
| Beam: |
97 feet (29.6 m) |
| Power: |
Steam turbines; 59,000 shp. |
| Propulsion: |
Four propellers |
| Machinery: |
Four shaft, geared turbines |
| Speed: |
23 knots |
Capacity:
|
1914 - 618 1st, 614 2d, 1,998 3d1926 - 610 1st, 950 2d, 640 Tourist
|
| Crew: |
972 |
RMS Aquitania was a
Cunard Line ocean liner that was built by the
John Brown and Company shipyard near
Clydebank,
Scotland. She was launched on
April 21,
1913, and sailed on her maiden voyage to
New York in
May 30,
1914.
Aquitania was the third in Cunard Line's "grand trio" of express liners, preceded by the
1906|2 and
RMS Lusitania. She was also the last of the four-stacked ocean liners. Widely considered one of the most attractive ships of her time,
Aquitania earned the nickname "Ship Beautiful."
In her 36 years of service,
Aquitania survived military duty in both world wars and was returned to passenger service after each war.
Aquitania's record for the longest service career of any 20th century express liner stood until 2004, when the (ultimate career service of 40 years) became the longest-serving liner.
Origin
The origins of
Aquitania lay in the rivalry between the
White Star Line and
Cunard,
Britain's two leading shipping companies. White Star's and were larger than the latest Cunard ships and by 15,000 gross tons. The Cunard duo were significantly faster than the White Star ships, while White Star's ships were seen as more luxurious. Cunard needed another liner for its weekly transatlantic express service, and elected to go with a larger, slower, but more luxurious ship.
(External Link
)
Construction & Launch
Aquitania was built at
John Brown and Company yards in
Clydebank,
Scotland, where most Cunard ships were built. In the wake of the
Titanic disaster,
Aquitania was one of the first ships to carry enough lifeboats for all passengers and crew. As required by the British
Admiralty, she was designed to be convertible into an armed merchant cruiser, and was reinforced to mount guns for service in that role.
Aquitania was launched on
April 21,
1913 after being christened by
Alice Stanley, the Countess of Derby, and fitted out over the next thirteen months. In May
1914 she was tested in her sea trials and steamed at a full knot over the expected speed.
Interior & Design
While
Aquitania's exterior has been called "boxy" by some,
(External Link) others argue that it had lean beauty. But she was better known for her luxurious interior and the appointments of her public spaces, known as a floating palace and the "Ship Beautiful" due to her spectacular interior. Her
Palladian lounge rose through two decks and was reminiscent of the work of
Sir Christopher Wren. The dining room also rose through two decks and was equally luxurious, being designed in the
Louis XVI style. First-class public rooms were decorated with rich and tasteful works of art, and her design and decoration gave
Aquitania a high reputation among travellers. A popular spot was the Garden Lounge, a quaint cafe which gave the impression of an old garden. Glazed windows at the sides and the aft end of this space afforded protection from the wind, and the furniture consisted of
wicker chairs, settees and tables.
Career
May 30,
1914 saw the
Aquitania sail on her
maiden voyage under the command of Captain William Turner. This momentous event was however overshadowed by the sinking of the
RMS Empress of Ireland in
Quebec the previous day on May 29 with over a thousand drowned. The following month the
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated and the world was plunged into
World War I, interrupting
Aquitania's civilian career. After only three round trips she was taken over for military use. At first she was converted into an armed merchant cruiser, for which provision had been made in her design. However, the Admiralty found that large liners were too fragile and profilgate in their use of fuel to serve as cruisers, so
Aquitania didn't serve long in that role.
(External Link) After being idle for a time, in the spring of 1915 she was converted into a trooper, and made voyages to the
Dardanelles. She then was converted into a hospital ship, and served in that role in the
Dardanelles campaign. In 1916, she was returned to the trooping front, and then in 1917 was again laid up. In 1918, she was back on the high seas in troopship service, conveying North American troops to Britain. Many of these departures were from the port of
Halifax, Nova Scotia where her spectacular dazzle paint scheme was captured by artists and photographers namely
Antonio Jacobsen. On one occasion she transported over 8,000 men.
