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'5’... .n y." 2 w . ”1.” y I ' f I a w Funnl- ~4 - w: J-‘ a . o. - ',. r~i‘:.:~’ 3...”- v. ' , "'y' “.1 -'I\ . ., "'2'er “rum”? ' ' an ,.. 45"“! , _, , {1113... r4; 3"” .5 I. 1‘ " ,7 'J'i‘v'm gm k ‘ v H | u’n . . , r . . , . I D a . . ‘.\ 4 a - ,ha I ~._."'}» ,,‘......~( -.'. J“- .'| '4'»\ f" .2 I. ’n..U-¢‘. - r _ ,, ‘u'oxa'J '.,«..‘,." .. .Y.’ A I" . hrv.’ - r - l‘t'!’ v . THESIS GAN STATE IIIIIjIIIIII IIIIIIIII II IIIIIIIIIII 193 00916 3316 This is to certify that the thesis entitled Elegance, Sobriety and Hypocrisy: The Edwardian Era and the Sway of the Grand Saloon presented by Marie L. Woodard has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Master's Art History degree in Date fi5flz’ / / 0-7639 MS U is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution LIBRARY Michigan State L University PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this checkout from your record. TO AVOID FINES return on or baton duo duo. DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE MAJ—g." 2*; I" “ II I = _ I I ml l MSU to An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution cumulus—9.1 l ELEGANCE, SOBRIETY AND BYPOCRISY: THE BDWARDIAN ERA AND THE SWAY OF THE GRAND SALOON By Marie L. Woodard A THESIS 0n Olympic-Class Vessels: The Royal Mail Steamships Olympic, Titanic and Britannic Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Art 1991 in of be TQC are mar ABSTRACT ELEGANCE, SOBRIETY AND HYPOCRISY: THE EDWARDIAN ERA AND THE SWAY OF THE GRAND SALOON BY Marie L. Woodard This thesis examines the social fabric of the Edwardian era as reflected in the interiors of the Royal Mail Steamships Olympic, Titanic and Britannia. These ships, built between 1909 and 1915, were show- places of British ingenuity. They reflected significant interior design and art historical value, while aspiring to a high standard of sea-going architecture. They were, further, the romantic products of an arrogant yet innocent society, in a declining economy, when the world stood poised on the brink of war. These liners were not only symbols of the industrial age culture from which they came but served as microcosms of British/American society at the turn-of-the-century. Although none of these vessels survive today, they are remem- bered through countless books, articles, songs, poems, films and most recently several oceanographic explorations. Individual specifications are well documented, as are building records, cargo and passenger manifests and the vessels’ histories of service. DEDICATION to: MY FRIEND REV. FATHER JOSEPH L. DeSTEFANO (1924-1988) Scholarly priest, life—long inspiration, kindred spirit- who encouraged the beginning; and also to: MY FATHER GILBERT E. LEE who supported my college efforts through the years even though I chose to be an impoverished art historian instead of a rich lawyer. Bl th st Ir do ba. Stl Re: onl me, tau cur Mar was a S] (am for the: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS By the time a graduate student reaches this point in his/her education it is very difficult to enumerate those who were of assistance in helping the student prepare and achieve, because there are so many people to be credited and it seems an injustice not to be able to thank them all individually. I risk overlooking some deserving soul but I should not like to forget to thank a few people beginning with chairman, Irving Taran, associate chair, Dr. Sadayoshi 0moto, and the staff of the Department of Art Main Office, at Michigan State University. Their doors where always open (except during lunchtime when I had to go badger them in the Faculty and Staff Lounge) to answer my many student inquiries. My thanks also to my boss, Dr. Janice Simpson, of the Visual Resources Library at M.S.U., who for four years patiently tolerated not only schedule changes but family changes; found time to student-advise me, even when she had no time; and through her excellent example taught me the delicate diplomacy of being an effective slide librarian, curator and art history faculty member. Thanks is also due to my good friend and fellow slide librarian, Mary Duff-Silverman, whose friendship was unfailingly: a push when I was stopped, a word when I was lonely, a guide when I was searching, a smile when I was sad, a song when I was glad. I am exceedingly grateful to a dear college chum, Penny Tahvonen (and her charming family), who not only befriended me but housed me for a lengthy stay while I went looney preparing for my final exam and thesis defense. Also, a warm hug for Jim LaLone, who frequently broke me out of my self-imposed, solitary confinement-study pattern and took me out to all those yummy dinners and goofy movies. Further appreciation is extended to correspondents affiliated with the Marine Museum, of Fall River, MA; the Mariners’ Museum, of Newport News, VA; the Maritime Museum Archives of Philadelphia, PA; the Peabody Museum of Salem, MA: the Steamship Historical Society of America of Baltimore, MD; Harland and Wolff Technical Services, Ltd., of Queens Island, Belfast; Cunard Line, Ltd., of London; Dr. Robert Ballard, of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA: and most of all the staff and members of the Titanic Historical Society, of Indian Orchard, MA. Last, but far from least, I should like to express my appreciation to my graduate committee: Dr. Sadayoshi 0moto, Mrs. Susan Reedy, and most of all Dr. Eldon Van Liere, whose interest gave me the courage to research new ground within the realm of art history and interior design. May my future endeavors do credit to these many fine associates and friends. iv PAR' PAR“ TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 O I O O O O PHOTOGRAPHIC AND DRAWING CREDITS . . . . . . . . . INTRODUCTION ....................... PART I . 1. 2. 3. PART II 4. 5. 6. PART III 7. WHITE STAR LINE THE BEGINNINGS OF THE PARTNERSHIP . Ismay, Imrie a Company . . . . . . . . . . HarlandandWolff,Ltd J. PIERPONT MORGAN AND THE COMBINE WHITE STAR ROYAL MAIL STEAMERS . . . OLYMPIC-CLASS VESSELS HISTORY OF R.M.S. OLYMPIC . . . . . . . HISTORY OF R.M.S. TITANIC . . . . . . . . HISTORY OF R.M.S. BRITANNIC . . . . . . OLYMPIC-CLASS ACCOMMODATIONS OLYMPIC AND TITANIC ACCOMMODATIONS First-Class Accommodation . . . . . . . . . The Grand Entrances and Staircases The Lifts/Elevators . . . . . . . . . The Dining Saloon Reception Room TheDiningSaloon TheRestaurant........... The Cafe Parisian . . . . . . . . . TheLounge............. The Reading and Writing Room . TheSmokingRoom......... The Verandah Cafes/Palm Courts The Turkish Baths The Swimming Bath . . . . . . . . The Squash Racket Court . . . . The Gymnasium . . . . . . . . . The Promenades . . . . . . . . TheStaterooms......... V O O O O O O O O O O O O O O C O O C 26 26 31 37 50 61 71 77 77 80 87 95 102 108 110 115 117 123 125 128 132 134 137 138 CON: APP} BIB}. Second-Class Accommodation The Grand Entrance Third-Class Accommodation 8. BRITANNIC ACCOMMODATIONS The Dining Saloon The Library The Smoking Room The Promenades . The Staterooms . . The Dining Saloon The General Room The Smoking Room The Promenades . The Staterooms . . and Staircases CONCLUSION O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 APPENDIX BIBLIOGRAPHY OLYMPIC AND TITANIC DECK PLANS vi 161 162 162 169 171 171 171 174 177 179 182 182 182 184 188 195 198 Figux Figure 1. 10. ll. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 29. 30. 31. LIST OF FIGURES Top: R.M.S.Olympic Center: R.M.S. Titanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bottom: R.M.S. Britannic . . . . . . . . . . . Thomas H. Ismay, White Star Line Founder . White Star Offices, Liverpool . . . . . . . . . Early White Star Steamships . . . . . . . . . . Development in size of White Star liners . . J. Bruce Ismay, White Star Chairman and ManagingDirector................... The Right Hon. Lord Pirrie, Harland and Wolff Shipyards,0wner................... Morganization...................... White Star Offices, London . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thomas Andrews, Harland and Wolff Managing Director and Chief Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . Harland and Wolff, Queens Island, Belfast shipyardplan .. Olympic and Titanic in the Arrol gantry . . . . . Cutaway diagram of Olympic and Titanic decks . Olympic and Titanic, compared to world monuments R.M.S.Olympic Olympic and Titanic, joint advertising . . . . . . R.M.S.Titanic..................... Titanic, first-class a la carte restaurant menu . Titanic, location upon colliding with iceberg . . R.M.S.Britannic Britannic, in the Arrol gantry . . . . . . . . . . Violet Jessop, Olympic, Titanic and Britannic stewardess Olympic and Titanic, first-class grand entrance and staircase on promenade deck . . . . . . . . . Olympic, first-class upper-level entrance hallfloorcoverings.................. Olympic, first-class entrance crystal lamp . . . . Olympic, first-class staircase pillar base carvings Olympic, first-class oak doors and brass hardware Olympic, first-class grand staircase . . . . . . . . Olympic and Titanic, first-class lifts . . . . . . . . Olympic and Titanic, first-class reception room and dininBSBIOOflplan 00000000000000.0000. Olympic and Titanic, first-class reception room . . . vii 27 27 29 29 32 32 38 41 43 43 49 51 53 62 72 72 75 81 83 83 86 91 92 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 5 3. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. Olympic and Titanic, first-class reception room canefurniture.......................... Olympic and Titanic, first-class dining saloon . . . . . . . Olympic and Titanic, first-class dining saloon baywindows Titanic, first-class restaurant, reception room and CafeParisienplan Olympic and Titanic, first-class restaurant . . . . . . . . . Olympic and Titanic, first-class restaurant receptionroom.......................... Olympic and Titanic, first-class restaurant plaster ceilingmolding . Titanic, firSt-CIBSS cafe P811818“ 0 o o o o o o o o o o o o o 0 Olympic and Titanic, first-class lounge, reading and writingroom,anddarkroomplan ......... Olympic and Titanic, first-class lounge plan . . . . . . . . Olympic and Titanic, first-class lounge . . . . . . . . . . . Olympic, first-class lounge, arched oak panel carving ofmusicalmotif Titanic, first-class lounge, arched oak panel carving ofmusicalmotif Olympic and Titanic, first-class reading and writingroom .... Titanic, first-class reading and writing room annex . . . Olympic and Titanic, first-class smoking room, verandah cafes/palm courts plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Olympic and Titanic, first-class smoking room . . . . . . Olympic, first-class smoking room ceiling grate . . . . . Olympic and Titanic, first-class smoking room windows Olympic, first-class smoking room windows . . . . . . . . Titanic, first-class smoking room windows . . . . . . . . Olympic and Titanic, first—class verandah cafe/ palmcourt . Olympic, first-class verandah cafe/palm court furnishings............................ Olympic and Titanic, first-class Turkish bath coolingroom Olympic and Titanic, first-class swimming bath . . . . Olympic and Titanic, first-class squash racquet court Titanic, first-class gymnasium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Olympic and Titanic, first-class gymnasium windows, exterior Olympic, first-class gymnasium windows, interior . . Olympic and Titanic, first-class gymnasium flooring Titanic, first-class boat deck promenade . . . . . . . Titanic, first-class deck chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Olympic and Titanic, first-class B-deck stateroom plans 140, Olympic and Titanic, first-class C-deck stateroom plans .142, viii 94 97 103 103 104 107 109 111 111 112 114 114 116 116 118 118 121 121 122 122 124 126 126 129 133 135 135 136 136 139 139 141 143 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100. Olympic and Titanic, first-class C-deck parlor suite sitting room, Louis XIV style . . . . . . . . . . . . . Olympic and Titanic, first-class B-deck special stateroom,LouisXVstyle Olympic and Titanic, first-class B-deck parlor suite sittingroom,LouisXVIstyle Olympic and Titanic, first-class B-deck parlor suite bedroom,Empirestyle Olympic, first-class stateroom, Jacobean style . . . Olympic and Titanic, first-class parlor suite, adjoining bedrooms, Adams style . . . . . . . . . . . Olympic and Titanic, first-class C-deck parlor suite bedroom, Italian Renaissance style . . . . . . . . . . Olympic and Titanic, first-class B-deck parlor suite bedroom,Georgianstyle ....... Titanic, first-class parlor suite bedroom, OldDutchstyle Titanic. first-class bathroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Titanic, first-class parlor suite private promenade Titanic, first—class A-deck single-berth stateroom . Titanic, first-class C-deck three-berth stateroom . Olympic and Titanic, first-class parlor suite sitting roomfireplace Olympic and Titanic, first-class stateroom heatingunit .. Olympic and Titanic, first-class telephone exchange switchboard Olympic and Titanic, first-class cabin telephone . . Olympic and Titanic, second-class entrance and staircase O O O O O O O O O O O O O I O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 Olympic, second-class staircase seen from upper-level Olympic, second-class C-deck banister, newel post, railingandliftdoors.................. Olympic, second-class C-deck wrought iron lift grill Olympic, second-class dining saloon . . . . . . . . . Olympic and Titanic, second-class dining saloon portholesandpaneling................. Olympic, second-class dining saloon entry doors . Titanic, second-class dining saloon menu 14 April 1912 Olympic and Titanic, second-class library . . . . . . Olympic and Titanic, second-class library windows Olympic, second-class smoking room . . . . . . . Titanic, second-class boat deck promenade . . . Titanic, second-class three-berth stateroom . . Olympic, third-class dining saloon . . . . . . . . Olympic and Titanic, third-class general room . Olympic, third-class stairway to general room (left) andsmokingroom(right) Olympic, third-class smoking mom . . . . . . . . . . Britannic, first-class grand staircase . . . . . . . . 145 145 146 146 147 148 149 149 150 151 151 152 154 156 156 160 160 163 163 164 164 165 167 167 168 170 170 172 172 173 178 180 180 181 186 PHOTOGRAPHIC AND DRAWING CREDITS Figures 1, 4 from 111.119.153.81 by Roy Anderson; figures 3, 15, 16 from W by Mark Brown and Roger Simmons, photo by Valentines; figures 2, 5, 6, 7, 11, 23, 29, 30, 31, 34, 36, 40, 47, 50, 54, 59, 61, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 72, 73, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 88, 92, 97 from W t by Patrick Stephens, Ltd., photos from the orignial Shipb uiiger; figures 9, 10, 13, 14,. 20, 70, 84, 91, 93, 94 from "tanc-TeSt ot G W't : 0 pic, the Titanic end the Britannic by Thomas E. Bonsall; figure 12 from the Ulster Museum, Belfast; figure 17 from a painting by Edward D. Walker; figure 18 from the Washington Dodge, Jr. Collection; figures 24, 25, 26, 27, 32, 33, 38, 43, 44, 49, 51, 52, 60, 86 from the Titanic Historical Society and their archives; figures 28, 39, 58, 71, 74, 76, 100 from the archives of Harland and Wolff; figure 41 from the Eric Sauder Collection; figures 42, 48 photographed by C. R. Hoffmann; figures 45, 53, 55 from Qzehgi Luge - The Traheetiamie Style by John Malcolm Brinnin, Frank Trumbour Collection; figure 46 from The iflestreted 112311931 New; figures 56, 57 from Syren and Shipping; figure 62 from Illus. Bureau, London; figure 63 from Natie' ha; Geographic; figure 85 from the Museum of the City of New York, Byron Collection; figures 83, 87, 89, 96, 98, 99 from the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England; figure 90 from the Library of Lloyds; figures 8, 19, 21, 22, 35, 37, 75, 95 sources unknown. o s ncr fl. E cl’ of 9E im Sin fut oer 3n Wal of: EDI- ecu: INTRODUCTION Author’s Note: It is important to mention that none of the artistic/architectural aspects of this thesis topic could possibly be properly addressed without an investigation and presentation of a measure of the facts surrounding the construction and service history of each liner and the age from which they evolved. Therefore, the reader will find, herein, a synthesis of three elements—sea, society and style--of which one would not really be complete without the presence of the other two. This thesis will give an overview of interior design and artifacts of the White Star Olympic-Class vessels, Royal Mail Steamships Olympic, Titanic and Britannic (Fig. l), and how they exemplified not just the characteristics of Victorian/Edwardian ocean travel but were reflections of the turn-of-the-century turn-of-mind. These three ships were the embodiment of not only British, but American, attitudes and their interiors were indicative of the society and culture of the time. Put simply, technology was driving early twentieth-century man into the future but he was dragging the past along with him. The turn-of the- century was a fearful time and the tragedies of the Titanic and the Britannia, and ultimately the heretofore unparalleled ravages of World War I, were to prove that fear well-founded. The past held a measure of security due to familiarity and-just as when the black death hit Europe in the fourteenth century and the advanced art of Giotto was eclipsed by old fashioned art which had proven reliable-sea travelers Fig _ w. ,4~l&.~a.- a ..\\a.. Fig. 1 Top: R.M.S. Olympic Center: R.M.S. Titanic Bottom: R.M.S. Britannic fei $84 per has and indi and und< Engl and Prac1 the 5 One 1 dang; “PORK Maps “01011. appare Come h 3 felt compelled to embrace the security of familiar home comforts when at sea. - THE SEA - In October of 1970 a great open boat, dating from the Viking period, was discovered in the Graveney Marshes of Kent, England. It has been suggested that it may be the first example of a British cargo and passenger vessel. Whether or not this is true, the discovery is indicative that the English have long been at one with the great sea and began early their love affair with it. English leadership and dominance in the area of sea travel were undoubtedly due, in part, to two simple facts: The first was that England, by virtue of its being an island, was surrounded by the sea and so had a world of possibilities open to it; and secondly, and more practically, water routes, unlike roads, did not need building, therefore, the sea was a readily available means of travel. Open boat sailing was primitive and arduous, to say the least. One hesitated to sail out of sight of land for there was always the danger of a black wind rising and blowing one’s craft across the "poison sea" until it slipped over the edge of this precarious world. . Maps were few, and of dubious dependability, and certain seas were notorious for their over-abundance of ship-devouring sea dragons. Water travel was, however, swifter than walking which was apparently a sufficiently sound enough reason for early man to over- come his fears of the great void and opt for the adventure and profit the worlds beyond the sea offered. From such a simple lure was to are1 the nine cond Chan form 1800 Whic cash fittir. Wher next. 800d 4 grow the far-reaching supremacy of what eventually became known as the British Empire. An open boat was sea travel at its most rugged. Even into the nineteenth century, the intrepid traveler crossed the Atlantic under conditions not unlike those faced by the passengers of that 90—foot chamber pot known as the Mayflower. In 1620, aboard what was formerly a wine ship, 102 individuals shared, for eight weeks, less than 1800 square feet of hold space--which allowed them only enough room in which to lie down in. In lieu of cargo, passengers were considered cargo much as "the '1 There were no cabins, no cash equivalent of a hogshead of tobacco.‘ saloon (or salon, as the Americans say), no steerage, no furniture, no fittings, and needless to say, absolutely no interior decoration, for where a passenger slept on one trip two kegs of nails might rest on the next. There was also no sanitation. Men, women and children traveled in close, indelicate, and squalid proximity of one another. One was usually afforded a place to lie down in and a community bucket into which to relieve oneself. A traveler brought what he needed in bed- ding, food, and cooking utensils—or did without. Accommodations below decks were open areas sometimes divisioned, temporarily, by canvas hangings. Six by seven feet was considered good accommodation in the late eighteenth century. It was about this time that multiple bunks--triple-tiered, one and one-half feet wide, with lJohn Malcolm Brinnin, W (New York: Delaoorte Press, 1971). p. 15- tWC wfi} ibl)’ brig Anna {eve even there u1th that the e Sumet 18605. Those SHPDU ever,, “Ways nan-1'8,“ neglect 5 two feet of headroom—came into being, allowing even more people to be packed in. In 1773 one vessel carried 450 passengers "of whom 25 were without even sleeping space until deaths created 23 vacancies."2 Not only were accommodations primitive at best, they were incred- ibly hazardous to one’s health for these ships were, in actuality "coffin brigs", being little better than the slave ships leaving Africa for the American colonies. Needless to say, typhus (better known as ’ship fever’) was most prevalent and contagious. So much so that authorities eventually ruled that as captains were responsible parties they would therefore have a fine of $10 levied upon them for each corpse delivered to the New World. An American immigration official of the time noted that "if crosses and tombs could be erected on water the whole route of the emigrant vessels from England to America would long since have as- sumed the appearance of a crowded cemetery."3 Wooden sailing ships continued as passenger carriers until the 1860s. Ships varied in size with the largest weighing about 2,000 tons. Those of less tonnage (200-300 tons being the norm) rode like corks, slipping little water, and in heavy weather were relatively safe. How- ever, whatever her size a ship was in continual need of pumping, was always running at risk of fire, or possible wreck if errors occurred in navigation by masters and mates, or loss of masts and rigging due to neglect or bad judgment. Hulls were massive and built flat underneath 2Basil Greenhill and Ann Giffard. W111 WWW (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1972), p. 9. 