White Star Line
White Star Line was a prominent ship operating company, most famous for its emigrant ship, the RMS Titanic.The company originated as "White Star Line of Boston Packets" in 1845 as a ship broking business.
The White Star Line name and goodwill was bought from bankruptcy by Thomas Ismay for 1,000 pounds sterling on January 18, 1868. As the White Star Line had known previous owners, Ismay began work at creating a relationshiop with Harland & Wolff Shipbuilders, which would be commissioned for building all future ships.
Four ships were initially constructed for the Oceanic series; the RMS Oceanic, RMS Atlantic, RMS Baltic, and RMS Republic.
During the time, the efficiency of coal engines only allowed a feasible speed of about 24 knotss (44.4 km/h/27.6 mph). Going above this speed introduced a logarithmic proportion in direct relation to fuel consumption and speed, in that for every knot increased, the required fuel was the previous fuel required plus itself. For this reason, the White Star Line committed to comfort and reliability rather than to speed. As an example, the Titanic was designed for travel at 21 knots (39 km/h), while the Cunard Line's RMS Mauretania held the speed record in 1926 for 27 knots (48 km/h).
The Cunard Line was the direct competition to White Star Line as their fame and success mounted. As a competition piece, the White Star Line began construction on their new series, the Olympic series; the RMS Olympic, RMS Titanic, and RMS Britannic. Britannic had originally held the name Gigantic, but was changed after the sinking of Titanic to Britannic to save the company from looking too proud.
It may be noted that in stark opposition to its competition, the White Star Line had named all their ships with an 'ic' ending, as opposed to Cunard Line's use of 'ia'.
White Star Line finally merged with Cunard Line in 1934 as directed by the British Government, creating Cunard-White Star Ltd. However Cunard Lines finally won out, puchasing all outstanding shares of White Star Line in 1947.