Germany's Stolen Super Ships - The Evolution of Ocean Liners | Documentary Part 3

Estimated read time: 1:20

Summary

In the early 1900s, Germany embarked on a mission to dominate the ocean liner industry, competing fiercely against British companies. With the creation of the superliners - Kaiser Wilhelm, Imperator, and Vaterland - Germany sought to establish a new standard of luxury and engineering marvels. These ships were not only symbols of opulence but also strategic wartime assets. However, the outbreak of World War I drastically altered their fates, leading to their seizure by rival nations and transformation into military vessels. Post-war, these ships lived on in new roles, symbolizing a bygone era of maritime glory and fierce transatlantic competition.

Highlights

Early 1900s saw technological advancements in ocean liners, leading to a competitive era between Germany and Britain. 🏆
Germany introduced the luxurious superliner, Kaiser Wilhelm, marking a shift in maritime dominance. 🌊
Imperator set a new standard with its opulent interiors, although it faced significant stability issues. 😯
World War I shifted the use of ocean liners from luxury travel to military transport, redefining their purpose. 🛡️
Post-war, Germany's ships became prized assets for rival nations, illustrating the fallout of maritime wars. 📜

Key Takeaways

The early 1900s marked a golden age for ocean liners, with fierce competition between Germany and Britain. 🇩🇪🇬🇧
Germany's superliners - Kaiser Wilhelm, Imperator, and Vaterland - were designed to redefine luxury at sea. 🚢✨
World War I transformed these opulent liners into military assets, significantly altering their destinies. ⚓️
Post-war, the captured German liners were repurposed by rival nations, becoming icons of past grandeur. 🔄
The legacy of Germany’s ocean liners illustrates the intense maritime rivalries and the impact of global conflicts. 🌍⚔️

Overview

The dawn of the 1900s ushered in an era of luxury and technological marvel in ocean travel, with Germany leading the charge against British supremacy. Their colossal liners, including the famous Kaiser Wilhelm, became symbols of national pride, pushing the boundaries of speed and comfort. This period saw Germany and Britain locked in a battle of designs and innovations. 🚢✨

However, the onset of World War I spelled disaster for these engineering wonders. Ocean liners, once the epitome of luxury, quickly became wartime assets. Kaiser Wilhelm and her sister ships were either docked by their home nation or seized by others, reflecting the changing tides of maritime power. ⚔️

Post-WW1, the once grand German liners found new lives under different flags, serving as poignant reminders of a glamorous yet turbulent chapter in maritime history. These ships transitioned from national symbols to prized possessions of victorious nations, marking the end of the golden era of ocean liners. ⏳🌊

Chapters

00:00 - 02:30: Introduction: The Evolution of Ocean Liners In the early 1900s, a new era of maritime travel began with the advent of technologically advanced ocean liners. These ships, traveling across the Atlantic Ocean, marked a golden age of seafaring by providing unmatched comfort and speeds for travelers. Over a period of 50 years, passenger ships evolved significantly from their origins as glorified sailing vessels.
02:30 - 05:00: Germany's Entry into the Ocean Liner Race The era of enormous steam-powered ocean liners marked a golden age of technology, inciting intense competition among major shipping line industry players. British companies, the White Star Line and Cunard Line, were engaged in a fierce rivalry to attract customers by promising luxurious voyages across the Atlantic on their grand ships. Meanwhile, in Continental Europe, German shipping lines such as Hamburg America and North German Lloyd decided to challenge this British dominance and participate in this competitive race.
05:00 - 08:00: The Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse Germany introduced a new standard of luxury in 1897 with the launch of the revolutionary liner, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, and a fleet of impressive companions. However, British shipbuilders soon overshadowed them by constructing the finest and fastest liners the world had ever seen. In response, Germany aimed to demonstrate their prowess once more by building ships larger than the Olympic and Titanic, forming a trio that would surpass them in size.
08:00 - 10:00: The Launch of Imperator "The Launch of Imperator" explores the historical significance of the ocean liner Imperator, highlighting its initial grand success and subsequent unexpected challenges. Mike Brady narrates this journey, focusing on three pivotal ships: the flagship, the floating hotel, and the eventual rebirth of the liner.
10:00 - 15:00: Challenges Faced by Imperator The chapter titled 'Challenges Faced by Imperator' discusses three of history's greatest ships, focusing on the German superliners led by Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse. This ship is credited with altering the course of maritime history by introducing a new breed of ocean liner, which remained dominant for about 15 years.
15:00 - 20:00: Construction of Imperator's Sister Ships The chapter discusses the historical shift in the construction of the world's largest ships from primarily British-built vessels to a German-built ship in 1897. This change was influenced by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, marking a notable moment in maritime history. The narrative includes a reference to an earlier event in 1889 when Kaiser Wilhelm II visited the Highland Wolf Shipyard in Belfast, indicating a precursor to the later shipbuilding achievements of Germany.
20:00 - 25:00: World War I and its Impact The chapter discusses the influence of the White Star Line's RMS Titanic on Germany's efforts to expand its presence in the North Atlantic passenger trade. After witnessing the Titanic's grandeur, Kaiser Wilhelm II expressed a desire for Germany to build ships that would surpass those of the Cunard and White Star Lines, prompting the construction of the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse as the first of such liners.
25:00 - 30:00: Post-War Fate of the German Liners The chapter "Post-War Fate of the German Liners" discusses the competitive landscape in ocean liner travel post-war, especially focusing on Germany's position. The German ship in question was notably successful, leading to the creation of three similar vessels and inspiring a competitor, the SS Deutschland, in 1907. However, Germany's dominance in ocean travel was disrupted as Britain's Card Line introduced their four-funnel super liners, showcasing how the industry became a matter of national pride and representation beyond mere private enterprise.
30:00 - 35:00: Revival and Rivalry in the 1920s The chapter discusses the competitive dynamics between Britain and Germany in the 1920s, particularly in terms of naval and passenger ship capabilities. Both countries were endeavoring to surpass each other in terms of maritime prowess. Notably, the British had the Card lines, Morania, and Lusitania, while the White Star Line was developing super liners. In response, Germany embarked on constructing a major ship at the Vulcan VKA Shipyard in Hamburg, marking its significant entry into the maritime race.
35:00 - 40:00: Challenges of Aging Liners The chapter titled 'Challenges of Aging Liners' discusses the competitive nature of shipbuilding in the early 20th century. It highlights Germany's ambition to surpass British shipbuilding with a massive new liner. This ambition is realized almost three years after the initial announcement when, in June 1913, a German ship becomes the largest in the world. The ship is adorned with a bronze eagle and inscribed with the phrase 'my field is the world,' symbolizing Germany's global aspirations. The chapter likely explores the implications of this ship on international maritime dynamics and the broader context of technological and national rivalry.
40:00 - 45:00: The Rise of New Maritime Power The chapter discusses the Emperator, a groundbreaking ship that set new records in maritime engineering by being the first to exceed 900 feet in length and displacing 53,000 tons. This era marked the rise of a new maritime power with a focus on luxury and amenities, showcasing the Hamburg America line's desire to surpass British standards.
45:00 - 58:00: Conclusion: The Future of Ocean Liners This chapter delves into the inspiration and realizations of Albert Barlin, who began his career in the shipping industry as a young entrepreneur at the age of 17 by taking over his father's Maritime booking business. His innovative and strategic leadership played a crucial role in advancing the company, paving the way for the remarkable developments in the ocean liner industry. The narrative highlights the significant contributions made by visionaries like Barlin, which set the stage for the future advancements of ocean liners.

