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White Star Line had TWO Majestics in their history the first sailed between
1890 -- 1914. This is the story of the second Majestic and some of
its crew members.
The Majestic has quite a history. Luckily not like the other White Star Line
ship the "Titanic" but none the less interesting. Having had three
names and a number of owners.
I detail some of the history on the next few pages. More will be added when
available. Any assistance will be happily accepted and duly added to the site.
Enjoy the visit.
| Weight....56,551 tons Encompassed Parson's direct-acting (non-gear) steam turbine engines Steam Turbine Quadruple screw engines (375 tons each) 48 boilers 240 furnaces burning 56,000 tons of oil per journey 100,000 horsepower Propellers...4 Max speed.25 Knots Cruising speed...23 knots Overall length.280 metres Bridge to Keel depth..102 feet Crowsnest 180 feet (via ladder inside mast) Rudder weighs 140 tons on single pin weighing 2 tons 3 funnels 30 feet in diameter and reach 184 feet above keel Electricity provided by 5 dynamos supplying 15,000 light bulbs, fans, elevators and 122 motors Crew when operating approx 1,000 (275 engine room .. 140 on deck .. 550 Stewart services .. 100+ kitchen) First Class Passengers..750 (860 after 1928) Second Class Passengers..545 (705 after 1928) Third Class Passengers.850 (1067 after 1928) |
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Built at the Blohm & Voss A/G Hamburg shipyard on behalf of the German
shipping company The Hamburg-Amerika Line (Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft)
or (Hapag). The dream of its General Manager .. Albert Ballin who designed the
German "Big Three".
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Bismarck at sea -- dates would be around 1922.
The three new super german ships were designed in response to Cunard's
Mauretania and Lusitania, not to mention the White Star Line's Olympic and
Titanic. Indeed the then named Bismarck was for a long time the World's
Largest Ship weighing in at a mere 56,500+ tons (European). The Sister ships
were: The "Vaterland" and the "Imperator".
Building started in 1908 but was held up by outbreak of the First World War.
Eventually on 26th June 1914 she was launched. The ceremony was carried
out by Countess Hanna Von Bismarck the Grand Daughter of the then Kaiser. The
ceremony was also attended by the Kaiser - after whom the ship was named - which
proved fortunate as the Countess released the bottle of Champagne but it failed
to break against the steel hull. Up stepped the Kaiser who succeeded in breaking
the bottle and the ship was permitted to go down the slipway into the sea for
the first time. She was the last of the Big Three to be launched.
However the "Treaty of Versailles" in march 1922 decreed all German
ships were to be surrendered to the Allies as compensation for vessels lost
during the War. The Big Three were split up with the Bismarck going to the United
Kingdom.
The main problem was that despite being launched she was incomplete. Under the
Treaty she had to be completed by the Germans who were not pleased at the task.
Indeed work was carried out very slowly and at one stage a fire broke out destroying
part of the vessel. Despite the fact that the overseers were British she was
handed over to the UK with here three funnels painted in the Hapag colours and
the name Bismarck blazoned on the stern. It was also later discovered that the
cabin assigned to the Captain had been used as a garbage disposal area and needed
alteration and fumigation.
The question arises what were the British overseers overseeing or were there
a few threats issued??
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Bismarck on the launch ramp and after launching.
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This page was last updated on Friday June 23, 2006