The Golden Age of the trans-Atlantic passenger liner lasted roughly from the late 1800’s to 1939, with a break from 1914-1918 for World War One. A brief resurgence followed the end of World War Two lasting up until the late 1950’s when the passenger jet and its speed, convenience and price essentially killed the trans-Atlantic ocean liner trade.
The passenger liners of the era began small, but in bids to steal passenger trade from each other they out-did themselves in luxury, size, and mystique. The German Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was a four stacker (four smokestacks) that began service in 1897. At 14,000 plus gross tons and 655 feet in length, she was eclipsed by the Cunard Line RMS Mauretania in 1907 at 31,000 plus tons and 790 feet. The Mauretania was also driven by new steam turbine power, making her the fastest ship on the North Atlantic run for many years. Her running mate was the RMS Lusitania, which would be lost to a German torpedo in 1917.
In 1911 the White Star Line premiered the first of a super-giant class of luxury liners – the RMS Olympic. She was followed by a sister ship, the RMS Titanic, in 1912, and a third sister, the RMS Britannic, in 1915. The Olympic class had a gross tonnage of between 45 and 48,000 tons, and a length of 882 feet. While everyone knows the Titanic story, her sister Britannic never served as a passenger liner. Requisitioned by the British government as a hospital ship during World War One, the Britannic sank in 1916 after colliding with a German mine in the Aegean Sea. Of the three, only the Olympic reliably soldiered on until she was finally withdrawn from service and scrapped, 1935-1937.
Other famous vessels followed in the 1920s – the Île de France, the SS Bremen, the SS Europa, to name a few – and the 1930s saw the arrival of the RMS Queen Elizabeth and RMS Queen Mary, the Normandie, a second RMS Mauretania, and others.
Jumping past World War Two and the 1940s (though there were some passenger ships launched in the second half of the decade), the 1950s saw an end to the Golden Age with the arrival of the SS United States and the SS Andrea Doria. The latter sank in 1956 after colliding with the Stockholm; among the ships answering the rescue call and taking off over 700 survivors was the Île de France.
The Stockholm survived the collision with the Andrea Doria and sailed on for decades under several more names and owners. She ended her career as the MV Astoria and was scrapped in 2025, after a 75-year career.
The SS United States was launched in 1951 and withdrawn from service in 1967. Multiple efforts over the years failed to rescue the ship, and as of this writing she has had her iconic twin funnels removed to be part of a new visitor center, as work continues to safely sink her as an artificial reef off the shore of Destin–Fort Walton Beach in Florida.
Of all the named ships above, only the RMS Queen Mary survives today. Since 1967 she has been the property of the City of Long Beach, California, where she serves as a floating hotel, museum, and convention center. The latest information on this historic ship, including shipboard events and event/hotel booking, can be found at www.queenmary.com.
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