Germany's Stolen Super Ships - The Evolution of Ocean Liners | Documentary Part 3 Transcription

00:00 - 00:30 [Music] in the early years of the 1900s brand new technologically advanced passenger ships were plying the waves through the Atlantic Ocean heralding a golden age of seafaring that saw Travelers crossing the sea in unmatched comfort and at astonishing speeds those ships were called ocean liners within the span of 50 years passenger ships had transformed themselves from glorified sailing ships
00:30 - 01:00 under 3,000 tons to enormous steam powerered liners 10 or 15 times bigger it was a golden age of technology and it sparked some Fierce rivalries the white star and Cunard Lions both running passenger liners on the transatlantic route under the British flag were in a desperate contest to win over clientele by offering passage aboard the grandest ships yet put to Sea however on Continental Europe German lines like Hamburg America and North German Lloyd were sick of playing
01:00 - 01:30 second fiddle they had introduced a whole new standard of luxury back in 1897 with the launch of the Revolutionary liner Kaiser vilam de glossa and a series of impressive running mates but since then British ship Builders had bested them with the British sparing no expense to churn out the finest and fastest liners the world had ever seen it would seem that it was time again for Germany to show the world what they were made of the result would be ships bigger than Olympic and Titanic iic a trio that would hold the size
01:30 - 02:00 record between them for over two decades it would spark a new chapter of the history of the ocean liner one which started out gloriously but would ultimately not go the way that the Germans had hoped it's an epic tale of Triumph loss and rebirth ladies and gentlemen I'm your friend Mike Brady from Ocean Lin of designs and today we'll look at three special ships the flagship the floating hotel and finally
02:00 - 02:30 the giant they were three of History's Greatest ships they were the German [Music] [Music] superliners Kaiser vilhelm DEA she was a ship that altered the course of Maritime history forever it introduced a new breed of ocean liner which reigned Supreme for the better part of 15 years
02:30 - 03:00 since the beginning of the 1800s the biggest ships in the world Had Each in turn been British with the occasional American interjection but in 1897 the kais of vilhelm changed all of this and for the first time the world's largest ship was [Music] [Applause] [Music] German way back in 1889 during a visit to the Highland wolf Shipyard in Belfast the Emperor of Germany Kaiser vilhelm II
03:00 - 03:30 had been particularly fascinated by the White Star lines RMS tonic after seeing firsthand the size luxury and power afforded by the British liner the Kaiser is said to have turned to an aid and said we must have some of these and upon his return to Germany the wheels were set in motion to build up Germany's presence in the North Atlantic passenger trade with a fleet of liners that would surpass those in service by kunard and whitestar Kaiser vilhelm de glosa would be the first ship to be built with these
03:30 - 04:00 aspirations in mind in fact the ship was so successful she spawned three brilliant running mates and even a close Contender the SS deuts land in 1907 Germany's dominance of the Waves was at last shattered card line introduced their own four funnel super liners and again Britain led the way for the Germans this of course would not do ocean liners had stopped just being private Enterprises they were now representatives of their own home na
04:00 - 04:30 might and ability on the world stage it's no wonder that at the same time Britain and Germany began to race to outdo one another with their passenger ships their armies and navies were doing the same thing with card lines morania and Lucitania ruling the waves and White Star Line working on a pair of super liners of their own Germany had to respond and they would have to do it in a big way at the Vulcan vka Shipyard in Hamburg Germany kill plates were laid in summer 19 10 for a monstrous liner that
04:30 - 05:00 would dwarf the British ships and reestablish Germany as a world leader almost 3 years later to the day in June 1913 the finished ship steamed on its maiden voyage out of cooks half and Bound for New York she was the largest ship in the world by a fair margin and on her bow was fixed a massive bronze Eagle clutching a scroll which read mine felt is devel my field is the world the ship's name was
05:00 - 05:30 [Music] emperator imperator was a monstrous ship for her time the first ocean ler to break the 900 foot length record and displacing some 53,000 tons as always the bigger the ship the greater its amenities and standards of luxury and in this regard the Hamburg America line was Keen to show the British how it was done
05:30 - 06:00 how this absolute Marvel of a ship came to be is a fascinating story and it starts with one brilliant [Music] man Albert barlin got his start in the shipping industry at age 17 when he took over his late father's Maritime booking business under his guidance the company began to thrive because his new and Inn
06:00 - 06:30 novative ideas for increasing both efficiency and revenue had been a resounding success the company would continue to grow under barin's leadership eventually he would find himself as the passenger manager for a shipping company called the car Union line he led the company a successful bid to undercut rivals on the migrant run to America the effort lasted a decade and one of the Rival lines he had bested was Germany's Hamburg America line in a Twist Hamburg America and car Union
06:30 - 07:00 announced their merger in 1886 spelling an end to the years long rates War but arguably one of the most prized assets won by Hamburg America in this merger was their brand new passenger manager Albert barlin his sharp business Acumen and design sense made him invaluable to the company and in 1899 he was promoted to General director of the line but not content to merely keep the company on a stable course barlin had a Grand Vision for the future of travel that would
07:00 - 07:30 ultimately shape the industry into what we know it as today although he had got his start offering Dirt Cheap transatlantic passage Bin's plans for the future of Germany's line of Fleet were far more grandiose he was a true Visionary and risk taker and he desired not just to manage and maintain the status quo but to push the shipping industry as a whole to evolve having spent years handling booking for steerage passengers he was keenly aware of some of the drawbacks involved with sea travel he envisioned a world where pass aboard a ship was no longer an
07:30 - 08:00 ordeal to be endured but an experience to look forward to in and of itself Albert bin became the father of the modern cruise industry when in 1891 the SS Augusta Victoria set sale for 6 weeks on the world's first pleasure Cruise the move in itself was a stroke of Genius Hamburg America line had found that many of their passenger ships were becoming a money drain during the CER months bad weather and passenger aversion to a rough Crossing had kept the line from being profitable during the winter but
08:00 - 08:30 by commissioning ships to run offseason Mediterranean pleasure cruises the line ships could remain in service even during the coldest months of the year the idea was a hit and travelers adored the sightseeing and shipboard accommodations a voyage on a ship was no longer simply about the destination The Voyage itself was its own reward as we now know Bin's daring idea to rethink Ocean Travel would go on to shape the future of Tourism and bir a whole new industry in and of itself cruising another secret to balin's success was
