THE BIG LINER ERA
By EXCUBITOR
'LIVERY big ship when she is laid down is condemned JD as too big and every swift ship as too' swift and on both counts such vessels are classed as uneconomic. Of every vessel embodying the latest conceptions of the naval architect and marine engineer, interpreting the needs of the owner, it has been said, " She cannot pay." Nearly a century ago Samuel Cunard, fresh from his Nova Scotia home, was regarded as courting disaster when, having gained the suppm:t of Robert Napier, the Glasgow engineer, and George Burns and David McIver, the Liverpool shipowners, he built four 'steamers of about 1,150 tons each, the Britannia,' " Arcadia,' Caledonia ' and Columbia,' with engines giving them a speed of 8i knots. When ships could steal the wind of heaven, paying no toll, why go to the expense of coal for boilers 7 That was the question which was asked on both sides of the Atlantic and with particular insistency by the Americans, who reposed their faith in their speedy clippers. The arguments against every advance in size and speed have appeared conclusive to men and women of conservative outlook. The liner building on the Clyde, which the Queen will christen on Wed- nesday, is regarded by most people, if they spoke frankly, as " a white elephant." She will be of up- wards of 80,000 tons gross by the time she is ready for service at the beginning of the 1936 season ; she has engines of about 180,000 horse power ; she will cross the Atlantic at about 30 knots ; and-she- will carry the population of no mean town, if count be taken of passengers and crew. It 'is not surprising that a vessel of such colossal size and such unprecedented speed should be regarded with suspicion. why spend so much, about £4,500,000, on a single ship of this. type - when for the same money two smaller and useful vessel could be built ?
It may be that life today would be simpler and cheaper if all research had been arrested in every country, say, as a means of celebrating Queen Victoria's Jubilee. But, in fact, no power can curb the movements of the minds of inquisitive and acquisitive men ; the one is always searching for something new and strange and the other is always seeking for new instruments with which to make larger profits. Shipowners do not discard old vessels, 'still good for many years' service so far as their hulls and 'engines are concerned, in sheer folly and invest large sums in larger and swifter vessels. They are' the victims of conditions beyond their control, conditions applying not in one country but in many countries. Passengers on the one hand, and, on the other, traders with goods to be carried overseas, call the pace of development as soon as the research worker has shown exactly how an advance can be made. The shipowner who wants to succeed must `keep up with the evolution of physical science as well as economic demands or he will find himself in the bank- ruptcy Court.
We are face to face at the moment with a for• ward movement in respect of Transatlantic liners. The Mauretania' was the queen of the Atlantic, swifter -in her old age than when she left her builder's yard on the 'Tyne, when the Germans sent down the slipway the even faster liners, the Bremen ' and Europa.' The Mauretania' after 22 years had to surrender the Blue 'Ribbon of the Atlantic. That blow to British prestige occurred as long ago as 1929. Then the Italians built the Rex ' and Conte di Savoia,' and this enterprise reacted on the great French company, which for 70 years has been carrying passengers across the Atlantic, The French Line designed a larger, longer and more speedy ship, the Normandie,' than was to be found under any flag, with, of course, the aid of State funds. It is now known that this vessel will be of about 80,000 tons gross when she is completed in seven or eight months' time. For some time she will be the biggest ship on the Atlantic route—until, in fact, the new British ship appears. Thus the movement gained headway.
It is no secret that before these foreign liners were thought of the Cunard Company had been considering plans for the construction of new ships.. It had built no express liner since the War, such a ship as the Americans, constituting from 70 to 80 per cent. of the Atlantic traffic, like to travel in. The Cunard tradition had to be carried on ; speed had to be associated with comfort and safety in a type of vessel which would yield dividends to the shareholders. Could two ships be built which would do the work of three of the existing vessels ? The experts' answer was in the affirmative ; but they would be of enormous size and, in order to attain the necessary speed, would have to be of unprecedented length, upwards of 1.000 feet, and be provided with engines of greater power than had ever been installed in any ship. Such a plan involved a vast expenditure, and the next problem, which was that of the directors and managers with their knowledge of the needs of passengers, was could such leviathans be made to pay ? That was the crucial test, and once figures had been produced showing that a profit could be made, no further doubt remained as to the wisdom of going forward with the scheme. The conditions were, in fact, much the same as existed in the early years of the present century when the Lusitania ' and ' Mauretania ' were designed.
Unless the Cunard Company was to be false to the policy of its founder, it had to build these two liners. That the insurance market in London, which dominates the world's shipping, could not cope with such a proposi- tion was a detail that was not unforeseen, and the Govern- ment intervened, accepting on commercial terms such " lines " as underwriters could not take. But what was not foreseen was that the bottom would fall out of the bill market, making it impossible to provide the building costs by the ordinary methods. This emergency, which arose after " No. 534 " had been on the stocks for 12 months, led to the suspension of work for two years, with conse- quent widespread unemployment. At long last the Government intervened, but on specific terms. In the first place the Treasury was involved in the misfortunes of the White Star Line, for guarantees made under the Trades Facilities Acts could not be met. In the second place, the Atlantic shipping under the German, French, Italian and American flags had already been consolidated ; competition had become international to an extent un- known before. The solution of the difficulties, not of its own making, in which the Cunard Company had become involved, could be solved, it was held, if it was merged with the White Star Line—at any rate, in respect of its Atlantic interests. Thus it came about that the oldest of the Atlantic liner companies took under its wing its British rival of many years, and the Government agreed to provide, on terms slightly lower than the market rate, the money needed to complete " No. 534 " and to lay down the second ship. There is one fundamental differ- ence between the British line and its rivals. While the latter have some form of subsidy, there is no suggestion that the Cunard Company should be subsidized or that it should be subject to State control.
It is in these circumstances that the new British liner is about to take the water in the presence of the King and Queen. In a very real sense their Majesties will represent the whole nation of islanders, whose interests are in a greater degree than is perhaps realized involved in this greatest of all ships. The winning of the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic, a much coveted honour, is of importance to all the British people. It will be regarded everywhere as a sign of their enterprise and courage, and the achieve- ment will not be without its influence, as experience proves, on their own bearing in the world as well as on the opinion of others, and especially the oversea peoples of the British Empire. The final verdict on " No. 534 " when she is in service will be that, whether judged by size, speed, comfort or safety, she is the inevitable ship and, in association with the far-reaching savings which are being effected by the merging of the two Atlantic fleets, the ship of economy.
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