Oceanic (unfinished ship)

For other ships with the same name, see Oceanic (disambiguation).

RMMV Oceanic (Royal Mail Motor Vessel) was the planned name of an unfinished ocean liner that was partially built by Harland and Wolff for the White Star Line. It would have been the third ship bearing the name Oceanic, after the one of 1870 and the one of 1899. It was envisaged in 1926, with the idea of modernizing the transatlantic service of the company. With the arrival of Lord Kylsant at the head of the company, the planned size of the project increased, until it became that of a large ship destined to be the first to exceed the symbolic limit of 300 metres (984 ft) in length and 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) in speed.

Digital drawing by Anton Logvynenko of the planned ocean liner RMMV Oceanic
History
United Kingdom
Name	Oceanic
Owner	White Star Line (intended)
Operator	White Star Line (intended)
Ordered	18 June 1928
Builder	Harland and Wolff, Belfast (keel laid only)
Yard number	844
Laid down	28 June 1928
Fate	Construction halted on 23 July 1929; cancelled and dismantled on slipway, 1930
General characteristics
Tonnage	70,000 - 85,000 GRT (estimated)
Length	1,050 ft (320.0 m) (intended)
Beam	120 ft (36.6 m) (estimated)
Draught	38 ft (11.6 m) (intended)
Decks	12 (intended)
Installed power	Diesel-electric drive; 44 six-cylinder, exhaust turbo-charged, four-stroke, single-acting diesel generators; 275,000 IHP (200,000 SHP)
Propulsion	Quadruple propellers
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) (service speed); 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph) (max. speed)

After several years of study, the construction began in June 1928 in the Harland & Wolff shipyards in Belfast. However, the work was carried out at a slow pace and ceased in June 1929, probably because further studies relating to the propulsion were needed. The Great Depression which began the same year and the financial affair which sent Lord Kylsant to prison in 1931 put a definitive end to the construction, for which the government refused to advance funds.

Within the White Star Line fleet, the planned Oceanic was replaced by two smaller ships, MV Britannic and MV Georgic.

Birth of the project

 

RMS Homeric, which White Star Line wanted to replace

By the early 1910s, the White Star Line was to be able to provide regular and cost-effective transatlantic service with its three Olympic-class ships. The loss of Titanic in 1912, then of Britannic in 1916, however, seriously handicapped this aim. Following World War I, the company was given two German liners in compensation for wartime damage, which became RMS Majestic and RMS Homeric. Both were assigned to the transatlantic service alongside RMS Olympic, the only surviving ship of the initially planned trio.^[1] It quickly turned out, however, that while Majestic and Olympic had relatively equivalent profiles, reaching roughly the same speed (between 22 and 24 knots, 41 and 44 km/h, 25 and 28 mph respectively) and the same passenger capacities, Homeric was significantly smaller and slower (19 knots, 35 km/h, 22 mph only). Additionally, the ship was less successful compared to its fellow liners.^[2] In fact, its career did not last long and it left the North Atlantic route in 1932, only ten years after its entry into service.^[3]

It was in August 1926 that a press release about a project from the company appeared for the first time, indicating the imminent construction of a 25-knot ship to replace Homeric. This ship must then, according to the press releases, be of a profile close to that of the Olympic-class vessels.^[4][5] The same year, in November, the International Mercantile Marine Co., a trust that owned the White Star Line, decided to separate from its non-American companies. The company was then bought by Owen Philipps, 1st Baron Kylsant, who integrated it into his company, the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, the largest maritime conglomerate of the period.^[6] Lord Kylsant, who was also the owner of the Harland & Wolff shipyards in Belfast, decided to have the planned ship built there, for which studies were carried out over many months.

 

Promotional postcard announcing Oceanic's construction in late 1920s

On 14 April 1927, construction of a fleetmate Britannic began in Harland & Wolff. Britannic was a smaller version of the proposed liner, but of similar design.^[7] However, it was not until 18 June 1928 that a contract was signed to build the proposed liner, construction began ten days later. The liner was to be named Oceanic, in reference to the very first liner put into service by the company after its purchase by Thomas Henry Ismay in 1871. Estimates gave it a length of over 300 metres (984 ft), 60,000 gross register tons (GRT), and a cost of £3.5 million, making it the largest liner ever built and the first to exceed the symbolic 1,000-foot mark. Construction of the ship's keel began with great fanfare ten days after the contract was signed.^[8] If the only existing plans of the ship remained sketchy and only allowed for understanding the general arrangement, they did give an idea of the capacity of the liner, designed to carry 722 passengers in first class, 464 in second, and 1,096 in third, and also 240 interchangeable seats between first and second class, and 286 between second and third, for a total of 2,808 passengers.^[9]

Economic crisis and cancellation

 

Britannic had some features that were inspired from Oceanic's planned designs, and her construction began at the same time as this ship.

