1904 - 1933
White Star Line had launched their first vessel of the ‘Big Four’ class
already in 1901. She was the Celtic, but at the time of her launch,
the world, and the White Star Line, was unwitting of that the Celtic
would expand into a quartet. In 1903 the Cedric was born, and she
was the first vessel ordered with four ships in mind. The Big Four was
built for the glory of Britain, and – of course – to establish the White
Star Line as the best shipping company in the world. These ships were the
first, with the pioneering Celtic, to exceed the Great Eastern’s
tonnage. All of the Big Four was to be over 20,000 tons.
|The Baltic on the stocks,
awaiting her launch.
of the class came in 1904. The Baltic had been launched the previous
year, and with her almost 24,000 tons, she surpassed her earlier sister
Cedric, and became the largest vessel in the world. Actually, the
Baltic had been laid down with the Cedric’s size in mind,
but during construction, some 20 feet was added amidships with the exclusive
title in mind. The Big Four have never been remembered for their speed,
and like the other ships of the class, the Baltic would have an
average speed of somewhere around 16 knots. But the Baltic
had problems in maintaining that, somewhat slow speed. The added length
during the construction made her too heavy for her engines that were designed
for a ship of the Cedric’s class. Therefore, the Baltic would
have future problems in maintaining her schedule. To remedy the engine-problems,
more powerful engines were installed, but they used more coal than designed,
so these engines could not be used at high power.
the Baltic lost the title of being the largest vessel afloat to
the new HAPAG-liner Kaiserin Auguste Victoria. With a gross tonnage of 24,581, she
had surpassed the Baltic with a mere 665 tons. Later that year, the Big
Four was completed when the 24,541-tonner Adriatic entered service.
The Baltic enjoyed the same popularity as her other sisters, and
continued on her Liverpool-New York service. Even when the White Star Line
changed their home port to Southampton in 1907, she stayed on her old route.
on one of these voyages towards New York on January 23, 1909, the Baltic
received a message on her Marconi-equipment. It was a C.Q.D. from the Marconi
station at Siasconsett, Massachusetts telling them that the White Star
Liner Republic, bound for the Mediterranean, had collided with the
Lloyd Italiano’s Florida, only 64 miles away from the Baltic’s
position. This was the first time in history a distress call via wireless
had been used, and it proved to be very useful. The Florida had
buckled bow but seemed to stay afloat, and all of Republic’s passengers
were transferred over to the Lloyd Italiano liner. The Baltic found
herself lost in fog on her speedy way to the disaster scene. Hours after
she had received the distress call, she found the Republic – still
afloat, but almost deserted. The damaged Florida now carried a dangerous
load of passengers, and risked foundering too. The Baltic arrived
just in time, and took on board most of the Florida’s passengers.
Since the Baltic had many empty cabins, the undamaged 24,000-tonner
seemed a much better place
to be for the Republic’s passengers. The Baltic steamed to
New York where she off-loaded all of her passengers. The Republic
sank thirty-six hours after the collision, but all of her people on board
were saved except for three unfortunate passengers who perished in the
collision-event. This added to the self-confidence of ship builders and
owners. A ship-loss with great human loss was not thinkable.
|The Baltic in port.
would be contradicted by one of the most horrible peace time sea disasters
a few years later. On April 14, 1912, the Baltic sent a wireless
message to the White Star Line’s new flagship Titanic. The Baltic
had been forced to slow down to a crawl by heavy pack-ice miles outside
the American coast. The Titanic sunk only two and a half hours after
colliding with an iceberg. Over 1,500 people of the people on board the
Titanic froze to death or drowned in the icy water because of, among
other reasons, no other
vessel was able to reach the wounded vessel in time. The Baltic
was too far off and resumed her voyage after having received the message
that the survivors had been picked up by the Cunarder Carpathia.
First World War, the Baltic sailed as a troop ship under the Liner
Requisition Scheme. In April 1917, she was attacked by the German U-boat UC-66,
but managed to flee undamaged. The next months, the Baltic took
part in one of the key moments in world history. The Allied Headquarters’
staff and the first American troops were shipped on Baltic to Europe.
In memory of this noble deed, she forever carried a commemorative plaque
in her main hallway. In December 1918, the Baltic resumed her peacetime
service between Liverpool and New York.
was getting old, but she carried on with her service just as before and
did not lack in popularity during the post war years. In 1926, the ship’s
football team won the Atlantic Soccer Team Tournament. The Baltic
was the first British ship in history to ever receive that honour.
|A beautiful colour postcard
of the Baltic.
the years, the Baltic had received a rumour of being a very reliable
and sturdy vessel, and she added to this compliment on December 6, 1929,
when she rescued the crew of the schooner Northern Lights outside
Newfoundland. But as years went by, and the competition for passengers
hardened in the Depression years, the Baltic was considered to be
taken out of service. In 1932, she made her final voyage, and was replaced
by the newly commissioned motor vessel Georgic. Later that year
she was laid up at Liverpool, and in January 1933, she was sold to Japanese
scrappers. In February, the Baltic left Liverpool for the last time
in order to sail towards Osaka for scrapping.
|The Baltic - Specifications:
||729 feet (222.7 m)
||75.6 feet (23.1 m)
||23,876 gross tons
||Two four-cylinder quadruple
expansion engines powering two propellers.