Ocean Liners
For many people the epitome of luxury travel at the beginning of the 20th Century was to cross the Atlantic in one of the great Four Funnel Liners during the 'Golden age' of travel. Each Ship had an average capacity of 1,500-2,000 passengers in three different classes of accommodation. The great Liners crossed the Ocean in an average of 5-7 days while RMS Mauretania made the crossing in a record four and a half days in 1907, a record that stood for the next 30 years.
Funnels on Steamships allowed smoke, heat and excess steam to escape from the boiler rooms but as Ships became larger and faster the number of funnels became symbolic of speed and safety.
Four funnel Liners included the White Star Line's ill fated 'Titanic', lost on her maiden voyage on April 15th 1912, her sister Ships Olympic and Britannic and Cunard's Lusitania, torpedoed off the coast of Ireland by a German U-boat on May 7th 1915.