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This is a timeline of the world's largest passenger ships based upon internal volume, initially measured by gross register tonnage and later by gross tonnage. This timeline reflects the largest extant passenger ship in the world at any given time. If a given ship was superseded by another, scrapped, or lost at sea, it is then succeeded. Some records for tonnage outlived the ships that set them - notably the SS Great Eastern, and RMS Queen Elizabeth. The term "largest passenger ship" has evolved over time to also include ships by length as supertankers built by the 1970s were over 400 metres (1,300 ft) long. In the modern era the term has gradually fallen out of use in favor of "largest cruise ship" as the industry has shifted to cruising rather than transatlantic ocean travel. [1]
Year completed | Ship | Tonnage | Length | Title held | Status | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
19th century | ||||||
1831 | SS Royal William | 1,370 GRT [2] | 49 m (160 ft) | 1831 – 1839 [3] | Sank in 1860 | |
1838 | SS Great Western | 1,340 GRT(as built) 1,700 GRT [4] (post-1839) | 76.8 m (252 ft) | 1839 [5] | Scrapped in 1856 | |
1839 | SS British Queen | 1,850 GRT [6] | 75 m (245 ft) | 1839 – 1840 [7] [8] 1841 – 1843 | Scrapped in 1844 | |
1840 | SS President | 2,366 GRT [9] | 74 m (243 ft) | 1840 – 1841 [10] | Lost at sea in 1841 | |
1843 [lower-alpha 1] | SS Great Britain | 3,270 GRT [11] | 98 m (322 ft) | 1843 – 1853 [12] | Currently a Museum ship | |
1853 [13] | SS Atrato | 3,466 GRT [14] | 107 m (350 ft) | 1853 – 1857 [15] [lower-alpha 2] | Sank in 1884 | |
1857 | SS Adriatic | 3,670 GRT [16] | 108 m (354 ft) | 1857 — 1858 [17] | Beached and Abandoned in 1885 | |
1858 | SS Great Eastern | 18,915 GRT [18] | 211 m (692 ft) | 1858 – c. 1888 (Scrapped) | Scrapped by 1891 [lower-alpha 3] | |
1888 | SS City of New York | 10,499 GRT [21] | 171 m (560 ft) | c. 1888 – 1893 [22] | Scrapped in 1923 | |
1893 | RMS Campania RMS Lucania [lower-alpha 4] | 12,950 GRT [23] | 190 m (622 ft) | 1893 – 1897 [24] | Campania: Sank in 1918 Lucania: Scrapped in 1909 | |
1897 | SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse | 14,349 GRT [25] | 200 m (655 ft) | 1897 – 1899 [26] | Sank in 1914 | |
1899 | RMS Oceanic | 17,272 GRT [27] | 215 m (704 ft) | 1899 – 1901 [28] | Sank in 1914 | |
20th century | ||||||
11 July 1901 | RMS Celtic | 20,904 GRT [29] | 214 m (701 ft) | 1901 – 1903 [30] [31] | Scrapped in 1929 | |
31 January 1903 | RMS Cedric | 21,073 GRT [32] | 213 m (700 ft) | 1903 – 1904 [31] | Scrapped in 1932 | |
23 June 1904 | RMS Baltic | 23,876 GRT [33] | 222 m (729 ft) | 1904 – 1906 [33] [34] | Scrapped in 1933 | |
10 May 1906 (entered service) | SS Kaiserin Auguste Victoria | 24,581 GRT [35] | 206.5 m (677.5 ft) | 1906 – 1907 [36] | Scrapped in 1930 | |
7 September 1907 (entered service) | RMS Lusitania | 31,550 GRT [37] | 240 m (787 ft) | 1907 [38] [39] | Sank in 1915 | |
7 November 1907 | RMS Mauretania | 31,938 GRT [37] | 241 m (790 ft) | 1907 – 1911 [39] [40] | Scrapped in 1935 | |
31 May 1911 | RMS Olympic | 45,324 GRT [41] | 269.0 m (882.5 ft) | 1911 – 1912 [42] [43] 1912 – 1913 [42] [44] | Scrapped by 1937 | |
31 March 1912 | RMS Titanic | 46,328 GRT [45] | 269.1 m (882.9 ft) | 1912 [46] (Sank) | Sank in 1912 [46] | |
June 1913 | SS Imperator | 52,117 GRT [47] | 276 m (906 ft) | 1913 – 1914 [44] [47] | Scrapped in 1938 | |
14 May 1914 (entered service) | SS Vaterland | 54,282 GRT [48] [49] | 290 m (950 ft) | 1914 – 1922 [50] [51] | Scrapped in 1938 | |
