0:00:16 > 0:00:19A silver-plated teapot from the Edwardian period.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21I see lots of these, and generally,
0:00:21 > 0:00:25they're not worth much, but this one is special and is rather different.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29There is a mark that tells me it was
0:00:29 > 0:00:33made for the White Star Line This teapot was made in about 1911,
0:00:33 > 0:00:39and ones like this were on great ships - the Olympic, the Titanic.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42Of course, that makes it hugely valuable in financial terms,
0:00:42 > 0:00:44but that's not the point.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48The value of this teapot is that it takes us directly
0:00:48 > 0:00:52into the glamour, the romance, the excitement,
0:00:52 > 0:00:56the drama of the golden age of the ocean liner.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04The heyday of the ocean liners
0:01:04 > 0:01:08was between the end of the 19th century and the Second World War.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11Nearly all of these ships are long gone,
0:01:11 > 0:01:14but throughout Britain, relics of them survive.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36I'm setting out to discover how our romance with liners began...
0:01:36 > 0:01:40and why they continue to resonate with us to this day.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59Giant cruise ships like these, providing holidays afloat,
0:01:59 > 0:02:02are today's descendents of the great liners.
0:02:04 > 0:02:09I travel on cruise ships regularly as a lecturer and I love it.
0:02:09 > 0:02:14A great modern ship like this has every amenity for all modern tastes.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17But a cruise is not about getting somewhere in a hurry,
0:02:17 > 0:02:21it's about the journey, the ship itself as a destination.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25But it wasn't always like that.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28In the late 19th century,
0:02:28 > 0:02:32a sea voyage was a terrifying, a hazardous prospect.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35Passengers would face days, weeks,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38of boredom, discomfort and seasickness.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41But it was the only way to get to America,
0:02:41 > 0:02:45to get to the colonies, to get to the rest of the world.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48'Scores of passenger ships crossed and re-crossed the seas
0:02:48 > 0:02:50'along scheduled lines,
0:02:50 > 0:02:53'carrying everyone from emigrants to the rich and famous.'
0:02:53 > 0:02:57The passenger liner companies quickly realised that the way
0:02:57 > 0:03:01to make money was to offer the shortest possible passages.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04And on the most profitable route, from Europe to America,
0:03:04 > 0:03:07the fastest ship across the North Atlantic
0:03:07 > 0:03:12could also claim an unofficial prize - the so-called Blue Riband.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17For most of the 19th century, it was British liners
0:03:17 > 0:03:19that provided the fastest crossings to America.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24But then, Germany entered the race.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27This was no ordinary contest. The Kaiser took a personal interest.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31Emperor William II was a naval buff.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34He could be seen drawing battleships.
0:03:34 > 0:03:42That's what he did for fun. Germany initiated, in the 1890s, a large
0:03:42 > 0:03:45naval construction programme, so basically a battle fleet.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48This led the British to take action,
0:03:48 > 0:03:53who responded with their own battleship construction programme -
0:03:53 > 0:03:57the Dreadnought programme - and it became quite clear
0:03:57 > 0:04:00that they outproduced the Germans by a wide margin.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04So it is a frustrated naval challenge on the part of the Germans
0:04:04 > 0:04:07that stands at the beginning of this rivalry.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11Where German battleships failed, German liners succeeded.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15The Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, launched in 1897,
0:04:15 > 0:04:19was built with the express aim of winning the Blue Riband for Germany.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22They drew great national pride
0:04:22 > 0:04:26from the ability to cross the Atlantic faster than anybody else
0:04:26 > 0:04:30and, of course, for the wealthy clientele,
0:04:30 > 0:04:34who were interested in getting around as quickly as we are today,
0:04:34 > 0:04:37those were the ships of choice.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41The Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was not only the fastest liner,
0:04:41 > 0:04:43it also set another standard.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46It was the first liner that was designed by
0:04:46 > 0:04:48a single architectural intelligence.
0:04:48 > 0:04:54Johannes Poppe was the chief designer for the interiors of that ship
0:04:54 > 0:04:59and, um, the Germans went well over the top in creating interiors
0:04:59 > 0:05:04that were splendid beyond the necessity of transport.
0:05:05 > 0:05:10These ships were fantasies, they were meant to divert, they were the...
0:05:10 > 0:05:12They provided a wow factor.
