The passenger ocean liner is, without question, the greatest of all man-made construction, especially as exhibited at the peak of its development from the 1930s onwards. They were as large then as any skyscraper or any of the world’s greatest railway stations. But unlike these edifices, locked to the earth, static upon their foundations, the passenger ocean liners, fitted with machinery as large as that of any power station, were powerful, mobile monuments of man’s engineering prowess. Cleaving the waves at anything up to 30 knots, they were the leviathans and monarchs of the oceans, and truly were floating cities.

Of course other equally large ocean vessels have been built such as large crude oil supertankers and aircraft carriers to name just two. But none of these have incorporated the same level of complexity or ornamentation as that which is characteristic of the true ocean liner. Passengers as their “cargo”, required creature comforts, as far as possible, a real “home from home” which could delude them into feeling far removed from the ocean’s fury (only a hull’s thickness away), as if they were still on dry land. The same is true of today’s cruise ships although they are built more as holiday resorts and not for speed and a means of travel as the ocean liners were.

Great Britain was right at the forefront of the introduction and development of the passenger ocean liner and remained the leading force in scheduled passenger ship operation throughout its long era from the early 1840s to the early 1970s. It was the ocean liners and their scheduled liner routes linking Britain with the diverse corners of the world that enabled people for the first time to travel long distances between continents on a regular basis. This traffic has since been succeeded by the aeroplane and today’s airlines serve a similar role but in less time that the ocean liners and their shipping companies did before. The ocean liner succeeded the age of sail and it was in turn succeeded by the aeroplane and the aviation age. Today the ocean liner has declined and their scheduled routes have been succeeded by the faster aeroplane but in turn they have survived and evolved into today’s cruise liners. There are now very few true ocean liners left and their number is continuing to dwindle until eventually there will be none left. Over those 130 years various companies came and went as they experienced mixed fortunes in this trade which, more than any other demanded brave investors, innovative engineers and a truly entrepreneurial spirit in order to succeed. Some of the notable shipping companies of this period include Union Castle Line, Cunard Line, P&O Line, Orient Line, Shaw Savill Line, Blue Star Line, Blue Funnel, White Star Line, Canadian Pacific Line and many others. Today only Cunard Line and P&O survive and have successfully evolved with the changing times and today are dominant forces in the cruise liner business.