08:30 - 09:00 the fact that he found favor with Kaiser vilhelm II who had been quite vocal in his mission to see Germany lead the world in the luxury speed and size offered by its passenger ships the Kaiser's patriotic Vision mixed with Bin's business security and design Ingenuity made for a powerful combination because of this Bin's vision for the Hamburg America Fleet came with the Kaiser's blessing and Germany would finally be able to give the British a run for their money Balan knew just how
09:00 - 09:30 they would do it by building the three biggest ships in the world work on Bin's proposed Grand Trio of liners had commenced in 1910 at the Vulcan verka Shipyard and this was quite a significant undertaking for the designers and ship Builders alike it would be the first time that a German shipping company and German ship Builders would produce something of that scale the last German liner to hold the size record had been the Kaiser in August Victoria in 1906 but this new generation of ocean liners would be
09:30 - 10:00 twice as big it was a daunting task but bin knew that the timing was perfect kunard and white Starline had spent the better part of the last decade trading blows by way of their ship design and now bin was able to make use of the lessons that had been learned kunard lines Lucitania and morania had now been at sea for about 3 years and they had experienced teething troubles bin would be able to avoid he took notes from White Stars Olympic class ships as well and put them to good use in his new super liners imperator
10:00 - 10:30 had been designed specifically to outdo the card and Whit star ships by elevating the passenger experience and transporting fairp paying customers in unbelievable luxury across not three but four classes but beneath the Sumptuous comfort and luxurious fittings was the still skeleton the mechanical heart of an ocean-going giant imperat made use of Parson's turbines immensely powerful engines kunard had used an arrangement of four turbines each driving their own propeller on Lucitania and morania Bin
10:30 - 11:00 recognized the arrangement worked well for ships of this scale he opted to do the same thing with imperator and no fewer than 46 boilers would Supply Steam for four enormous turbines which combined to generate 60,000 shaft [Music] horsepower brute force of these engines meant that imperator could surge forward at about 23 knots only 2 knots slower than the card ships despite the fact that she was larger by 20,000 tons in
11:00 - 11:30 itself a highly impressive engineering [Music] accomplishment in's interior design was no pale imitation of her British counterparts either no she would be the final word in luxury at Sea bin had banked on the fact that an improved standard of luxury would win out over sheer speed he'd seen this work for the white star line when Olympic was
11:30 - 12:00 introduced to much fanfare and now it was up to him to best the standard and to do it he'd need to rely on a genius fortunately he knew just the man Charles mues was widely renowned for his work designing the famous and exquisite Ritz and cartton hotels he would be the man to design imperators Interiors but his involvement presented another interesting twist for the ship's conception M's business partner was a British architect named Arthur Joseph Davis and he had been
12:00 - 12:30 contracted to design the Interiors on imperator's newest British rival the aquitania the two business partners would now be working for competing companies at the same time kunard line and Hamburg America came to an agreement muis would work in Germany designing imperators interiors and Davis would stay in England working on aquitania and neither business partner was allowed to disclose the details of their work to each other like bin muus was a man of
12:30 - 13:00 exacting standards known for his almost obsessive eye for detail and painstaking insistence on Precision his work on the Ritz hotels the Royal automobile club and dozens of private residences was deeply revered he had actually worked with Hamburg America line and Bin before first on the SS America and then the kaiserin Augusta Victoria his use of clean white spaces with tasteful gold detailing had become something of his signature and wherever mest designed went the affluent would inevitably
13:00 - 13:30 follow but in this project he had his work cut out for him emperator boasted vast open public spaces and staterooms the likes of which had never been seen on an ocean liner before with much more space to fill to the brim with Splendor muis got to work designing some of the grandest rooms of his career but there was a reason that muis was working with so much space because it all came down to the way the imperator had been laid out crucially the ship had broken with tradition for 15 years the world's
13:30 - 14:00 largest liners had sported four funnels the number and size of the ship's funnels had become associated with her size and power itself but as ever bin never want to follow tradition grabbed the opportunity to innovate imperator was bigger than any ship yet built but she would only have three funnels it meant that the ship's Interiors wouldn't be split up by towering uptakes which reach from deep down into the boiler rooms right up to the funnels in older ships the public rooms had to
14:00 - 14:30 be designed around the uptakes casings but with only three funnels it meant that the 53,000 ton imperator's rooms could be bigger because the uptakes were fewer and spaced wider apart between this bit of brilliant engineering and M's exacting eye for detail what resulted was nothing short of majestic imperator's first class spaces were some of the most beautifully decorated and spacious ever put to see
14:30 - 15:00 [Music] to say the ship set a new standard for luxury would be an understatement the first class spaces were palatial almost at Mid ships was the Towering Ritz carton restaurant an upscale dining experience to rival any found on land Charles muis of course had a long-standing history having worked with Caesar Ritz to design his hotels so he was able to offer full Ritz branded dining accomodations on board the ships
15:00 - 15:30 that he designed for an additional fee first class passengers could enjoy all the pump and luxury they'd come to expect from any Ritz establishment while steaming at some 23 knots across the vast Atlantic [Music] Ocean the restaurant was fully staffed and managed by rit's employees and functioned as an entirely separate entity from the rest of the victualing services on board this ensured that guests were treated to the same
15:30 - 16:00 unmatched quality as any other Ritz restaurant they would have found in Paris New York or London on emperator the Ritz restaurant appeared to be less of a dining establishment and something more like a baroque theater with the restaurant elevated on a stage likee platform and divided from the equally Sumptuous Winter Garden Lounge via a carpeted staircase this arrangement of an elevated dining space with onlookers peeking in from the lounge below provided diners with a sense of privilege and nobility to dine at the finest restaurant on the
16:00 - 16:30 finest vessel at Sea on what felt to be a grand stage but of course mest provided the imperator with much more than a fine dining option also notable on board the ship was the inclusion of the largest gymnasium ever seen at se to that point in the extremely popular pompeian style pool which towered two decks in height and sported massive or eight columns with gold detailing and marble benches mes must have been quite proud of this design because it's almost an exact replica of the same that he had