0:05:12 > 0:05:17These lavish German ships certainly made an impact.
0:05:24 > 0:05:29But it was Albert Ballin, the head of the German Hamburg-American line,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32who really transformed the ocean liner.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35He understood that the race for the Atlantic
0:05:35 > 0:05:37was as much about fashion as speed.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49None of these great early ocean liners survive intact,
0:05:49 > 0:05:54so, to see Albert Ballin's vision, I've come to the Ritz in London.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58This is the palm court of the Ritz hotel,
0:05:58 > 0:06:02a wonderfully opulent and magnificent interior.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04The Ritz hotels of Paris and London
0:06:04 > 0:06:07were designed by the most fashionable architects of the age,
0:06:07 > 0:06:12the Frenchman Charles Mewes and his English partner Arthur Davis,
0:06:12 > 0:06:14using the style of Louis XVI.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19It was this kind of setting that inspired Albert Ballin
0:06:19 > 0:06:22to try to bring to his ocean liners the glamour
0:06:22 > 0:06:24and exclusivity of the grand hotel.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29He knew that he had to attract that rich elite,
0:06:29 > 0:06:32who were used to wining and dining and socialising
0:06:32 > 0:06:35in these opulent interiors.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40But he wanted them to do it at sea.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43And so Albert Ballin commissioned the designers of the Ritz
0:06:43 > 0:06:47to create the interiors of his latest ship, the Amerika,
0:06:47 > 0:06:49launched in 1905.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53Very often, the ocean liners were advertised as floating hotels,
0:06:53 > 0:06:56because I think a lot of the publicity
0:06:56 > 0:06:59was trying to reassure the sort of potential passenger
0:06:59 > 0:07:01that nothing awful would happen.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04They were going to be ensconced in this gorgeous interior,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07sheltered from the ravages of the Atlantic,
0:07:07 > 0:07:10and it would be a comfortable, fabulous experience.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19In the first class of most ocean liners
0:07:19 > 0:07:23of the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
0:07:23 > 0:07:27the interior was not only a way of establishing
0:07:27 > 0:07:30a sense of security against the elements, but also a way
0:07:30 > 0:07:34of reaffirming the self-importance of the passengers travelling.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38'Ocean liners traditionally fed travellers at set mealtimes,
0:07:38 > 0:07:43'often at navy-style long tables with fixed swivel chairs.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46'But that would all now change.'
0:07:46 > 0:07:50The interiors of the Amerika echoed the Ritz hotels in so many ways,
0:07:50 > 0:07:52but somehow, it wasn't enough.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56Albert Ballin wanted a great a la carte restaurant
0:07:56 > 0:08:00equivalent to the best in Paris, London, New York and Berlin.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03And so he enlisted the help of Cesar Ritz,
0:08:03 > 0:08:07who planned a great Ritz-Carlton restaurant just for the Amerika.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11The menus were planned by Auguste Escoffier, the great French Chef,
0:08:11 > 0:08:14the staff were trained in London and the diners
0:08:14 > 0:08:18sat at 25 separate tables, in a magnificent dining room
0:08:18 > 0:08:21framed on three sides by windows.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27Of course, the irony of all this was that the Amerika,
0:08:27 > 0:08:31a great symbol of German pride and Imperial supremacy,
0:08:31 > 0:08:34was actually designed by a Frenchman
0:08:34 > 0:08:37and built at Belfast by Harland and Wolff.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41But for the clientele the Amerika sought to attract,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44a German identity was not the only thing they were interested in.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47The main body of first class travellers
0:08:47 > 0:08:50on the North Atlantic were Americans, and so,
0:08:50 > 0:08:53the ships were contrived to appeal to American tastes.
