RMS Adriatic (1907)

RMS Adriatic was an ocean liner of the White Star Line. She was the fourth of a quartet of ships measuring over 20,000 tons, dubbed The Big Four, the ship was the only one of the four which was never the world's largest ship however, she was the fastest of the Big Four. Adriatic was the first ocean liner to have an indoor swimming pool and a Turkish bath.

She was built by Harland and Wolff and was launched on 20 September 1906 (the same day as the Cunard Line's Mauretania). When she was completed, she was 75 ft wide (23 m). She set off on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York on 8 May 1907 under the command of Captain Edward Smith. She was changed to the Southampton run after her maiden voyage. She was, however, the ship that inaugurated White Star's Southampton service and was the first White Star liner to use the newly constructed dock in Southampton, named the White Star Dock (it was renamed in 1922 to the Ocean Dock). She ran this route until 1911 when Olympic took it over and Adriatic returned to the Liverpool run. Adriatic remained in passenger service during the First World War. During World War I, Adriatic served as a troopship and survived the war without any incident,the Adriatic traveled between Canada and Britain in this time and later the US. After the war she returned to passenger service. In 1928, she was converted to a "cabin-class" ship. In 1933, she was withdrawn from the North Atlantic route and was converted into cruising.

Adriatic left Liverpool for the last time on 19 December 1934, on her longest voyage ever, to be scrapped at Onomichi, Japan in 1935. She is also the ship that brought Millvina Dean home from America in 1912. Millvina was the last living survivor of the RMS Titanic. Milvina Dean was also the youngest passenger on the RMS Titanic

References

• Adriatic on thegreatoceanliners.com
• http://www.greatships.net/adriatic2.html
• http://www.lostliners.com/Adriatic.html
• The electric and Turkish baths on the SS Adriatic