Lucania

The Cunard Liner Lucania, and her sister Campania, were both partially financed by the Admiralty, and were both ordered from the Fairfield Shipbuilding Company in Govan, Scotland. These two liners were built between 1891, and 1893, a time that was very close to major technological changes in marine engineering. Although they were only 622 feet long by 65 feet wide, their hulls housed the largest sets of triple expansion steam engines ever installed in a Cunard Liner. These engines represented the limits of this type of steam engine. In fact, their engines still rank among the largest reciprocating steam engines ever built; surpassed only by the engines installed on a couple of the German four-stackers that were soon to enter the scene. Lucania and Campania were twin screwed ships, and they had a service speed of 22 knots, and a top speed of 23.5 knots. They carried 2000 passengers apiece, broken down as follows: 600 1st Class, 400 2nd Class, and 1000 3rd class. Both liners would be Blue Riband holders, with Lucania ultimately proving herself the fastest; she held the title until 1898. That year would see the arrival of Germanys first four stacker, the Kaiser Wilhelm Der Gross which took the record on her maiden voyage. Lucania’s steam engines were 47 feet high, and their upper works extended into the very top deck of her superstructure. Considering the length and width of the two ships, the combination of their boiler rooms and engine spaces must have occupied nearly 50 percent of their hulls total available space.
Lucania had some of the finest interiors of the Victorian Era ever installed on a ship. But this design would contrast sharply with the Edwardian interiors that were soon to appear on other British Atlantic Liners. Lucania and Campania would maintain Cunard’s Express Service on the Atlantic for 14 years, and they were rapidly out-classed by the new vessels that came on line just a few years after their entry into service. Although they proved themselves to be reliable ships, their passenger totals dropped quickly as new competition arrived on the scene. Cunard responded to the challenge with the Lusitania, and Mauretania in 1907, and these two new record breaking greyhounds allowed the company to withdraw Lucania by July 1909. The following month, she caught fire while tied up at the Huskisson Dock in Liverpool. The damage to her passenger spaces was extensive, and her decks were badly warped. Because of the vast amount of water pumped onboard, she ended up partially sinking at her berth. However, her boiler and engine rooms were pretty much undamaged, and she was quickly refloated and the damage assessed. Cunard found that fire damage on the old liner had made her an unviable proposition for restoration. Therefore, following an auction of her undamaged interiors, she drove herself to the bone-yard at Swansea, maintaining a speed of 15 knots on her final trip.