0:08:53 > 0:08:58They were named for Americans, the George Washington for example.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02A German ship named after the first American president
0:09:02 > 0:09:04to appeal to an American Clientele.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08The interiors, too, were meant to give Americans
0:09:08 > 0:09:12the sense that they were enjoying an abbreviated tour
0:09:12 > 0:09:15of great European houses while they were still at float.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19This was the age of the Carnegies, of the Astors,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23of the plutocrats that had gotten rich in the gilded age.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28And they travelled to Europe regularly and what they expect
0:09:28 > 0:09:32on these liners is to be treated like a new aristocracy,
0:09:32 > 0:09:36and this is exactly what the liner companies give them.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39Americans go to Europe, because they see it
0:09:39 > 0:09:44as the seat of high culture, of old culture, of established culture,
0:09:44 > 0:09:45and Europeans, of course,
0:09:45 > 0:09:49try to basically get in on the act and make money out this.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52The Americans themselves weren't indifferent
0:09:52 > 0:09:55to the commercial possibilities of liners.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57One of them, banker JP Morgan,
0:09:57 > 0:10:00had been buying up British liner companies,
0:10:00 > 0:10:05culminating in the transatlantic White Star Line in 1902.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09Lord Inverclyde, the chairman of White star's competitor, Cunard,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12saw his chance. He persuaded the Prime Minister, Arthur Balfour,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15that Cunard, too, was threatened by foreign takeovers,
0:10:15 > 0:10:19that Britain risked losing her transatlantic lead.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22In short, that Cunard needed money.
0:10:22 > 0:10:27In 1903, the British government arranged a massive loan for Cunard,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30to help the company build two new super liners.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33These were the Lusitania and the Mauretania.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36And the aim was to win back to Britain the Atlantic Record,
0:10:36 > 0:10:39and rebuild the nation's prestige.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41This project was immensely successful.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44The Lusitania won the Blue Riband in 1907,
0:10:44 > 0:10:48but the Mauretania did even better, winning the Riband in 1909,
0:10:48 > 0:10:51and then holding it for an astonishing 20 years.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58So here I am, sitting in
0:10:58 > 0:11:02the second class drawing room of the Mauretania.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12Of course, it's safely on dry land.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17So famous was this ship that, when she left service in the mid-1930s,
0:11:17 > 0:11:19bits of her grand interiors found their way
0:11:19 > 0:11:21into buildings across the country.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25This house in Poole is a ship-lover's paradise,
0:11:25 > 0:11:27complete with the officer's cabins.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40Here you can sit and imagine yourself
0:11:40 > 0:11:42coursing across the Atlantic.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49In the Edwardian boom period of transatlantic travel,
0:11:49 > 0:11:53as the steamship companies vied for attention with their ships,
0:11:53 > 0:11:56they also sought to bring the glamour of the liners
0:11:56 > 0:12:01into the metropolis. This building is the monumental Oceanic House,
0:12:01 > 0:12:05built in 1911 for Britain's White Star Line.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09This is Cockspur Street,
0:12:09 > 0:12:11which runs between Trafalgar Square and Pall Mall.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13At the beginning of the 20th century,
0:12:13 > 0:12:16it was a sort of shipping alley. It was here
0:12:16 > 0:12:19that most of the shipping companies had their offices.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21A one-stop shop for travellers.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24It was here that most people began their journeys.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28Today, it's all gone, but, of course, the buildings survive
0:12:28 > 0:12:32and they're covered with wonderful details revealing their great past.
0:12:32 > 0:12:37Cunard was here, the French Line, Canadian Pacific and many others.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41Even Stanfords, for your maps. The companies sought
0:12:41 > 0:12:45to draw in passing trade as well as the seasoned traveller
0:12:45 > 0:12:48with colourful window displays, model ships,
0:12:48 > 0:12:50and a supply of alluring brochures.
0:12:53 > 0:12:59This spectacular building housed the Hamburg-American line before WWI,
0:12:59 > 0:13:02later the Peninsular and Oriental line - P and O.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05Inside was a taste of the opulence of the liners.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08Here, first class passengers could leave their bags
0:13:08 > 0:13:11and later find them waiting in their cabins.
0:13:23 > 0:13:28Once established, luxury travel quickly became a total package.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32From Waterloo station, dedicated boat-trains, often Pullmans,
0:13:32 > 0:13:36would run directly to Southampton, to the Quayside terminals,
0:13:36 > 0:13:39where the liners were waiting.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42The transit from land to sea was made as seamless as possible,
0:13:42 > 0:13:46creating a sense of security and comfort.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02But once the ship was at sea,
0:14:02 > 0:14:05things could never be completely predictable.
0:14:05 > 0:14:10The one name known to everybody in maritime history is Titanic.
