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Fun Facts About Ocean Liners

• Launched in 2004, the RMS Queen Mary 2 remains the largest purpose-built ocean liner. It stretches approximately 1,132 feet in length and features 15 restaurants, five pools, and a planetarium.
• Ocean liners differ from cruise ships. Ocean liners are designed for speed, strength, and stability to cross oceans, while modern cruise ships focus more on leisure, comfort, and warm-weather cruising.
• The RMS Titanic is widely considered the most famous ocean liner in history. It featured a heated, saltwater swimming pool — an extremely rare luxury for 1912.
• The legendary SS United States remains the fastest ocean liner to cross the Atlantic. She averaged nearly 36 knots (over 40 mph) and made the trip from New York to Europe in 3 days, 10 hours and 40 minutes back in 1952.
• The RMS Titanic had two sister ships. The RMS Olympic launched in 1911 and served for 24 years. The HMHS Britannic served as a WWI hospital ship and sank in 1916 after striking a German mine.
• Ocean liners in the early 1900s were basically floating palaces. They competed to offer passengers the most luxurious interiors, including marble staircases, crystal chandeliers, and even Turkish baths.
• Royal Mail Ships (RMS) such as the Lusitania, were premier transatlantic ocean liners contracted by the British Post Office to transport mail. These ships operated on strict schedules and were crucial for fast, reliable international communication from 1840 onwards.
• Ocean liners were once the primary mode of intercontinental travel, but were replaced by faster jet airlines in the 1950s–1960s. As passenger numbers declined, they were either converted into cruise ships or scrapped altogether. Today, only one true ocean liner remains in service: the RMS Queen Mary 2.