RMS Oceanic Archival Collection

RMS Oceanic, Twin-Screw, 17,274 Tons. White Star Line Famous Big 4, 16 April 1909. GGA Image ID # 1239e30f15

Content Links

• Oceanic (1870) White Star Line Ship's History (Brief)
• Oceanic (1899) White Star Line Ship's History (Brief)
• Passenger Lists
• Brochures
• Menus
• Sailing Schedules
• Immigrant Documents
• Route Maps, Track Charts, Abstract of Logs
• Title Pages
• Fleet List
• Photographs
• Illustrations and Paintings
• Books
• Excerpts from Information for Passengers
• Services
• Launch of the White Star Steamer RMS Oceanic - 1899

Oceanic (1870) White Star Line

Built by Harland & Wolff, Ltd., Belfast, Ireland. Tonnage: 3,808. Dimensions: 420' x 42' (432' o.l.). Propulsion: Single-screw, 14 1/2 knots. Compound tandem engines. 3,000 I.H.P. Masts and Funnels: Four masts and one funnel. Displacement of 7,240 tons. Laid down in 1869. Launched, August 27, 1870. Passengers: 166 first and 1,000 third. Maiden voyage: Liverpool-New York, March 2, 1871. Note: Pioneer vessel of the White Star Line. Operational Change: Transferred to Pacific service in 1875. Fate: Scrapped in England, 1896. Sister ships: Atlantic, Baltic, and Republic.

Oceanic (1899) White Star Line

Built by Harland & Wolff, Ltd., Belfast, Ireland. Tonnage: 17,274. Dimensions: 685' x 68' (704' o.l.). Propulsion: Twin-screw, 21 knots. Triple expansion engines. Masts and Funnels: Three masts and two funnels. Design Notes: Promenade deck was 400 feet long. Note: The first steamship to exceed the Great Eastern in length. Displacement of 28,500 tons. Cost $3,600,000 to build. Passengers: 410 first, 300 second, 1,000 third. Launched: January 14, 1899. Maiden voyage: Liverpool-New York, September 6, 1899. Speed Record: Made a westward passage in 5 days, 16 hours, 34 minutes. WW1 Service: Converted to an armed merchant cruiser in August 1914. Fate: Stranded on Foula Island, September 8, 1914 and became a total loss. The wreck was broken up for scrap.

Passenger Lists

Brochures

Menus

Sailing Schedules

Sailing Schedule, Liverpool-New York, from 21 January 1903 to 8 April 1903. Ships Included the Cedric, Celtic, Germanic, Oceanic, and Teutonic. RMS Teutonic Passenger List, 4 February 1903. GGA Image ID # 1ed193d786

Sailing Schedule, Liverpool-Queenstown (Cobh)-New York, Liverpool-Queenstown (Cobh)-Boston, and Boston-Mediterranean Service, from 18 June 1904 to 8 October 1904. Ships Included the Arabic, Baltic, Canopic, Cedric, Celtic, Cretic, Cymric, Majestic, Oceanic, Republic, Romanic, and Teutonic. RMS Celtic Passenger List, 19 August 1904. GGA Image ID # 1e4efde338

Sailing Schedule, Liverpool-New York Service, from 6 July 1904 to 13 January 1905. Ships Included the Arabic, Baltic, Cedric, Celtic, Majestic, Oceanic, and Teutonic. RMS Celtic Passenger List, 19 August 1904. GGA Image ID # 1e4e8ea9b7. Click to View Larger Image.