0:14:10 > 0:14:15This great White Star liner sank in April 1912 on her maiden voyage
0:14:15 > 0:14:21with a loss of 1513 lives. An event that has become etched permanently
0:14:21 > 0:14:26on the popular consciousness. Yet this disaster was not unique.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28Two years later, the Empress of Ireland
0:14:28 > 0:14:34sank with a loss of 1,024 lives, an event that is almost forgotten.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37But there is something compelling about the Titanic,
0:14:37 > 0:14:41and in a macabre way, the story of that ship
0:14:41 > 0:14:46and the disaster that befell her has added something to the glamour
0:14:46 > 0:14:49of the history of ocean liners.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58This monument to the engineers of the Titanic
0:14:58 > 0:15:01was unveiled in Southampton in 1914,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04before a crowd of almost 100,000 people.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12But it's this small memorial to the musicians of the Titanic,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15just eight names, that I find most powerful.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27One pictures the glittering maiden voyage,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30the cream of society in evening dress,
0:15:30 > 0:15:34and the band playing on as the ship goes down.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46Tragedy plays an important role
0:15:46 > 0:15:48in the way we look at these liners, I think.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50There is that allure.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53I wonder if part of it is that we can look at it
0:15:53 > 0:15:55and we are the survivors.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59We can enjoy the glamour and the gorgeousness of that ship
0:15:59 > 0:16:00and now it's gone.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03There is a sort of longing around that, I think.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09It is to do, I think, with a complex mixture of nostalgia
0:16:09 > 0:16:12and a failure of modernity really.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20Although the Titanic disaster
0:16:20 > 0:16:22resulted in new safety regulations for ships
0:16:22 > 0:16:25and the beginning of a US coastguard ice patrol,
0:16:25 > 0:16:28the liner companies responded in the way they knew best -
0:16:28 > 0:16:30with distraction.
0:16:30 > 0:16:35They needed to make ocean travel ever more exciting and attractive.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37You could call it one of the most successful
0:16:37 > 0:16:43public relations initiatives in the history of industrial society.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45In the 1870s, for instance,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48it would have struck people as profoundly bizarre
0:16:48 > 0:16:50to go on a ship for pleasure.
0:16:50 > 0:16:55So the idea that a ship could be a glamorous place
0:16:55 > 0:16:57is an altogether new idea,
0:16:57 > 0:16:59and it is manufactured by these liner companies
0:16:59 > 0:17:03in order to get new customers onto these huge investments.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06In 1913, Cunard spent £54,000
0:17:06 > 0:17:09on promotions for its transatlantic service.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13The image of the liners had to be carefully managed.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17In reality, it was quite harsh travelling on these ships.
0:17:17 > 0:17:18I mean, in terms of ocean liners,
0:17:18 > 0:17:21there would be almost 1,000 passengers in steerage
0:17:21 > 0:17:24and they would be right in the bottom of the ship.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26They would have very harsh conditions.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29I mean, that's at the bottom, you'd be near the engines,
0:17:29 > 0:17:32so by and large the experience of most people
0:17:32 > 0:17:35was fairly rudimentary, I think.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40What you have is, of course, people of the largest social disparities.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45So you have multi-millionaires and multi-billionaires in many cases
0:17:45 > 0:17:46next to the poorest.
0:17:46 > 0:17:51And, of course, this is a time of high class tension on land,
0:17:51 > 0:17:57and it's a potential problem to have people of such strong contrast
0:17:57 > 0:18:00confined to such a small space.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02In order to deal with this,
0:18:02 > 0:18:06the shipping companies assure in particular the rich customers
0:18:06 > 0:18:08that they will not be bothered at all
0:18:08 > 0:18:11by the presence of the poorer travellers.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15So segregation was crucial to the image.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17And wealthy travellers wanted to be reassured
0:18:17 > 0:18:20that there was nothing immoral or unclean
0:18:20 > 0:18:22going on beneath their feet.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25The North German Lloyd liner, George Washington,
0:18:25 > 0:18:27was a typical example of a ship
0:18:27 > 0:18:31aboard which northern European emigrants in third class
0:18:31 > 0:18:32were separated completely
0:18:32 > 0:18:35from southern European emigrants in third class
0:18:35 > 0:18:42to maintain what their own publicity material called "Teutonic hygiene".
