Gourt > Society > History > By Topic > Maritime > Ships > Ocean Liners (8)
An ocean liner is a passenger ship or passenger-cargo ship which tranports people and often freight from one port to another along regular trans-oceanic routes according to a schedule. The term also refers to vessels designed to engage in such trades, even if temporarily used for other purposes (such as on cruises or as troopships). The category does not include ferries or other vessels engaged in short-sea trading, nor cruise ships where the voyage itself, and not transportation, is the prime purpose of the trip. Nor does it include tramp steamers even if equipped to handle limited numbers of passengers, nor other cargo vessels (although many shipping companies refer to themselves as "lines" and their container ships, which often operate over set routes according to established schedules, as "liners"). Ocean liners typically were strongly built with high freeboards to withstand sea states and adverse conditions encountered in the open ocean, and had large capacities for fuel and other stores which would be consumed on their multi-day or mulit-week voyages.
Ocean liners were the primary mode of intercontinental travel for over a century, from the mid-19th century to the 1960s, when they were finally supplanted by airliners. In addition to passengers, liners also carried mail and cargo. Ship contracted to carry British Royal Mail used the designation RMS. Liners were also the preferred way to move gold and other high value cargos. Pickford, Nigel Lost Treasure Ships of the Twentieth Century, National Geographic Society, 1999 ISBN 0792274725
The busiest route for liners was on the North Atlantic with ships traveling between Europe and North America. It was on this route that the fastest, largest and most advanced liners travelled. But while in contemporary popular imagination the term "ocean liners" evokes these transatlantic superliners, most ocean liners historically were mid-sized vessels which served as the common carriers of passengers and freight between nations and among mother countries and their colonies and dependencies in the pre-jet age. Such routes included Europe to African and Asian colonies, Europe to South America, and migrant traffic from Europe to North America in the Nineteenth and first two decades of the Twentieth Centuries and to Canada and Australia after the Second World War.
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@doclorraine You're right, great series. I esp liked the cinema and the ocean liners
robinjazz (Robin Croft) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:53:28 -0000
@doclorraine You're right, great series. I esp liked the cinema and the ocean liners
Interesting article on final voyages of famous ocean liners... http://bit.ly/48OXvg
bibbis220 (Elizabeth Fowler) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:41:43 -0000
Interesting article on final voyages of famous ocean liners... http://bit.ly/48OXvg
BBC4 on ocean liners. Seems the aeroplane was an agent of unbundling took the pain of long-haul transit, leaving the fun at sea
mattedgar (Matt Edgar) Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:56:15 -0000
BBC4 on ocean liners. Seems the aeroplane was an agent of unbundling took the pain of long-haul transit, leaving the fun at sea
It costs 40% more (per metre) to build a ocean liner vs. a cruise ship. Ocean liners can deal with any weather - cruise ships cannot!
jamescrossland (James Crossland) Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:53:07 -0000
It costs 40% more (per metre) to build a ocean liner vs. a cruise ship. Ocean liners can deal with any weather - cruise ships cannot!
RT @mexatua: The largest ocean liners pay a $250,000 toll for each trip through the Panama Canal.
mynurealtor (RMS) Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:39:01 -0000
RT @mexatua: The largest ocean liners pay a $250,000 toll for each trip through the Panama Canal.
The largest ocean liners pay a $250,000 toll for each trip through the Panama Canal.
mexatua (Liliana E. Gonzalez) Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:30:42 -0000
The largest ocean liners pay a $250,000 toll for each trip through the Panama Canal.
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Caronia (II) Time-Line Project - Charting the day to day position of Cunard's Green Goddess the world famous cruise liner RMS Caronia.
Meta Description: [ RMS Caronia II Timeline, charting the glittering career of Cunard's Green Goddess, showing where she was in the world at any point in her time ]
Dave Lee's Queen Mary Photo Page - Photographs of the Queen Mary berthed in retirement in Long Beach, California.
Meta Description: [ An archive of
photographs of Queen Mary bearthed in retirement
in Long Beach, California. This site contains the best
and most photographs of the ship anywhere on the web. ]
Early 20th Century Ocean Liners - Links to information about several German ships launched prior to the First World War.
