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She called at Belfast and Glasgow to load mail, and then continued to New York. When she left Liverpool on 28 June to begin her maiden voyage an estimated 14,000 people turned out and gave her what was reported to be the "greatest send-off known to Merseyside". In 1930 Britannic was delivered from Belfast to Liverpool amid enthusiastic press coverage. She and Georgic kept their White Star colours after White Star merged with Cunard in 1934. īritannic was painted in White Star Line colours: black hull with a gold line, white superstructure and ventilators, red boot-topping, and buff funnels with a black top. It also contained water tanks, and, later in her career, radar equipment. Her forward funnel was a dummy that housed two smoking rooms: one for her deck officers and the other for the engineer officers. Only her aft funnel was a diesel exhaust. As on many early Harland and Wolff motor ships they were low and broad. She had 24 lifeboats, two motor boats and two backup boats. Their watertight doors could be closed either electrically from her bridge, or manually. ġ2 bulkheads divided her hull into watertight compartments. Two holds were refrigerated, and her total refrigerated capacity was 72,440 cu ft (2,051 m 3).
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She had eight holds, one of which could carry unpackaged cars. She had a gymnasium, a swimming pool, and her cabin class dining saloon was in Louis XIV style. īritannic was built as a "cabin ship" with berths for 1,553 passengers: 504 cabin class, 551 tourist class and 498 third class. When new, she was the largest motor ship in the UK Merchant Navy and the second-largest in the World, second only to the Italian liner Augustus. Between them the two engines developed 4,214 NHP and gave Britannic a speed of 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h). īritannic had two screws, each driven by a five-cylinder four-stroke double-acting diesel engine. She was launched on 6 August 1929, started three days of sea trials in the Firth of Clyde on 25 or, and was completed on 21 June 1930. On 14 April 1927 Harland and Wolff laid Britannic 's keel on slip number one in its Belfast yard. The replacements were to be smaller than the Big Four but more luxurious. RMSP had recently taken delivery of two large motor ships, Asturias (1925) and Alcantara (1926), and chose diesel to replace White Star's "Big Four" liners. Motor ships were more economical than steam, and in the 1920s the maximum size of marine diesel engine had increased rapidly. At the time White Star had one new steamship on order, Laurentic, and was discussing designs with Harland and Wolff for a proposed 1,000-foot liner, but overall the White Star fleet needed modernising. On 1 January 1927 the International Mercantile Marine Company sold White Star Line to the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company (RMSP). The second was launched in 1914, completed as the hospital ship HMHS Britannic and sunk by a mine in 1916. The first Britannic was a steamship launched in 1874 and scrapped in 1903. She was the last of three White Star Line ships called Britannic. Britannic was scrapped in 1960 after three decades of service. She outlived her sister Georgic and became the last White Star liner still in commercial service. In 1947 she was overhauled, re-fitted, modernised and returned to civilian service. In the Second World War Britannic was a troop ship. Diesel propulsion, economical speeds and modern "cabin ship" passenger facilities enabled Britannic and Georgic to make a profit throughout the 1930s, when many other liners were unable to do so. From early in her career Britannic operated on cruises as well as scheduled transatlantic services. In 1934 White Star merged with Cunard Line however, both Britannic and Georgic retained their White Star Line colours and flew the house flags of both companies.įrom 1935 the pair served London, and at the time they were the largest ships to do so. Her running mate ship was the MV Georgic. When built, Britannic was the largest motor ship in the UK Merchant Navy. She was the penultimate ship built for White Star Line before its 1934 merger with Cunard Line.
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MV Britannic was a British transatlantic ocean liner that was launched in 1929 and scrapped in 1960. For other White Star liners with the same name, see SS Britannic (1874) and HMHS Britannic.