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
Some of the ships that held the record for the fastest crossing, with the date first achieved:
| Ship | Date | Duration | Average (knots) | speed (km/h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sirius | 1839 Apr 22 | 18 d 14 h 22 min | 8.03 | 15 |
| Great Western | 1838 Apr 23 | 15 d 12 h 0 min | 8.66 | 16 |
| RMS Lusitania | 1894 Mar 31 | |||
| SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse | 1897 Nov 29 | |||
| Deutschland | 1900 Jul 12 | |||
| RMS Mauretania | 1907 Dec 5 | |||
| Bremen | 1929 Jul 22 | |||
| Rex (Italia) | 1933 Aug 16 | 4 d 13 h 58 min | 28.92 | 54 |
| Normandie | 1935 | |||
| RMS Queen Mary | 1936 Aug 24 | |||
| SS United States | 1952 Jul 7 | 3 d 10 h 40 min | 35.6 | 66 |
| Hoverspeed Great Britain | 1990 Jun 23 | 3 d 7 h 54 min | 36.6 | 68 |
| Catalonia | 1998 Jun 9 | 38.9 | 72 | |
| Cat-Link V | 1998 Jul 20 | 2 d 20 h 9 min | 41.3 | 76 |
Reference
- Arnd Stroeh, "From Superliners to Airliners", as of February 27, 2003; [1]
- The Blue Riband of the North Atlantic, westbound and eastbound holders, greatships.net; [2]
- which cites:
- North Atlantic Seaway, Vol. 5, N.R.P. Bonsor, 1980
- The Hales Trophy, seacontainers.com; [3]
- Danish ferry sets new Atlantic-crossing record!!, vulkanusa.com; [4]
Blue Riband is also sometimes used to highlight major sporting events. For example, in athletics the Blue Riband short distance event is the 100 m sprint, while the middle distance version would be the mile or 1500 m. In cycling the Blue Riband feat would be to break the world hour record.