16:30 - 17:00 implemented for the Royal Automobile Club this in itself was a departure from the Spartan bare steel and boring tiling found in the pool areas on board ships like the Olympic class the pool area connected to a Turkish an electric bath massage rooms a hair salon and a sauner Beyond this imperato was known for offering State rooms that were far more spacious than those offered by card or white stars ships gone with a days of cramped births and Port holes rooms were
17:00 - 17:30 now bright open and more comfortable than ever before it was the design of the first class Lounge that seemed to suggest a rather novel concept for the time a room built specifically with ample room for entertainment mu seemingly designed the lounge with a new philosophy while there were still spaces which offered men and women seclusion on board the ship the brightly lit wide open space of the first class Lounge seemed to invite couples and families to socialize together that's 72 ft that's 22 M long
17:30 - 18:00 and with its massive dance floor and little in the way of partitions or columns men and women alike were encouraged to use all the space that they could this included for musical and theatrical performances on a large stage at one end of the hall which was the first of its kind seen on a liner the interior design on imperator was a testament to Germany's determination to excel over their British counterparts in as many aspects as possible almost every first class stateroom was an outside
18:00 - 18:30 cabin with its own port hle and 150 had their own onsuite bathrooms two Imperial Suites reserved for the richest of the rich comprise no fewer than 12 rooms each including a breakfast room a sitting room private prominade and even a servant's quarters imperator even had her own florist shop of course first class boasted all the finest accommodation but as ever the standard of luxury was maintained across the rest of the ship for the first time on an ocean liner
18:30 - 19:00 second class passengers got their own gym there was a music room smoking rooms lounges second class on imperator was as good as first class on almost every other ocean lineer then in service but just as imperato was being completed kunard line dealt Hamburg America a blow it came to light that the aquitania was being designed to be longer on completion than the emperator by a single foot length now not cont to take home second place once again but
19:00 - 19:30 with nowhere near enough time to adjust the ship's design for additional length a quick fix was decided on by the company that would both solve the issues of imperators inadequate length and also serve as a symbol of Germany's seafaring might designed by Professor Bruno cruser of Berlin a massive bronze Eagle displaying the words my field is the world was affixed to the ship's prow its wings outstretched and a globe held in its Talons and a funny twe qu it would ultimately prove unnecessary aquitania
19:30 - 20:00 was never designed to be longer than the emperator it was just a simple misunderstanding finally by May 1913 Hamburg America line was proud to introduce their Flagship it had been an achievement unparalleled in the history of German engineering up to that point but as ever with breaking new ground there came unintended consequences making her way down the Elba River
20:00 - 20:30 towards the North Sea for the first time she quickly ran ground a result of her staggering size contending with the narrow channel worse still a fire on board started by a Workman accidentally claimed the lives of five crewmen and the Damage would delay imperator's maiden voyage but critically it also became clear during her short initial sea trials that the imposing Hulk of the ship made her very topheavy the crew noticed the ship's tendenc proed to roll easily where she would seem to hang
20:30 - 21:00 hesitant to return to an even kill these designed flaws would need to be addressed but there was no time to go back to the drawing board and add any permanent fix for the instability issues imperator would need to be delivered to Hamburg America line topheavy though she was in anticipation of her highly publicized maiden voyage as completed imperator was 8 ft longer than aquitania 7,000 tons larger and capable of carrying a staggering 1,000 200 more
21:00 - 21:30 passengers the first few voyages on board imperator were lorded by the public who praised her lavish Interiors hotel-like atmosphere comfortable staterooms and beautifully designed public spaces slowly though word began to spread around that life on board this Floating Palace was not what it appeared to be over the first few weeks of her sailing passengers began to get increasingly frustrated with the ship's tendency to roll to one side at the slightest Breeze the ship's designers had anti ipated some degree of instability in the ship they had
21:30 - 22:00 installed an Innovative system of anti-rolling water tanks within the hull that could be used to counterbalance the ship the issue was the system required the crew to anticipate the rolling ahead of time this was nearly impossible to do so there was no telling when the wind would blow just the right way to knock the hull off center so the anti-rolling system did precious little to remedy the problem many passengers insisted that the vessel never sailed on an even kill throughout her first season it quickly became clear that the ship's
22:00 - 22:30 top heavy construction coupled with damage from fires having occurred on board during the first few months could not be easily repaired between voyages to address these issues imperator needed a full refit only one season into her career this would see her towering funnels shortened heavy Furniture be replaced with lighter wicker Alternatives and bulky wood paneling be replaced with lightweight fireproof sheeting now the changes to the interior design would probably have been an affront to Charles mues a man very
22:30 - 23:00 particular about details and faithful to his RIT style design choices but fire prevention systems were installed too a response to the ship's desire to seemingly want to catch a blaze at random all told this refit would wind up costing the shipyard hundreds of thousands of marks on top of the already staggering cost of the construction and the stability problems largely persisted for the remainder of her career it earned the ship the embarrassing nickname limor it's important to note that imperator was was essentially a prototype Hamburg America Lon wanted to
23:00 - 23:30 take the ideals of luxury and might and blow them up on a scale never before seen but unfortunately this came at the expense of the ship stability despite these teething troubles the ship Drew an impressive number of passengers during her early days at Sea she was a Triumph for her Builders and designers and a momentous feat by the German mertile Marine who had proven that they could compete with the British shipping juggernauts but even then word was beginning to spread of the impending introduction of imperator's planned
23:30 - 24:00 sistership with the maiden voyage of imperator the Hamburg America line was officially a force to be reckoned with now they had to repeat the [Music] success bin had always known that one ship would not be enough he would need to take the Lessons Learned on imperator and improve on the ship's design the second in the trio would do just this and in May 19 194 the enormous Hull of
24:00 - 24:30 the new ship steamed into New York for the first time her bow featured gorgeous ornate scroll work that elegantly pointed towards her name plate it was a name that represented Germany itself the new ship had been named [Music] fand at 950 ft in l length 53,500 gross registered tons and capable