3Brinnin, My, p. 4 50 W8 an to; PTI IW< cat of sto W8! of1 dOg The be 1 Phil; Gabi at f, the 3 6 so that a ship sat upright on the mud of a harbor at low tide. This was due to there being no floating dock facilities at this time.4 As time progressed passengers, while they shared similar hazards and discomforts at sea, strangely enough adopted a reserved attitude towards their fellow travelers. Apparently class distinctions were as prevalent at sea as on land. Of these travelers there were generally two classes-cabin and steerage. Cabins with transom windows were placed at the stern and were about 12-foot square. While these stern cabins were light and airy they were a rough ride at the extreme and of the vessel with water forever coming in through the transom. During storms it was not unusual for the entire cabin to be awash. Steerage was still pretty much an open and communal area far below decks. Noise was a problem. There was the awful creaking of every part of the vessel, the hollering of sailors on duty and the relentless pounding of the waves against the hull. Thunder was "no more than a dog’s bark compared with the tremendous roar of the wind and sea."5 There was also the racket created by the animals brought on board to be fresh food "on the hoof." One eighteenth-century passenger com- plained about the poultry kept in cages on the poop deck above his cabin for it was a trial to endure the "consequent pecking twice a day" at feeding time.‘ Conditions were not entirely inhuman though. To go along with the farm animals some ships even had small fresh food gardens planted ’Greenhill, p. 11. SGreenhill, p. 19. ‘Greenhill, p. 13. 111 bim acti reac seer pinc fish the Ame: Live depa carg Stocl SOon fidfin Cross Ban I V0135 Wage dunn When 7 in boxes of earth and stored in the "jolly boats." This had the com- bined benefit of providing a source of both good nutrition and diverting activity for bored passengers on long voyages. When one had tired of reading, writing in one’s journal, playing cards or looking at the seemingly never-ending sea stretched before them, one could always go pinch back the tomato plants. Other foods on board were salt meat, fish, cider, and sea biscuits made of "horse bean flour." The concept of the ocean-going packet ship running to schedule- the precursor of the 1iner-—was a product of early nineteenth century American thinking.1 In 1818 the Black Ball Line began a New York to Liverpool run. This passage was novel for the ship was scheduled to depart on a fixed day and month, from a determined port, regardless of cargo loaded or number of passengers booked. While at first a laughing stock of the shipping business, the fast and dependable Black Ball Line soon proved its advantage and the race was on with rivals. Sea travel had come of age but it didn’t take long before rigged sailing vessels were under the threat of the steamer. The first ocean crossing by a steam-propelled vessel was about a year after the Black Ball Line began its scheduled runs. In 1819, the steamer Savannah, voyaged from Savannah, Georgia to Liverpool in 29 days, 11 hours. She was a full-rigged sailing ship fitted with engines and side paddlewheels; during the crossing the engines were in use for about 85 hours. The first crossing under steam power alone was made in 1838 when two British steamship companies sent rival ships to New York 7Greenhill, p. 21. the aft Em Cur the was peti seng sue) to p. FOHe more SUpp grace the s tOWar Ships 8 within a few days of each other; the Great Western, customarily called the first Atlantic liner, made the trip in 15 days, arriving a few hours after the Sirius, which had left England four days before her. In 1839 Samuel Cunard, a Nova Scotian from Halifax, went to England and presented to the admiralty a steamship plan that resulted in a contract to carry mail. The subsidy provided would make the Cunard vessels economically possible. Along with others Cunard formed the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. This was the beginning of the noted Cunard Line. In 1849 the New York Collins Line became Cunard’s chief com- petitor when it built the Atlantic. This ship acknowledged the pas- senger as "an important commercial asset to be cultivated and treated as such."8 By the late 1850s the screw propeller was conceded to be superior to paddlewheels, in whatever weather, no matter how much the vessel rolled. They were also less susceptible to damage as well as giving more thrust per unit of power applied. Thus steamships began to supplant the sailing ship but along the way a certain elegance and grace were lost with the abandonment of masts and yards. A new shape for vessels was also developing and no longer was the stern considered the best accommodation. A growing tendency towards deck cabins and fittings amidship were favored. In the Oceanic, a 17,300 ton vessel built in 1870, we find the first of many ships to be called a "traveling palace." The palace pattern was one 8Greenhill, p. 41. establish: Stateroom were inst ungracior now to bl In Atlantic 1 Seven ye built at C screw wh brass bec It 1 deveIOp t Tarbinia years sev that the , engine on By building 1 Germany 1 9 established by the White Star Line and builders Harland and Wolff. Staterooms were bigger and possessed of large portholes; electric bells were installed so one could call for the steward (no more need to be ungraciously yelling down the corridor of assistance); and lifeboats were now to be part of every sailing vessels’ standard equipment. In 1881 the Servia, a merchant steamer capable of crossing the Atlantic in seven days, was the first vessel to be constructed of steel. Seven years later the Philadelphia the first twin-screw steamship, was built at Glasgow. In the 18803 White Star built the Teutonic, a twin- screw which had staterooms decorated with grand walls, fabrics and brass bedsteads. It was left to Sir Charles A. Parsons and C. G. P. de Laval to develop the steam turbine during this same time period. The 1897 Turbinia was the first vessel to be driven by a turbine and within ten years several turbine-driven liners were in the Atlantic service. After that the steam turbine virtually eliminated the older reciprocating steam engine on major vessels. 1 By this time Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, had aspirations of building a vast naval armada. From about 1900 until World War 1, Germany held second place in the world in both navy and merchant marine. While the Kaiser professed that his naval expansion was not directed at England, but rather at Japan, "fears of competition from German manufacturing and the development of the German navy were fueled by the popular press and anti-German feeling ran high by the end of th England‘s It 1 Line, in f Mauretani They pro; culminate in the tri; Class ves: Whfi the twenn‘ nineteenth and, Edwardian for, “Bedle The ascended t name is let Empire and Victo Peace and “Entry. 10 "9 Thus, in part, an important cause of the war was end of the period. England’s dominance on the sea and Germany’s challenge. It was out of this turbulent point in time that the White Star Line, in fierce competition with Cunard’s greyhounds Lusitania and Mauretania, conceived a royal mail ship plan of immense proportions. They proposed to provide the epitome of ocean travel which was to culminate in a massive building operation. This would ultimately result in the triple-screw ships which were collectively referred to as Olympic- Class vessels or The Big Threw-Olympic, Titanic and Britannic. - THE SOCIETY - While the White Star luxury liner phenomenon was to occur during the twentieth-century reign of Edward VII we must also look to nineteenth-century England for propelling influences. The English frame of mind, and the state of affairs as they appeared during the Edwardian era, are closely linked to that of the previous Victorian era for, needless to say, one produced the other. The Regency period ended when Queen Victoria (1819-1901) ascended the throne in 1837. While the 64 year period to which her name is lent corresponds with that of the Restoration, the Second Empire and Third Republic periods in France, it is not a direct offshoot. Victoria’s English dominion was vast and regarded as a time of peace and prosperity. However, England proper was a congested country. Cities were typified by a lack of said prosperity having low 9Jane Beckett and Deborah Cherry, Ware (London: Phaidon Press and Barbican Art Gallery, 1987), p. 7. gndeeml quate ligi kvehh F fever, ant struck et' and most was then went to t1 did so, no Eng afimeof. 598 Power tmnm, ately, be 5 Shots time more than Crash--am ‘° Support DUri: With t he Ct PsychOanal and the La Victodan p T Jame YOrk: (New 11 grade employment and overcrowded housing. Foul water, lack of ade- quate light and clean air contributed to high infant mortath in all class levels. Frequent urban killers were measles, whooping cough, scarlet fever, and typhus. Typhoid especially knew no class distinctions and struck even the royal house carrying off Prince Albert. The gravest and most mysterious of these unseen killers was tuberculosis-wr as it was then called, consumption. No wonder people, if they could afford it, went to the seaside health spas, which were growing in popularity—they did so, not so much to vacation, but to escape the filth and contagion. England, in the exceedingly brief Edwardian Era (1901-1914), saw a time of great activity and rapidly advancing change, of which growing sea power was just one element. So much was transpiring so quickly that it could not help but result in confusion, turbulence and, ultim- ately, be a part in the coming explosion to be felt worldwide with the shots fired 4 August 1914 at Sarajevo. The time was "roaring" even more than it would in America ten years later-~just before the Great Crash—-and the English character stiffened itself, bracing its shoulders to support the burdens that the time presented.lo During this era England was struggling to adapt to modernity with the coming of such things as the aircraft, radio—telegraphy, psychoanalysis, Post-Impressionism, motion pictures, the turbine engine and the Labor Party. However, it was bogged down somewhat in the Victorian past which was still strong and presented what appeared to be loJames Laver, nd f t ' ' - - 9 4 (New York: Harper .1 Row, 1966), p. 43. an "art! rigid an implied stability threat c T] organiza as "gold party»: shot fire Tl his name awesome and the stretch ( and SOCll time.” Kit of the th Were "5y Sat Umversit 12 Wt 12 an "arthritic resistance" to change.11 Not the least of which was the rigid and empty gestures of decorum "important not because they implied moral tightness but because they seemed to protect social stability, public morals, religion and the British Empire against the threat of change.12 Though characterized by strong labor movements, working class organizations, and suffragette movements, the age was one referred to as "golden"--a golden afternoon, a golden security, a golden garden party--a world whose gracious aspects would end rudely with a single shot fired in a faraway slavic city. Though Edward VII was to reign only nine years, dying in 1910, his name is given to this period which was sandwiched between two awesome opposites—the long secure reign of his mother, Queen Victoria, and the devastation of the Great War. Still, while it was to be a brief stretch of history, it would be an age of drama, elegance, turbulence and social change--Edward’s reign would truly embody the spirit of his time.” King Edward and Queen Alexandra were a highly visible reflection of the time in general. Where the upper classes were concerned they were "symbols of the established order. . . rich, punctilious and unoc- cupied."l4 It was a time of formality, opulence, splendor, and a llSamuel Hynes, The Edwezd1e' 11 Turn eij Ming (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968), p. 8. uHynes, p. 6. 