Oceanic (unfinished ship)

Oceanic was the planned name of an unfinished ocean liner that was partially built by Harland and Wolff for the White Star Line. It would have been the third ship bearing the name Oceanic, after the one of 1870 and the one of 1899. It was envisaged in 1926, with the idea of modernizing the transatlantic service of the company. With the arrival of Lord Kylsant at the head of the company, the planned size of the project increased, until it became that of a large ship destined to be the first to exceed the symbolic limit of 1000 ft in length and 30 kn in speed.

After several years of study, the construction began in June 1928 in the Harland & Wolff shipyards in Belfast. However, the work was carried out at a slow pace and ceased in June 1929, probably because further studies relating to the propulsion were needed. The Great Depression which began the same year and the financial affair which sent Lord Kylsant to prison in 1931 put a definitive end to the construction, for which the government refused to advance funds.

Within the White Star Line fleet, the planned Oceanic was replaced by two smaller ships, MV Britannic (1929) and MV Georgic (1931). Oceanic was intended to be 1050 ft and 85,000 tons.

Birth of the project

By the early 1910s, the White Star Line had planned to provide regular and cost-effective transatlantic service with its three

Economic crisis and cancellation

However, construction was proceeding at a very slow pace, to such an extent that a year later, the keel was still not completed.[10] The work was slowed by a dispute over her powerplant; Lord Kylsant planned to use diesel-electric instead of the then more common steam power to get the ship to 32 knots, however Harland and Wolff suggested using steam-electric or the more common geared steam turbine setup used on large passenger liners of the era like the then still in construction Queen Mary. The cost effectiveness of all three powerplants was debated and calculated with diesel-electric coming out to be the cheapest with an estimated £52,800 annual reduction in cost compared to steam-electric. This would have made the Oceanic the first ship of her size and tonnage to use diesel-electric, and far more cheaper to run in comparison to her competition giving her a leg up over the Queen Mary. Her proposed powerplant would have had over 40 diesel generator sets driving four propellers through geared electric motors. Despite construction on Oceanic slowing down, construction of the smaller Britannic continued without issues.[7] Further work on Oceanic was postponed after which the keel was coated in preservative oil in hopes construction would resume but the project was later cancelled due to the Great Depression and the collapse of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, owners of the White Star Line, as a result of the financial problems of Lord Kylsant.[11] The Royal Mail Case, as it was known, led to the imprisonment of Kylsant, and to substantial changes in accounting and auditing practice.[12] Loans backed by the governments of England and Northern Ireland intended for the construction of Oceanic were diverted to complete the construction of Britannic, as well as to start construction of a sister ship to Britannic named MV Georgic (1931). These two liners were partially built with steel plates ordered for Oceanic, whose partially built hull was subsequently dismantled and reused on Britannic and Georgic after the aforementioned diversion of funds.[13][14]

Legacy

In total, of the estimated cost of £3.5 million, £150,000 was spent on Oceanic's design and start of construction.[14] These sums were not, however, totally lost. Part of the design indeed inspired MV Britannic (1929), a smaller ship which largely reproduced the silhouette of the aborted ship, in particular its packed funnels and its motor propulsion. The liner entered service in 1930 and enjoyed some success.[15] To replace Oceanic, MV Georgic (1931), a sister ship of Britannic, was built and put into service in 1932. Georgic differed in appearance from Britannic in that the forward part of her superstructure and bridge was rounded instead of straight, and the front part of her promenade deck was covered. These features were carried over to Georgic from Oceanic.[14]

These two liners could not replace large ships like Majestic and Olympic and construction of a large liner remained on the agenda. The Cunard Line also had to stop the construction of its own large liner because of the economic crisis. Neville Chamberlain, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, pushed the shipping companies White Star and Cunard to merge in 1934, with the promise to help them finish the liner. This is how the Cunard-White Star Limited was formed and construction of the RMS Queen Mary was able to resume.[16] In 1947 Cunard purchased White Star's interest, and by 1949 the company had dropped the White Star name and was renamed Cunard Line, which continued to operate Britannic and Georgic.[17] In 1956, Georgic was sold for scrap, leaving Britannic as the last liner of the White Star Line in service.[18][19] In 1960, Cunard sold the Britannic for scrap, removing the last traces of the Oceanic.[20]

In appearance the planned Oceanic had certain features that make it akin to the liner SS Normandie, including the three short, wide funnels that contrasted with the tall narrow stacks of older ships. Designed shortly after Oceanic, the 300 meter-plus Normandie was the first to exceed the symbolic barriers of 1000 feet in length and 30 knots in speed that the White Star Line was aiming for.[21]

In 2022, a group of maritime historians established the Oceanic Historical Society, an independent research group dedicated to locating and studying surviving plans and documentation related to the liner. [22]

class	Ocean liner
tonnage	(estimated)
length	1,050 ft (intended)
beam	120 ft (estimated)
draught	38 ft (intended)
decks	12 (intended)
power	Diesel-electric drive; 44 six-cylinder, exhaust turbo-charged, four-stroke, single-acting diesel generators; 275,000 IHP (200,000 SHP)
propulsion	Quadruple propellers
speed	32.5 kn (max. speed)
capacity	3,451 passengers (intended)
crew	1,120 (intended)

Oceanic (unfinished ship)

Birth of the project

Economic crisis and cancellation

Legacy

Bibliography

External links

References