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RMS ''Teutonic'' was an
ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...
built for the
White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping line. Founded out of the remains of a defunct Packet trade, packet company, it gradually grew to become one of the most prominent shipping companies in the world, providing passenger and cargo service ...
in
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
, which entered service in 1889. She was the sister ship of RMS ''Majestic''. ''Teutonic'' and her sister were the
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...
s of White Star Line's fleet for around a decade, until ''Oceanic'' entered service in 1899. She had a lengthy career of 32 years, which included war service during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, until being scrapped in 1921. ''Teutonic'' was historically notable for three reasons: for being the first
armed merchant cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...
; for being the inspiration behind Germany's Kaiser-class ocean liners; and for being the last White Star ship to hold the
Blue Riband The Blue Riband () is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest Velocity, average speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until ...
.


History


Background

In the late 1880s competition for the
Blue Riband The Blue Riband () is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest Velocity, average speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until ...
, the award for the fastest Atlantic crossing, was fierce amongst the top steamship lines, and White Star decided to order two ships from
Harland and Wolff Harland & Wolff Holdings plc is a British shipbuilding and Metal fabrication, fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish yard, Arnish, Appledore, Torridge, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, ship ...
that would be capable of an average Atlantic crossing speed of . Construction of ''Teutonic'' and ''Majestic'' began in 1887. ''Teutonic'' and her sister were the first new additions to White Star's transatlantic fleet since the '' Britannic'' and '' Germanic'' had respectively entered service in 1874 and 1875. ''Teutonic'' replaced the ageing ''
Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...
'', which had been in service with White Star since 1871 and was subsequently sold to new owners. The pair were designed to allow White Star to compete with a new generation of liners which had entered service in the 1880s, such as the
Cunard Line The Cunard Line ( ) is a British shipping and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been r ...
's ''Etruria'' and ''Umbria'', and the Inman Line's duo of ''City of New York'' and ''City of Paris''. ''Teutonic'' and her sister were built under the British Auxiliary Armed Cruiser Agreement, under which they were built with government financial support, to Admiralty specifications, and received an operating subsidy from the British government. In return they would be made available to the government in times of war, to be used as
armed merchant cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...
s. ''Teutonic'' was the first such ship to be built under this arrangement.


Specifications

''Teutonic'' and ''Majestic'' were the first White Star liners to have two engines, and two propellers, which allowed them to dispense with the auxiliary sails which had been required on earlier single-screw liners. They were powered by two triple expansion steam engines, which together produced . ''Teutonic'' and ''Majestic'' were built with three classes of accommodation, first, second and third (commonly known as steerage) they could carry 300 first class, 190 second class, and 1,000 third class passengers. The first class accommodation was situated amidships where the motion of the ship was not so extreme, the two funnels were widely spaced so that the first class dining saloon could be situated between them, and be large enough to seat all 300 first class passengers in one sitting. The first class incorporated a number of single berth cabins to allow a passenger to have a room to themselves. The first class passengers were provided with a number of public rooms, including a library, a smoking room, and a barbers shop, all of which were richly decorated. The second class accommodation was located abaft of the mainmast, and second class passengers were provided with their own open promenade deck. The third class was, by the standards of the time well provided for. Third class accommodation was situated fore and aft on the lower decks. As was the case aboard all White Star vessels, third class spaces were segregated with single men berthed forward, and single women, married couples and families with children berthed aft. The third class passengers were provided with baths, a smoking room, some family rooms, and the third class spaces were ventilated with mechanical ventilation. File:SS Teutonic (1889) - Staircase.jpg, Staircase on ''Teutonic'' File:SS Teutonic (1889) - Saloon.jpg, Saloon on ''Teutonic'' File:SS Teutonic (1889) - Smoke Room 1.jpg, Smoke Room on ''Teutonic'' File:SS Teutonic (1889) - Smoke Room 2.jpg, Smoke Room on ''Teutonic'' File:SS Teutonic (1889) - Library.jpg, Library on ''Teutonic'' File:SS Teutonic (1889) - State Room.jpg, State Room on ''Teutonic''


