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Atlantic Passenger Trade (Continued from Page 17) WEXTERNLAND, 16,000-ton steamships, of prewar design it is true, but of post- war build nevertheless; these were originally placed in commission as cabin steamers, but cabin class has latterly been discontinued aboard them, the accommodations now being occupied by tourist third as the high- est class carried. Five Baltimore Mail Liners Further, the new Baltimore Mail Steamship Co. is entering the trans- atlantic service this year with five units somewhat similar to the Amer- ican Merchant liners, to cater like- wise to one class of cabin passengers exclusively. It is interesting to observe, by the way, glancing toward the other ship- ping routes of the world, that the P. & O. company plans hereafter to op- erate its 16,000-ton liners MOLDAVIA and Moneo.ia also as specialized tour- ist steamers. One has but to follow the news- paper notices of arriving and depart- ing passengers on the transatlantic steamers to realize the growing pop- ularity of the less expensive modes of travel, for aristocracy is generously represented aboard the cabin liners. And lately we have had an instance of royalty itself a patron, not of a first class steamship, nor even a _ cabin liner, but actually of a ship whose highest accommodation was that of tourist third cabin. _ Between the superior attractions of cabin class at hardly greater expense and the excellent standards of tour- ist third at decidedly less expense, it is not surprising that second class is well on the way to the discard. Exist- ing of course, only aboard liners cater- ing to first class also, it is beginning to disappear even there; on the Le- VIATHAN, Homeric, and BELGENLAND, for instance, second class has been dis- continued and its quarters devoted to the accommodation of tourist pas- sengers. The latest big development in the transatlantic passenger trade is the sudden revival of the craze for speed. In the years following the close of the war, with the world brought to its senses and in no humor for any kind of extravagent competition, as the effect of the ordeal through which it had passed, it looked pretty much as if we had at last broken away from that mania for more and more speed and luxury in crossing the Atlantic. One after the other, shipping leaders announced as their definite conclusion that the building of supersteamships was a thing of the past; there were already more of them in operation than the trade really could support. But it happened that the French line, obligated to do so under the terms of its contract with the French government, entered into years be- 50 fore, found it necessary to begin the construction in 1924 of a new express steamer. This, coming out in 1927, proved to be a ship of about the ton- nage and speed of the OLYMPIC and AQUITANIA, just another superliner, then. So luxuriously was the new ILE Dr France fitted, however, that the other steamship lines could not fail to re- gard her as an extremely uncomfort- able competitor for their own ships. As a result the trade started talking again about new thousand-footers. At first little was mentioned con- cerning higher speeds. The leader- ship of the Mauretania, dating from 1907, was something which, to over- throw, meant building and operating expenses rather greater than the com- panies cared to let themselves in for. But around 1925 certain experi- ments with small vessels had proven that steam turbine efficiency, notably in the matter of fuel economy, could be materially advanced through the employment of higher steam pres- sures. Embarking subsequently on an ex- tensive program of liner construction, the Canadian Pacific Steamships, Ltd., took full advantage of the new dis- covery in connection therewith, fur- ther applying the principle in the re- engining of five of its units of prior construction. As already indicated, advance in speed standards goes hand in hand with advance in engineering efficiency. Accordingly, against the 16 knots or so to which cabin liners were orig- inally designed, the Canadian Pacific company was in a position to power its new DucHEss class of cabin steam- ers to 18 knots. Of course, this was not exactly a record for cabin steam- ers, for the CARMANIA, CARONIA, PRES- IDENT HARDING, and PRESIDENT ROOSE- VELT, not to forget the GrorGE WASH- INGTON, were indeed 18-knot ships and better; but they had all been built in the start for first class passenger serv- ice. Speeding Up Intermediate Liners The Hamburg-American line, in building up its services again after the war, had topped off its new fleet with a quartet of intermediate liners, of 21,000 tons apiece, at 16 knots. Such was the enthusiasm over the engine economy afforded by the use of steam at the high pressures now introduced, coupled with the new trend toward higher speed, that this company has caused those four liners to be reengined on the new principle, and to a speed of as high as 20 knots. Meanwhile that revival of interest in the building of new superliners has developed into a rivalry as intense as has ever existed in former years. At first the steamship lines were back- ward about committing themselves to a start, due to uncertainty as to the choice of propulsive agency and a preference to see first what “the other MARINE REvIEw—July, 1951 fellow” was going to do about it. It was the North German Lloyd that boldly took the initiative, con- tracting late in 1926 for the construc. tion of two vessels ranking in size with the biggest ships ever built. Needless to say, the possibilities of steam at the new high pressures were fully exploited. While the specific de- sire of setting new records for speed was repeatedly disclaimed, the sched- ule devised for the new liners—five days between New York and the Eng. lish channel—was unprecedented. To abet their engines in maintaining the necessary speed, various novel fea- tures were introduced into the design of the hulls and superstructures of the ships with a view to reduce water and wind resistance to a minimum. Germans Take Speed Record With the appearance of the BreMEN in service in the summer of 1929 and of the EuRopA early in 1930, then, the MAURETANIA has at last been displaced in speed leadership on the Atlantic, after having held it for over twenty years. These new German liners have set the record at somewhat less than four and three-quarters days between New York and the English channel ports, equivalent to about four and one quarter days over the Queens- town course; they have incidentally scored their best averages across the Atlantic at precisely the same figure —27.91 knots. If ever there were a vindication of that famous saying “Do it now!” we certainly have one here. By taking a chance—definitely deciding upon a course of action and straightway pur- suing it—the North German Lloyd has actually succeeded in building its new superships and placing them in service while the other companies were still hanging back and talking about it instead of getting started themselves. Now, of course, the latter have at last gotten under way with their plans; the Cunard and French lines are each building what they have respectively announced as the biggest ship ever, the speed intended being something like 30, maybe 32, knots. But it will take 2% to 3 years to build them, all of which time the BREMEN and Europa will be having things pretty much their own way in influencing the choice of transatlantic travelers as to the ship to take. It is true that the German ships will be confronted somewhat sooner with a pair of Italian rivals, the REX and the Contr prt SAvora. While these are also to be wonder ships of not less speed, it seems that they will not actually aim to beat the BREMEN and Europa. They will, besides, ply to the Mediterranean, so that, while their compeition is going to be felt in the Cherbourg department, these new Italian liners will not directly chal- lenge the supremacy of the German ships on the main transatlantic high- way between United States and Europe.