Major Events In Ocean Liner & Cruise Ship History:
1838 - In April, the British ship Syrius is awarded the Blue Riband after sailing from Ireland to New York. She is the first passenger steamer to cross the Atlantic. Only days later, the British ship Great Western is awarded the Blue Riband after sailing from England to New York and becomes the first passenger ship used for regularly scheduled transatlantic travel.
1843 - The Great Britain is launched as the world's largest ship and becomes the first iron passenger liner to make transatlantic crossings using propellers.
1860 - In June the British liner Great Eastern makes her maiden voyage as the world's largest ship. A financial failure, she was rumored to be haunted but laid the first transatlantic telegraph cable.
1897 - The German liner Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse sets the standard for modern ocean liner design by introducing four funnels. She becomes the largest, fastest, and most luxurious liner afloat.
1898 - The novel "Futility" describes the fictitious maiden voyage of the Titan, the world's largest and most luxurious passenger liner, which strikes an iceburg late one April night and sinks without enough lifeboats to accomodate all of her passengers.
1900 - The German Hamburg-America liner Deutschland is launced as the largest ocean liner in the world and is awarded the Blue Riband in July.
1907 - On September 7, the Cunard liner Lusitania makes her maiden voyage as the largest ocean liner in the world and in October is awarded the Blue Riband. On November 16, her twin sister ship Mauritania makes her maiden voyage from Liverpool To New York City.
1909 - On January 23, the White Star Line's flagship Republic collides with the SS Florida off the coast of Nantucket Island in dense fog and sinks. She is the White Star Line's most palatial and luxurious ship in 1909 and is one of the first ships to send a distress call via wireless telegraph. Although 2 people lose their lives in the collision, over 1500 people are rescued. In April, the Mauritania is awarded the Blue Riband.
1911 - On June 14, the White Star liner Olympic makes her maiden voyage from Southampton to new York as the largest and most beautiful ship of it's day.
1912 - On April 14, Olympic's twin sister ship Titanic, which replaces Olympic as the largest and most luxurious passenger liner of it's day, strikes an iceburg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York. She sinks without enough lifeboats to accommodate all of her passengers. Over 1500 people lose their lives.
1913 - The German Hamburg-America liner Imperator makes her maiden voyage from Cuxhaven, Germany to New York as the largest and most beautiful ocean liner of its day.
1914 - On May 30, the Cunard liner Aquatania makes her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York City as the largest ocean liner of it's day, with enough lifeboat capacity for everyone aboard her. She would remain in service longer than any other Cunard ship during the 20th Century. Later that year, the German Hamburg-America Liner Vaterland becomes the world's largest, but loses the title to its sister ship Bismarck later that same year.
