the Atlantic with a top speed of over twenty-one knots, taking the Blue Riband for the Atlantic crossing on her maiden voyage. By 1903, German companies owned the four fastest ships crossing the Atlantic.
In 1902 the American banker John Pierpont Morgan bought the White Star Line for twenty-five million dollars for the new shipping conglomerate he was building—International Mercantile Marine (IMM). Having negotiated an alliance with the two main German lines, Hamburg-Amerika and North German Lloyd, he approached Cunard, the only major line still in British ownership, with an offer for the company’s shares at 80 percent above the market value.
The British press railed against the “ ‘Morganization’ of the Atlantic” and warned of the consequences of losing “the great north Atlantic trade, the only trade which can support ships of great speed and tonnage so essential as cruisers in time of war.” The British government feared that Germany would soon have a fleet of nine liners, all of which could outstrip the fastest British steamers. Its stark choice lay between acquiescing in the acquisition of Cunard by IMM or rescuing Cunard “for the nation” through a large government subsidy. While the debate ebbed and flowed an aging Cunard liner broke down in mid-Atlantic and had to be towed to the Azores by an IMM tramp steamer. The press highlighted the disturbing symbolism.
In July 1903 the British government agreed to lend Cunard £2,600,000 to build two new ships, subsequently named the Lusitania and the Mauretania , that with a top speed of at least twenty-four-and-a-half knots could outstrip the upstart German liners and whose specifications the Admiralty would approve. It also agreed to pay Cunard an annual subsidy of £150,000 for maintaining both vessels in a state of war readiness, together with £68,000 for carrying the mail. In return, the Admiralty had the right to commandeer the ships for use as auxiliary merchant cruisers, troopships, or hospital ships.
The Lusitania was the first of the two ships to enter service, making her maiden transatlantic voyage in September 1907 during the second Hague Conference. She was half the size again of any vessel yet built, and three quarters more powerful. Novel features included high-tensile steel in her hull for additional strength and electric controls for steering, for closing her 175 watertight compartments, and for detecting fire. On her first arrival in New York the American newspapers hailed the luxury of a ship that was “more beautiful than Solomon’s Temple and big enough to hold all his wives.” On her second westbound crossing she won back the Blue Riband.
At the conference of the ten leading maritime nations in London in 1908, Britain’s commercial interests as a supplier and transporter of much of the world’s trade dominated the policy of Campbell-Bannerman and his Liberal Party government rather than what might become its naval interests if it became involved in a war. Other delegations too emphasized the importance of trade and freedom of the seas. Consequently, no change was made to the old Cruiser Rules to allow for new, modern technologies such as the submarine. Merchant ships still could not be sunk without warning; rather, they had to be stopped and searched for contraband and, if it was found, the crew given the time to take to the boats before the vessel was sunk or seized as a prize. Tight definitions were drawn up of what constituted “contraband,” differentiating between goods clearly intended for military use such as weapons and those for civilian use. Some goods such as blankets or cloth were defined as “conditional contraband,” which could be used for either military or civil purposes. Before they could be seized and destroyed their use and destination had to be established. Close blockades of an enemy’s ports by warships at the edge of territorial waters remained acceptable.
Mahan—now an admiral—was a frustrated
In 1902 the American banker John Pierpont Morgan bought the White Star Line for twenty-five million dollars for the new shipping conglomerate he was building—International Mercantile Marine (IMM). Having negotiated an alliance with the two main German lines, Hamburg-Amerika and North German Lloyd, he approached Cunard, the only major line still in British ownership, with an offer for the company’s shares at 80 percent above the market value.
The British press railed against the “ ‘Morganization’ of the Atlantic” and warned of the consequences of losing “the great north Atlantic trade, the only trade which can support ships of great speed and tonnage so essential as cruisers in time of war.” The British government feared that Germany would soon have a fleet of nine liners, all of which could outstrip the fastest British steamers. Its stark choice lay between acquiescing in the acquisition of Cunard by IMM or rescuing Cunard “for the nation” through a large government subsidy. While the debate ebbed and flowed an aging Cunard liner broke down in mid-Atlantic and had to be towed to the Azores by an IMM tramp steamer. The press highlighted the disturbing symbolism.
In July 1903 the British government agreed to lend Cunard £2,600,000 to build two new ships, subsequently named the Lusitania and the Mauretania , that with a top speed of at least twenty-four-and-a-half knots could outstrip the upstart German liners and whose specifications the Admiralty would approve. It also agreed to pay Cunard an annual subsidy of £150,000 for maintaining both vessels in a state of war readiness, together with £68,000 for carrying the mail. In return, the Admiralty had the right to commandeer the ships for use as auxiliary merchant cruisers, troopships, or hospital ships.
The Lusitania was the first of the two ships to enter service, making her maiden transatlantic voyage in September 1907 during the second Hague Conference. She was half the size again of any vessel yet built, and three quarters more powerful. Novel features included high-tensile steel in her hull for additional strength and electric controls for steering, for closing her 175 watertight compartments, and for detecting fire. On her first arrival in New York the American newspapers hailed the luxury of a ship that was “more beautiful than Solomon’s Temple and big enough to hold all his wives.” On her second westbound crossing she won back the Blue Riband.
At the conference of the ten leading maritime nations in London in 1908, Britain’s commercial interests as a supplier and transporter of much of the world’s trade dominated the policy of Campbell-Bannerman and his Liberal Party government rather than what might become its naval interests if it became involved in a war. Other delegations too emphasized the importance of trade and freedom of the seas. Consequently, no change was made to the old Cruiser Rules to allow for new, modern technologies such as the submarine. Merchant ships still could not be sunk without warning; rather, they had to be stopped and searched for contraband and, if it was found, the crew given the time to take to the boats before the vessel was sunk or seized as a prize. Tight definitions were drawn up of what constituted “contraband,” differentiating between goods clearly intended for military use such as weapons and those for civilian use. Some goods such as blankets or cloth were defined as “conditional contraband,” which could be used for either military or civil purposes. Before they could be seized and destroyed their use and destination had to be established. Close blockades of an enemy’s ports by warships at the edge of territorial waters remained acceptable.
Mahan—now an admiral—was a frustrated
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