0:18:42 > 0:18:47Whatever the hardships, the dream of freedom and opportunity in America
0:18:47 > 0:18:50gave the emigrants' journey a certain romance.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52But the liner companies had more of a struggle
0:18:52 > 0:18:55on their hands with the crew.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59When you look at the sumptuous public relations material,
0:18:59 > 0:19:03what is immediately striking is the absence of the workers.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06You will not see the kitchen
0:19:06 > 0:19:11as it is being used during a busy time of the day.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15You will not see a boiler room from the inside during operation,
0:19:15 > 0:19:19which were some of the toughest workplaces
0:19:19 > 0:19:23that industrial society had brought into existence.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26In the engine rooms, especially before the First World War,
0:19:26 > 0:19:31the trimmers and the stokers had to work very long shifts in great heat
0:19:31 > 0:19:34and they were physically abused by their superiors.
0:19:34 > 0:19:40What goes on behind the scenes is something that is hidden from view,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43a function of the fear,
0:19:43 > 0:19:49of the tensions of class society becoming visible on these ships.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01I think when we're looking at the history of ocean liners,
0:20:01 > 0:20:03it's quite often easy to forget about the people.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06We look at the ships as technical marvels,
0:20:06 > 0:20:09and the nations outdoing each other, the Blue Riband, and so on.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11The heroic images of the ships
0:20:11 > 0:20:13were encouraged by the liner companies,
0:20:13 > 0:20:17and helped to distract the public from less savoury aspects.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21It is very difficult to find critical reports
0:20:21 > 0:20:24about, say, the working conditions on these liners,
0:20:24 > 0:20:26even though they were atrocious.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29And that has something to do with the fact
0:20:29 > 0:20:32that the social democratic press or the labour press
0:20:32 > 0:20:38ran the risk of being accused of acting unpatriotically
0:20:38 > 0:20:43if it drew too much attention to the harsh working conditions
0:20:43 > 0:20:46and attacked the liner companies.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50The role of liners as national symbols
0:20:50 > 0:20:52was an increasingly useful one,
0:20:52 > 0:20:54and it tapped in to the popular mood.
0:20:54 > 0:21:00In 1913, the Hamburg American line introduced its new liner, Imperator.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02With her eagle figurehead,
0:21:02 > 0:21:05she was not only an expression of German might,
0:21:05 > 0:21:07but also the world's largest ship.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12Her owners also went to great lengths to get a good press,
0:21:12 > 0:21:16treating over 100 journalists to a first class passage
0:21:16 > 0:21:19from Hamburg to Southampton and a three-night stay in London.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40On board the Imperator, there was the ultimate symbol of luxury -
0:21:40 > 0:21:42an indoor swimming pool.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46It wasn't the first on a ship,
0:21:46 > 0:21:49that honour goes to the White Star Liner, the Olympic,
0:21:49 > 0:21:52but that was very plain and utilitarian.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55Completely unlike this.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06For the Imperator's pool, they really pushed the boat out.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08The model was the Pompeian Pool
0:22:08 > 0:22:11here at the Royal Automobile Club in London.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14They copied the style, they copied the look,
0:22:14 > 0:22:18but above all else they copied the great sequence of columns,
0:22:18 > 0:22:22ceramic mosaic in wonderful Pompeian colours.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29The rivalry between Britain and Germany went on,
0:22:29 > 0:22:34the liner companies competing with ever greater luxury.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43The Great War ended all this.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47Some liners became troopships, some became hospital ships.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50Incredibly, others continued to cross the Atlantic,
0:22:50 > 0:22:52carrying passengers.
0:22:52 > 0:22:57In 1915, with the Cunard liner Lusitania due to sail from New York,
0:22:57 > 0:23:00the German Government placed an advertisement
0:23:00 > 0:23:02in 50 American newspapers.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05It warned travellers that the liner might be attacked,
0:23:05 > 0:23:09that the seas around Britain were now a war zone.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12Nonetheless, she set sail from New York to England
0:23:12 > 0:23:15with almost 2,000 people on board.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21Just miles from the coast of Ireland,
0:23:21 > 0:23:24Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28She sank in just 18 minutes.
0:23:28 > 0:23:341,198 people were killed, including 128 Americans,
0:23:35 > 0:23:39The Lusitania was one of the ships that had held the Blue Riband.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42It was one of those ships
0:23:42 > 0:23:46that restored British maritime pride in 1907.
0:23:46 > 0:23:51And for this ship to sink through enemy action
0:23:51 > 0:23:53was a huge shock for the British public.
