White Star Line: books - history and ships

The Sinking of RMS Tayleur - The Lost Story of the Victorian Titanic

A new approach to a tragic event in maritime history. Gill Hoffs has researched the previously untold stories of the people bound up in the sinking of RMS Tayleur.
The wrecking of the RMS Tayleur made headlines nearly 60 years before the Titanic. Both were run by the White Star Line, both were heralded as the most splendid ships of their time - and both sank in tragic circumstances on their maiden voyages.

On 19 January 1854 the Tayleur, a large merchant vessel, left Liverpool for Australia; packed with hopeful emigrants, her hold stuffed with cargo. On the 160th anniversary of the disaster, Gill Hoffs reveals new theories behind the disaster and tells the stories of the passengers and crew on the ill-fated vessel:
- Captain John Noble, record breaking hero of the Gold Rush era.
- Ship surgeon Robert Hannay Cunningham and his young family, on their way to a new life among the prospectors of Tent City.
- Samuel Carby, ex-convict, returning to the gold fields with his new wife - and a fortune sewn into her corsets.
But the ship's revolutionary iron hull prevented its compasses from working. Lost in the Irish Sea, a storm swept the Tayleur and the 650 people aboard towards a cliff, studded with rocks 'black as death'. What happened next shocked the world.

The 'Big Four' of the White Star Fleet - Celtic, Cedric, Baltic & Adriatic

The White Star Line's Celtic (1901), Cedric (1903), Baltic (1904) and Adriatic (1907), collectively known as the `Big Four', served for a combined 110 years. Together they carried around 1.5 million passengers on the Liverpool to New York and Southampton to New York routes during their time in service.
Arguably the most successful series of ships the company ever produced, they have been overlooked in maritime literature until now.

In this ground-breaking book, Mark Chirnside relates the history of the `Big Four', in many ways the forerunners of the famous `Olympic' class ships. Features including a gymnasium and Turkish and electric baths were trialled on Adriatic before their use on Olympic, Titanic and Britannic.
Charting their history from civilian passenger ships to armed merchant cruisers and troop ships in the First World War, The `Big Four' of the White Star Fleet explores the adventures and experiences passengers and crew had on board over the decades.

Recreating Titanic and her Sisters

On the night of 14-15 April 1912, Titanic, a brand-new, supposedly unsinkable ship, the largest and most luxurious vessel in the world at the time, collided with an iceberg and sank on her maiden voyage.
Of the 2,208 people on board, only 712 were saved. The rest perished in the icy-cold waters of the North Atlantic, and the tragedy has fascinated and perplexed the world ever since.

This stunning book tells the story of not just the Titanic, but also of its sister ships, Olympic and Britannic. Maritime experts J. Kent Layton, Tad Fitch, and Bill Wormstedt tell the stories of these legendary liners with a compelling narrative alongside original artwork from up-and-coming artists, bringing to life the design, construction and service of the ships together with the wrecks of the ill-fated Titanic and Britannic.

From the cold, starry night when Titanic collided with her iceberg to the tragic wartime loss of Britannic and the impressive reliability of the long-lived Olympic, this cinematic and immersive new study captures all of the glory and drama of the Olympic-class age and allows readers to visualise Titanic and her sisters like never before.

Olympic, Titanic, Britannic : An Illustrated History of the Olympic Class Ships

At the beginning of the 20th century, competition between the North Atlantic shipping lines was fierce. While Britain responded to the commercial threat posed by the growing German merchant marine, there was also rivalry between the great Cunard Line and its chief competitor, the White Star Line.
Against this backdrop Olympic, Titanic and Britannic were conceived. Designed for passenger comfort, they were intended to provide luxurious surroundings and safe, reliable service rather than record-breaking speed. In the end, fate decreed that only Olympic would ever complete a single commercial voyage and she went on to serve for a quarter of a century in peace and war.
Titanic's name would become infamous after she sank on her maiden voyage. The third sister, Britannic, saw a brief and commendable career as a hospital ship during the First World War, sinking in the Aegean Sea in 1916.

Here Mark Chirnside tells the sister ships' stories by way of previously unseen pictures, passenger diaries and deck plans. With a focus on the human histories of those who travelled and worked on the ships, this beautifully illustrated book details Olympic's successful career and the premature ends of her two unfortunate sisters.