Career

When ''Teutonic'' was launched on 19 January 1889, she was the first White Star ship without square rigged sails. The ship was completed on 25 July 1889 and participated in the Spithead Naval Review on 5 and 6 August, in conjunction with the state visit of
Kaiser Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...
. Although
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
remained aboard the royal yacht, the Kaiser was given a two-hour tour of the new ship hosted by the Prince of Wales, the future
Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...
. During the tour, Wilhelm is reputed to have turned to a subaltern and remarked: "We must have one of these ..." The Kaiser's reaction is generally credited as the impetus for the creation of Germany's four funnel liners known as the Kaiser Class. She sported eight guns. These were removed after the military reviews. On 7 August 1889, she left on her maiden voyage to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. In August 1891, ''Teutonic'' won the
Blue Riband The Blue Riband () is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest Velocity, average speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until ...
from her sister ''Majestic'', with a timing of 5 days, 16 hours and 31 minutes between Queenstown and Sandy Hook, with an average speed of , she would hold the title for one year before losing it to ''City of Paris''. ''Teutonic'' would be the last White Star ship to hold the Blue Riband, as from then on the company focused on size and comfort over speed in its subsequent ships. ''Teutonic'' became known for her rivalry with ''City of New York'', and there were a series of well publicised races across the Atlantic between the two ships, which lasted for as long as both ships were on the front line. In 1897 ''Teutonic'' reassumed her military role for a Naval review commemorating
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria was officially celebrated on 22 June 1897 to mark the occasion of the Diamond jubilee, 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. Queen Victoria was the first British monarch ever to cel ...
. In 1898, she had a minor collision in
New York Harbor New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay. It is at the mouth of the Hudson River near the East River tidal estuary on the East Coast of the United States. New York Harbor is generally synonymous with Upper New York Bay, ...
with the
United States Lines United States Lines was an organization of the United States Shipping Board's (USSB) Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC), created to operate German liners seized by the United States in 1917. The ships were owned by the USSB and all finances of t ...
' ''Berlin'', but neither ship suffered major damage. Because of her Naval subsidy, in 1900, she served as a troop transport during the
Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...
. In 1901, ''Teutonic'' encountered a
tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...
, which washed two lookouts out of the crows nest who survived. The tsunami hit at night, so there were no passengers up on deck. In 1907 ''Teutonic'', along with ''Majestic'', '' Oceanic'' and the new ''
Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...
'' was transferred to White Star's new 'Express Service' between Southampton and New York via Cherbourg and Queenstown. She made her first sailing on this route on 12 June that year. In 1911, the now ageing ''Teutonic'' was replaced in the White Star lineup by the new '' Olympic''. By the end of her career on White Star's UK-US services, she had carried a total of 209,466 passengers westbound and another 125,720 eastbound for a total of 335,186 passengers carried. She was transferred to White Star's sister company
Dominion Line The Dominion Line was a trans-atlantic passenger line founded in 1870 as the ''Liverpool & Mississippi Steamship Co.'', with the official name being changed in 1872 to the ''Mississippi & Dominion Steamship Co Ltd.'' The firm was amalgamated in ...
for a Canadian service, which ran from Liverpool, and terminated at
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
in the summer season, and
Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...
in the winter. In order to prepare her for this service, she underwent a major refit at Belfast, in which her promenade decks were enclosed in order to protect passengers from the cold weather which could be expected on the route. Her accommodation was also extensively modified in order to carry 550 second class, and 1,000 third class passengers, with first class being discontinued. In October 1913 the ship narrowly avoided the same fate as ''
Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...
'' when, at east of Belle Isle off the
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
coast, she ran so close to an iceberg that she avoided collision only by reversing her engines and putting the helm hard aport. According to the 28 October 1913 issue of the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'', "the liner passed within twenty feet of the iceberg. The fog was so thick that even at that small distance the berg could scarcely be distinguished. It was so close that there was danger that the propeller of the ship would strike it as the vessel went around. The passengers were not aware of their peril until it had been averted. They signed a testimonial to the captain and his officers expressing their gratitude and admiration for the care and skill displayed by them."


War service and last years

In August 1914, with the start of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, ''Teutonic'' was requisitioned by the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
for use as an
Armed Merchant Cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...
which she had been designed for. She was commissioned into the 10th Cruiser Squadron, where she took up position on the Northern Patrol between the
Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...
and the ice belt, and in the Denmark Strait between
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
and
Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
. In 1916, she was bought outright by the Navy, and refitted with larger guns. In 1917, she served as a
White Sea The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...
convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...
escort. The following year, she was used as a troopship, transporting soldiers between Britain and
Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
in
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
, with a capacity for 1,500 soldiers. She continued to be used for transport duties by the Navy until early 1921, when she was sold to German shipbreakers, and scrapped at
Emden Emden () is an Independent city (Germany), independent town and seaport in Lower Saxony in the north-west of Germany and lies on the River Ems (river), Ems, close to the Germany–Netherlands border, Netherlands border. It is the main town in t ...
.


References


External links

*
Great Ocean LinersDetailed record of sailings on Norway HeritageHistorical overviewVideo dedicated to RMS Teutonic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teutonic (1889) Blue Riband holders Ships built in Belfast Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Steamships Ships of the White Star Line World War I Auxiliary cruisers of the Royal Navy 1889 ships Ships built by Harland and Wolff