White Star Line American and Colonial Services. Proposed Sailings from 22 August 1905 to 28 October 1905. Ships Include the Arabic, Baltic, Canopic, Cedric, Celtic, Cretic, Cymric, Majestic, Oceanic, Republic, Romanic, and Teutonic. MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE—The "Arabic" sails from New York on Feb. 8th, 1906, for an extended Cruise to the Mediterranean under charter to Mr. F. C. Clark and will call at Madeira, Cadiz, Gibraltar, Algiers, Malta, Athens (Phaleron Bay), Constantinople, Smyrna. Haifa, Jaffa, Alexandria, Naples, and Villefranche, returning thence via Liverpool to New York, particulars on application to any of the Company's offices. RMS Majestic Passenger List, 30 August 1905. GGA Image ID # 1dd41e606f

American and Colonial Services, Sailing Schedule, Liverpool-Queenstown (Cobh)-Boston, Liverpool-Queenstown (Cobh)-New York, and New York-Boston-Mediterranean, from 21 August 1906 to 28 October 1906. Ships Included the Arabic, Baltic, Canopic, Cedric, Celtic, Cretic, Cymric, Majestic, Oceanic, Republic, Romanic, and Teutonic. MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE,—The "Arabic" sails from New York about February 7th, 1907, for an extended Cruise to the Mediterranean under charter to Mr. F. C. Clark, and will call at Madeira, Cadiz, Gibraltar, Algiers, Malta, Athens (Phaleron Bay), Constantinople, Smyrna, Caifa, Jaffa, Alexandria, Naples, and Villefranche, returning thence via Liverpool to New York. RMS Cymric Passenger List, 7 September 1906. GGA Image ID # 1e550c39be

Sailing Schedule, Liverpool-New York Service, from 4 May 1906 to 9 January 1907. Ships Included the Baltic, Cedric, Celtic, Majestic, Oceanic, and Teutonic. RMS Cymric Passenger List, 7 September 1906. GGA Image ID # 1e55bda7dd. Click to View Larger Image.

Sailing Schedule, Liverpool-New York Service, from 1 May 1907 to 6 December 1907. Ships Included the Adriatic, Arabic, Baltic, Cedric, Celtic, Majestic, Oceanic, and Teutonic. RMS Republic Passenger List, 14 August 1907. GGA Image ID # 1e58351d4c

Sailing Schedule, Southampton-Cherbourg-New York Service, from 5 August 1908 to 13 January 1909. Ships Included the Adriatic, Majestic, Oceanic, and Teutonic. Information and Fares for Cross-Channel Passages is also Listed. SS Romanic Passenger List, 4 October 1908. GGA Image ID # 1e57207633

Sailing Schedule, Southampton-Cherbourg-Queenstown (Cobh)-New York Service, from 22 June 1910 to 11 January 1911. Ships Included the Adriatic, Majestic, Oceanic, and Teutonic. RMS Cymric Passenger List, 26 July 1910. GGA Image ID # 1e560cb675

Sailing Schedule, Southampton-Cherbourg-Queenstown (Cobh)-New York, from 7 June 1911 to 6 January 1912. Ships Included the Adriatic, Majestic, Oceanic, Olympic, and St. Paul. SS Canopic First Class Passenger List, 23 July 1911. GGA Image ID # 211f985a63

Immigrant Documents

1901-06-05 Immigrant Inspection Card - RMS Oceanic

Inspection Card for Immigrants and Steerage Passengers on the RMS Oceanic, Departing Liverpool for New York on 5 June 1901 and Arriving in New York Ellis Island on 14 June 1901, Provided to Norwegian Immigrant from Trondheim.

Route Maps, Track Charts, Abstract of Logs

Track Chart and Memorandum of Log (Unused), RMS Oceanic Saloon Passenger List, 16 April 1902. GGA Image ID # 1f1bfab45c

Track Chart and Memorandum of Log (Unused), RMS Oceanic Passenger List, 6 November 1907. GGA Image ID # 1f1b8b083d

Track Chart and Memorandum of Log (Unused), RMS Oceanic Passenger List, 8 December 1909. GGA Image ID # 1f1be35670

Title Pages

Title Page, RMS Oceanic First Class Passenger List, 8 December 1909. GGA Image ID # 1f1dcdf88c

Fleet List

White Star Line Fleet List, American, Colonial, and White Star-Dominion Canadian Services, 1909. It also includes Winter Sailings to Italy, Egypt, and the Orient. RMS Oceanic Passenger List, 8 December 1909. GGA Image ID # 1f1e162221