12 May 1922 (entered service) | RMS Majestic | 56,551 GRT [52] | 291 m (956 ft) | 1922 – 1935 [51] [53] | Scrapped in 1943 (after sinking) | |
29 May 1935 (entered service) | SS Normandie | 79,280 GRT (as built) 83,404 GRT (final size) [lower-alpha 5] | 314 m (1,029 ft) | 1935 – 1936 [55] 1936 – 1942 [54] [56] (Destroyed by fire) | Scrapped in 1946 (after sinking) | |
27 May 1936 (entered service) | RMS Queen Mary | 80,774 GRT [57] [58] | 310.7 m (1,019.4 ft) | 1936 [59] [58] | Currently a Hotel ship | |
2 March 1940 [lower-alpha 6] | RMS Queen Elizabeth | 83,673 GRT [60] | 314 m (1,031 ft) | 1942 – 1972 [56] (Destroyed by fire) | Scrapped in 1974 (after sinking) | |
3 February 1962 (entered service) | SS France (1962-1980) SS Norway(post-1980) | 66,343 GRT(as built) [61] 76,049 GRT (final size) [lower-alpha 7] | 315 m (1,035 ft) | 1972 – 1987 [65] [66] 1990 – 1995 [67] [68] | Scrapped in 2008 | |
18 December 1987 | MS Sovereign of the Seas | 73,529 GT [69] | 268 m (880 ft) | 1987 – 1990 [66] [68] (Surpassed by SS Norway) | Scrapped in 2020 | |
26 June 1995 | Sun Princess | 77,499 GT | 261 m (857 ft) | 1995 – 1996 | In service as Pacific World | |
24 November 1996 (entered service) | Carnival Destiny | 101,353 GT | 272 m (893 ft) | 1996 – 1998 | In service as Carnival Sunshine | |
27 May 1998 (entered service) | Grand Princess | 109,000 GT | 290 m (951 ft) | 1998 – 1999 | In service | |
29 October 1999 | Voyager of the Seas | 137,276 GT | 311 m (1,020 ft) | 1999 – 2000 | In service | |
28 September 2000 | Explorer of the Seas | 137,308 GT | 311 m (1,020 ft) | 2000 – 2002 | In service | |
21st century | ||||||
18 November 2002 | Navigator of the Seas | 139,999 GT [70] | 311 m (1,020 ft) | 2002 – 2003 | In service | |
22 December 2003 | RMS Queen Mary 2 | 148,528 GT [71] | 345.03 m (1,132.0 ft) | 2003 – 2006 | In service | |
24 April 2006 | MS Freedom of the Seas | 154,407 GT [72] | 338.774 m (1,111.46 ft) | 2006 – 2007 [lower-alpha 8] | In service | |
19 May 2007 | Liberty of the Seas | 155,889 GT [73] | 338.92 m (1,111.9 ft) | 2007 – 2009 | In service | |
28 October 2009 | Oasis of the Seas | 225,282 GT [74] (Initially) | 360 m (1,180 ft) | 2009 – 2016 [lower-alpha 9] | In service | |
13 May 2016 | Harmony of the Seas | 226,963 GT [78] | 362.12 m (1,188.1 ft) | 2016 – 2018 | In service | |
23 March 2018 | Symphony of the Seas | 228,081 GT [79] | 361.011 m (1,184.42 ft) | 2018 – 2022 | In service | |
27 January 2022 | Wonder of the Seas | 236,857 GT [80] | 362.04 m (1,187.8 ft) | 2022 – 2023 | In service | |
27 November 2023 | Icon of the Seas | 248,663 GT [81] | 364.75 m (1,196.7 ft) | 2023 – present | In service |
RMS Olympic was a British ocean liner and the lead ship of the White Star Line's trio of Olympic-class liners. Olympic had a career spanning 24 years from 1911 to 1935, in contrast to her short-lived sister ships, Titanic and Britannic. This included service as a troopship during the First World War, which gained her the nickname "Old Reliable", and during which she rammed and sank the U-boat U-103. She returned to civilian service after the war, and served successfully as an ocean liner throughout the 1920s and into the first half of the 1930s, although increased competition, and the slump in trade during the Great Depression after 1930, made her operation increasingly unprofitable. Olympic was withdrawn from service and sold for scrapping on 12 April 1935 which was completed in 1937.
