Timeline Article: Ice Warning Three

RMS Caronia

Sunday, April 14, 1912
9:12am

Early Sunday morning, just as soon as the wireless equipment is again functioning. Titanic receives her third ice warning. This one is sent from the Cunard Line's RMS Caronia.

This message is addressed to Captain Smith and describes field ice and icebergs. Smith begins his Sunday by posting the ice warning on the wall in the chart room. 2nd Officer Lightoller marks the position on the map and calculates that Titanic will reach that position by 11pm.

Timeline Article: Bruce Ismay Discusses Speed with Captain Smith

Elizabeth Lines Later in Years (Left),
Captain Smith (Top Right), Bruce Ismay (Bottom Right)

Saturday, April 13, 1912

Early Afternoon

First class passenger Elizabeth Lines and her daughter Mary are enjoying coffee after lunch in the First Class Reception Room. Not long after they had sat down, White Star's director Bruce Ismay and Captain Smith sit down at a table nearby. Lines overhears Ismay talking to Smith about Titanic's daily runs thus far on the maiden voyage and compared them to those of Titanic's slightly older sister, Olympic.

An excerpt of Elizabeth Line's Testimony at the U.S. Inquiry Hearings after the disaster:

"I heard Mr. Ismay - it was Mr. Ismay who did the talking - I heard him give the length of the run, and I heard him say:

"Well, we did better today than we did yesterday, we made a better run today than we did yesterday, we will make a better run tomorrow. Things are working smoothly, the machinery is bearing the test, the boilers are working well."

Then I heard him make the statement: 

"We will beat the Olympic and get into New York on Tuesday."

I heard "We will beat the Olympic and get into New York on Tuesday" in those words.

Those words fixed themselves in my mind."

The White Star Line's Titanic and Olympic were built for luxury and size and were never meant to be the fastest ship on the ocean. That was the Cunard Line's market. It was generally a routine on a brand-new ship not to push the engines to full speed, but to give them a proper run-in period. This was a precaution to avoid damage to the engines. However, as with any shipping line, White Star always wanted to do a little better with each new ship than the previous one built. That not only included design and construction, but also performance. It would have been natural for Ismay to want Titanic's performance to be just as well or even better than Olympic.

Mrs. Lines gives a lengthy testimony about her experiences on Titanic but gives the only known testimony where someone heard Bruce Ismay discuss the speed of the ship. Her description of the conversation gives the impression that Ismay was primarily the one speaking and Captain Smith listened and acknowledged his words. One thing is clear, Ismay wanted to beat the Olympic's record and that required more speed. Ultimately, the last of the boilers were lit and Titanic sped up to nearly her top speed. 

The captain is the only one that can order more speed. Would Captain Smith have ordered more speed if the conversation with Ismay hadn't taken place?

Timeline Article: White Star Conceives a New Line of Ships

In the summer of 1907, the White Star Line plans to amaze the world with a new line of ships. Since the Cunard Line has positioned itself for speed, White Star will have to present the world with sheer spectacle.

One evening over dinner White Star's president J. Bruce Ismay and the president of the Harland and Wolff ship yard Lord William Pirrie, meet at Pirrie's home and conceived a new line of ships. Together they envisioned the largest moving objects ever made by man. Three liners that were to be 50% bigger and 100 feet longer than anything yet built. These three "Olympic Class" liners would be constructed to lure the wealthiest passengers with their magnificence, and be able to carry more immigrants to America than ever before.

These three liners will be called...  

"Olympic, Titanic, and Britannic"

Timeline Article: Cunard Amazes the World

RMS Lusitania

In 1907 the Cunard Line amazes the world with two brand new ships, Lusitania and Mauretania. At 748ft. long and weighing 32,515 tons, they were the largest steamers in the world. They were also the fastest ships in the world due to their revolutionary new engines. These new liners were equipped with four giant steam turbines that would produce 75% more power than the engine that would later be installed on Titanic. They were the first ships to have four screws, also known as propellers, that would push them across the ocean in less than five days. Mauretania held the record for being the fastest liner for 20 years. For this reason, they were known as the "greyhounds of the Atlantic". Even though they had luxurious interiors, the Cunard Line decided that speed would be their main focus.

Mauretania had a long, exciting career lasting until the 1930s. Serving in WWI as a troop ship and a hospital ship.

Mauretania serving as a hospital ship during WWI

Lusitania had a short career. She was torpedoed by the SM U-20 a German U-boat on May 7, 1915, during WWI. Lusitania sank in only 18 minutes, 8 miles off the coast of Ireland. 1,198 of the 1,959 passengers and crew on board were killed. Because she was a passenger liner and not a war ship, public opinion in many countries turned anti-German. Many of the passengers happened to be American so Lusitania was instrumental in bringing the United States into WWI.

Lusitania Sinking

Featured Article: The Cunard Line

Samuel Cunard and the Cunard Line House Flag

The Cunard Line was established by Samuel Cunard in 1839. After running a successful shipping business in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Cunard decided to create a shipping line to carry mail from England to Canada. The Cunard Line quickly established itself as a major North Atlantic shipping line and a direct rival to the White Star Line.

In 1934, during the Great Depression, the two struggling shipping lines would merge to form the Cunard-White Star Line. Then in 1947, Cunard acquired the remaining shares of White Star and dropped the name officially putting an end to the White Star Line. The Cunard Line is still in existence today.