Photographs

RMS Oceanic FIrst Class Dining Saloon, Showing Dome, circa 1907. White Star Line Famous Big 4, 16 April 1909. GGA Image ID # 14465bca5c

RMS Oceanic First Class Smoking Room, Entrance to Library, and Library - circa 1907. White Star Line Famous Big 4, 16 April 1909. GGA Image ID # 1446888f93

Second Class Smoking Room and Dining Saloon on the RMS Oceanic. White Star Line Service Brochure, 1907. GGA Image ID # 144c852a50

The Sea Post Office on the Oceanic circa 1910. Handbook of Travel, 1910. GGA Image ID # 1799721173

White Star Line RMS Oceanic Alongside Liverpool Landing Stage, c1900. Cassiers Magazine, January 1901. GGA Image ID # 1f1c8d3084

First Class Library on the RMS Oceanic. Cassiers Magazine, January 1901. GGA Image ID # 1f1ce49414

White Star Line RMS Oceanic (1899) Tethered to Pier, 1899. Detroit Publishing Company, Library of Congress LCN 2016805074. GGA Image ID # 1f1e2ef46d

White Star Line RMS Oceanic (1899). GGA Image ID # 1f1ea530d7

Group of Engineer Officers Taken on Board the White Star Liner RMS Oceanic. Mr. Ferguson, Chief Engineer. The Following Engineers in the Group Lost Their Lives on the Titanic: W. E. Farquharson -- In Front Row, Third from Left, Senior Second Engineer on the Titanic, Age 39. G. F. Hosking -- In Front Row, Second from Left, Senior Third Engineer, Age 36. E. C. Dodds -- In Second Row, Fourth from Right, Junior Third Engineer, Age 37. H. G. Harvey -- Back Row, in Center, Junior Assistant Second Engineer, Age 30. The Marine Engineer, May 1912. GGA Image ID # 1f22dd9e93

The Twin-Screw SS Oceanic. Steamers of the White Star Line, 1909. From the Chris Crofts Collection. GGA Image ID # 210fc6ef01

Illustrations and Paintings

On the Bridge of the RMS Oceanic, 40 Feet Above the Water. GGA Image ID # 1f1d03bc1b

Books Referencing the SS Oceanic

Excerpts from Information for Passengers

Information for Passengers - April 1902

Meals

• BREAKFAST from 8:30 until 10 o'clock.
• LUNCHEON at 1:30.
• DINNER at 7 o'clock.

The Bar closes at 11 p.m. and the Smoke Room at 11:30 pm.

Divine Service in the Saloon on Sunday at 10:30 a.m.

PLEASE apply to the Second Steward for Seating accommodation at Table. Children are only entitled to seats in the Saloon if the full fare is paid.

Cablegrams and Telegrams should be handed to the Saloon Steward an hour before arrival at Queenstown.

The Saloon and Library Stewards will supply Stamps, Telegraph Forms, Books of Reference, and Railway Time Tables of the principal Companies.

Questions relating to Baggage should be referred to the Second Steward, the Ship's Baggage Master.

Trunks, Chairs, or Rugs which passengers may desire to leave in charge of the Company should be appropriately labeled and handed to the Baggage Master on the pier in New York.

Such articles will be stored entirely at the owner's risk. Passengers must see all their Baggage passed by the U.S. Customs Authorities on landing.

Deck Chairs can be hired at a charge of 4/- each for the voyage, 24 hours' notice being necessary at the London or Liverpool Office.

Valuables or Money should be placed in charge of the Purser for deposit in his safe. As no payment is made for carriage, the Company can accept no responsibility for loss or damage, however arising, but passengers can protect themselves by insurance.

Passengers should request a Receipt on the Company's Form for any additional Passage Money or Freight paid on board.

Saloon Passengers joining the White Star Mail Steamers at Queenstown must be at that port no later than 7 a.m. Thursday.