Empress of Scotland - An illustrated history of the Canadian Pacific ship in operation 1930-1960. Provides narrative timeline, photographs, and statistics and deck plans,
Meta Description: [ An illustrated history of Empress of Scotland, Canadian Pacific's distinguished ship from the golden era of passenger shipping ]
Great Ships - The Ocean liner postcard and ephemera collection of Jeff Newman. Features images and histories of such lines as Canadian Pacific, Cunard, Hapag, NDL PO and White Star. Many hundreds of ships are documented.
Meta Description: [ The Postcard and Ephemera Collection of Jeff Newman ]
Hospital Ship Britannic - Site devoted to the short career and mysterious demise of the Titanic's sister ship. Includes various maps, photographs, and facts and figures, a compilation of memorials, and message board.
500
Infography about the History of Ocean Liners - Sources recommended by a professor who specializes in the study of ocean liners.
Meta Description: [ Sources recommended by a professor whose research specialty is ocean liners. ]
LostLiners.com - (english)
MaritimeMatters - Ocean liner and cruise ship history and news; includes links to ship cams, steamship line histories, preservation and restoration resources, and maritime museums.
Meta Description: [ Ocean liner history cruise ship news Martin Cox ]
Monsters of the Sea: The Great Ocean Liners of Time - A site dedicated to all the ocean liners of the past with, summaries of careers and pictures.
Meta Description: [ A history of some of the great ocean liners that once steamed proudly though the seas ]
PBS Online - Lost Liners - Titanic, Lusitania, Empress of Ireland, Britannic, Andrea Doria.
Queen Mary - A visitor's guide from About.com, including an interview with the ship's historian about the steamer's restoration.
Meta Description: [ Queen Mary - brief history of the Queen Mary and how to visit ]
RMS Majestic - The history of the second White Star Line Majestic. Also known as The Bismarch and trainee ship HMS Caledonia. Includes Commander Peter Vaughan's autograph book.
Meta Description: [ RMS Majestic autograph book and history select page ]
RMS Mauretania - History of one of the world's first great ocean liners, built in the early 1900's.
RMS Olympic: The Ship Magnificent - Information regarding the White Star Line's lesser-known sistership to Titanic. Contains online forums, photograph galleries, articles, and deck plans.
RMS Queen Mary - Historic ocean liner built in 1936, now berthed in California serving as a tourist attraction - hotel, restaurants, tours, special events, meetings, etc.
Meta Description: [ The Long Beach Queen Mary Hotel, a historic attraction is open for tours, hotel accommodations, restaurants for dining, brunch, banquet facilities, a wedding chapel and weekly special events venue featuring the 2007 Scottish Festival. ]
Royal Regals - A History of Ocean Liners - A look back at the great ocean liners of the 20th century.
Meta Description: [ A history the great transatlantic ocean liners - RMS Queen Mary, Andrea Doria, Lusitania, and others. ]
S.S. United States - History, recollections, photographs.
SS United States - Site dedicated to America's greatest ocean liner, currently berthed in Philadelphia. Historical data and info about the SS United States Foundation.
Meta Description: [ Today SS UNITED STATES ocean liner is at Pier 82 in Philadelphia. Come aboard to learn more. Past, present and future. ]
SS United States Foundation - Non-profit organization devoted to the preservation and restoration of the ocean liner. Information about Foundation activities; photographs and articles about the ship with stories from passengers; event calendar; directory of local chapters.
Meta Description: [ The S.S. United States Foundation is a Non-Profit organization dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the S.S. United States - the greatest ocean liner ever built. ]
The Great Ocean Liners - Nice site on the great ocean lines from the 1830's to the 1960's.
Meta Description: [ The history of the great ocean liners. ]
The Late Great Ocean Liners - An on-line encyclopedia of passenger shipping, particularly in the North Atlantic, including numerous hyperlinks.
Meta Description: [ A comprehensive history of passenger shipping, sorted by country and shipping line. Focuses mainly on transatlantic travel in the 20th century. A section on the cruise industry is forthcoming ]
The Olympic Class Liners - This is the definitive research site on the Olympic class liners from the White Star Line.
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