page_title: Big Four-class ocean liners
section_title: Features
hierarchical_section_title: Big Four-class ocean liners / Features
caption_attribution_description: English: The reading and writing room aboard White Star Line's Adriatic
context_page_description: The Big Four-class ocean liners were a quartet of early-20th-century 20,000-ton ocean liners built by the Harland & Wolff shipyard for the White Star Line, to be the largest and most luxurious ships afloat. The group consisted of Celtic, Cedric, Baltic and Adriatic.
context_section_description: The Big Four had a tonnage of 21,000-to-24,500 tons, with the Baltic and the Adriatic much larger than the first two. However, the Adriatic, which was the largest of the four, was also the only one not to have held the title of largest passenger ship in world. The four ships were propelled by two propellers driven by steam quadruple expansion and reached an average speed of 16 knots (30 km/h), although their maximum speeds varied. 
  The silhouettes of the four vessels were similar, black hull with red keel and white superstructure. They were provided with four masts (two front and two rear) which supported the cables of wireless telegraphy. The two funnels were buff topped with a black sleeve.
  The vessels had luxury on an unprecedented scale, with a dining room dominated by a glass roof, a lounge with a reading and writing room with many books and periodicals, also adorned with large picture windows, a covered promenade deck, a smoking room decorated stained glass and in the case of the Adriatic, an indoor pool and Turkish baths.
caption: Adriatic's first class reading and correspondence room. Similar rooms were furnished on her sister ships.
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