RMS Queen Elizabeth was an ocean liner operated by Cunard Line. In tandem with Queen Mary both ships provided a weekly luxury liner service between Southampton in the United Kingdom and New York City in the United States, via Cherbourg in France.
HMHSBritannic was the third and final vessel of the White Star Line's Olympic class of steamships and the second White Star ship to bear the name Britannic. She was the youngest sister of the RMS Olympic and the RMS Titanic and was intended to enter service as a transatlantic passenger liner. She was operated as a hospital ship from 1915 until her sinking near the Greek island of Kea, in the Aegean Sea, in November 1916. At the time she was the largest hospital ship in the world.
An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes. Only one ocean liner remains in service today.
A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freighters once common on the seas in which the transport of passengers is secondary to the carriage of freight. The type does however include many classes of ships designed to transport substantial numbers of passengers as well as freight. Indeed, until recently virtually all ocean liners were able to transport mail, package freight and express, and other cargo in addition to passenger luggage, and were equipped with cargo holds and derricks, kingposts, or other cargo-handling gear for that purpose. Only in more recent ocean liners and in virtually all cruise ships has this cargo capacity been eliminated.
The White Star Line was a British shipping line. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping companies in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between the British Empire and the United States. While many other shipping lines focused primarily on speed, White Star branded their services by focusing more on providing comfortable passages for both upper class travellers and immigrants.
RMS Aquitania was an ocean liner of the Cunard Line in service from 1914 to 1950. She was designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland. She was launched on 21 April 1913 and sailed on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York on 30 May 1914. She was given the title of Royal Mail Ship (RMS) like many other Cunard ocean liners since she carried the royal mail on many of her voyages. Aquitania was the third in Cunard Line's grand trio of express liners, preceded by RMS Mauretania and RMS Lusitania, and was the last surviving four-funnelled ocean liner. Shortly after Aquitania entered service, the First World War broke out, during which she was first converted into an auxiliary cruiser before being used as a troop transport and a hospital ship, notably as part of the Dardanelles Campaign.
Royal Caribbean International (RCI), previously known as Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line brand founded in 1968 in Norway and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997. Based in Miami, Florida, it is the largest cruise line by revenue and second largest by passengers counts. In 2018, Royal Caribbean International controlled 19.2% of the worldwide cruise market by passengers and 14.0% by revenue. As of January 2024, the line operates 28 ships and has three additional ships on order.
RMS Oceanic was a transatlantic ocean liner built for the White Star Line. She sailed on her maiden voyage on 6 September 1899 and was the largest ship in the world until 1901. At the outbreak of World War I she was converted to an armed merchant cruiser. On 8 August 1914 she was commissioned into Royal Navy service.