The White Star Line has opened a West End Office for the convenience of Passengers at 17 Cockspur Street, London, SAV.

The premises include a Reading and Writing Room, and the latest editions of the leading American and English Papers are kept on file, letters can be addressed there to await the arrival of passengers, and baggage can be stored, if desired, at the owner's risk.

Registered Telegraphic and Cable Address—"Vessels," London.

Telephone No. "2315 Gerrard," London.

Source: RMS Oceanic Passenger List - 16 April 1902

Information for Passengers - November 1907

Meals:

• Breakfast from 8 until 10 o'clock.
• Luncheon at 1:00 pm
• Dinner at 7 o'clock.

The Bar opens at 8:00 am, and closes at 11:00 pm

Lights are extinguished in the Saloon at 11:00 pm, Smoking Room and Lounge at 12 midnight.

Divine Service in the Saloon on Sunday at 10:30 am

Please apply to the Second Steward for Seating Accommodation at table.

Children are not entitled to seats in the Saloon unless full fare is paid.

All Southampton—New York, Liverpool—New York, and Liverpool—Boston Mail and Passenger Steamers of the White Star Line are fitted with the Marconi Wireless system of Telegraphy, and messages for despatch should be handed to the Pursers.

AN Enquiry Office has been provided for the convenience of Passengers, where all enquiries for information of a general character should be made.

Letters, Cables, Telegrams and Marconigrams are received here for despatch, and Postage Stamps can be purchased, and Deck Chairs hired at this office, through which also all mails will be distributed.

None of the ship's staff other titan those on duty in the Enquiry Office are authorized to accept letters or telegrams for despatch.

Cablegrams and Telegrams should be handed in at the Enquiry Office an hour before the arrival at any port called at.

Deck Chairs can be hired at a charge of 4/- each for the voyage.

Passengers' Addresses may be left with the Saloon Steward, in order that any letters sent to the care of the Company may be forwarded.

AN Experienced Physician is attached to the Steamer. For medical attendance in case of sickness onboard no charge is made; medicines are also provided free of charge. But the Physician is allowed to charge the usual fees, subject to the Commander's approval, to travelers who submit themselves to treatment for maladies not contracted during the voyage.

Questions relating to Baggage should be referred to the Second Steward, who is the Ship's Baggage Master. Trunks, Chairs or Rugs which Passengers may desire to leave in charge of the Company, should be appropriately labeled and handed to the Baggage Master on the Wharf at New York, and such articles will be stored entirely at owner's risk. It is necessary for Passengers themselves to see all their Baggage is passed by the U.S. Customs Authorities on landing.

Passengers are requested to ask for a Receipt on the Company's Form, for any additional Passage Money, Chair Hire or Freight paid on board.

The Purser is prepared, for the convenience of Passengers, to exchange a limited amount of English and American money, and he will allow at the rate of $4.80 to the £1 when giving American money for English currency, or £1 for $4.95 when giving English money for American.

The following additional rates of exchange have also been adopted for American and French money—Eastbound $1 = 5 francs; Westbound fr. 1 = 19 cents.

Valuables.—The White Star Line has provided a Safe in the office of the Purser in which Passengers may deposit Money, Jewels, or Ornaments for safe keeping. The Company will not be liable to Passengers for the loss of money, jewels, or ornaments, by theft or otherwise, not so deposited.

Travellers' Cheques, payable in all parts of Europe, can be purchased at all the principal offices of the White Star Line. These Cheques are accepted on board White Star steamers in payment of accounts, but the Pursers do not carry funds to enable them to cash same.

The Passenger Services of the White Star Line are maintained entirely by Twin Screw Steamers, including RMS Oceanic, RMS Majestic, and RMS Teutonic, among the Fastest Steamers in the World. RMS Adriatic, 25,000 tons; RMS Baltic, 23,876 tons; RMS Cedric, 21,035 tons; and RMS Celtic, 20,904 tons, are the Four Largest British Twin-Screw Steamers. The RMS Republic is the Largest, Fastest, and Finest Steamer sailing to Boston.

