Blue Riband

The Blue Riband is an award held by the ship with the record for a transatlantic crossing. The first steam powered crossing of the Atlantic was in 1833. The Blue Riband was a creation of the transatlantic shipping companies in the 1860s, for the publicity opportunities of possessing the fastest ship. There were separate awards for the fastest eastbound and westbound crossings. It was represented by a blue penant in the top mast of the ship, until 1930 when Sir Harold Hales initiated a trophy. The Hales Trophy is awarded on the basis of average speed, since the distance of transatlantic routes varies. The last Superliner to hold the trophy was the SS United States, which set a time that was not beaten until 1990.

Related Topics:
Ship - Transatlantic - Steam power - 1833 - 1860 - 1930 - Harold Hales - Superliner - SS United States - 1990

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Some of the ships that held the record for the fastest crossing, with the date first achieved:

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ShipDateDurationAverage(knots)speed(km/h)

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Sirius1838 Apr 2218 d 14 h 22 min8.0315

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Great Western1838 Apr 2315 d 12 h 0 min8.6616

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RMS Lucania1894 Mar 3118.7334.7

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Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse1897 Nov 2922.2941.3

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Deutschland1900 Jul 1222.4241.5

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RMS Mauretania1907 Dec 526.0648.3

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Bremen1929 Jul 224 d 17 h 42 min27.8351.5

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Rex1933 Aug 164 d 13 h 58 min28.9253.6

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Normandie193529.9855.5

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RMS Queen Mary1936 Aug 2430.1455.8

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United States1952 Jul 73 d 10 h 40 min35.667.8

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Hoverspeed Great Britain1990 Jun 233 d 7 h 54 min36.668

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Catalonia1998 Jun 938.972

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Cat-Link V1998 Jul 202 d 20 h 9 min41.376

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