24:30 - 25:00 of thundering through the water at a speed of 26 knots she quickly outpaced imperator as the largest and grandest liner of flat she benefited from the lessons learned during the design of that ship as well it was noted by many that fand was far more stable than her constantly rolling running mate but something important had happened in between the time that Albert barin's Giants had been ordered and then finally introduced t tanic had sunk this shocked
25:00 - 25:30 the world's Maritime Industries into action because the public had suddenly lost confidence in the safety of the ocean liner as a whole but band's ships benefited from the Titanic disaster lessons had been learned and implemented as the ships were being built there were some easy fixes imperator and faland were two of the earliest ships to set to sea with lifeboats for all as new but that wasn't enough the Interiors of the ships featured double bottoms inner skins and compartment mentalization that far exceeded what had been used on
25:30 - 26:00 Titanic wanting to assure an anxious public that these new and Innovative German liners with a height of Safety and Security farand was put through a daunting test before her sea trials the ship was brought out to deep ocean where onethird of her watertight compartments were allowed to flood watching nervously as the vessel took on water the ship Builders and crew held their breath as the Integrity of their work was tested in real time before their eyes the trial was a success fand remained afloat but while the test
26:00 - 26:30 did prove the apparent safety of the ship many Builders agreed that it was one of the most extreme trials that a ship had been put through in history pumping the massive volume of seawater out was another undertaking altogether regardless the experiment was an effective display of the Fan's safety and strength had she been the ship to face Titanic's Iceberg on that cold April night back in 1912 fand would have stayed afloat not only that but the ship carried 80 3 lifeboats Titanic had only
26:30 - 27:00 carried 20 but it wasn't just safety lessons that had been learned either ban and mues wanted to take the work they' done with imperator and push it to the extreme the ship had benefited from having only three funnels it meant that her interior rooms were some of the largest at Sea bin wanted to implement an ingenious engineering trick that would mean Fan's Interiors would be even bigger on most ships of the day the funnel uptakes carried smoke from the ship's boilers through the middle of the
27:00 - 27:30 ship but Fan's uptakes were split they had rise from the boilers at the bottom of the ship run outwards towards the hull then run up and meet again at the funnels base at the very top this created a massive interior space that was uninterrupted by Machinery or uptake casings fand would feature all the Glorious spaces imperator had but now passengers could walk through them one to the next unimpeded in a giant kind of sprawling Vista if the goal was to make Travelers forget
27:30 - 28:00 they were on a ship at all then Hamburg America was nailing the brief these ships had evolved far beyond what you would ever expect to find on a vessel even a decade or so prior with size scale luxury and safety old dwarfing shipboard offerings that had Once Upon a Time been considered a Triumph Charles mu's business partner offered his insight to the Royal Institute of British Architects he said if we could get ships inside to look like ships and get people to enjoy the SE it would be a very good thing but all we can do as
28:00 - 28:30 things are is to give them Giant floating hotels no other pair of running mates at the time embodied this philosophy better than the imperator and the [Music] falan Fan's 4,50 passengers would be f fed by eight enormous kitchens she
28:30 - 29:00 shipped 45,000 lb of fresh meat alone that's over 20,000 kg per Voyage in her pantries and bars were stored 172,000 bottles of wine and champagne and no less than 28,000 lers of German beer these German responses to British Supremacy at Sea seem to be a resounding success once the third and final sister ship was completed and put into service kunard and Hamburg America line would be the only two shipping companies on the
29:00 - 29:30 transatlantic run to be operating a three super liner Fleet this likely would have been a source spot for white star the Olympic class of course had been planned as a trio but the loss of Titanic and the delay on bratanic because of that meant that they would never see their three Grands sister ships running side by side for a brief time this war for transatlantic Supremacy and the passenger trade was reaching a fever pitch the world waited anxiously to see how white star and card would respond to the Grand Bon Trio once
29:30 - 30:00 the final ship took to the Sea unfortunately though A different kind of war was on the horizon this one would not be fought with specifications design flourishes or top tier service this was the dawn of the first world war and the era of Edwardian luxury super liners was about to come to a crashing halt [Music]
30:00 - 30:30 World War I broke out just a year into imperator's career and barely a month after vaan's maiden voyage the world's attitude towards shipping had shifted overnight Grand and gilded liners designed as floating hotels whisking Travelers away across the ocean were now seen as accessories of wartime once Immaculate liveries were painted over in drab camouflage colors guns were fixed on decks ammunition filled cargo holds
30:30 - 31:00 Lookouts were now trained to not only watch for icebergs or rocks but the approach of enemy vessels Torpedoes and submarines Albert bin with his incredible foresight had seen the writing on the wall he had anticipated the possibility of Naval hostilities destroying his many years of hard work in the Years leading up to the war barlin had tried to act as a mediator between the Germans and the British having sensed the diplom y between the two sides beginning to break down bin
31:00 - 31:30 hoped that Britain and Germany could reach an agreement where the two nations would continue to compete with one another only in the transatlantic passenger trade rather than devolving into a full out Naval arms race Tri he might though in July of 1914 Britain and Germany found themselves on opposite ends of the largest contest of military might the world had ever seen the ocean liner was going to war and things would never be the same [Music]
31:30 - 32:00 while 80 of Hamburg America's 175 ships were docked at German ports When The War had started 12 liners were docked in neutral ports and they were almost immediately confiscated to Albert barin's absolute dismay one of those ships was the falan while imperator was back in Germany home and safe falan had been docked at New York at the start of the war with the captain unwilling to take
32:00 - 32:30 his ship on a Mad Dash across a dangerous Atlantic Ocean for Home Port fand was sarily confiscated by the United States and mothballed at hoken New Jersey while hundreds of thousands fought and died on the European continent America began to realize that it might need to get its own troops across the Atlantic Ocean a giant German ocean liner would be the perfect transport fand was converted into a troop ship to serve in the US War effort making her known as one of the world's
32:30 - 33:00 largest prisoners of War she was even renamed the Americans called her USS Leviathan having sat Idol for the better part of 3 years in December 1917 after the US had finally entered the war Leviathan set off on her first voyage carrying over 7,000 American troops in subsequent voyages this number would be increased to a staggering 14,000 troops but this was only possible because the Beautiful Interiors of the ship had been ripped out the darling of the German
