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    New York's Liners
    New York's Liners
    New York's Liners
    Ebook180 pages41 minutes

    New York's Liners

    By John A. Fostik MBA

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    For 175 years, passenger ships have crossed the Atlantic, linking the Old World with the New World. Between 1892 and 1954, more than 12 million immigrants passed through the port of New York. National rivalries caused ships to grow in size, speed, and a comfort that had once been unimaginable. The advent of the passenger jet in 1958 changed how people travel. New York's harbor is now quieter, and there are no longer days with six liners ready to sail to fabled European ports. Happily, one can still sail to Europe, cruise the Caribbean, or take a world cruise from Manhattan aboard a new generation of liners like the Queen Mary 2. New York's Liners captures iconic images of the great ships from the 1890s to the present day.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateMay 25, 2015
    ISBN9781439651513
    New York's Liners
    Author

    John A. Fostik MBA

    John A. Fostik, MBA, is the author of several transportation-related books and is a regular contributor to a number of magazines. He attributes his lifelong interest in all things maritime to his father, who worked for the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Kearny, New Jersey. Using images and memorabilia from his personal collection, he brings back a time when the Conte di Savoia, Normandie, and Queen Mary were household names.

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    • 5/5
      Outstanding visual history in the Arcadia format Outstanding pictures. Great!

    Book preview

    New York's Liners - John A. Fostik MBA

    collection.

    INTRODUCTION

    To understand the present-day Port of New York, it is helpful to recall its past. The credit for the discovery of the harbor in 1524 goes to the Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazano. As befits his status, the great suspension bridge at the Narrows now bears his name. It took 85 years until another famous explorer, Henry Hudson, arrived on the Half Moon in 1609. His vessel entered the river into what would be considered the harbor proper. Likewise, he too was rewarded for his efforts by eventually having that river named after him. The first European settlement in the area was established by the Dutch in 1624 on Governors Island, and it was followed in due course by another one in what we now know as Brooklyn. The Dutch called the tip of Manhattan Island Nieuw Amsterdam. It was part of the greater colony of New Netherland.

    The period of Dutch control on the East Coast of North America began to decline in 1664 when England and Holland fought the first of three wars over this new-world colony. In November 1674, the Treaty of Westminster saw Holland cede New Netherland to the British. From that point forward, Manhattan Island became their premier port in the American colonies. Of course, all that came to an end with American independence. The port contributed to the new nation’s prosperity and trade. With the Erie Canal, New York’s port became a key interchange for domestic and overseas trade. Through the clipper ship era, South Street in Lower Manhattan became known as the street of ships. As early as 1838, steam began to supplant sail as a means of propulsion. The British flag Sirius was the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. In her wake followed many others, including the first Cunard Line paddle-wheel steamer Britannia in 1840, albeit from Liverpool to Boston, Massachusetts. The die had been cast, and, as with any technological innovation, the best was yet to come.

    The term liner crept into the traveler’s lexicon describing regular, advertised services by a ship to and from specific ports on a maritime timetable. In the 1850s, additional evolution in shipbuilding and design took place. Firstly, wooden hulls were replaced by iron hulls, and the paddle wheel gave way to the screw propeller. The Cunard liner Andes was the first to introduce this advance in 1852. Four years later, the same line introduced the Persia, a significantly larger vessel of 3,300 gross tons and 390 feet in length. A true behemoth, the Great Eastern, a five-funneled, six-masted paddle wheeler that also had a propeller, entered the transatlantic trade in June 1860.

    After the Civil War, Cunard faced many rivals, including the American-flagged Collins Line. In the 1870s, more transatlantic steamship lines were formed. Preeminent operators were European, including the Hamburg-American Line, Holland-America Line, Inman Line, North German Lloyd, and the White Star Line. Oddly and unfortunately, American vessels were in the minority at this time.

    America, long a magnet for people seeking new lives or fleeing religious persecution, became even more so for European immigrants. New York became the premier port of choice. In 1870, a department of docks was established to help cope with the torrent of passengers.

    This period postcard gives a bird’s-eye view of southern Manhattan, including the famed Battery with Castle Clinton at the tip. Very busy wharves and docks line the Hudson River on the left and the East River on the right.

    One

    THE GREAT

    OCEAN BRIDGE

    Of all the sea lanes in the world, the North Atlantic was the one with the greatest passenger traffic. In the beginning, ocean travel was anything but glamorous. Prior to the advent of steamships, sailing ships took over six weeks to cross. Apart from the peril of shipwreck, there was the constant threat of fire and deathly diseases. Births as well as deaths at sea became commonplace. Emigrant vessels were for some ship operators merely a vehicle for profit, and as little as possible was spent on food and decent accommodations.

    National governments reacted slowly, and it often took significant disasters to get regulations changed. As the human tide of people seeking better lives beyond their native shores increased, competition for passage dollars caused gradual improvements to take hold.

    The introduction of faster steamships cut the Atlantic crossing down to 14 days, and express liners did it in a week. What had been a little over 1.4 million immigrants crossing to America in the decade from 1830 to 1840 dramatically increased to over 5.2 million some 40 years later. It was the great ocean bridge, and the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor was a beacon to the world. Even the staggering numbers above were small in comparison with the 8.2 million who took passage in the first decade of the 20th century.

    As a result of increasing reliability, liner services colloquially became known as the Atlantic Ferry. Over its bounding course traveled millionaires, migrants, con artists, and countesses. In complete contrast to the steerage-class passengers, there were the very wealthy. For this caliber of individual, including American millionaires, the prestige of sailing on the fastest and largest steamers held great appeal. By the last decade of the 19th century, truly luxurious new liners, especially German, entered service. None were more breathtaking or amazing than the four-funneled express steamers of North German Lloyd and the Hamburg-American Line. They could cross in a week from Bremerhaven or Hamburg to New York. Entering service from 1897 to 1905, they were Kronprinzessin Cecilie, Kronprinz Wilhelm, Kaiser Wilhelm Der Grosse, Deutschland, and Kaiser Wilhelm II. This quintet, ranging from

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