In June 1919, she ran a Cunard "austerity service" between
Southampton and
New York. In December of that year
Aquitania was docked at the
Armstrong Whitworth yards in
Newcastle to be refitted for post-war service. She was converted from coal burner to oil-fired, which greatly reduced the number of crew needed in her engine room. (One crew member was killed in an explosion in her engine room as she was being converted to oil firing at the Armstrong Whitworth yard) Her original fittings and art pieces were brought out of storage and reinstalled.
During the
Twenties Aquitania became one of the most popular liners on the North Atlantic route. She sailed with the Cunarders
Mauretania and in a trio known as "The Big Three." As times grew better,
Aquitania grew into the role of being one of the most profitable ocean liners ever. The
American restriction on immigration in the early
Twenties ended the age of mass emigration from
Europe, but as ocean travel was the only means of transportation between the continents, the ocean liners survived and even surpassed old records. Some of the big money now came in from movie stars and royalty, other aristocracy and politicians.
Aquitania became their favorite, as the
1920s became one of the most profitable ages in ocean travel history.
However following the
stock market crash of
1929 many ships were affected by the devastating consequences.
Aquitania found herself in a tough position. Only a few could afford expensive passage on her now, so Cunard used
Aquitania to provide cheap cruises. These were successful, especially for
Americans who went on "booze cruises," tired of their country's
prohibition. On
April 10 1935 Aquitania went hard aground near Thorne Knoll on the
River Test outside
Southampton,
England but with the aid of ten tug boats and the next high tide she was freed.
World War Two
As time went on
Aquitania grew older and was scheduled to be replaced by in
1940. This plan was shattered with the coming of
World War II. In 1940
Aquitania was in New York awaiting further orders. For a time she was tied up alongside, and the and the four ships made an impressive sight amongst large liners. Shortly after
Aquitania sailed for
Sydney,
Australia, in her Cunard colors, to become a troop transport.
Aquitania served valiantly as a troop transport, just as she'd in
World War I. Later in 1940
Aquitania,
Queen Mary,
Queen Elizabeth, and other ships sailed in a magnificent convoy out of
Sydney,
Australia. In November 1941
Aquitania was in
Singapore (then still a British colony) getting a drabbish grey paint job and later set sail to take part indirectly in the loss of the Australian cruiser . The
Sydney had engaged in battle with the German auxiliary cruiser
Kormoran. There has been much unsubstantiated speculation that
Kormoran was expecting
Aquitania, after spies in Singapore had notified
Kormoran's crew of the liner's sailing, and planned to ambush her in the Indian Ocean west of
Perth but instead encountered
Sydney on
November 19. Both ships were lost after a fierce battle and a short time later
Aquitania arrived on the scene to pick up survivors of the German ship, the captain going against orders not-to-stop for survivors of sinkings. There were no survivors from the
Sydney. In her eight years of further military work,
Aquitania sailed more than 500,000 miles, and carried nearly 400,000 soldiers, to and from places as far afield as
New Zealand,
Australia, the
South Pacific,
Greece and the
Indian Ocean.
Fate
After completing troopship service, she was handed back to
Cunard in
1948, who used her to transport war brides and their children to Canada under charter from the Canadian government. This final service created a special fondness for
Aquitania in
Halifax, Nova Scotia, the port of disembarkation for these immigration voyages. On completion of that task in December 1949, she was taken out of service when her Board of Trade certificate wasn't renewed as the condition of the ship had reached a stage where she was too old to be economical and brought in to line with safety standards of the day. The vessel was retired and scrapped in
1950 in
Scotland, thus ending an illustrious career which included steaming 3 million miles in 450 voyages.
Aquitania carried 1.2 million passengers over a career that spanned nearly 36 years, making her the longest serving Express Liner of the 20th Century. She was the only major liner to serve in both World Wars, and she was scrapped as the last four funneled passenger ship. Her wheel and a fine half model of
Aquitania may be seen in the Cunard exhibit at the
Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax.
Sources
Further Information
Get more info on 'Rms Aquitania'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://rms_aquitania.totallyexplained.com">RMS Aquitania Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