13Hynes, p. 4. l’Hynes, p. 3. conspicuc ametfi a Kin rich in g cuhne cor to power classes at more num keeping c humble pc new—none; finance 11] comfort in Edw eiShteenth inslliratior. hi8“ Point national e} and pOWer and 10h" : mmd. In] C1133 Sting \ 15L“e n Jiltne “its 1937 ”Beck. 13 conspicuous display of wealth which bordered on ostentatious. It was a time of elegant, romantic dress but sober, righteous manners.ls King Edward had the easy extravagant habits of the Edwardian rich in general, and his moral views were those of his time and mas- culine company--public propriety and private indulgence. When he came to power the working classes out-numbered the middle and upper classes about four to one. Said middle and upper classes grew even more numerous and prosperous and came to be known as the servant- keeping class. Some of these were to work their way up from relatively humble positions to become the nouveau riche. The majority of these new-money millionaires had derived their wealth from business and finance while old-money millionaires sniffed at these upstarts and took comfort in the superiority of their inherited millions.“ Edwardian portrait painters often drew upon the works of eighteenth-century painters such a Reynolds and Gainsborough for inspiration. The eighteenth century view was a harkening back to a high point in British culture and "formed a distinctive part of inter- national exhibitions, representing an imperialist history of white rule "17 The nineteenth century paintings of Giovanni Boldini and power. and John Singer Sargent provide a vibrant view of this bygone turn-of- mind., In many of Sargent’s portraits, one sees women of the upper class structure represented in scenes of nature which signified not only lsLaver, p. 43. l6.1ames Walvin, W (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1987), p. 17. lilBeckett, p. 7. the tradi 'hnked i dominanc For on friend atiny sil "dressed obliged tt guests in room for Met Club to n Dubfished asuitable interestin Whi fourtd in . the “Pile man's plat On rare 0 tinkerer c anything of othfirs, 14 the traditional base of aristocratic power in land ownership, but also "linked femininity to nature, in opposition to masculine culture and dominance of the state and government."18 For the upper-classes good manners required one to "pay calls" on friends and considered bad manners not to leave a "calling card" on a tiny silver tray if said friends were not at home. One always "dressed for dinner" and if one received a dinner invitation one was obliged to reciprocate in kind. After dinner ladies served tea to female guests in the "morning room" while gentlemen retired to the billiard room for cigars and brandy. Men drove to the office, often in a new "motorcar," or visited the club to read and discuss the state of the economy or some murky issue published in the "London Times." There one could also count on finding a suitable chess partner, a fellow philatelist or someone with an interesting investment possibility. While the man—of-the-house was so engaged, his lady was to be found in the home supervising servants in the care of the children and the up-keep of the home. Though considered master of the domain, man’s place in the home was actually related to that of breadwinner and, on rare occasions, propagator of the species. He was not a helpful tinkerer or handyman about the house, in truth it was absurd to expect anything of the kind from him. His business at home was to make work of others, not to do it himself.’9 laBeckett, p. 7. 19John Gloas. W .139 (New York: MacMillan, 1961), p. 36. Chi the tend: learned, . stitcheryi in how tc coming 01 were taug and a cor Properly oommissio For letters, c< Chfldren c ‘0 the sea the surf 1 strolling ( (berating It i W(linen We reign the: fallen and 15 Children, raised by hired nurses and nannies, left home at about the tender age of six to attend "public" boarding schools. Girls learned, among minor scholastic endeavors, graceful manners, fancy stitchery, dancing, music and art appreciation, and the proper etiquette in how to attract the right young man when the time came for her coming out. While young ladies learned "the delicate social graces" boys were taught Latin, history and higher mathematics, good sportsmanship and a code of ethics of the elite. After all, a young man had to be properly prepared to take the "Grand Tour" and obtain a military commission when he finished his boyish studies. For relaxation ladies read poetry and romance novels, wrote letters, collected picture postcards, did lace-work, occupied their children or played the piano and sang. On sunny days they might go to the seaside and, in voluminous bathing costumes, take chilly dips in the surf from the confines of "bathing machines.” Or, once dry and strolling down the boardwalk, they might become busily engaged in operating a new portable camera which called for the new "roll f' A It is generally held that Queen Victoria was of the opinion that women were born for man’s pleasure and amusement, for during her reign there appeared to be only two kinds of women--those who had fallen and those who had not.20 Like the women of Dickensonian novels, the Victorian/Edwardian female is frequently regarded and de- picted by the male not as a well-rounded personality but as a vapid heroine-«sensitive, passive, frail, dependent as a clinging vine, patient ”Eric M. Sissworth. edo. WW _ine§een1h- Century Theught ang Smiet 1 (Manchester, England: Manchester University Press, 1988), p. 133. 811C des oon con sug wei cul‘ dou bee per tiOr Law 1115‘ (X111 ign tho tha and and the: l6 and easily lead, submissive but always pure. She'being considered desirable only if she conformed to this stereotype. While men were usually regarded as centers of male force and power, many women were tiring of these forms of morality without conviction which was the norm. Women did not have the vote, and contrary to what John Singer Sargent’s delicate-natured paintings suggest, many women were involved with suffragette movements which were building and shaking the foundations of the masculine dominated culture. In the Edwardian society the hypocrisy of the proverbial double-standard and male prerogative were as strong as ever they had been in Victoria’s time and were, by turns, both prudish and permissive.21 One must not forget that these were the days of medical revolu— tionaries such as Freud, Adler and Jung, writers such as Wells, Pound, Lawrence, Joyce, Woolf and Ibsen, sculptors such as Epstein and il- lustrators such as Beardsley. While Victorian prudery and moralizing could be extreme on some accounts the attempts to liberate sex from ignorance and repression can be seen. Many writers are of the opinion that "men and women seemed more thoroughly alienated from each other than ever and one might argue that the relations between the sexes, like the relations between the rich and poor, employers and employees, English and Irish, Conservatives and Liberals had deteriorated."21 While this is an interesting analogy there is a new school of thought in which one might be closer to the 21Walvin, p. 135. “Hynes, pp. 172-73. truth wi only in seem odi golden t Truly dc vocabula refusal 1 gestion 1 Victoria 5 It ible, so Promote: Period h order of which 8] romantic 17 truth with the use of the work "reticent" rather than ”prudery" for only in our society ”influenced by the babble of sexuality does reticence seem odd." In the Victorian/Edwardian eras "silence may have been golden but it was not of necessity an indication of sexual ambivalence." Truly delicacy in behavior may well have stemmed from a problem with vocabulary.23 Victorians had an affinity with semantics and exercised a refusal to call things by their proper names if there was even a sug- gestion of erotic significance. What many today call "prudery" Victorians and Edwardians considered "propriety. - THE STYLE - It is well-known that Queen Victoria’s interest in art was neglig- ible, so it is that history generally thanks Prince Albert for being a promoter of taste in the early years. Architecturally the Victorian period had a rather dormant spirit where originality was concerned-~the order of the day was eclectic and based on revivals of older styles which grew out of the picturesque. The greatest of these being a romantic harkening back to Gothic architecture though it is noticeably more fussy then the original Gothic. Many early Victorian country houses were remodeled or greatly expanded Georgian mansions.14 In these homes of the wealthy, new rooms were developed such as smoking rooms, billiard rooms, conser- vatories and morning rooms. All were designed for specific purposes 23Walvin, p. 122. 24Gloag, p. 31. and orna are exces possessin ceilings t Cor sitting in Which he; especially in the de; SWeet-sce 11111318 an. .1150, they the day, 3 Plethora EQUivalent With Windows 13 “8h. Mid- fabrics, al 10Olted “pt heWy drag 18 and ornately decorated in the cluttered preferences of the day. They are excessive, overdone, or "over the top" as the British say, possessing a great deal of pattern and color from the pargework ceilings to the wall-to—wall carpet. Conservatories served in many capacities. They were pleasant for sitting in during dances and they provided potted plants for the house, which kept summer going in winter-much later, Edwardians would especially like being photographed in comfortable and well-lit conditions in the depths of winter--and conservatories were romantic, rich and sweet-scented bowers of color and greenery that carried a touch of the jungle and the tropics into English suburbs and English winters.25 Also, they were a sort of status symbol-a very important commodity for the day. Even if one did not have a conservatory one could indulge in a plethora of potted palms or at the very least in Wardian cases—the equivalent of today’s terrariums. With the abolition of window glass tax in 1851, large sheet glass windows became popular over smaller panes. As for the element of light, Mid-Victorians preferred to keep it out as it faded the dark fabrics, also gloom was considered romantic. Later Victorians, however, looked upon light as a symbol of progress and so they threw open the 26 heavy draperies and let it in. Within a short time lace curtains were 25Susan Lasdun, 11W (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1981), p. 16. “Lasdun, pp. 15-16. 