However, construction was proceeding at a very slow pace, to such an extent that a year later, the keel was still not completed.^[10] The work was slowed by a dispute over her powerplant; Lord Kylsant wanted to use diesel-electric instead of the then more common steam power to enable the ship's speed to exceed 30 knots (a barrier not surpassed until the completion of SS Normandie in 1935). White Star proposed having over 40 diesel generator sets driving four propellers through geared electric motors. Harland and Wolff was reluctant to adopt this system, preferring to continue the use of trusted steam turbine propulsion as it seemed that not testing a new type of engine by installing it on smaller ships first was perilous.^[11] A compromise of sorts was reached and the final design used four conventional low-speed 'cathedral' diesel engines, each directly driving one propeller shaft - which would have made Oceanic the first quadruple-screw motor ship.^[10] Despite construction on Oceanic slowing down, construction of the smaller Britannic continued without issues.^[7]

 

Lord Kylsant

Further work on Oceanic was postponed after which the keel was coated in preservative oil in hopes construction would resume but the project was later cancelled due to the Great Depression and the collapse of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, owners of the White Star Line, as a result of the financial problems of Sir Owen Philips, Lord Kylsant.^[12] The Royal Mail Case, as it was known, led to the imprisonment of Kylsant, and to substantial changes in accounting and auditing practice.^[13] Loans backed by the governments of England and Northern Ireland intended for the construction of Oceanic were diverted to complete the construction of Britannic, as well as to start construction of a sister ship to Britannic named Georgic. These two liners were partially built with steel plates ordered for Oceanic, whose partially built hull was subsequently dismantled and reused on Britannic and Georgic after the aforementioned diversion of funds.^[14][15]

Legacy

 

Georgic inherited several more features of Oceanic's planned designs, and her construction began after the cancellation of this ship.

In total, of the estimated cost of £3.5 million, £150,000 was spent on Oceanic's design and start of construction.^[15] These sums were not, however, totally lost. Part of the design indeed inspired MV Britannic, a smaller ship which largely reproduced the silhouette of the aborted ship, in particular its packed funnels and its motor propulsion. The liner entered service in 1930 and enjoyed some success.^[16] To replace Oceanic, MV Georgic, a sister ship of Britannic, was built and put into service in 1932. Georgic differed in appearance from Britannic in that the forward part of her superstructure and bridge was rounded instead of straight, and the front part of her promenade deck was covered. These features were carried over to Georgic from Oceanic.^[15]

However, these two liners could not replace large ships like Majestic and Olympic. The construction of a large liner therefore remained on the agenda. The Cunard Line also had to stop the construction of its own large liner because of the economic crisis. Neville Chamberlain, then Chancellor of the Exchequer pushed the two companies (White Star and Cunard) to merge in 1934, with the promise to help them finish the liner. This is how the Cunard-White Star Limited and RMS Queen Mary were born.^[17] In 1947 Cunard purchased White Star's interest, and by 1949 the company had dropped the White Star name and was renamed Cunard Line. Despite this, Cunard continued to operate the Britannic and Georgic.^[18] In 1956, Georgic was sold for scrap, leaving Britannic as the last liner of the White Star Line in service.^[19][20] In 1960, Cunard sold the Britannic for scrap, thus removing the last traces of the cancelled Oceanic.^[21]

Appearance-wise, the planned Oceanic had certain features that make it akin to the liner SS Normandie, including the three packed funnels that contrasted with the tall pipes of older ships. Designed shortly after Oceanic, Normandie was the first to exceed the symbolic barrier of 300 meters in length and 30 knots in speed that the White Star Line was aiming for.^[22]

References

1. Chirnside 2004, p. 308
2. Chirnside 2004, p. 110
3. Homeric of 1914
4. The texts of the time spoke of a "family resemblance". However, the project was still very vague and was totally modified when the proportions of the ship were increased in the years that followed.
5. Williams & de Kerbrech 1982, p. 90
6. Chirnside 2004, p. 114.
7. "Britannic". Harland and Wolff. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
8. Williams & de Kerbrech 1982, pp. 90–91
9. White Star's Proposed MV Oceanic III
10. Williams & de Kerbrech 1982, p. 91
11. Williams & de Kerbrech 1982, p. 89
12. Chirnside 2004, p. 118
13. An Era Ends: The Final Demise of the White Star Line
14. Williams & de Kerbrech 1982, p. 92
15. Eaton & Haas 1989, p. 233
16. Williams & de Kerbrech 1982, p. 94
17. Chirnside 2004, p. 122
18. Hyde, Francis E (18 June 1975). Cunard and the North Atlantic 1840–1973: A History of Shipping and Financial Management. ISBN 9781349023905.
19. "Georgic - Chris' Cunard Page". Retrieved 11 December 2014.
20. "The Cunard White Star Liners 'Britannic ' and 'Georgic'". liverpoolships.org. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
21. Morrow, Edward A (13 November 1960). "Cruise to Ireland will make the Britannic only a memory". The New York Times. p. 368. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
22. Williams & de Kerbrech 1982, p. 80.

Bibliography

• Chirnside, Mark (2004). The Olympic-Class Ships. Stroud: Tempus. ISBN 978-0-7524-2868-0.
• Eaton, John; Haas, Charles (1989). Falling Star, Misadventures of White Star Line Ships. Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-084-5.
• Williams, David; de Kerbrech, Richard (1982). Damned by Destiny. Brighton: Teredo books. ISBN 0-903662-09-4. OCLC 10284842.

External links

• M.V. Oceanic