The Blue Riband
Riband reborn
Following the Second World War (1939 – 45), it was no longer
economic to build ships that travelled at the great speeds
of Queen Mary or Normandie. Passengers
expected greater speed than even the fastest liner could provide -
as speeds increased above 35 knots, the amount of fuel needed by
ships’ engines grew dramatically – so they turned to jet aircraft.
On many sailings United States' crew of over 1000
outnumbered the paying passengers. In 1969 United
States was sent for refurbishment but never sailed again – her
owners could not afford to keep her afloat.
With shipping lines turning to cargo handling and passenger
cruising, there was no longer a demand for greater speed on the
ocean. The Blue Riband lay dormant and the Hales Trophy was kept in
the American Merchant Marine Museum in New York State. In 1985, British entrepreneur Richard Branson attempted to
travel across the Atlantic in a powerboat as a publicity stunt to
mark the creation of Virgin, his new transatlantic airline.
Although he failed - his boat sank 138 off the west coast of
England - he generated publicity, not only for his airline but also
for the Blue Riband. In 1990, construction of caramaran Hoverspeed Great
Britain had been completed in Australia and she set sail
across the Pacific and then the Atlantic to her new owner's base in
Europe. The SeaCat vessel crossed the Atlantic non-stop in
three days seven hours. Her owners asked the museum holding
the Riband trophy to hand it over - they refused. There was a
question mark over the vessel - catamarans are clearly not
steam-powered ocean liners. In fact, the original rule of the Hales
Committee was that the trophy would be awarded to the fastest
vessel making a surface transatlantic crossing, whether it was
powered by steam or oil, with one hull or two. After legal action,
the trophy was handed over. HGB's record lasted until 1988, when it was broken
twice - both by caramarans. The current holder, Cat-Link
V, is a 91 m Danish car and passenger catamaran ferry. Her
attempt was eventful - barely hours after departing America
she was diverted on a search mission offf the coast of Canada,
delaying her by two hours. Even so, she crossed the Atlantic in two
days, 20 hours - the first such transatlantic voyage in under three
days and the first to average over 40 knots. The three record-holders of the 1990s all took the Blue Riband
when travelling to Europe for delivery from their Australian
construction yard. There has been no record-breaking run in
passenger service since United States in 1952. It is
interesting to note that Hoverspeed Great Britain
broke United States' forty-year old record only by
three hours! With the withdrawal of the great liners and the demise of the
aircraft Concorde, the need for a battle for speed
across the Atlantic is over. But during its existence, the Blue
Riband did drive the development of steamships, forcing shipping
companies to design better ships, set higher standards for
passenger accommodation and seek innovative methods of propulsion.
The heyday of the Riband may be over, but its legacy lives on.
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