11188 uni per man 1321' pkx sins tert PFOf Pers Piecl hne USEd mOst freq. leave 8180 Sham 19 soon in favor for they diffused the excess light and yet secured a measure of privacy.21 Furniture, for the most part like architecture, reflected the same uninspired mental stagnation and turned furniture producers to all periods of the past for inspiration. Furniture was thus a mixture of many styles such as Greek, Turkish, Gothic, Venetian, Florentine and Egyptian. There was some French Louis XV style influences but those pieces tended to be clumsy in proportion and possessed of fantastic gingerbread ornament.28 Wood furniture, in particular case pieces, are generally charac- terized as dark, heavy and deeply carved. Like architecture it saw a profusion of revivals but, strangely, very little furniture of the Gothic persuasion is found. One often finds a blend of several styles in one piece of furniture. The emphasis was predominately on the curvelinear line over that of the straight. Mahogany was the favored wood but black walnut and ebony were used as well. Marble-topped rosewood tables were a standard feature in most every home. Inlays of mother-of-pearl and brass are found more frequently than marquetry. Motifs favored nosegays, fruit, flowers and leaves. Occasionally one sees furniture made of papier macho which was also used in ceiling ornamentation. It is no exaggeration to say the "Victorians loved comfort without shame as the Georgians before them had loved pleasure without 21Gloag, p. 35. 28Sherrill Whiton, Interior Design and Demratie' 11, 4th ed. (New York: Lippincott, 1974), p. 222. apolog; having freque: fabrics color. tube mt spring. in uphc the pro made an and reg: tromp 1’ decorate PerCha. POPUlar F u With the Wer e so 20 "29 Chairs with ottomans, and sofas, were designed for comfort apology. having a tendency toward being overstuffed.30 Seating pieces were frequently covered with shimmering silk or richly textured velvet fabrics and were deeply tufted. Dark crimson was a favored fabric color. New furnishing materials came into being: cast imn ornament, tube metal for brass beds, bentwood, laminated wood and the coil spring, which provided the means for the above-mentioned deep tufting in upholstery. The best artistic development in interior design was in the production of chintzes. This glazed cotton fabric of bright colors, made an appeal to the English flower garden, brooksides and meadows and remains a general favorite to this day.” There was in this time frame a great interest in ingenuity--for tramp l’oeil, the cute disguise, the surprising gadget. Furniture decorated with leather stamped to look like wood or made out of gutta percha. Painted imitation inlay and artificial wood graining were also popular as was marbled slate. Furnishing choices of the Victorian home were rather haphazard with the chief unifying influence being the suite, but in addition there were so many supplementary articles that the suite was often lost 29Gloag, p. xv. _ 30This desire for comfort was certainly at odds with the mode of dress of the day. Women were especially hampered in their movements with crinolines, bustles, and with long sweeping skirts, and later hobble skirts, not to mention the manner in which they subjected their bodies to the rigid confines of tightly laced corsets. 31Whiton, p. 223. pn aw.- Wei tou Eas con. were Cum 1880 desig beta; attra, (‘0 21 32 The collecting of knick-knacks, bric-a-brac, and amongst the clutter. what—have-you became a widespread mania and so it was that glass domes were used to house such dubious objets des artes which were commonly referred to as "art workmanship." Due to the rise in industrialization, furniture was badly made and poorly styled, however, there were occasional pieces of great beauty produced. Charles Eastlake Jr. made a unsuccessful endeavor to break away from the pall of aesthetic stagnation about 1865. His interiors were based on Gothic detail with varnished oak, glazed tiles, and touches of black lacquer but with little thought to color harmony.33 Eastlake was also an advocate of the natural handpolishing of wood and condemned "French" polishing, staining or varnishing.34 In most homes cabinets, Sideboards, wardrobes or chimney pieces were elaborately designed to include brackets, niches, shelves and cupboards and were usually very architectural.” However, by the 18803 heavily carved ponderous furniture was being replaced by lighter designs often inlaid with marquetry. Flimsy bamboo furniture also became fashionable.36 Furniture was arranged in groups and disposed about the room in attractive conversational centers. However, during the 1890s fitted 32Gloag, p. 36. ”Whiton, p. 222. 34Gloag, p. 36. 35Helena Hayward, ed., W r 'tu - l t t (New York: McGraw—Hill, 1965), p. 216. 36Gloag, p. 42. fur res and star "ma hs e prec the ' sane abun bedre the n drawj Sohd freQu. ofthe and it and Ye 22 furniture increased in popularity and convenience.- There was a resumption of an old-fashioned structural partnership between furniture and walls which was seen in the early sixteenth century before free- standing furniture came into fashion. In these built-ins, comfort was "married to" seclusion and from the union was born the cozy corner.37 Victoriana did not die with the queen in 1901 ”it rumbled on with its copious vulgarities and expansive comfort, its formal clothes and "’8 In the interim between the 1850s and precise manners until 1914. the turn—of-the—century, however, the clutter of interiors was replaced somewhat by a coziness-but as might be expected there was an over abundance of it. While Edwardian rooms were largely light and airy, especially bedrooms, dining rooms were rather heavy rooms--these being used for "3’ Colors were usually darker than the "serious business of eating. drawing rooms or parlors, having a great deal of wood paneling and solid furniture. In other rooms furniture tended to be elegantly austere and frequently built-in. An ingle-nook around the fireplace-a continuation of the Victorian cozy-corner, was still evident but was less a hide-away and jumble of shelves and gingerbread. Rather they were simple in line and yet comfortable. 3‘IGloag, p. 72. 3.Gloag, p. xv. 39Alastair Service, dwar t ' - ' t t v e We t (London: Barrie a Jenkins, 1982), p. 36. eh an the nig tOp dis dec hxn ill the Shoe Rene Ouee Sher 901m and, 23 The increase in attention to comfort and cleanliness had a marked effect upon the standards of bedroom furnishings of this time.’0 This attention to comfort and good health was evident in the replacement of the canopied four-poster bed with a half-canopy which was later abolished altogether. Even though windows were still closed up tight at night there were at least, no more suffocating enclosures.‘l Most every bedroom also had an ample washstand with a marble top and splash back, and a toilet set consisting of a basin ewer, a soap dish, a toothbrush stand and chamber pot, which was often highly decorated with floral and sometimes oriental motifs. Hip-baths, foot-baths, shower-baths, hot and cold baths were fixtures to be found in bathrooms with running water and were common before the close of the nineteenth century.42 In the Late-Victorian period (1870—1901) furniture manufacturers showed a concern with variety and novelty. Classical, Medieval and Renaissance prototypes were readily found, Jacobean was popular, and Empire was revived. The furniture of Thomas Hope was in demand, and Queen Anne became popular again as well as Chippendale, Adam, ’3 The interiors of a large townhouse or Sheraton and Hepplewhite. country home might have a Jacobean dining room, a Queen Anne boudoir, and Adam drawing room, late Stuart, William and Mary or early Georgian 4°Gloag, p. 36. “Gloag, p. 36. ”Gloag, p. 36. ”Hayward, p. 216. 24 bedrooms.’4 This trend continued into the Edwardian era. In the luxury steamship liners such as the White Star Olympic-Class vessels, this eclecticism was very prominent. Every major saloon and accom- modation was decorated in such varied styles. Edwardian England was at an odd pivotal position in the history of the western world, for while the time frame was securely in the first decade of the twentieth century, thinking and lifestyles were still nineteenth-century. Despite the twentieth century time placement, England was in the aftermath of the Victorian age, when the empire was at its greatest and England its most powerful, but stood precariously unready as a watershed of the modern age. Hedonism ruled the ruling. class with an unapologetic show of materialism that "gave a new dimension to the respectability and so produced the phenomenon soon to be termed Edwardianism." Chronologically the Lusitania and Mauretania would be identified with the reign of Edward, but the full expression of Edwardianism at sea would not come until after the king’s death in 1910. Ironically, it would last four years longer at sea than on land.45 Aesthetically speaking, the "transatlantic style" was a composite of this historic period encompassing the nineteenth-century beaux art to twentieth-century high tech. It was rather like a barometer reflecting the variances in social privilege and the restrictions of the time when crossing the Atlantic was a week long indulgence in established custom “Gloag, p. 82. ”John Malcolm Brinnin, G e - a (New York: Holt, 1988), p. 41. and I one’s safer, relativ to 80 and me ontfitn W35 ex hand “ “Br Br 25 and protocol, which put ambience ahead of expedition, among "persons of one’s own class and kind.“6 Truly it was an eclectic time in more than just land-based and seagoing architecture and interior design. The thinking and motion of society was eclectic. By way of poetic license--the political and social climate was that of a borrowing and combining from the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. Man was fascinated by the progress of the new but was endeavoring not to lose hold on the security and comfort of the old. It was an attempt to maintain something of stability and solidarity in contemporary conditions which were advancing with fearful speed. In the area of sea travel ships were being built bigger, better, safer, faster, and more efficient. They were capable of taking, with relative security, the adventuresome intrepid spirit wherever he wanted to go on this globe. Yet in the midst of bigger, better, safer, faster, and more efficient he was choosing to go in the mode of his past, outfitted in the styles, comforts and diversity he found at home, which was extravagance and foile de grandeur. In truth, the greatest risk at hand was thought to be that of boredom." “Brinnin, W. p. 1- "Brinnin. W. p. 58- PART I WHITE STAR LINE CHAPTER 1 THE BEGINNINGS OF THE PARTNERSHIP Ismay, Imrie & Company The White Star Line was an outgrowth of a line of wooden sailing ships that plied the active Australian gold rush trade in the early 1850s.1 After the American Civil War there was a rapid development in the Atlantic trade routes which were based on expanding commerce and on that massive emigration from Europe. It was upon this emigration that Thomas Henry Ismay (Fig. 2) was to make his fortune.2 In 1867 Ismay acquired control of a bankrupt company and the line was reorganized into the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company (O.S.N.C.) in 1869. In the following year, with partner William Imrie, Ismay formed the controlling firm of Ismay, Imrie a Company.3 Their offices would be located at No. 10 Water Street in Liverpool (Fig. 3) for the next forty years. lThomas E. Bonsall, Tm nic - The Siery ef rhe Greg; White 521: Line Trie' : The Qiymnie, the Titanic ane she Brire' nnie (New York: W. H. Smith, 1987), p. 5. 