33:00 - 33:30 fleet was largely stripped of her finery her grand dining room had been converted into a mess hall the famous ballroom and social Halls had been converted into a hospital the marble halls of the Romanesque swimming pool now served as a baggage hold being the largest ship at Sea and one of the fastest worked to her advantage in Wartime she was free to travel without the need of an escort or Convoy because it was believed that she could simply outrun any huo that might try to Target her at the same time
33:30 - 34:00 Albert bin was dealing with struggles of his own his attempts to mediate between Germany and Britain had failed he had to watch on helplessly as the war had spelled the end to his record-breaking Trio of ships the third sister ship had been well underway at the start of the war but now she sat languishing stripped of copper and brass for the war effort it was a pathetic and heartbreaking sight Balan had Grand plans he was a
34:00 - 34:30 dreamer fiercely proud of his Creations but world events had turned his dreams into a waking nightmare his relationship with the Kaiser with whom he'd always enjoyed a great deal of camaraderie was beginning to sour and word was beginning to spread that bin was not a supporter of the war effort and it was no longer beneficial for the Kaiser to keep ban close in 1918 the two were no longer in speaking terms with his world falling apart and his greatest ship yet far to Le stripped of her Splendor and in
34:30 - 35:00 American hands it all proved too much Albert barlin died of an overdose in 1918 2 days before the war ended [Music] [Music] shockingly his death received almost no
35:00 - 35:30 coverage from the German press because it had been overshadowed by the magnitude of world events by the end of the war Hamburg America line like the rest of Germany was in a shocking state it would take many years before the company could stand on its own two feet again having been completely obliterated by the war and the loss of their genius leader it was a tragic end for what had been a glorious undertaking but even though barin's dreams would go unfulfilled his gift to the world was a
35:30 - 36:00 trio of spectacular ships that had pushed the limit and driven the development of the ocean liner even further and even though this was the close of one chapter of these ship stories a curious twist would see the bin ships receive a second chance at life the war had not been kind to the world's Merchant navies hundreds had been sunk and some household names had been lost Lucitania was spect spectacularly sunk in 1915 she had been a floating celebrity
36:00 - 36:30 for nearly a decade her loss was a massive blow for the cardline who were relying on her to form part of their grand Trio of transatlantic liners White Star Line CED a devastating blow too bratanic intended to be the running mate to Olympic was lost after she hit a mine in 1916 the massive ships would need to be replaced and there lying at anchor were two of barin's giants imperator had sat mothballed at Hamburg for four years and
36:30 - 37:00 the third ship was unfinished still with her funnels unattached as always in Wartime To the victor goes the spoils America would keep far to land now Leviathan as a war reparation while Britain would take ownership of the other two sisters for the German Merchant Marine it was a devastating blow but nothing could be done as 1918 rolled into 199 19 and then 1920 the world slowly began to recover
37:00 - 37:30 from the horror of the war and plans were drawn up for the bin ships his Trio would live on but they would never serve together and instead they would be pitched against one another in foreign hands as [Music] Rivals 1921 the second year of a new decade the bleakness of the war War had slowly begun to give way to a new era it
37:30 - 38:00 was the birth of the Jazz Age in America The Volstead Act had been passed and prohibition had begun at se the great shipping companies had been hard at work the end of the war presented New Opportunities because suddenly hundreds of thousands of European people sought to move to escape the war's Carnage and seek new lives as ever the Great British shipping companies were at the Forefront aquitania and morania were put to work earning a fortune and transporting
38:00 - 38:30 thousands but sailing alongside them was a new addition with enormous red funnels you might have thought looking on that this might have been a sister ship to aquitania if not for one obvious difference the ship didn't have four funnels she only had three the massive liner had been dreamed up a decade ago by a German genius but now she was one of the biggest ships in the British Merchant Marine her name had once been imperat but now flying the blue ensen and the
38:30 - 39:00 Cod house flag her guilt letters spelled out a different name the name of an English Queen she was called Baron [Music] garer since 1914 imperator had remained tied up at Hamburg occasionally being stripped of some expensive bronze fixtures while being largely left to rust after the war she was briefly handed over to the US under the terms of the Treaty of Versa used as a transport
39:00 - 39:30 to bring American troops home alongside her sister ship Leviathan just a few short months later imperator was given back to the British shipping controller because the kunard line had suffered at the hands of Germany's uboat Fleet they needed a replacement for Lucitania and imperator they got it the ship was handed over and she flew the British flag after a series of lackluster voyages as the RMS imperator it became clear that the ship was in dire need of an overhaul in 1921 she went in for six
39:30 - 40:00 long months and reemerged refreshed the largest ship in cunard's Fleet but sadly the Ritz Carlton Restaurant mess's pride and joy didn't make it the space was gutted and turned instead to a dance floor truly a sign of the times as the Jazz Age took over but probably the biggest change came to the ship's power plant as built imperator had carried thousands of tons of coal which needed to be shoveled by hand by over a 100 stokers but a new technology would
40:00 - 40:30 change all of this fuel oil now ship's boilers could burn liquid fuel instead it didn't need to be shoveled in it could be pumped from tanks refueling had been a days long process but now it could be done in a matter of hours the ship's boilers were overhauled and the bunkers could ship 6,500 tons of liquid fuel eventually virtually all major cied ocean liners like Olympic and aquitania would get the same treatment the age of coal at Sea was over and a new
40:30 - 41:00 technological age had begun meanwhile many of the other changes Cunard made had been with weight saving in mind despite efforts from her original Builders Baron garia was still topheavy and quite a roller tons of cement and pig iron were laid in the ship's bottom to try to keep her on an even Keel and most of the furniture was replaced with more modern lightweight pieces the end result was a refresh liner that carried most of imperator's pre-war splendor she became a popular choice for travelers who spent many nights of the 1920s dancing away to the
41:00 - 41:30 ship's onboard orchestras she was card lines's Flagship and sailed wearing the company's colors for 18 years but of course she was not British built a strange fact which didn't matter much to the traveling public bararia was still a very happy ship you can see it in the thousands of photos of happy passengers dressed in their best at last kunard line was operating a regular thre liner service across the the Atlantic with morania aquitania and bararia a strange
