Adriatic and Oceanic II

[Daniel Odysseus]

If anyne has the "Titanic

If anyne has the "Titanic Collection" it says in the "NOTES: FOR FIRST CLASS PASSENGERS" booklet that in 1910, while Olympic and Titanic were still being built, the S-C-Q-NY service was being run by Adriatic, Oceanic, Majestic, and Teutonic. I know that Teutonic and Majestic were laid up when Olympic and Titanic entered service (though Majestic came back after Titanic sank). I know that the other two ships on the service, pre-Olympic class were the Adriatic and Oceanic survived the war. But what became of them? It seems that, after the war, White Star was struggling to find a third ship for their service, so they had to settle with Homeric. Why didn't they just keep Adriatic and Oceanic in the service?

-D.O.

 

[Mark Baber]

Hello, Daniel---

Addressing

Hello, Daniel---

Addressing a couple of items in your post:

I know that Teutonic and Majestic were laid up

Teutonic was the first to leave the Southampton service, but she wasn't laid up. Instead, after her final Soton-New York roundtrip in April-May 1911 she was refitted for the Canadian service and remained there until the war started. The next to leave Southampton was Adriatic; with Olympic's arrival, she returned to the Liverpool-NY service in September 1911. Finally, Majestic was, indeed, laid up as a reserve ship in November 1911, and returned to service after the loss of Titanic. Her return wasn't long-term, however; she was permanently retired in January 1914. For the balance of pre-war 1914, then, the express service was maintained by Olympic and Oceanic alone.

Adriatic and Oceanic survived the war

Adriatic did, but Oceanic didn't; she was wrecked on 14 September 1914, just a month into her wartime service as an AMC. Teutonic, too, never returned from the war, but for different reasons. She was also taken over as an AMC in 1914, but was then purchased outright by the Admiralty in 1915. She spent the remainer of her years as a White Star-managed, government-owned troop carrier. Thus, of the five ships mentioned in your post only Olympic and Adriatic remained available to White Star after the war.

Why didn't they just keep Adriatic and Oceanic in the service?

As to Oceanic, see above. As to Adriatic, she did in fact spend almost three years on the Southampton servce after the war. First, from September to December 1919, she and Red Star's Lapland maintained a minimal schedule from Southampton---a total of 5 roundtrips. Then Adriatic alone maintained the Soton service in 1920 until Olympic returned in June. The two of them then were by themselves until Homeric came into service in March 1922, followed by Majestic II in May. Adriatic then returned to Liverpool, and Olympic, Majestic and Homeric constituted the express service for years.

Histories of all these ships are at http://www.greatships.net/shipslist.html

Sources; Haws' Merchant Fleets; Bonsor's North Atlantic Seaway; Kludas' Great Passenger Ships of the World; Immigration Information Bureau's Record of the Arrival of Passenger Steamships from Europe.

 

[Daniel Odysseus]

Thanks! But why, if Southampto

Thanks! But why, if Southampton was a bigger service, would they send Adriatic back to the Liverpool service, instead of having a fourth ship, to help transport more people, due to Homeric's low speed? Did the Liverpool service lose a ship, in which they needed Adriatic?

 

[Mark Baber]

Hello again, Daniel---

Adri

Hello again, Daniel---

Adriatic didn't replace anything when she returned to Liverpool; her sisters had been maintaining that as a three-ship service and Adriatic was a fourth starter. The Big Four had been designed to provide a weekly service from Liverpool---at the time White Star's main British port---and they once again did so beginning in 1922.

Remember, too, that although Homeric's speed was never close to Majestic's or Olympic's, she was still faster than the Big Four. (She was also bigger than Adriatic, both in tonnage and in passenger capacity.) Adriatic was a 17 knot ship; Homeric's service speed was 18, increased to 19 1/2 after her 1924 refit. And, even with Homeric's slower speed, White Star was able to maintain a weekly Southampton service with her, Olympic and Majestic.

Sources: Haws' Merchant Fleets; Bonsor's North Atlantic Seaway; Kludas' Great Passenger Ships of the World; Immigration Information Bureau's Record of the Arrival of Passenger Steamships from Europe.

 

[Daniel Odysseus]

Mark:
Wow, I had no idea that

Mark:
Wow, I had no idea that Adriatic or the Big Four were so slow. Thanks again, this clarifies a lot.

 

[Mark Baber]

And Adriatic was the fastest o

And Adriatic was the fastest of the four; the others were 16 knotters.

Sources:Bonsor's North Atlantic Seaway; Kludas' Great Passenger Ships of the World.

 

[karen ann jones]

The Adriatic is in our thought

The Adriatic is in our thoughts and hearts today and is remembered ,as on this day, May 8th 1907,she left on her Maiden Voyage.