2Michael Moss and John R. Hume, Shinhuil' dere 19 the Werlgi - 12: Kare oi: Herlane ene Welfij, Belfas; 1861-1986 (Belfast: Blackstaff, 1986), p. 29. 3Moss, p. 28. 26 27 Thomas H. Ismay, White Star Line Founder. Fig. 2 White Star Offices, Liverpool. Fig. 3 \\\%\NV\\1 I J\ie\\vw r \ .tQuitce... .‘u. .. semi nan 28 Harland and Wolff, Ltd. Almost immediately, upon the new White Star Company being formed, Ismay and Imrie contracted with shipbuilders Harland and Wolff, of Belfast Ireland, to build a fleet of iron-hulled passenger steamships (Fig. 4) destined for passenger, mail and cargo runs from Liverpool to New York City. This was to become a long-standing and legendary partnership as Harland and Wolff would, for decades, build all White Star vessels.4 Harland and Wolff had been shipbuilders since 1840. They oper- ated on a "cost plus" basis with White Star which meant that they built the finest ships possible, and then billed the line for the total cost, plus an agreed upon. percentage for profit.5 While such an arrangement is considered nightmarish in today’s business world, it worked well enough for Harland and Wolff and the White Star Line so that they continued to do business together for well into the twentieth century when White Star ceased to exist. The first of the Harland and Wolff ships to fly the new White Star house flag-a five-pointed white star on a scarlet, swallow-tailed pen- nant--was the Oceanic. She began a tradition in which all vessels constructed thereafter would be larger and more grand than the ones previous (Fig. 5 ).6 ‘Bonsall, p. 5. sBonsall, p. 10. 6Bonsall, p. 5. 29 Fi8- 4 Early White Star Steamships. Fig. 5 Development in size of White Star liners. w ‘ /—\\ sm- 2% (a $1111; 2 (I: n‘ ’ , I O t ’ ’ ‘. m : iflka? Z A“ ‘. \; ~ 9- . 9E f?“ 33 ‘ ' \ \dfidflamww :m if] H: [El N” \- FROM—454 05; “fl [#5: {El ‘ LIVERPOOL " “____—_- ____., ;:§;.=:=§?‘¢—-q=:: ..L;r_ =y; RIVER LAGAN. 44 Olympic and her sisters.15 As previously mentioned, White Star had originally been interested in the speed of passage, but by the 18908 they had shifted the em- phasis to size, safety, economy of operation, comfort and luxury in every sense of the word. While their ships would, thereafter, be fast enough they would never again contend for the "Blue Ribband" speed 1‘ However, as ships were customarily trophy with other great lines. built for 25 to 30 years of use, speed did not seem as urgent a need as long-term durability and dependability. The original design for Olympic, Titanic and Britannic was for the ships to have three funnels and three or four masts as well. Needless to say, this was substantially changed with a fourth funnel—a dummy- being added for compositional balance and effect, while the masts were limited to two, and placed fore and aft." Seven decks were planned--designed as A through G--with coal bunkers, boiler rooms, engine rooms and cargo holds on two lower decks below G—deck (Fig. 13). The upper decks would be for the primary use of first-class passengers. Third-class would be consigned to the lower decks, while second-class would be berthed somewhere in between. This was the given with Olympic and Titania-they being constructed almost identically--however, Britannic would be somewhat different. The only significant differences between Olympic and Titanic were on B-deck lsJohn Maxtone-Graham, W (New York: MacMillan, 1972), p. 40. 16Bonsall, p. 6. l“Brinnin, W. p- 57. Fig. 13 REST-STEAMERS IN n1: THEME EJIIIIII STAR IINE p OLYMPIC (IN SERVICE JUNE IS") 88272 FEET LONG 92'/2 FEET BROAD 45.000 TONS REGISTER 66.000 TONS DISPIACEMENT HEIGHT FROM KEEL TO TOP OF TUNNELS I75 FEET luv-I lumlc IuvAfoIa vunu In unu- cum-a. an; v-Ecsia? 'Iu- net-I nu I ear-r- .... Um- ’IIII:L"DI .DUCI ”A “I! I ,- rsewm I MFAI II ’EI‘V j:l£-;EHII. I ”a“ ”I 'I ..I | I l .:.lllfl.‘ .I::v:u ‘1 I’b 45 \ 999 999 999 see .99? DOUILI I071.- .. . In on 02,113”. on up u u "w Cutaway diagram of Olympic and Titanic decks. Winn TB "TITANIC (BUILDING AT BELFAST) 88272 FEET LONG 92V: FEET BROAD 45.000 TONS REGISTER 66.00010N5 DISPLACEMENT HEIGHT FROM KEEL TO TOP OF TUNNELS I75 FEET '00- tug-1‘: IuV:V:=C III 07-- II II «no ‘6‘“... Jul!- 3““ Imagine. “cannula”- a Ian-pun.” ll". "Infill-l All .DI‘I :A anon-I tun ”no I Rama‘s-fits mun-t:- no: .I.~Il:ll DICK. .- UFDII. ‘.°I¢I':' 3 sea“... mu {mfif'i‘mt .“IALO an nun...” o- uuuuuuu .IIQO'RI Nun: Dau‘a gage. rcpt-9.. Manon Dam' r' 46 of Titanic (see Appendix). It was there that the second-class promenade was reduced in favor of a larger a la carte restaurant and 28 new, first-class staterooms. Also, one month before Titania’s completion, she had an additional feature change made that was to noticeably distinguish her from the Olympic. The forward half of the first-class promenade on B-deck was plated and enclosed with windows to protect the passengers 18 This difference makes for ease in identifying photo- from sea spray. graphs of Olympic and Titanic today, as the forward promenade deck on Olympic is open while that of Titanic is enclosed below the first two funnels.19 A collision of the White Star Republic and an Italian liner in January of 1909, saw the first use of the Marconi wireless in an emergency situation. Due to the availability of the wireless, over eight- hundred people were saved from that collision at sea.20 The wireless was such a success that White Star immediately arranged for its installation aboard their three new vessels as well. Another safety feature provided was that the bulls were to be subdivided into sixteen watertight compartments by means of fifteen watertight bulkheads. These bulkheads extended up through F-deck. Heavy watertight doors provided communication between compartments during normal operation of the ships. These doors could be closed in laBrown, p. 28. 19Brown, p. 73. 2”Anderson, p. 2.» 47 three ways: the captain could close them throughout the ship by means of an electric switch on the bridge; any individual door could be closed by tripping a lever at the door which operated a friction clutch; and, a floating mechanism located beneath the floor in each compartment was designed to rise with any incoming water and automatically trigger the doors in that compartment independent of any action by captain or crew." All three ships were designed to remain afloat with any two compartments flooded, making them capable of withstanding a broadside collision at any one of the bulkheads. (This was about the worst possible condition imaginable.) Because of this stay-afloat design, the prestigious shipping trade journal, W referred to White Star’s new vessels as being practically "unsinkable." To its credit White Star Line never made such a claim, but it was a description that would forever after haunt the company. If there was a critical lapse in the safety construction of all three of these ships it was that the double-bottoms did not extend up the sides to a point above the waterline. This was not done as it would have cramped the working space needed for attending to the boilers.22 Everything about the Olympic—Class vessels would eventually be the largest known anywhere so that words like, "leviathan," "giant," "mammoth," "behemoth," and "titan" became synonymous with the building project and with the individual vessels. The size of these ships would rival many of the world’s greatest buildings and monuments 21Bonsall, p. 14. 22Bonsall, p. 10. 48 (Fig. 14)-a characteristic which would be amply equaled in the gra- ciousness of interior appointments. When Olympic was launched in October of 1910, Titanic was only half completed.” Both ships would eventually be fitted out to the same magnificent standard but Olympic would receive the lion’s share of publicity for she was, after all, the first. For decorative details, many fine British residences and mansions, of distinctive periods, would be consulted for the interiors of the Olympic-Class vessels—which would typify the eclectic trends of the Victorian/Edwardian era. Besides the decorating influences of Louis XIV, Louis xv and Louis XVI, there would also be found therein, Empire, Jacobean, Adams, Italian Renaissance, Georgian, Queen Anne, and both Modern and a style referred to as Old Dutch (which resembled somewhat of a William and Mary/Charles II/baroque mix).24 The Olympic-Class vessels would, as a result, be the finest achievements of White Star and Harland and Wolff. While, in later years, other ships would be built that were larger, more grandly appointed and certainly impressive (e.g. the Queen Mary, at 81,237 tons), none would be nearly as graceful nor elegant as were White Star’s three Olympic- Class sister ships. 23Anderson, p. 106. 24Brinnin, sway, p. 363. 49 Fig. 14 Olympic and Titanic, compared to world monuments. Surpassing the Greatest Buildings and Memorials of Earth TheLargestandFinestSteamers int/1e World 731' “OLYMPIC” m, “TITANIC” White Star Line’s New Leviathans 7Q; 8825'; Feet Long 921§Fcctlirond 45,000'runs r I I I I PART II OLYMPIC-CLAS S VES SELS CHAPTER 4 HISTORY OF R.M.S. Olympic R.M.S. Olympic (Figs. 1 & 15) was the la grande dame of the White Star Line. Being the first of the sister ships--hence the designation of the three as "Olympic-Class" vessels--she was, in her day, to acquire almost all of the fame and publicity prior to 15 April, 1912, when Titanic met with disaster. It should be noted that standing in Olympic’s shadow as she did, Titanic went almost unnoticed until she had the distressing misfortune to sink.1 Among the many needless myths about Titanic was that she "far outstripped in grandeur and elegance any other ship afloat-even Olympic. "2 As previously noted, both vessels were built essentially the same throughout in their Edwardian design, construction materials and furnishings. Those few structural alterations that were made in Titanic were made to refine the design based on the few months experience with Olympic. The White Star Line, however, never made any distinction between them. The two giants were always advertised as a pair. Photographs of exteriors and interiors in company publicity were invariably labelled, Olympic and Titanic, with a single photo or illustration serving lBonsall, p. 31. 