41:30 - 42:00 lineup but a proud one nonetheless for card line the 1920s would be happy years thanks in large part to bararia but the ship's younger sister falan wouldn't be so lucky after the first world war veland renamed Leviathan had worked hard to transport thousands of troops across the Atlantic to bring them home to America the ship like her sister developed a bit of a reputation for roll Bing and on Long Crossings American troops would tell the same joke there's
42:00 - 42:30 a torpedo one would shout someone would reply thank God they just wanted to be put out of their misery as they swayed back and forth Leviathan did her job just fine and earned the nickname the big train but by War's end she was clearly clapped out the ship had been basically brand new before the war and it only completed four Atlantic Crossings under the German flag but by 1920 she was clearly very tired not only that but tastes at already begun to change and by the 1920s the ship which
42:30 - 43:00 was naturally very German was unlikely to appeal to an American traveler she need to be extensively overhauled and a simple refresh just wouldn't cut it structural changes would need to be made but to do this the Americans needed plans and here there was a problem because Blom and Voss the original German Builders were holding the ship's plans ransom they offered to sell them for $15 million in today's money which was at the time an outrageous sum and the new US owners simply bked at it
43:00 - 43:30 they'd have to get creative they'd have to make their own plans and to do it they'd need to recruit a small army of men to measure every inch of the ship inside and out to draw a set of plans up from scratch and to oversee the Monumental effort the United States Lions the new owners needed a Keen Eye and a cool head they awarded the contract to a young upand cominging Naval architect and his brother the man's name was William France Gibbs a quiet and determined young man who would
43:30 - 44:00 one day go on to design one of History's Greatest ships but for now he and his brother Frederick busied themselves with mapping Leviathan from the inside out and planning to rebuild the tonic liner as an American one the task was staggering Gibbs himself said there was nothing to go by but the ship herself we knew nothing whatever about her we did not even know where her center of gravity was it took a full year for Gibbs and his team to draft a Monumental set of specifications 1,24 pages long 13
44:00 - 44:30 Pages were dedicated to clockface design alone in 1923 half a decade since the war had ended a ship emerged sporting the red white and blue funnels of the United States lines she had kept her wartime name but now she had been finally restored to passenger carrying Glory she was the SS Leviathan [Applause]
44:30 - 45:00 [Music] William Francis Gibbs attention to detail and genius rivaled that of leviathan's Creator Albert bin it had been a Monumental task but the Gibbs brothers in conjunction with the Newport News ship building company had transformed the old Farland into what was essentially a different ship the reconditioning took more than a year like her older sister the ler had had been converted to burn oil instead of coal and all her interior wiring and
45:00 - 45:30 plumbing had been ripped out and fully refurbished steam heating new galley and cooking equipment the old stuff had been taken out and new Machinery put in even the engines needed a total overhaul when she'd been converted into a troop ship 1,200 staterooms had been ripped out bathtubs had been removed by Sledgehammer cushions and furnishings have been simply tossed overboard and Le glass windows were smashed out art was looted and sold on the black market
45:30 - 46:00 Bin's grandest liner had been reduced to a husk of its former self and Gibbs had set about restoring her completely the Ritz restaurant was stripped right back to be steel and then reinstalled but where a portrait of Prince ludvig of Bavaria had hung in a public space now A Portrait of US president Warren Jing Harding sat in its place the Spate of luxurious public rooms was all there the lavish Winter Garden the spacious B room Leviathan entered service in summer 1923
46:00 - 46:30 to much fanfare Gibbs and his team as well as thousands of hands from the Newport News shipyard had done it they had taken the foror poorly fand and transformed her into a floating palace that ban if he was still alive might have been proud of despite the fact that she was in US hands American doc workers were unused to such a massive vessel upon her delivery at Boston Naval dockyard the men were taken back by the massive size with one tug Captain
46:30 - 47:00 shouting where do you tie a line to this godamn hotel Leviathan said out and what could be considered a third maiden voyage she was by now almost a decade old but had only served as a passenger liner for a few months United States lies had a flagship and for the first time in decades one of the largest passenger ships on the transatlantic run was American flagged but what had started out as a glorious return to form quickly lost Ste Leviathan soon began to operate at a loss and one key reason was drink being
47:00 - 47:30 an American Flagship during prohibition alcohol couldn't be served on board the ship was still the pride of the American Merchant Fleet and an oceangoing celebrity in her own right but she would just never reach the same levels of success and popularity as her sisterships kunard and then United States Lions had both taken AAL and sister ship and repurposed them in different ways but ships had been intended to be a trio way back in 1912
47:30 - 48:00 when he'd been planning the third and final sister he knew she would need to improve again on the formula that he had set into place imperator had been praised for a lavish Interiors fand had taken these interiors and scaled them up the third sister would be the culmination of Bin's dream she would be named bismar after the great German Statesman she would have embodied all of Germany's pride and Engineering mind night but tragically for bin and for the nation as a whole the first world war
48:00 - 48:30 stopped her construction dead in its tracks she had thundered down the slipway in 1914 but then sat for years languishing as a Hulk incomplete and even lacking of funnels 5 years after work had been started the Rusted skeleton of Bismark was confiscated by the British as a war reparation but then acquired by none other than the White Star Line that vaunted company had been dealt a devastating blow when they lost their own Super line of Britannic to a
48:30 - 49:00 German mine in 1916 and bismar almost 10,000 tons larger would be her replacement white Starline had worked for decades having their ships built by the Harland and wolf Shipyard of Bast but that yard was almost 2,000 Mi Away by sea from where bismar had been laid up at Hamburg but the German Shipyard promised to finish the ship to the exacting standard as if she were going into German ownership mostly to the original plans and specifications and almost exactly as barlin had imagined
49:00 - 49:30 her but it would not be smooth sailing in 1920 as work was going on a fire mysteriously broke out that many thought was set by German Workers the fact this proud nation was now forced to turn over its greatest creation yet was a massive Blow by 1922 the work was finally complete bismar had been finished by blowman Voss but in a final Act of defiance they had finished the ship in Hamburg America Lions German color scheme once the immense ship was ready
49:30 - 50:00 for official Handover between Germany and Britain it was found that there had been a few key details overlooked British officials and the ship's new Commander the white Starline veteran Bertram Hayes had traveled to Germany to take possession but then found that their quarters were still unfinished but the quarters of the German crew were completed and spotless Hay's own cabin was being used to store wash basins but despite the obvious ranor bismar was handed over to the white starine and she