SS Normandie was a French ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, France, for the French Line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT). She entered service in 1935 as the largest and fastest passenger ship afloat, crossing the Atlantic in a record 4.14 days, and remains the most powerful steam turbo-electric-propelled passenger ship ever built.
Oceanic was the planned name of an unfinished ocean liner that was partially built by Harland and Wolff for the White Star Line. It would have been the third ship bearing the name Oceanic, after the one of 1870 and the one of 1899. It was envisaged in 1926, with the idea of modernizing the transatlantic service of the company. With the arrival of Lord Kylsant at the head of the company, the planned size of the project increased, until it became that of a large ship destined to be the first to exceed the symbolic limit of 1,000 feet (305 m) in length and 30 knots in speed.
MS Freedom of the Seas is a cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean International. She is the namesake of Royal Caribbean's Freedom class, and can accommodate 3,634 passengers and 1,300 crew on fifteen passenger decks. The vessel also has 4 crew decks below the waterline. Freedom of the Seas was the largest passenger ship ever built from 2006 until construction of her sister ship, Liberty of the Seas in 2007.
RMS Majestic was a British Ocean liner working on the White Star Line’s North Atlantic run, originally launched in 1914 as the Hamburg America Liner SS Bismarck. At 56,551 gross register tons, she was the largest ship ever operated by the White Star Line under its own flag and the largest ship in the world until completion of SS Normandie in 1935.
The Oasis class is a class of 7 Royal Caribbean International cruise ships. The first two ships in the class, Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, were delivered respectively in 2009 and 2010 by STX Europe Turku Shipyard, Finland. A third Oasis-class vessel, Harmony of the Seas, was delivered in 2016 built by STX France. A fourth vessel, Symphony of the Seas, was completed in March 2018. As of March 2022, the fifth Oasis-class ship, Wonder of the Seas, was the largest cruise ship in the world. A sixth ship, Utopia of the Seas, is currently being built for entry into service in July 2024 with a seventh to follow in 2028.
RMS Celtic was an ocean liner owned by the White Star Line. The first ship larger than SS Great Eastern by gross register tonnage, Celtic was the first of a quartet of ships over 20,000 tons, the dubbed The Big Four. She was the last ship ordered by Thomas Henry Ismay before his death in 1899. The second liner of her name she was put into service in 1901. Her large size and her low but economical speed inaugurated a new company policy aiming to favour size, luxury and comfort, to the detriment of speed.
SS Vaterland was a transatlantic ocean liner that was launched for the Hamburg America Line in 1940 but left incomplete because of the Second World War. An Allied air raid damaged her in 1943, and she was scrapped in 1948.
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 (1914). 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.
The "Big Four" were a quartet of early-20th-century 20,000-ton ocean liners built by the Harland & Wolff shipyard for the White Star Line, to be the largest and most luxurious ships afloat. The group consisted of Celtic, Cedric, Baltic and Adriatic.
Cunard-White Star Line, Ltd, was a British shipping line which existed between 1934 and 1949.
Royal William largest launched 1831.
At the time of her launch, the "British Queen" was the largest vessel afloat
In March 1841 the liner, SS President, then reputedly the largest steamship in the world, disappeared without trace in the vast tracts of the still wintry Atlantic, sometime after leaving New York en route for Liverpool. The SS President was the first steamship to founder on the transatlantic run and there was universal lamentation for the 136 crew and passengers.
At the time of her launch the City of New York was the largest passenger steamer afloat.
....arrangements are made for fitting up fast vessels such as the "Mauretania" and "Lusitania" with a number of 6-in...guns for service as merchant cruisers in time of war, when they would be used as ocean-going scouts, or for the protection of trade routes
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ignored (help)By August, the Normandie, having increased her tonnage, was again the World's Largest Liner
The French Transatlantic liner Normandie (71,300 tons) was the world's largest ship when built, and, although surpassed by 1942 by the British liners Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth in tonnage, was still the longest vessel afloat at 1,029 feet overall.
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