2Bonsall, p. 24. 50 51 Fig. 15 R.M. S. Olympic dd OLVl/fp/c .“ , _..'_ _. 1.: . 52 for both (Fig. 16).3 As a consequence, drawings and photos known to definitely be of Titanic are extremely rare. Truth to tell, in many of the interior photos available it is impossible to tell if they are of Olympic or Titanic. Olympic began as Harland and Wolff passenger ship #400. Her keel having been laid on 16 December 1908, she was in the stocks for two years before being launched for fitting out 20 October 1910. At such time J. P. Morgan was on hand and, no doubt, enjoyed seeing tickets being sold to spectators. Approximately 456 pounds was raised and, in a magnanimous gesture, donated to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.‘ Even though Olympic was to receive the bulk of White Star attention and publicity, the company did not over emphasize her launch. Signal flags spelled out the word "Success" across the bow, but there was not the customary bunting, nor speech, nor bottle of champagne.5 Only one signal rocket and 27,000 tons of empty steel hull slid into the river Lagan to await the final fitting out.‘5 After seven months Olympic was properly completed and subse- quently delivered to White Star on 31 May 1911, the same day that her sister, Titanic, was launched. Olympic measured in at 882.5 feet long 3Bonsall, p. 24. 4Anderson, p. 108. sMaxtone-Graham, Only Way, p. 47. 6At her launch Olympic’s slide-way required more than 20 tons of tallow, train oil and soft soap, making for a one-inch thick coating laid down to endure the three-ton-per-square-inch weight of the hull. 53 Fig. 16 Olympic and Titanic, joint advertising. THE) WORLD. IN THE LARGEST STEAMERS WHITE STAR LINE. "OLvmpIC" {TRIPLE‘SCREVW 45.000 Tons. I420 "TITANIC" (TRIPLE-sonaw), 45,000 Tons. is1ouv1 an; suawvais NI 54 and 92.5 feet in breadth. The distance from the bottom of the keel to the top of the bridge was 105.5 feet. She was graced with four 70-foot funnels, each being 24.5 feet in diameter. Her gmss registered tonnage (G.R.T.) was over 45,000 tons, while her displacement was 60,000 tons, which made her almost twice the size of the largest vessel then afloat.1 She would, for a time, be the largest, most opulent ship the world had ever seen. Olympic was a combination of exceptional size, huge payload and relatively modest speed. She was truly representative of the fact that length, tonnage and displacement of such Atlantic passenger liners were to grow with staggering rapidity from that point onward. Olympic was a lean, yacht-like racer, with a graceful hull, and was the first of Olympic-Class vessels to ever leave out of the Southampton port and the only one of the three sisters to dock in New York as planned by White Star. Her maiden voyage began on 14 June 1911 and lasted five days, 16 hours and 42 minutes. She averaged 21.17 knots though she was designed to do only 21. It is interesting to note that she was known to have accomplished upwards to 27.82 knots at various times during her long life.. Said maiden voyage coincided with the ascension of George V to the throne of England. His reign would eventually terminate the "Anglo-Saxon machismo" perpetuated by his father, Edward VII.’ But that was, undeniably, somewhat in the future. 7Anderson, p. 108. 8Anderson, p. 108. 9Maxtone-—(3raham, M, p. 54. 55 As noted before, Thomas Andrews oversaw the building of Olympic as he did with Titanic. In working closely with the builders Andrews achieved extravagant interiors and a spatial opulence never before achieved in an ocean-going vessel. Olympic’s dominant character was one of apparently limitless space. Elbow-room was usually only the prerogative of first-class, but in Olympic this was an element to be found throughout the entire vessel. It is somewhat ironic though that second and third-class would eventually contain more people, but in decidedly less room than first-class. Undoubtedly, rank still had it’s privileges, even if it didn’t really need them. In any event if one considers simplicity one of the epitomes of art, then Olympic had surely reached a high standard in the world of art. Though everything was on a very large capacity scale, it was yet accomplished with good judgment. According to a newly arrived Olympic medical doctor, she was "very roomy . . . in excellent order . . . with an absence of awkward spaces or corners and overcrowding. The interior woodwork, decoration and fittings . . . [were] very handsome and in excellent taste, with an absence of anything tawdry or loud."lo This was indeed high praise, for the Edwardian era was still laboring under the Victorian penchant for the fussy, dusty and tawdriness of "over- the—top" decoration. Olympic’s first-class cabin accommodation extended over the upper decks, with access between the decks by two grand staircases and three electric lifts. The public rooms included a dining saloon, reception l”Dr. J.C.H. Beaumont, "Dr. J.S. Beaumont, Senior Surgeon, R.M.S. Olympic." W, Vol. 13, No. 3, 1989, p. 9. 56 room, a la carte restaurant, Cafe Parisien, lounge, reading and writing room, smoking room, and two verandah cafe/palm courts. Additionally there were the Turkish baths, the swimming bath, the squash racket court, and the gymnasium. Amidship could also be found a "main "11 Accommodation consisted of surgery, operating room and hospitals. 96 single berths, 106 double berths and 127 triple berth staterooms, plus four parlor suites with sitting rooms and baths, accommodating a total number of 735 first-class passengers. All the staterooms were very luxurious and designed in a variety of period styles.12 The reports that Olympic provided accommodation of "unrivalled extent and magnificence," apparently were not limited to just first- class.13 The second-class accommodation extended over seven decks in the aft-end of the ship, with access between the decks by a grand staircase and one electric lift. The public rooms included a dining saloon, library and smoking room. There was also a "large dispensary after, where the second and third-class passengers could be attended "14 by the Assistant Surgeon. Further, there were 207 second-class bedrooms for 674 passengers.15 Third-class accommodation was of a very high standard even if third-class was relegated to the extreme lower levels of the ship. The llBeaumont, Titanic ngmutator, Vol. 13, No. 3, 1989, p. 9 12Brown, p. 19. 13Anderson, p. 107. “Beaumont, W, Vol. 13, No. 3, 1989, p. 9. 15Brown, p. 20. 57 public rooms included a dining saloon, general room and smoking room. There were 222 bedrooms accommodating 862 passengers and open berths for 164 passengers.'6 Thomas Andrews was not the only official passenger aboard Olympic’s maiden voyage. J. Bruce Ismay was also in attendance and records indicate that he felt that the following list of corrective mea- sures should be attended to upon return to England: "glass-enclosed screen on B-deck . . . [needed] so that passengers in the luxury suites on both Olympic and Titanic might have their own private promenade space . . . holders for cigars and cigarettes in the W.C. . . . beds were too comfortable . . . too springy; the whole ship vibrated throughout them and kept people awake. Lath bottoms should be fitted, to stiffen . matters . . . potato peeler [needed] in crew’s galley."" During her lifetime Olympic was involved in four significant collisions at sea. This may sound like a great many accidents, but collisions at sea were, and are, rather commonplace—decidedly so. However, Olympic was fortunate in that her encounters spanned nearly a quarter of a century and none completely disabled her. The first of these events occurred only three months after her maiden voyage. ' After these accidents, and subsequent modifications, Olympic was con- sidered the safest vessel afloat and, in time, a sort of chic developed about her, by virtue of her being the ill-fated Titania’s sister. Even- tually she developed her own popularity for her own exceptional l6Brown, p. 21. l.iBrinnin, Sway, p. 363. 58 qualities but this was well after her war service. When she rejoined the White Star fleet in 1919, she was the last remaining Olympic-Class vessel afloat. After the war Olympic was refitted for peacetime duties and converted from coal to oil-firing which thus reduced the work force from 350 hands to 50 hands in the stoke-hold. This alteration came at a cost of about $2,500,000. And this at a time when the passenger liner business was at a low ebb.18 When ready to recommence service, White Star representative, H. A. Sanderson--who had succeeded J. Bruce Ismay as president of I.M.M.--referred to Olympic as "the one ewe lamb of the White Star Line." Owing to world conditions Sanderson believed that he would not see such a large vessel being built for some time to come. Rather than being "the one ewe lamb," Olympic was more like a White Star "orphan." No sister ships were ever built for her after the destruction of Titanic and Britannic. However, two half-completed German ships were acquired as war reparations and finished by Harland and Wolff-but they would never equal the stature of the Olympic-Class vessels. Olympic not only lasted longer than her two sisters, but longer than many liners. The usual life span of ocean vessels of the day was incomprehensibly short due to advancing technology and declining economics. Ships rapidly became obsolete in the fiercely competitive transatlantic market. Differences of just a few knots could affect the l"Brinnin, Sway, p. 429. 59 speed and punctuality of crossings, as could outdated equipment, not to mention the quality of maintenance. Aging hazards were primarily due to the corrosiveness of the sea, but there were also fires from decrepit wiring and malfunctioning boilers which made for increasingly frequent trips to dry dock. As time progressed, costly conversions from coal to oil fuel, and conversions of steerage to tourist—class cabins, with bath facilities and other amenities, took it’s toll upon many great ladies of the sea.” A White Star Line brochure of the 1920s spoke of Olympic as being "chosen by travelers who respond to the appeal of real dignity and quiet elegance. These people board Olympic with that air of assurance which distinguishes people whose choice is unfailingly cor- "20 In later years Olympic ran Bank Holiday cruises out of rect. Southampton at about $15 per passage. She also ran other short 3 1/2 day return trips between New York and Halifax.21 White Star was, no doubt, hard-pressed to keep her in operation. On 16 May 1934, Olympic was involved in her fourth and last collision--this time with the Nantucket lightship who she rammed and sank. The great Olympic soon after became a victim of the Depression and a merger with Cunard. At the advanced age of 24 years she was withdrawn from service in 1935. l9Gordon Newell, ' t 0t tu (Seattle: Superior Publishing Co., 1963), p. 24. 20Bonsall, p. 56. 21Anderson, p. 172. 