An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes.
The Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Aktien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG), known in English as the Hamburg America Line, was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, in 1847. Among those involved in its development were prominent citizens such as Albert Ballin, Adolph Godeffroy, Ferdinand Laeisz, Carl Woermann, August Bolten, and others, and its main financial backers were Berenberg Bank and H. J. Merck & Co. It soon developed into the largest German, and at times the world's largest, shipping company, serving the market created by German immigration to the United States and later, immigration from Eastern Europe. On 1 September 1970, after 123 years of independent existence, HAPAG merged with the Bremen-based North German Lloyd to form Hapag-Lloyd AG.
Norddeutscher Lloyd was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20 February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was instrumental in the economic development of Bremen and Bremerhaven. On 1 September 1970, the company merged with Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) to form Hapag-Lloyd AG.
USS Zeppelin was a passenger liner launched in 1914 as SS Zeppelin by Bremer Vulkan, Bremen-Vegesack, Germany, for Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL). Due to the First World War she never entered NDL service. She had a career after the war first under White Star Line control, then briefly as the troop ship USS Zeppelin, next as the Orient SN Co liner SS Ormuz and finally back with NDL as SS Dresden.
SS Saale was an ocean liner for North German Lloyd in the late 19th century, which was severely damaged in the 1900 Hoboken Docks Fire. On 30 June 1900, Saale was moored at the North German Lloyd piers in Hoboken, New Jersey, preparing to depart on a transatlantic crossing when some cotton on a nearby pier caught on fire and spread to the ship. Saale and several other ships were soon engulfed in flames; 99 passengers and crew on Saale were killed in the fire and subsequent sinking.
SS George Washington was an ocean liner built in 1908 for the Bremen-based North German Lloyd and was named after George Washington, the first President of the United States. The ship was also known as USS George Washington (ID-3018) and USAT George Washington in service of the United States Navy and United States Army, respectively, during World War I. In the interwar period, she reverted to her original name of SS George Washington. During World War II, the ship was known as both USAT George Washington and, briefly, as USS Catlin (AP-19), in a short, second stint in the U.S. Navy.
The Olympic-class ocean liners were a trio of British ocean liners built by the Harland & Wolff shipyard for the White Star Line during the early 20th century. They were Olympic (1911), Titanic (1912) and Britannic (1915). All three were designed to be the largest and most luxurious passenger ships at that time, designed to give White Star an advantage in the transatlantic passenger trade.
USS Mercury (ID-3012) was a United States Navy transport ship during World War I. She was formerly the Norddeutscher Lloyd liner SS Barbarossa built by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg, Germany, in 1897, and operated by the North German Lloyd Line.
The SS König Albert was a German Barbarossa class ocean liner owned by the Norddeutscher Lloyd Line. Interned in Italy at the outbreak of World War I, she was seized by the Italian Government in 1915 and converted to a hospital ship. Sold into merchant service in 1920, she was used as a transport for the Italian Navy, before being scrapped in 1926.
SS Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm was an ocean liner for North German Lloyd (NDL) from her launch in 1907 until the end of World War I. After the war, she briefly served as USS Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm (ID-4063) for the United States Navy returning American troops from France. The vessel was first chartered—and later purchased outright—by Canadian Pacific Steamships (CP) and operated under the names Empress of China, Empress of India, Montlaurier, Monteith, and Montnairn. She was scrapped in 1929.
A four-funnel liner, also known as a four-stacker, is an ocean liner with four funnels.
SS Königin Luise was a Barbarossa-class ocean liner built in 1896 by Vulcan Shipbuilding Corp. of Stettin, Germany, for the North German Lloyd line of Bremen. She served on the company's Australian, Far East, and North Atlantic routes for nearly two decades.
SS Pisa was a transatlantic passenger steamship built by Alexander Stephen and Sons in Glasgow. Pisa began her maiden voyage in 1897 and was at sea during the sinking of RMS Titanic after she hit an iceberg and sank on 15 April 1912.
SS Eider was a 4,179 ton German ocean liner built for Norddeutscher Lloyd in 1884 by John Elder & Co. of Glasgow as the fourth ship in the Rivers class. She had four masts and was a two-funnelled steamer 430 feet (130 m) long, with a crew of 167, and capable of carrying 1,204 passengers. However, she had a short service history, being lost in what is remembered as one of the most impressive and memorable shipwrecks on the coast of the Back of the Wight, a region on the Isle of Wight, England.
SS Albertic was a British ocean liner, originally built as the Norddeutscher Lloyd's München. It was handed to Britain as part of war reparations and served during the 1920s and 1930s.
The Rivers class was a class of eleven ocean liners of the Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL), the first class of German express liners. The ships were built between 1881 and 1890, the first nine in Glasgow by John Elder & Co. or the renamed Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, the last two in Stettin by Vulcan. All were named for rivers in Germany.
SS Donau was an Passenger and Cargo Vessel owned by Norddeutscher Lloyd. The ship was built by Caird & Company of Greenock, Scotland, in 1868 and served the Bremen-Baltimore line from January 16, 1869 until 1889 when she was sold. In 1895 she was destroyed by a fire in the North Atlantic while en route to Philadelphia. Everyone on board was rescued by the British steam ship Delaware.
SS Prinz Adalbert, was a German ocean liner of the Hamburg America Line (Hapag), ordered as one of five Prince-class vessels for their newly established service to the East Coast of South America. She was built by Bremer Vulkan Schiffbau & Machinen Fabrik, Bremen-Vegesack and launched on 21 August 1902. She sailed from Hamburg on her maiden voyage to Brazil on 20 January 1903, and three years later was in service between Genoa and Buenos Aires. Later the liner moved to North Atlantic services.
The SS Frankfurt was a German steamship built by Joh. C. Tecklenborg. First launched on 17 December 1899, Frankfurt was first operated under Norddeutscher Lloyd. It took frequent passages between Germany and the United States from 1900 to 1918. Many of its passengers were migrants. In 1919, Frankfurt was acquired by the White Star Line after it was surrendered to the United Kingdom in World War I. In 1922, Frankfurt was then sold to the Oriental Navigation Company in British Hong Kong, where it was renamed Sarvistan.
SS Birma was a British-built transatlantic passenger ship. She was built in 1894 by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Govan, United Kingdom, as Arundel Castle and later went through numerous ownership and name changes, including coming into the hands of the Russian American Line. In 1912, Birma was one of the ships to respond to the sinking of RMS Titanic. She was broken up in 1924 following acquisition by a German line after a liquidation sale.
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