Source: RMS Oceanic Passenger List - 6 November 1907

Services

White Star-Dominion Canadian Service, Liverpool-Québec-Montréal. This Service Will Be Inaugurated in 1909 and Maintained by the New Palatial Steamers SS Laurentic and SS Megantic, the Largest Steamers in the Canadian Trade. These Four Steamers will maintain a Regular Weekly Service Between the Canadian Ports Québec and Montréal in conjunction with the SS Canada and SS Dominion. Insert to the RMS Oceanic Passenger List, 6 November 1907. GGA Image ID # 1f1b5dbd0d

Launch of the White Star Steamer RMS Oceanic - 1899

The RMS Oceanic of the White Star Line, 1899. GGA Image ID # 1f99cb76cc

In the presence of an enormous gathering of spectators, Messrs Harland & Wolff, Belfast, on 14 January 1899, launched the RMS Oceanic, the largest liner yet afloat. The Oceanic has been built to the order of the White Star Line of Liverpool.

When completed, which will not be till the year is far advanced, she will take up her station on the Liverpool and New York service. A deal of mystery has attended the building of the ship. When the order was first placed, the rumor was that the new boat was to be a triple screw and beat all existing records in fast steaming.

The triple-screw notion was afterward found to be erroneous. The Oceanic, like the more recent of her predecessors, is a twin-screw steamer, and everything that skill and experience could suggest has been brought to bear to make the new boat the staunchest ship afloat.

It is not too much to expect those responsible for her machinery to see that she will be as speedy as she is staunch. In brief, the Oceanic may be described as an enlarged copy of the Teutonic, built in the same yard for the same owners.

The Teutonic, for a time, held the Atlantic record. With increased size and power, it is not difficult to conceive that the Oceanic will prove as significant an advance on all present steamers as was the Teutonic on boats before her day.

To convey an adequate idea of the enormous size of the Oceanic is no easy matter. In their official description, the builders depict the massive vessel in Haymarket, London, her stem in Pall Mall, and her stern at the Civil Service Stores. At the same time, her upper deck overtops the highest building in the thoroughfare.

The Oceanic was built in the berth where the Peninsular and Oriental steamer China were constructed. However, a considerable period elapsed between the launching of the Eastern liner and the commencement of the work on the Atlantic steamer.

That time was occupied in preparing a unique bed on which to lay the ways for the Oceanic and in constructing a vast overhead erection for use in lifting heavy weights and for other purposes. It is estimated that nearly £20,000 was spent in these preparations, from 12 March 1897 till 1 April 1898, when work in earnest was commenced on the Oceanic.

The fact that the plates of the new boat average an inch in thickness is sufficient to indicate the heavy rivet work necessary, and much of this work has been accomplished by hydraulic power, while electricity has been utilized for drilling.

The Oceanic, when finished, will be fitted with three masts and two funnels. Compared with the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse funnels, the new boat has only half the number. Still, an idea of their size may be gained from the fact that through each of them two tramway cars, the Oceanic deals primarily with generalities but could be driven side by side.

The official description also contains some interesting details. It states that the Oceanic has been built to meet the Admiralty requirements as an armed cruiser.

She has fitted gun platforms, and her exceptional staying power would enable her to steam 23,400 knots at 12 knots an hour, or, in other words, more than around the world without re-coaling, and this without trenching upon the space needed for the accommodation of a large body of troops, stores, and ammunition.

Not only is the Oceanic longer than her bulky predecessor, the Great Eastern, and, owing to modern science, her superior beyond comparison in many features, but on the points of weight and strength, she surpasses the Great Eastern to a degree difficult to define, seeing that in Brunel's time, it would have been impossible to construct a ship of equal strength.