60 At an auction held in Jarrow, England the dining room was bought and incorporated into a hotel bar in Northumberland. The warm wood paneling, of the Prince of Wales’ favorite parlor suite, was purchased, removed and reused to line the best bedroom in a hotel he fre- quented.22 A "canvas padded cell" went to the South Shields fun fair; the ice cream room was dismantled and reused, as was the mortuary- the latter being purchased by a Northumberland undertaker. And a butcher in Newcastle bought the great meat hooks from Olympic’s kitchen, for his cold storage room. Removed to Tyneside, Scotland in 1937 Olympic was broken up and eventually scrapped. It was in this way that this gracious ship was thus removed from the British registry}3 But apparently this grand vessel was considered by Lord Pirrie as a special milestone in his lengthy shipbuilding career, for on his 1924 tombstone is a panel. Thereon is found a four-funnel steamer carved and inscribed "R.M.S. Olympic, 45,439 tons, for the White Star Line, built by Harland and Wolff, 1911."24 A fine tribute to not only his lordship but to Olympic as well. 22Maxtone-Graham, w, p. 342. 23Maxtone-Graham, Only Wny, p. 347. "Oldham, p. 236.. CHAPTER 5 HISTORY OF R.M.S. TITANIC Her name, like everything about her, gave promise of something mighty and splendid-—yet it is not possible to speak of R.M.S. Titanic (Figs. 1 & 17) without recalling that her most notable feature was that she had a life span of less than thirteen days. Truly, there is perhaps no other ship so famous--with the possible exception of Noah’s ark-for Titanic remains to this day, the worst maritime disaster in the history of the North Atlantic. Surprisingly, while Titanic’s notorious maiden voyage has received ample coverage in books, articles, plays and films, it is scarcely mentioned in maritime history and perhaps not at all within the realms of sea-going architecture and art history. With her sister ship Olympic, Titanic was the longest, the tallest, the most luxurious ship in all creation. She was unique-but not singly so--until she ceased to exist. With that event she achieved her fame and, in so doing, overshadowed her two sisters to the point that most of the world is not even aware that Titanic was but the second of three Olympic-Class vessels built at the turn of the century. Titanic began as Harland and Wolff passenger ship #401 with her keel being laid on 31 March 1909. Her launch, on 31 May 1911, took just sixty-two seconds to complete and coincided with Olympic’s delivery into 61 62 Fig. 17 R.M. S. Titanic 63 White Star’s hands. When Titanic herself was delivered to White Star on 2 April 1912, her G.R.T., at 46,328 tons, was 1,000 tons more than Olympic, making Titanic the heaviest ship afloat, if not alone in being the largest. Her dimensions and displacement matched those of Olympic, making her monster big. Eight decks made Titanic tall as an eleven-story building and 29 boilers produced 50,000 total horsepower. Titanic’s delivery had been slightly delayed due to Olympic having been brought back into Belfast for various repairs and improvements. Some of those improvements required that a few of Titanic’s appoint- ments be cannibalized in order that Olympic might be made immediately sea worthy once again. As a result, Titanic was ten months being fitted out. However, on the 10th of April 1912 she was ready. Her name was lettered in gold on her bows, to match the thin gold banding encircling her entire hull. At her mainmast flew the White Star house flag. At the fore yardarm, drifted the Blue Peter. The stars and stripes flew at the foremast, for the United States was her destination, while the British Union Jack was at the stern. There had been a coal strike and wide-spread unemployment in the country since January of 1912 and this was finally settled on the 6th of April. The resulting shortage of ready coal required that Titanic be fueled by coal taken from five other company-owned ships that were clocked at Southampton, plus a full load brought back from New York in 64 Olympic. However, this was but a minor inconvenience in comparison to subsequent events.l In any event, at noon on 10 April Titanic steamed out of Southampton into the English Channel. That night she dropped anchor at Cherbourg, France, and the next morning again at Queenstown, Ireland, to receive additional cargo, mail consignments and passengers.2 She then took to the open sea. While designed to carry nearly 3,500 passengers and crew, there were aboard Titanic only a little more than 2,200 persons. Of these, some 1,300 were passengers with the remainder being crew. It is fairly common knowledge that there were many well-known and wealthy people lTitanic was immediately off on the wrong foot and many fatalists contend that she was "marked for disaster." While maneuvering out of the Southampton docks the 10,500-ton liner New York was torn from her moorings and dragged in the great suction created in Titanic’s wake. A collision was only narrowly avoided when Titanic cut her engines, which allowed New York to drift free. (Anderson, p. 111) Also, there was a coal fire smoldering in bunker #5-but spontaneous combustion fires were not an uncommon occurrence aboard coal burning vessels. (One simply did not presume to tell the passengers that the ship was on fire any more than one would suggest that lifeboats might ever be needed.) The fire aboard Titanic would be fought day and night during her entire voyage, and not extinguished until by incoming sea water, five days later in the middle of the North Atlantic. Another misfortune was that the crew were all new, having been assigned only the previous Wednesday morning from Oceanic and New York. Coming from such vastly smaller ships the crew were frequently lost on board the Olympic-Class vessel and many of them did not know one another. (Oldham, p. 187) Nevertheless daily service would run relatively smoothly because there were more than 300 boilermen, firemen, trimmers and greasers to work the ship, 65 to navigate and over 400 crew members to care for the passengers. However, when the time came to abandon ship, few of the crew knew where to go which only added to the confusion. (Bonsall, p. 18) 2Anderson, p. 112. 65 of society on the first-class passenger manifest of Titanic. J. P. Morgan was one of several who had planned to travel to New York aboard the new Olympic-Class vessel, however he’d had to cancel his reservation—- evidently he went to Aix-les-Bains, for "the cure." Other notables who booked and then canceled were Guglielmo Marconi, Henry Frick, Alfred Vanderbilt, and Lord Pirrie himself.3 In any event there were many others who paid the more than $4,000 sumptuous first-class passage— this amount at a time when the average American family income for a year was well below $1,000.4 In all "one hundred ninety families booked first-class on the Titanic. With them came a retinue of twenty-three lady’s maids, eight valets, a large number of governesses, and an assortment of amanuenses not all of whom could easily be classified. In the case of Benjamin Guggenheim, these included a lady companion of duties unspecified, along with a male secretary and a chauffeur." Add to this a dragoman who accompanied the Henry Sleeper Harpers, of the Harper publishing house.5 One passenger aboard was not enjoying a leisurely relaxing trip. Thomas Andrews, of Belfast, was hard at work evaluating Titanic. Some of his recorded notes read: "Trouble with the restaurant galley. Wrong coloring for the dashing on the Promenade decks--too dark.“ Other notes suggest: "Hot press in the restaurant galley was inefficient; . . . 3Brinnin, Gnand Luxe, p. 57. ’Brinnin, Swny, p. 377. 5Brinnin, W, pp. 57 a 59. 6Maddocks, p. 126. 66 too many screws in the stateroom hat hooks: . . . too much .dark wood in some of the public rooms: . . . wicker furniture in the veranda garden 1 More of his concerns had to do with the should be stained green." fact that the pebble dashing in the Parisien Cafe was also too dark.8 There appears to have been no end to the attention to detail. Titanic’s consignment was vast. Amongst which were 1,500 bottles of wine; 20,000 bottles of beer and stout: 850 bottles of spirits; 250 5# jars of beluga caviar; 75,000# of fresh meat; 11,000# of fresh fish: 25,000# poultry and game; 40,000 fresh eggs; and 200 barrels of flour. There were also 1,500 souffle dishes; 1,500 champagne glasses: 1,200 pudding dishes: 3,000 beef tea dishes; 400 sugar basins: 1,500 mustard forks; 400 toast racks; 100 grape scissors and 1,000 finger bowls. In the ship’s linen stores were 3,000 counterpanes; 800 Eiderdown quilts: 45,000 table napkins and 4,000 aprons.9 Many of these items would be needed in not only serving dinner, but breakfast and luncheon as well (Fig. 18). Apparently everything about Olympic-Class vessels was Olympian, if not in size, then in quantity. The next few days proceeded without incident. Titanic achieved 24 knots with ease and thus exceeded the builder’s expectation. How- ever, out on the open sea she received six reports of icebergs and "growlers" on the wireless. Not considering the warnings 01' “1'86“”, JBrinnin, Swny, p. 369. 8Oldham, p. 191. 9John P. Eaton & Charles A. Haas, T'ta ’ - D t' at' 'sast - MW (London: Norton. 1987). pp. 68-70. 67 Capt. Smith ordered Titanic full-speed aheadueven though at 20 knots it would have taken her one-half mile to come to a complete stop.lo On the evening of 14 April, Titanic was in the Labrador Current, approaching the Grand Banks off the coast of Cape Race, Newfoundland (Fig. 19). Four hundred miles from New York the weather was clear and the night sky was starlit. The North Atlantic, while a frigid 28 degrees, was calm and still as polished glass. Yet Titanic would hit a berg and before dawn all trace of her would vanish in water two miles deep. As one writer said so well, "the wreckage of this greatest toy in the playground of the rich was morbidly fascinating. It became, almost at once, something to be reenacted for thrills on vaudeville stages: the subject of a painting by German Expressionist Max Beckman; the story "“ It also became the subject of overblown of an anonymous ballad. flowery poetry as is reflected in the first few lines of a Thomas Hardy poem. (It is typically Hardyesque in that it seems to have a preoc- cupation for the inscrutable—and the Edwardians did seem to avidly embrace such): The Convergence of the Twain In the Solitude of the sea Deep from human vanity, And the Pride of Life that planned her, stilly couches she. Steel chambers, late the pyres Of her salamandrine fires, Cold currents thrid, and turn to rhythmic tidal lyres.12 ”Brown, p. 29. llBrinnin, Swny, p. 378. 12Brinnin, Swny, p. 382. 68 ! Titanic , first-class a la carte restaurant menu 14 April 1912. Fig. 18 Titanic, location upon colliding with iceberg. 19 Fig. .\~k~\*-~\r\~ .C N...\ .9. (NC. .35; ; 2:.‘N u\....::~N—~ 31:3:3 Ne.vb\ 503:0 Jw>. .hm .haOuwooom .Emmsu2<0 .zozoz< 1:33:02 255% Stan umizzozs. 20.235 .... m u u D m £62.55. 3%; 02.00:». 05.530 39.120 h .3353 5.5:. emotion 5x01. 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