M
Mark Baber
Staff member
Moderator
Member
(As I post this, it's still 20 February here. So, for a few more minutes, Cedric, second of the "Big Four", arrived in New York on her maiden voyage 99 years ago today. This article was published the following morning.)
The New York Times, 21 February 1903
LINER CEDRIC IN PORT
---
Largest Steamship Afloat Pronounced Steady as a Rock
---
Gales and High Seas Made No Impression on Her, and None of the Passengers Was Seasick
---
The largest steamship ever constructed slowly made her way, last evening
between 6 and 8 o'clock, up New York Bay and the North River to the
White Star piers at the foot of Bank Street. The huge vessel was the
new transatlantic liner Cedric, a sister of the Celtic of the same
fleet, but ninety-six tons larger.
The Cedric made a good voyage, according to officers and passengers, and
each and every one of them pronounced her almost perfect as far as
seaworthiness and easygoing in the roughest kind of weather are
concerned. For instance, Sir Cavendish Boyle, the Governor of
Newfoundland, who was among the passengers, said that she was as steady
as a rock, and that although huge seas often hurled themselves against
or over her sides, they had no effect on the monster, which went her way
without even so much as a tremor. "The Cedric is a good example of the
kind of ships the Morgan combine is turning out," added Sir Cavendish.
Another stanch supporter of the Cedric's qualities of resistance to big
seas and high winds was Clegg, the White Star Line's veteran smoke-room
steward, who has been in the employ of the line nearly a quarter of a
century.
"When we left Queenstown," said Clegg, "I placed a small wine glass
filled with champagne on the edge of a sideboard on the port side of the
smoke room. I never touched that glass all the way across, and when we
got to Sandy Hook to-day the glass had not moved half an inch and not a
drop of wine had been spilled. Now, that proves that the Cedric is a
wonder, doesn't it?"
In appearance the Cedric is almost exactly like her sister ship the
Celtic. What small differences in construction do exist, it would take
an expert to find. She is 700 feet long, 75 feet wide, and has a depth
of 49 1-3 feet. Her gross tonnage is 21,000 tons, while her
displacement is 38,000 tons. Like the Celtic, she has four masts and
two funnels, and is designed to cross the Atlantic at an average speed
of about 17 knots. Her interior fittings, while not at all gorgeous,
are yet elegant in appearance.
The Cedric brought 742 passengers, 312 of whom were in the first and
second cabin. According to Dr. R. D. Doble, formerly of the Teutonic,
the ship's surgeon, not a passenger was seasick during the voyage, so
easily did the big ship plough her way through the mountainous seas on
the way over. The log of the liner shows that she encountered all kinds
of gales, especially during the last four days, when she ran into a
succession of heavy northwesters.
"They did not bother us any, though," said Capt. Haddock, "for on this
ship you would hardly know you were at sea unless you happened to take a
walk on deck or looked out of your stateroom window."
The Cedric crossed the ocean in 8 days, 8 hours, and 16 minutes. She
came over the long course of 2,889 miles from Daunt's Rock to New York,
and her log shows that her day's runs were 365, 390, 383, 333, 351, 331,
303, 358, and 75 to Sandy Hook. Her average speed was 14 1/2 knots.
Her commander is Capt. H. J. Haddock, C. B., R. N. R., formerly of the
Britannic, Germanic and Celtic. The chief officer is Lieut. Alexander
Hambleton, R. N. R., and the chief engineer J. W. Alexander, who for the
last two years had been chief engineer on the Britannic, which has been
doing service as a Government transport. The purser is H. McElroy.
Sir Cavendish Boyle said he would go to Montreal to-day, where he would
try and open communication with his Government. He feared, he said,
that it would be hard to do so, owing to the damage to telegraph wires
and navigation by storms and ice, and added that he might be compelled
to go to Halifax to catch a boat to take him to St. John's. Others on
board were H. Montague Allen, Sir Randolph Baker, T. P. Burnham, Capt.
