Another Atlantic Liner

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21811, 17 June 1936, Page 10

Another Atlantic Liner

The announcement that tenders have been submitted for the construction of a sister ship to the Queen Mary will probably revive the controversy which was aroused when the British Government decided to advance the money for the completion -of the Queen Mary. It was folly, the Government’s critics contended, to encourage the building of luxury liners at a time when competition on the Atlantic run was so keen that profits were impossible. There is much to be said for this point of view. The Queen Mary’s rivals—the Bremen and the Europa, the Normandie a*nd her sister ship, and the Conte di Savoia—are all Statesubsidised: so that in the end competition may become a battle of subsidies at the expense of taxpayers. If there were any likelihood of the Atlantic passenger traffic reaching its pre-war level, the outlook would be less bleak. But immigration restrictions on both sides of the Atlantic are gradually becoming more severe; and there is the further possibility that before long air services will be skimming the cream of the traffic. The other side of the case is very strikingly stated in an article in the latest “ Fortnightly ” by Sir Archibald Hurd. He emphasises that, in building the Queen Mary, the Cunard-White Star Company was not actuated by the desire to build the largest or the swiftest or the most luxurious liner afloat. On this point the 'following statement by Sir Percy Bates, the chairman of the company, is quoted: In the opinion of its technical advisers, so far from attempting to construct steamers simply to compete with others in size and speed, the Cunard Company is projecting a pair of steamers which, though they will be very large and fast, are in fact the smallest and slowest which can fulfil properly all the essential economic conditions. To go beyond these conditions would be extravagant; to fall below them would be incompetent, as the company would be simply leaving to others a direct invitation to compete with it on more economic terms. The length of the vessel, for instance, was dictated by the need for maintaining a speed of about 30 knots in ail weathers without producing unpleasant vibration. Experiments showed that no vessel less than 1000 feet long

would meet these requirements. Again, it has to be remembered that in the past the Cunard Company has been maintaining an express service in the North Atlantic with three vessels; progress in marine engineering has now made it possible for such a service to be maintained with two vessels. It is clear, therefore, that, whether or not it was wise to build the Queen Mary the construction of a sister ship to the Quden Mary is justified if only on the score .that without a sister ship the Queen Mary will not realise her full economic possibilities.