SS Servia
Encyclopedia
SS Servia was a 2-funnel ocean liner
built by John Brown and Company, Clydebank
, Scotland
, for the Cunard Line
. She had four decks and a promenade deck. At the time of her launching in 1 March 1881 it was the second largest of all ships in the world at 515 feet long and 52.1 feet wide, after SS Great Eastern
. She made her maiden voyage on November 26, 1881 from Liverpool to New York. She was taken out of service and broken up by T.W Wards in 1902, in Preston, Lancashire.
SS Servia was the first steel-hulled Cunarder. She was also the first ocean liner
lit by electric incandescent lamps. Though she never attained the Blue Riband
, the liner tested whether steel hulls and electric lighting could work for transatlantic ships.
Bruce Forsyth
s Grandfather travelled on the liner in the mid 1880's to start a new, bigamist marriage.
Writers Jane Addams
and Henry James
both sailed on a crossing aboard Servia in August 1883, though it does not appear they met.
Ocean liner
An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...
built by John Brown and Company, Clydebank
Clydebank
Clydebank is a town in West Dunbartonshire, in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, Clydebank borders Dumbarton, the town with which it was combined to form West Dunbartonshire, as well as the town of Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire, and the Yoker and...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, for the Cunard Line
Cunard Line
Cunard Line is a British-American owned shipping company based at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operated by Carnival UK. It has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic for over a century...
. She had four decks and a promenade deck. At the time of her launching in 1 March 1881 it was the second largest of all ships in the world at 515 feet long and 52.1 feet wide, after SS Great Eastern
SS Great Eastern
SS Great Eastern was an iron sailing steam ship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and built by J. Scott Russell & Co. at Millwall on the River Thames, London. She was by far the largest ship ever built at the time of her 1858 launch, and had the capacity to carry 4,000 passengers around the...
. She made her maiden voyage on November 26, 1881 from Liverpool to New York. She was taken out of service and broken up by T.W Wards in 1902, in Preston, Lancashire.
SS Servia was the first steel-hulled Cunarder. She was also the first ocean liner
Ocean liner
An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...
lit by electric incandescent lamps. Though she never attained the Blue Riband
Blue Riband
The Blue Riband is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. Under the unwritten rules, the record is based on average speed...
, the liner tested whether steel hulls and electric lighting could work for transatlantic ships.
Bruce Forsyth
Bruce Forsyth
Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson, CBE , commonly known as Bruce Forsyth, or Brucie, is an English TV personality...
s Grandfather travelled on the liner in the mid 1880's to start a new, bigamist marriage.
Writers Jane Addams
Jane Addams
Jane Addams was a pioneer settlement worker, founder of Hull House in Chicago, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in woman suffrage and world peace...
and Henry James
Henry James
Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
both sailed on a crossing aboard Servia in August 1883, though it does not appear they met.
External links
- Norway Heritage: SS Servia, Cunard Line
- Servia on Chris' Cunard Page http://www.chriscunard.com/servia.php