James Cole, R. N.; G. L. Davidson, Erastus S. Day, United States Consul
at Bradford; Capt. C. D. Falbes, Richard McCreery, and J. Robertson.
-30-
MAB
The New York Times, 21 February 1903
LINER CEDRIC IN PORT
---
Largest Steamship Afloat Pronounced Steady as a Rock
---
Gales and High Seas Made No Impression on Her, and None of the Passengers Was Seasick
---
The largest steamship ever constructed slowly made her way, last evening
between 6 and 8 o'clock, up New York Bay and the North River to the
White Star piers at the foot of Bank Street. The huge vessel was the
new transatlantic liner Cedric, a sister of the Celtic of the same
fleet, but ninety-six tons larger.
The Cedric made a good voyage, according to officers and passengers, and
each and every one of them pronounced her almost perfect as far as
seaworthiness and easygoing in the roughest kind of weather are
concerned. For instance, Sir Cavendish Boyle, the Governor of
Newfoundland, who was among the passengers, said that she was as steady
as a rock, and that although huge seas often hurled themselves against
or over her sides, they had no effect on the monster, which went her way
without even so much as a tremor. "The Cedric is a good example of the
kind of ships the Morgan combine is turning out," added Sir Cavendish.
Another stanch supporter of the Cedric's qualities of resistance to big
seas and high winds was Clegg, the White Star Line's veteran smoke-room
steward, who has been in the employ of the line nearly a quarter of a
century.
"When we left Queenstown," said Clegg, "I placed a small wine glass
filled with champagne on the edge of a sideboard on the port side of the
smoke room. I never touched that glass all the way across, and when we
got to Sandy Hook to-day the glass had not moved half an inch and not a
drop of wine had been spilled. Now, that proves that the Cedric is a
wonder, doesn't it?"
In appearance the Cedric is almost exactly like her sister ship the
Celtic. What small differences in construction do exist, it would take
an expert to find. She is 700 feet long, 75 feet wide, and has a depth
of 49 1-3 feet. Her gross tonnage is 21,000 tons, while her
displacement is 38,000 tons. Like the Celtic, she has four masts and
two funnels, and is designed to cross the Atlantic at an average speed
of about 17 knots. Her interior fittings, while not at all gorgeous,
are yet elegant in appearance.
The Cedric brought 742 passengers, 312 of whom were in the first and
second cabin. According to Dr. R. D. Doble, formerly of the Teutonic,
the ship's surgeon, not a passenger was seasick during the voyage, so
easily did the big ship plough her way through the mountainous seas on
the way over. The log of the liner shows that she encountered all kinds
of gales, especially during the last four days, when she ran into a
succession of heavy northwesters.
"They did not bother us any, though," said Capt. Haddock, "for on this
ship you would hardly know you were at sea unless you happened to take a
walk on deck or looked out of your stateroom window."
The Cedric crossed the ocean in 8 days, 8 hours, and 16 minutes. She
came over the long course of 2,889 miles from Daunt's Rock to New York,
and her log shows that her day's runs were 365, 390, 383, 333, 351, 331,
303, 358, and 75 to Sandy Hook. Her average speed was 14 1/2 knots.
Her commander is Capt. H. J. Haddock, C. B., R. N. R., formerly of the
Britannic, Germanic and Celtic. The chief officer is Lieut. Alexander
Hambleton, R. N. R., and the chief engineer J. W. Alexander, who for the
last two years had been chief engineer on the Britannic, which has been
doing service as a Government transport. The purser is H. McElroy.
Sir Cavendish Boyle said he would go to Montreal to-day, where he would
try and open communication with his Government. He feared, he said,
that it would be hard to do so, owing to the damage to telegraph wires
and navigation by storms and ice, and added that he might be compelled
to go to Halifax to catch a boat to take him to St. John's. Others on
board were H. Montague Allen, Sir Randolph Baker, T. P. Burnham, Capt.
James Cole, R. N.; G. L. Davidson, Erastus S. Day, United States Consul
at Bradford; Capt. C. D. Falbes, Richard McCreery, and J. Robertson.
-30-
MAB
