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In 1899 an oceanic passenger liner larger than the SS Great Eastern was built. She was the second RMS Oceanic, which had a length
of 214.6 meters, a beam of 20.83 meters, a draugth of 14.93 meters, a gross register tonnage of 17040 tonnes and a displacement
of 28500 tonnes. At this point the general public did not fear large ships and given that they trusted the machines to a
certain degree, they no longer carried sails.
In 1904 it was started the construction of even larger passenger liners: the twin ships RMS Mauretania and RMS Lusitania. The
first one was a fortunate passenger liner, but the latter was sunk by a German submarine on May 1915, a disgraced event that
caused the death of about 1200 people. Launched in 1906, the RMS Mauretania entered service the following year. She and her twin
were the first passenger liners equipped with steam turbines (at this point you may remember that the HMS Dreadnought, first
battleship propelled by steam turbines, had been in construction simultaneously).
The RMS Mauretania had 240 meters in length and seven decks amidships, being her hull subdivided by fifteen bulkheads and
175 watertight compartments. She had accommodation for 560 passengers in first class, 475 in second class and 1300 in third
class. With a total power of 70000 horsepower on four shafts she could reach a speed of 27.4 knots, being
able to win the Blue Riband of Trans-Atlantic crossing to the German steamship SS Kaiser Wilhelm II. But the true deed was that
the RMS Mauretania held the Blue Riband during 22 years, until the SS Bremen returned it to Germany during her maiden voyage in
1929.
During a refit in 1921 the RMS Mauretania had her boilers reconverted to burn Diesel instead of coal and her promenade deck was
enclosed, as it was in ocean liners of more recent construction. The Diesel boilers reduced consumption about 25 percent but
during the 1920s the performance of the RMS Mauretania regarding speed was not as good as it had been, and after the Great
Depression her popularity as a fast ocean liner had declined to a large extent. Consequently she was reallocated as a cruise ship
on the route New York-Halifax, being painted in white in 1933. When Cunard Line merged with
White Star Line in 1934 the RMS Mauretania, along with other ageing ocean liners, were deemed surplus to requirements and hence
withdrawn from service. She was finally scrapped between 1935 and 1937, in Scotland.
Class: 2 units (Lusitania, Mauretania)
Type: Oceanic passenger liner
Length: 240.80 meters
Beam: 26.82 meters
Height: About 60 meters from keel to funnels' top
Draught: 11.02 meters
Displacement: 44767 tonnes
Tonnage (gross register): 31938 tonnes
Propulsion: 4 x shaft, 4 x steam turbine Parsons, 25 x boiler, 70000 horsepower
Speed (service): 24 knots (44.4 kilometers/hour)
Range: N/A
Complement: 812
Passengers: 2335
Cargo: N/A
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