The Oceanic's length overall is 704 feet, her extreme breadth 68 feet 4 inches, and depth 49 feet. A double - bottom, 5 feet 1 inch deep, extends the entire ship's length and increases in depth under the engines. Longitudinal webs extend through this double-bottom.

The frames or ribs are of channel steel 9 inches deep, with four and 4-inch flanges, and are only 31 inches apart. The shell plates used in the construction of the hull number about 17,000, the majority in the midship portion of the vessel being over 28 feet long, about 4 feet 6 inches wide, from 1 inch to 1 inch in thickness, and from 2 tons to 3 tons in weight.

The Great Eastern had 30,000 plates, mostly only 10 feet long by 2 feet 9 inches wide, weighing only 825 lbs. Notwithstanding their much greater strength and weight and the smaller number of plates, over 1,704,000 rivets have been used in the Oceanic, as against 2,000,000 in the Great Eastern, including the arms for carrying the stern tubes.

The stern post of the new boat weighs 98 tons. In all five steel decks, thirteen water-tight bulkheads about 49 feet apart and a longitudinal bulkhead, 97 feet long, extend throughout the engine room. the vessel is fitted with bilge keels 250 feet long by 18 inches wide to prevent rolling in heavy weather.

Regarding the question of whether the vessel is intended as a racer, the description states that this matter has been the subject of some amusing reports, even though when her building was first announced, it was officially stated by the White Star Line that although a much higher speed at sea than is now contemplated in the Oceanic is quite practicable from an engineering point of view, it has been determined, as far as possible, to aim at a regular Wednesday morning arrival both in New York and Liverpool.

The description proceeds that, despite these facts, some people thought they knew better, basing their arguments on the strength and finish of the ship's engines. While considering the question of engines, it may be stated, although not in the description, that they will be four-cylinder triple-expansion, balanced on the Schlick system, and with horsepower officially admitted to be 28,000.

Regarding accommodation, the Oceanic will be able to carry about 400 first-class passengers, 300 second-class, and 1000 third-class. Messrs Billington Brothers of Abercromby Works, Liverpool, supplies the vessel with patent Caledonian sofa seats and extensible and folding berths.

These seats and berths have been subjected to an extended trial fitted throughout the present steamers for the White Star fleet. The fact that they have been selected for their magnificent new steamer testifies that they have given every satisfaction.

The vessel will have a crew of about four hundred and fifty. Regarding measurements, the Oceanic is reckoned at about 17.000 tons, and the weight of the hull will be 12,500 tons. The Oceanic is coated with Briggs' bituminous enamels, and the same firm has three other large steamers for the White Star Line on hand.

The launch was most successful, the arrangements so perfect that the leviathan liner came up inside her length.

The new White Star steamer Oceanic was launched from the shipyard of Messrs Harland & Wolff, Belfast, on 14th January, in the presence of a vast assemblage of spectators. The launch went off without a hitch.

This country now possesses the largest steamship afloat, as the Oceanic, which is 704 ft. overall, is some 60 ft larger than the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse. She is larger than the Great Eastern and of a much greater tonnage.

The Oceanic is 685 ft. long between perpendiculars, and her launching weight was about 12,700 tons. Special precautions had to be taken to prepare a bed on which to lay the ways, and an erection for lifting heavy weights had also to be made. These preliminaries cost about ¿20,000. Special arrangements also had to be made for launching.

At a point in the lying way, the usual timbers were replaced by two solid steel castings weighing 15 tons. On these were mounted two hydraulic cylinders, whose rams had a pressure of 6000 lbs. to the square inch—these rams controlled two triggers that held the vessel from moving.

By releasing a small valve, the water pressure on the ram was taken off, the triggers fell, and the ship glided into the water smoothly. Six anchors quickly brought it up. The builders are to be congratulated on their successful launch.

Launch of the White Star Steamer "Oceanic," in the Steamship: A Scientific Journal of Marine Engineering, Shipbuilding, and Shipping, Leith: John Lockie, C.E., Publisher, Vol. X, No. 116, February 1899, pp. 307-308.