Los Angeles herald., 1910-12-26
PLAN NEW LINERS
Of MONSTER SIZE
Companies in East to Have Yes
sells Surprising Any in
Present Service
FIGHT FOR SEA SUPREMACY
Craft Now Building in Germany
Will Make Others Appear
Like Tugs
FIGHT FOR SEA SUPREMACY

come in rapid succession of the build
ing of four ocean liners designed for
service between New York and Europe,
each of which will far surpass the
largest ocean steamships now in oper-
alton. The first two of these will be
nearly 100 feet longer than the larg-
est steamships now afloat. The third
will exceed these two in length by
two or three feet. The latest of them
all, now under way in Germany, VIII
be still longer and will have dis
placement $4,000 tons greater than the
largest boats that now enter New YORK
harbor. Alongside her the ordinary
liners now in service will look like
mere tugs, but there is nothing to in
dicate that she will mark the mai
word in the struggle for supremacy
which nowhere else is waged with such
keen rivalry as in the ocean steam
ship business of the North Atlantic.
For nearly three-quarterS of CEN
tury the story of transatlantic naVl-
cation has been the record of an un-
ending race for leadership. In no other
business in the world has competition
over a long period been SO keen. In
no other have such vast sums been eN-
pended to secure a slight temporary
advantage or such heavy losses en-
dured in the effort to achieve suprem-
acy. The contest has been one not
only of ships and companies, but also
OF ports and nations and 1t has peen
followed with keen interest by the
general public.
The presence of this strong element
of rivalry mas had a decisive influ-
once upon the development of ocean
liners themselves. 1t has led to the
rapid supplantng of the champions of
one decade by the newer, swifter more
luxurious and more comfortable VeS-
sells of a succeeding period. 1t has re-
duced rates at the same time that it
has added TO comforts and conven-
fences.
INCREASE IN STEAMER SIZE
How tremendous the growth of the
Transatlantic steamship has been
may be appreciated by comparison
of some of the earlier liners with
those of the present day. The 1lrst
vessel with steam equipment to cross
the Atlantic was the Savannah, which
made the voyage from the tY tor
which she was named to Liverpool in
1919 in thirty-five days. She was
little less than ninety-nine feet long
and of 800 tons. 1t would require nine
Savannahs placed bow to stern to
equal the lie 9Th of thu large of the
liners now under construction and
fleet of hundred Ike her would not
equal the tonnage of the present
champion of the ocean ferry. inc
Savannah, however, was not gen
line steamship for her engine was
merely an auxiliary TO her sails and
was relied upon only when the Wlhd
failed
During the score of years following
the Savann his trip a number of Nes-
sells crossed the Atlant and o.e me,
tbe Great Western was eStaOllSneu
from Bristol, England, to New York
in 1888 and continued its service for a
number of years. The real beglnn y & OF
the transatlantic steamship business
as a continuous service, however I 1o -
he said to have taken place IN lo4U
when tie first boat of the Cunard me
hegan trips between LiV rFool and
Boston. The Britannia was the snip
that inaugurated this service and she
made her first trip in fourteen days
and eight hours. She was 2Ol feet long
with a tonnage of 1139 or about on =
thirtieth of the largest sh'pS Oh her
line at the present time.
THE competition that has continued
over since on the North Atl ntic as
srmed a keen form in lSi9 When the
Collins line, an American enterprise
was inaugurated with the aVoWed pur-
nose of excelling the Cunarder Inc
Arctic of this line, a 3000-ton boat, es-
tahlished n now record from Liver
poOI to New York of nine days ana
thirteen hours. For a number of years
the line held the speed honorS of he
ocean highway but its managers
found record-breaking an expensive
work and following the loss of two OF
their boats the panic OF 1891 came
along and put them out of buslne s
While II lasted, however, the race for
leadership between the nautical rep
resentatives of the two nations raised
almost a frenzy of excitement both 1T
england and the United states and
tens of thousands of dollars We're
wagered on the performances OF raw
orite boats.
HISTORY OF OCEAN TRAVEL
In 1859 all previous efforts of ship
builders We're surpassed by the con
struction of the giant Great Eastern
o26 feet long Inasmuch as she proved
a flat fail ire she exercised no partic-
1,lar Influence upon the development
of the Atlantic liner. AS trade anc
travel between the United states ano
T,urope developed, however, the num-
her of companies and the number ol
ships engaged in the tr1ffic mere sec
and the competition became stead ~
ftercer and more expensive as the
struggle for speed and size ran up the
cost of building and operating steam
shins In 1869 the time of passage was
brought below eight days for the hrs
time by tn City of Brussels of the
Tnman line Thirteen years later, altel
If had been successfully lowered by
half a dozen title holders, the Gulof
liner Alaska brought it under sever
days, - ..,s,,,oi
In 1891 the sx-day mark was passec
Inv the Majestic AMI in 1908 the i've
day record went by the board beto
+he Tus'tania The "ctual crossing o.
the Atlantic has alre dy been accom-
nlished under four days by turbine
steamer running from MoVllle. Ire
land to Cape Race, but the dist nee
novered was only about two-thi"ds tina
~ the II passa~e to New N'rk. NJ
Jo.ht however the time of the lattel
will at some future da'e be no gh
below four davs by special types o.
heats and special engines,
while the race for speed supremac!
hos been going merrily on the com
netition among Atlantic steamships ha
foI1owed two other lines-those of in
rreasing size and increasing luxury
rhe result has been a steady success
zion of larger, costlier and more lux
,,riouslv equipped vessels. Ten year
600 the swift Deutschland, CSC fee
long and costing more than any line
ever built up to that time, was pu
info service. Marine experts then an
nounced that the 700-foot liner marked
t1e limit of practical size for the rea
con that harbor and pier accommoda
Hons were not sufficient for large
t,oats. The progress has continued will
unabated vigor, however. Inc l9o-loo