0:23:54 > 0:24:01It galvanised public opinion as an attack on a national symbol.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21British propaganda began almost immediately
0:24:21 > 0:24:23to draw on this act of total war,
0:24:23 > 0:24:26painting a picture of triumphant Germans
0:24:26 > 0:24:28revelling in the deaths of women and children.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37Throughout the war, the Lusitania continued to be invoked
0:24:37 > 0:24:39as evidence of German inhumanity.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43And Irish and American propagandists followed suit.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49It may even have helped to bring America in to the war in 1917.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54The damage inflicted by German submarines
0:24:54 > 0:24:57was to have a direct effect on German liners.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01After the armistice, the Versailles treaty specified that the Germans
0:25:01 > 0:25:06should surrender all ships over 1,600 tons.
0:25:06 > 0:25:07One by one, the liners,
0:25:07 > 0:25:10these symbols of the German nation were handed over.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14Imperator became the Cunard line's flagship - Berengaria.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18Vaterland became the American Leviathan,
0:25:18 > 0:25:21and Bismarck became the White Star Line's Majestic.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26Edwardian built ships continued to take passengers
0:25:26 > 0:25:30across the North Atlantic in the years after the Great War.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34But by the 1920s, they were showing their age.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39Ships last for 20, 30 years, sometimes longer,
0:25:39 > 0:25:41but in the end they all die,
0:25:41 > 0:25:45and when they die, they come to a scrapyard to be broken up.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49Here we are in Thomas Ward's yard in Inverkeithing.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51This was one of the biggest yards in Britain,
0:25:51 > 0:25:55and it was here that many famous names met their end,
0:25:55 > 0:25:59not least the Olympic, the famous sister of the Titanic.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04It could take years to break up a great ocean liner.
0:26:04 > 0:26:10Here, laboriously, a ship would be reduced to its constituent parts.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14Ward's company made sure that every piece of the ship was recycled,
0:26:14 > 0:26:17from furniture and mechanical components to the toilets.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21Which means that for those ships it was not, entirely, the end.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30Here at Stonehouse in Scotland,
0:26:30 > 0:26:34I've come in search of a remarkable survival
0:26:34 > 0:26:37from another White Star Liner, the Homeric.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45- Edward?- Hi, Paul. - Great to see you.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48Now, you're going to tell me all about your grandfather.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50So your grandfather was a showman?
0:26:50 > 0:26:52Er, he started originally as a showman,
0:26:52 > 0:26:55and he went into the haulage contractors business,
0:26:55 > 0:26:58and in 1934, he decided he wanted to open a cinema.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02- And this is where the Homeric comes in, isn't it?- That's right.
0:27:02 > 0:27:03Tell me what happened.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06There was a ship being broke up in Inverkeithing,
0:27:06 > 0:27:07which is about 55, 60 mile from here
0:27:07 > 0:27:11and he went along and had a look at the ship being built up
0:27:11 > 0:27:14and realised that he could take the grandeur from the Homeric
0:27:14 > 0:27:17and fetch it to a cinema in his own style.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19And this is what he done.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22He bought most of the remains from the boat,
0:27:22 > 0:27:26and fetched it on 6 railway carriages to the local railway station
0:27:26 > 0:27:29and then he got a local builder to build it.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32- And is that the cinema. - You can see some photographs.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34- It doesn't look like this now. - It's changed.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37That was taken 40, 50 years ago.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40Cos of course it's the inside that counts, isn't it?
0:27:40 > 0:27:42It is the inside. When you go through the doors,
0:27:42 > 0:27:45you'll see it's like going back in a time-warp to the 1930s.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25Stepping into this building is the most exciting experience,
0:28:25 > 0:28:27because it really brings the past to life
0:28:27 > 0:28:29in very very dynamic and unexpected ways,
0:28:29 > 0:28:33cos it's two pasts, here I am in an Art Deco cinema,
0:28:33 > 0:28:38one of the most exciting of its type surviving in Britain.
0:28:38 > 0:28:39At the same time,
0:28:39 > 0:28:42I'm standing in the first class dining room of the Homeric.
0:28:44 > 0:28:48I love to imagine that wonderful pile of pieces,
0:28:48 > 0:28:50bits of ship arriving on those railway wagons,
0:28:50 > 0:28:51and everybody thinking,
0:28:51 > 0:28:54"My God, what shall we do with all this?