Exploring the Britannic : The life, last voyage and wreck of Titanic's tragic twin

Launched in 1914, two years after the ill-fated voyage of her sister ship, RMS Titanic, the Britannic was intended to be superior to her tragic twin in every way. But war intervened and in 1915 she was requisitioned as a hospital ship.
Just one year later, while on her way to collect troops wounded in the Balkans campaign, she fell victim to a mine laid by a German U-boat and tragically sank in the middle of the Aegean Sea.

There her wreck lay, at a depth of 400 feet, until it was discovered 59 years later by legendary explorer Jacques Cousteau. In 1996 the wreck was bought by the author of this book, Simon Mills. Exploring the Britannic tells the complete story of this enigmatic ship: her construction, launch and life, her fateful last voyage, and the historical findings resulting from the exploration of the well-preserved wreck over a period of 40 years.

With remarkable sonar scans and many never before seen photographs of the wreck, plus fold-out sections of the original Harland & Wolff ship plans, not previously published in their entirety, Exploring the Britannic finally details how the mysteries surrounding the 100-year-old enigma were laid to rest, and what the future might also hold for her.

RMS Olympic : Titanic's Sister

Launched as the pride of British shipbuilding and the largest vessel in the world, Olympic was more than 40 per cent larger than her nearest rivals: almost 900ft long and the first ship to exceed 40,000 tons. She was built for comfort rather than speed and equipped with an array of facilities, including Turkish and electric baths (one of the first ships to have them), a swimming pool, gymnasium, squash court, a la carte restaurant, large first-class staterooms and plush public rooms.
Surviving from 1911 until 1935, she was a firm favourite with the travelling public - carrying hundreds of thousands of fare-paying passengers - and retained a style and opulence even into her twilight years.

During the First World War, she carried more troops than any other comparable steamship and was the only passenger liner ever to sink an enemy submarine by ramming it.
Overshadowed frequently by her sister ships Titanic and Britannic, Olympic's history deserves more attention than it has received. She was evolutionary in design rather than revolutionary, but marked an ambition for the White Star Line to dominate the North Atlantic express route.
Rivals immediately began trying to match her in size and luxury. The optimism that led to her conception was rewarded, whereas her doomed sisters never fulfilled their creators' dreams.

This revised and expanded edition of the critically acclaimed RMS Olympic: Titanic's Sister uses new images and further original research to tell the story of this remarkable ship 80 years after her career ended.

Titanic in Photographs

In this evocative collection of photographs the full story of Titanic is told, set against the backdrop of the great race to build the biggest and best passenger liner.
From her genesis in the shipyard of Harland & Wolff to the anticipation of her launch and through her fitting out and sea trials, the excitement of Titanic's maiden voyage is keenly evident in the many rare and unusual images in this book.

Looking at her departure from Southampton and her stops at Cherbourg and Queenstown, and including many photos never before published, this book follows the story to its tragic conclusion, the role of Carpathia and the aftermath of this shattering disaster.

On a Sea of Glass - The Life and Loss of the RMS Titanic

On the night of 14/15 April 1912, a brandnew, supposedly unsinkable ship, the largest and most luxurious vessel in the world at the time, collided with an iceberg and sank on her maiden voyage. Of the 2,208 people on board, only 712 were saved. The rest either drowned or froze to death in the icy-cold waters of the North Atlantic. How could this 'unsinkable' vessel sink and why did so few of those aboard survive?

The authors bring the tragedy to life, telling the story of the ship's design, construction and maiden voyage. The stories of individuals who sailed on her, many previously known only as names on yellowing passenger and crew lists, are brought to light using rarely-seen accounts of the sinking. The stories of passengers of all classes and crewmembers alike, are explored. They tell the dramatic stories of lives lost and people saved, of the rescue ship Carpathia, and of the aftermath of the sinking. Never again would a large passenger liner sail without lifeboats for all.
Despite the tragedy, the sinking of the Titanic indirectly led to untold numbers of lives being saved due to new regulations that came into force after the tragedy.

Profusely illustrated, including many rare and unique views of the ship and those who sailed on her, this is as accurate and engrossing a telling of the life of the White Star Line's Titanic and her sinking as you will read anywhere. Made special by the use of so many rare survivor accounts from the eye witnesses to that night to remember, the narrative places the reader in the middle of the maiden voyage, and brings the tragic sinking to life as never before.