LINER BRITANNIC

Hokitika Guardian, 10 September 1930, Page 5

LINER BRITANNIC

LARGEST BRITISH MOTOR SHIP* LIVERPOOL TO NEW YORK SERVICE. LONDON, June 24. Next Saturday the White Star motorliner Britannic, of about 27,000 ton.-* gross, is to sail from Liverpool on her maiden voyage to New York. She is the first motor-vessel of the White Star. Line, and is to be joined next year by a sister ship, which is now being built at Belfast. She is the largest British motor vessel and the biggest ship to he based at Liverpool. Officially the Br.ttanic is a cabin ship—a technical term used by tfie North -Atlantic-- Shipping Conference for rating purposes. Briefly, -it implies a liner of moderate size and-of moderate speed. The ships at present in the Liverpool-New York service, for which the Brittauic has been .designed, are the Adriatic, Baltic, arid Cedric, all of, which are very, popular vessels. 1 -A V ’

A MAGNIFICENT SHIP. The Britannic has accommodation for 1550 passengers in the cabin, tourist third, and third classes; The ship was inspected during the week-end by aypurnbey, of visitors, and none could fail to he impressed by the well-furnish-ed public rooms in the cabin class, which include a large dining saloon in the Louis XIV style, a handsome lounge, , a dainty drawing room, a card room, a verandah cafe, and an,.oldfashioned smoking-room, all connected by a beautiful and broad, long gallery. The other features include a children’s playground, a gymnasium, and a swimming bath. There are suites and many large state-rooms, and a fine sports deck for deck tennis and other games, and anyone studying carefully all the amenities might well ask what more could be desired in the form of comfort.-by any- passenger wishing tot travel -.fi:rst-elass. Yet the fares oh'a'rged for passages in these cabin ships are much below those quoted for the largest and faster ships ployed in the service between the Channel ports and New York. . SMOKING-ROOMS IN FUNNEL. The whole of the accommodation was thrown open to the company which boarded the vesseli at Belfast on Sunday morning and spent the day cruising in the Irish Sea and off-the Scottish coast. In the evening a cinematograph performance was given with talking films. The;visitors saw. the public rooms in the tourist third cabin, including a lounge, smoking-room and childrens room, and then they inspected another set of somewhat similar .rooms in the third class. The lotyesi fatecl acco-mmoclatiori’in’ the’ship represents a very great improvement pn that in tile older, and even in many . U modern ships. Ar one indication of consideration for the, comfort, of ..pas*, sengers, hot and cold water is laid ,on to every state room or cabin in the vessel. The comfort of the.deck arid ' engineer officers has also been‘studied, and an unusual feature is the provision of two airy smoking-rooms for the deck and engineer officers in the forward funnel, which unlike the other squat funnel, has no mechanical uses.

A PIONEER-LINE, Speaking on board the ship Mr A. B. Ca ; uty, general manager, described how the White Star Line had always been a pioneer in ordering ships of large size and in providing comfortable travel. Some suggestions which, were recalled for adding to comfort at the time when the first Britannic, of 5000 tons, entered the service in 1874, sounded prim- . itive in view of what had since beeii done By happy coincidence, the Com- J nmnder of the first Britannic, Sir Bertram Hayes, was on board the talr* Britannic, and, likewise, Commodore Barlett, who commanded the second Britannic, which, as a hospital ship, was. destroyed by enemy action during the war.