Speaker Ranald Ross-Watt on the Blue Riband

Rotary Stirling meeting 4.3.16

President Peter Mehta welcomed members.  There were no visitors.  Buckie Rotary will be organising their 6 Harbour Walk on May 1st.  The President and Ranald Ross-Watt will be attending District Council Meeting at Perth on March 13th.

Speaker for today was our Communications Convener Ranald, well known for his interest in ships and considerable mileage covered on board them.  As such, his subject was The Blue Riband of the Atlantic.  Although it was 1935 before the official Hales Trophy was created for the fastest Westbound crossing, the unofficial contest dates back as far as 1838, when the paddle steamer Sirius travelled from the UK to New York at an average speed of 8.03 knots.  To qualify for the award, a ship’s average speed is the deciding factor, not journey time, as routes can vary.  Eastbound crossings are also not eligible, because the effect of the Gulf Stream increases a ship’s speed over the ground, even though speed through the water may remain unchanged.

The first screw-driven winner was White Star’s Adriatic in 1872 at 14.63 knots and it took till 1889 for the 20 knot barrier to be broken by the City of Paris, sailing under the flag of US shipping line Inman.  The contest was between nations as well as ships. Of the 35 Atlantic liners to hold the Blue Riband, 25 were British, 5 German, 3 American, 1 Italian and 1French. Many of these ships were subsidised by governments, often with an eye to military applications, such as troopships.  If a vessel can travel consistently at 30 knots, as did the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, no submarine can get into a firing position, so the ship becomes relatively invulnerable.  When the Cunarder Lusitania, top speed 27 knots, was torpedoed off the Old Head of Kinsale in Ireland during 1915, it had slowed to little over half that figure, to save fuel.

Greatest of them all was and is the SS United States, a long, slim, destroyer-like vessel conceived by a naval architect who actually designed destroyers.  She packed a 240,000 horsepower punch in the form of the power plant from an aircraft carrier and put the Riband effectively out of reach with an average of34.51 knots (40 mph) and a top speed of around 40 knots (46.3 mph).  With the arrival of the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC8, the focus of fast Atlantic crossings shifted to jet airliners and most of these ships were scrapped.  The United States still exists, all be it in a dilapidated and stripped out form, alongside in Philadelphia.  Fortunately, ultra-luxury cruise line Crystal have, this year, expressed an interest in reinstating the United States as a 400 suite (800 passenger) cruise ship.  With a likely price tag of $800,000,000 it remains to be seen whether this will prove viable, but we can but hope.

The Vote of Thanks was given by Crawford Gordon and well supported.  This week’s meeting is a Business Meeting.  Visitors Host is Derek Robertson.  Stirling Rotary club welcome applications from new members. Information can be found on the club’s website www.stirling.rotary1010.org.



Ranald Ross-Watt
Communications Convener.