Transatlantic crossing

Transatlantic crossings are passages of passengers and cargo across the

Prior to the 19th century, transatlantic crossings were undertaken in

Transatlantic passenger crossings became faster, safer, and more reliable with the advent of steamships in the 19th century. The wooden-hulled, paddle-wheel SS Great Western built in 1838 is recognized as the first purpose-built transatlantic steamship, on a scheduled run back and forth from Bristol to New York City. The design by British civil engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel was a breakthrough in its size, unprecedented passenger capacity, and for Brunel leveraging the fuel efficiency of a larger ship. It became the prototype for a generation of similar ships.^[1]

The

Competition developed among the industrial powers of the time—the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and the United States—to competitively build grand ocean liners as symbols of national technical skill and expressions of power, not just transport businesses. The competition was for speed. An award called the Blue Riband has been tracked since 1838, for the fastest average speed of a steamship in regular service across the Atlantic. This record became so critical to international prestige that the RMS Mauretania was commissioned by the British government specifically to take the Blue Riband back from the Germans and their SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, which it did in 1907. The government also required it be convertible into a troop carrier if needed.^[2] In 1935 shipping magnate Harold Hales formalized the prize by commissioning and donating the four-foot, solid silver Hales Trophy.

Examples of other famous transatlantic liners are RMS Lusitania, RMS Olympic, RMS Titanic, SS Île de France,RMS Aquitania, SS Rex, SS Normandie, RMS Queen Mary, SS America, RMS Queen Elizabeth, SS France, Queen Elizabeth 2, RMS Queen Mary 2, and the SS United States. The United States is the current holder of the Hales Trophy. In July 1952 that ship made the crossing in 3 days, 10 hours, 40 minutes. Cunard Line's RMS Queen Mary 2 is the only ship currently making regular transatlantic crossings throughout the year, usually between Southampton and New York. For this reason it has been designed as a proper ocean liner, not as a cruise ship.

During World War II the transatlantic crossing was very important for the United Kingdom as much of Europe had been taken over by Germany and its allies preventing trade and supplies; the struggle is known as the Battle of the Atlantic.

In 2009, two brothers, Ralph and Robert Brown, crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a 21 ft (6.4 m) flats boat – a special boat designed to operate in extremely shallow water. This flats boat was designed and built by Ralph Brown. The voyage was called the "I Am Second Wounded Hero Voyage" in honor of the men who were killed in Operation Eagle Claw; Ralph Brown had been in the USMC at the time of the Operation and was told he was going to participate in the mission. Though he ultimately did not go, other servicemen who did perished in the failed military operation.^[3][4][5]

In 1952,

In 1988, the junk raft, Son of Town Hall, crossed the North Atlantic Ocean.^[9]

In 2011, Anthony Smith and the Antiki crossed the Atlantic.^[10]

On July 10, 1980, Gérard d'Aboville became the first sailor to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean in a west-east direction.

On 13 June 2003, French rower

In 2005, the Vivaldi Atlantic 4 broke the previous rowing record of 55 days and setting a new record of 39 days.^[12]

On 26 October 2010, Polish

In 1997, the first East–West Atlantic Rowing Race took place, running from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean. It now runs roughly once every two years.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, the first West–East North Atlantic Rowing Race took place, running from

In 1775, the 62-ton schooner Quero, sailed by John Derby from Salem, Massachusetts to the Isle of Wight in 28 days (April 28 to May 25).^[14][15][16]

In 1866, the 26-foot (7.9 m)

Transatlantic flight surpassed ocean liners as the predominant mode of crossing the Atlantic in the mid 20th century. In 1919, the American

The first serious attempt to take a share of the transatlantic passenger market away from the ocean liners was undertaken by Germany. In the 1930s, Germany crossed the Atlantic with Zeppelins that could carry about 60 passengers in a similar luxurious style to the ocean liners. However, the Hindenburg disaster in 1937 put an end to transatlantic Zeppelin flights.

On 1 June 1944, two

Beginning in the 1950s, the predominance of ocean liners began to wane when larger, jet-powered airplanes began carrying passengers across the ocean in less and less time. The speed of crossing the ocean therefore became more important than the style of crossing it. The maturing passenger Jet Age starting with the Boeing 707 reduced the typical crossing time between London and New York City to between 6.5 and 8 hours, depending on weather conditions. By the 1970s, supersonic Concorde airplanes could connect the two cities in less than 4 hours, and only one ocean liner, Queen Elizabeth 2 remained on the transatlantic route for those who favored the slower style of travel.

The economics of commercial transatlantic flying have evolved markedly since the 1950s; the introduction of

Transatlantic cables are cables that have been laid along the ocean floor to connect North America and Europe. Before the advent of radio, the only means of communication across the Atlantic Ocean was to physically connect the continents with a transatlantic telegraph cable, the first of which was installed from Valentia, Ireland to Heart's Content, Newfoundland in 1858. It worked for a month.

The first pair of eastbound and westbound transatlantic telephone cables,

A transatlantic tunnel is a theoretical structure proposed several times since the late 19th century. It would be a tunnel spanning the Atlantic Ocean between New York City and the United Kingdom or France.

The introduction of various technologies facilitated progressively faster transatlantic crossings. The duration to travel westbound from Europe to North America when a new transport innovation was introduced for commercial use is listed below:^[21]

• 1620: 66 days: fluyt Mayflower (Southampton to Cape Cod)
• 1838: 18 days 4 hours: paddle steamer SS Sirius (Cork to New York City)
• 1863: 8 days 3 hours: single screw steamship RMS Scotia (Queenstown to New York City)
• 1889: 5 days 19 hours: double screw
  Sandy Hook
  )
• 1907: 4 days 20 hours:
  Sandy Hook
  )
• 1929: 4 days 3 hours: bulbous bow-equipped steamship: SS Bremen (Cherbourg to Ambrose Light)
• 1936: 4 days: Yarrow boiler-equipped steamship: RMS Queen Mary (Bishop Rock to Ambrose Light)
• 1936: 2 days 5 hours: airship LZ 129 Hindenburg (Frankfurt to Lakehurst)
• 1939: 1 day 3 hours: flying boat Pan Am Boeing 314 Clipper Yankee Clipper (Southampton to Port Washington via Foynes, Botwood and Shediac)
• 1945: 14 hours: landplane American Overseas Airlines Douglas DC-4 (London to New York City via Gander)
• 1958: 10 hours 20 minutes: jet aircraft
  BOAC de Havilland Comet (London to New York City
  via Gander)
• 1976: 3 hours 30 minutes: supersonic aircraft British Airways Concorde (London to Washington, D.C.)

• Transatlantic relations
• Transatlantic flight
• Transpacific crossing
• Transpacific flight
• Atlantic slave trade

Further reading

• Fowler Jr., William M. Steam Titans: Cunard, Collins, and the Epic Battle for Commerce on the North Atlantic (London: Bloomsbury), 2017. 358 pp

External links

Look up transatlantic crossing in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

• "Evolution of trans-Atlantic Ships", May 1931, Popular Mechanics