50:00 - 50:30 steamed away for her sea trials hundreds of locals watched in silence as their Creations sailed off even though she flew the German flag for her trials a report stated that the city's inhabitants watched the scene with aching Hearts bismar would be the largest ocean line of Germany would ever build and the largest ship in the world for 13 years for the white Starline things were Beginning to Look up at last a dream that had started years ago in 1907 was finally being realized the
50:30 - 51:00 company had wanted to introduce a trao of super liners for the prestigious New York service but Titanic had been lost and then so had bratanic in the summer of 1922 they were at last able to introduce a suitable running mate to the sole surviving member of the class Olympic that ship had served valiantly for years and now a decade after her debut she had a strange kind of sister that wasn't British but German built with her three towering Smoke Stacks now
51:00 - 51:30 sporting the white star buff the new liner looked resplendent gone was the name Bismark the new ship steamed for New York for the first time proudly wearing the name [Music] Majestic white starlines acquired liner was a Triumph for the company she was 10,000 tons larger than Olympic and
51:30 - 52:00 vastly more spacious and luxurious Olympic's Interiors were like a stately British Country Manor but the travel on Majestic was like staying at the seavoy or the Ritz whitear was so impressed with mu's interior designs they Incorporated his Furnishings into the ship even though he had essentially designed them nearly a decade prior there were all the same famous spaces as passengers had come to expect on Bin's other ship ships The Towering Lounge free of columns and annoying pillars thanks to the genius of the
52:00 - 52:30 ship's interior engineering white star taken the opportunity to convert their ship to burn oil as well now all three of the Ballin ships had been modernized and burned the much more economical fuel a full steam Majestic despite her immense bulk was capable of hitting up to 26 or 27 knots a testament to the sheer power of her engines and the efficiency of her shape when she arrived in New York for the first time time she caused a stir the old morania dipped her
52:30 - 53:00 Flags in salute as she passed outbound her decks crammed with passengers who were Keen to get a glimpse of this new generation of ocean liner M at the pier with over 40 ft of her Stern overhanging into the Hudson River more than 10,000 people came out to see her it was a fortunate sign Majestic would prove to be a smashing success for the white Starline they would never quite introduce a third ship that could live up to the standards set by Olympic and Majestic but the liners worked together for the rest of the 1920s and the white Starline
53:00 - 53:30 flag flew high and proud across the [Music] Atlantic the 1920s were a dizzying heady era on the one hand it was a decade of Mart partying Furious Jazz incredible wealth and decadence but on the other hand it was a decade of immense turmoil the rise of dict s an impending stock market crash but through it all Bin's
53:30 - 54:00 Trio of ships operated not as running mates but Rivals the maritime genius who had dreamed the Giants up wasn't around to see them in their Glory years it's hard to just encapsulate in a video even one as long as this just what those years must have been like a ship is a strange thing it's like it has a beating heart and a soul it's shaped out of steel and iron but then it takes on a persona thanks partly to its insides and how it makes its passengers feel but
54:00 - 54:30 then also thanks to the thousands of workers crew and staff who make it a home passengers would travel on certain liners because they knew and loved members of the crew some stewards who served on board Olympic for example had been there since its maiden voyage in 1911 to its scrapping in the 1930s barin's three ships took on personas of their own too and over the many years they were in service they were countless and stories that played out love affairs scandals dances fine
54:30 - 55:00 dinners aboard there were celebrities royalty athletes Statesmen and migrants alike the liners saw the beauty of the ocean in all of its moods from the Stillness of a fine Sunset to the terrifying Roar of an Atlantic winter storm they battled waves that towered over their decks and dwarfed peers and tugboats on either side of the Atlantic they were Legends of their time the very Pinnacle of Edwardian engineering by the late
55:00 - 55:30 1920s times had well and truly changed Bin's Trio had been in service for 15 years but they had not been easy years the ships all three of them were beginning to show their age during a reconditioning leviathan had had her wiring ripped out and replaced but the other two sisters did not as a result they suffered fires and failures over the years and then cracks in the Shell plating began to show Leviathan was hit by a wave so hard that it cracked some
55:30 - 56:00 of her frames out of true and opened up a 100ft tall gash in the hull the size and Majesty of these ships had lulled British ship building into a strange kind of stuper the intense race to build increasingly larger passenger ships that had taken place for decades before the war had eased off Britain's great ship Builders began to build more modest intermediate cabin liners Whit star and Cunard or already had their super liners after all and their old Continental European Rivals like Germany had been
56:00 - 56:30 knocked out of the battle or at least they had for a while German ship building and Industry had been devastated by the end of the war but it had not been halted forever as the years passed and Germany found her feet again one of the nation's Premier lines began to make big plans The Winds of Change were blowing the 1920s were nearing their end and the three most celebrated ships at Sea were
56:30 - 57:00 from a different age that no longer existed now Art Deco reigned Supreme tastes were always changing and the British and American Lions had been content to operate the Ballin ships without fear of contest but now the company North German Lloyd set out to change this the ocean liner had risen from the 19th century as an alternative to the sailing ship it had rocketed forward in leaps and B bounds but then for 15 years it remained largely
57:00 - 57:30 unchanged in its basic form what North German Lloyd was about to build would change the game forever the ocean liner was about to take a radical step forward into the future with a pair of sister ships that would shock the British into action and result in a series of vessels that would enter the history books it would all culminate in the construction of true Maritime Legends and some of the most intense Oceano rivalries of all time Bin's Trio of ships had been a huge
57:30 - 58:00 step forward for their time but the Edwardian super liner was dying out a new age was about to [Music] begin ladies and gentlemen it's your friend Mike Brady from ocean liner designs than thank you so much for watching this video If you enjoyed it please leave a comment below don't forget to subscribe to the channel
58:00 - 58:30 because we get new videos out weekly if you want to support my work and get really cool perks like behind the scenes and Early Access please visit my patreon in the link in the description below or sign up as a YouTube member come and join the crew as always stay safe stay happy I'll see you again next time