Timeline Article: Oceanic - "The Ship of the Century"

RMS Oceanic (1899)

1897 - 1899

By the late 1890s the White Star Line's Majestic and Teutonic had quickly become outdated due to the rapid advances in marine technology. White Star’s chief rival, the Cunard Line, had introduced the Campania and Lucania in 1893, and other competitors such as the German Norddeutscher Lloyd Line, began introducing four new Kaiser Class ocean liners by 1897. To compete with these ships, White Star needed to produce a new flagship which could rival them.

Oceanic under construction
at Harland & Wolff

A new ship was conceived by White Star and construction would take place at the Harland and Wolff shipyard at Belfast, as was the tradition with White Star Line ships. Her keel was laid down in 1897. Hull number 317 was named after the first successful ship of the line, Oceanic of 1871. The hull was launched on January 14, 1899, and the fitting out process began thereafter. 

Construction on Oceanic was completed on August 26th that same year.

At 704 feet, Oceanic was to be the first ship to exceed the length of the largest ship to have been built at that time, Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Eastern (1859 - 1889). However, only in length but not in tonnage.

SS Great Eastern (above). RMS Oceanic (below).

At 17,272 tons, the Oceanic would cost one million pounds and require 1,500 shipworkers to complete. However, Oceanic was not designed to be the fastest ship afloat or compete for the Blue Riband, an award given to ship that achieves the fastest transcontinental record, as it had recently become the White Star Line's policy to focus on size and comfort rather than speed.

She was powered by two triple expansion engines, which were the largest of their type constructed at that time and could produce 28,000 horsepower which gave her a service speed of 21 knots or about 24 miles per hour.

Her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York began on Wednesday, September 6, 1899. The following November, White Star’s chairman Thomas Henry Ismay died leaving the responsibilities of chairman to his son J. Bruce Ismay. Oceanic would be the last ship ordered by Thomas Henry Ismay as well as the last British ship built in the 19th century.

Thomas Henry Ismay (left) and
Bruce Ismay (right)

A sister ship for Oceanic to be named Olympic was proposed. However, following the death of Thomas Ismay, the order was postponed and eventually cancelled. Instead, the company decided to deploy the resources to produce a set of larger liners which would become known as the "Big Four" class. The name Olympic was later given to first ship of the Olympic Class which also included Titanic and Britannic.