0:28:54 > 0:28:55"How shall we fit it all in?
0:28:55 > 0:28:57"Put this here, put that there."
0:28:57 > 0:29:00It could have been the most amazing sort of jumble,
0:29:00 > 0:29:03but in fact it's wonderful, they've made sense of it,
0:29:03 > 0:29:06and so here we have both cinema and ship.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08Different periods of history,
0:29:08 > 0:29:11but coalescing, coming together beautifully.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13It's a most bizarre and wonderful experience.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19The White Star Line's Homeric was another one of those German ships
0:29:19 > 0:29:22ceded to Britain after the First World War.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25It was originally the North German Lloyd liner, Columbus.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30Her interiors were designed by Paul Ludwig Troost,
0:29:30 > 0:29:32a devotee of German neo-classicism,
0:29:32 > 0:29:35who later became one of Hitler's favourite architects.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42By the 1930s, when this cinema was built,
0:29:42 > 0:29:44the ocean liner had become synonymous
0:29:44 > 0:29:46with modernity and glamour,
0:29:46 > 0:29:49and the ideal backdrop for Hollywood movies.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52'Oh, I seldom change boats in mid-ocean.'
0:29:52 > 0:29:58# At any gambling casino From Monte Carlo to Reno
0:29:58 > 0:30:03# They tell you that a beginner comes out a winner
0:30:03 > 0:30:09# A beginner fishing for flounder Will catch a 17-pounder
0:30:09 > 0:30:12# That's what I've always heard
0:30:12 > 0:30:15# And always thought absurd, but now.. #
0:30:15 > 0:30:18Hollywood's created our image of the ocean liner today,
0:30:18 > 0:30:21even more than the advertising of the liners themselves in their heyday.
0:30:21 > 0:30:28Films like Shall We Dance, where Fred Astaire tapdances his way
0:30:28 > 0:30:32through a glamorous Art Deco facsimile of the engine room
0:30:32 > 0:30:35of a great ocean liner is a good example
0:30:35 > 0:30:40of how glamorised the interiors of those ships
0:30:40 > 0:30:42have become in our memory.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27Hollywood's love affair with ocean liner style
0:31:27 > 0:31:31began with a new French ship, the Ile de France.
0:31:31 > 0:31:36Although modernism had been making appearances in ocean liner design
0:31:36 > 0:31:38in the early 1920s,
0:31:38 > 0:31:42the first ship that fully encompassed that style in its interior design
0:31:42 > 0:31:44was the French Line's Ile de France.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49The design of the interiors of that ship were heavily influenced
0:31:49 > 0:31:54by the Paris Art Deco exhibition in 1925.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00And the liner immediately became the chicest boat
0:32:00 > 0:32:03afloat on the North Atlantic because of that style.
0:32:09 > 0:32:11This is the time of prohibition as well,
0:32:11 > 0:32:14so that the allure of going on a French Line was quite strong
0:32:14 > 0:32:18in terms that you could enjoy the French fine wines and so on.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21So we do get a lot of the Hollywood glitterati
0:32:21 > 0:32:24travelling on the Ile de France.
0:32:25 > 0:32:29Celebrities chose the Ile de France as their boat of choice.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32And those celebrities included many people from the media
0:32:32 > 0:32:35and particularly from the film industry,
0:32:35 > 0:32:38who were travelling from Europe to America
0:32:38 > 0:32:39and then on to Hollywood
0:32:39 > 0:32:42where the style developed a whole new life.
0:32:45 > 0:32:47So the Art Deco of the Ile de France
0:32:47 > 0:32:50directly influenced Hollywood set design.
0:32:50 > 0:32:55And of course, these ships were the perfect backdrop for a good plot.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59No wonder the liners and the movies became so intimately related.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04Being at sea makes one feel a little unconventional, doesn't it?
0:33:04 > 0:33:06It does indeed. I noticed that myself.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09Whilst France shaped tastes with its new flagship,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12Germany's focus was once more on speed.
0:33:12 > 0:33:17In 1929, its first new liner since the war, the Bremen,
0:33:17 > 0:33:21made its maiden voyage, followed a year later by the Europa.
0:33:23 > 0:33:30For the Germans the launch of these ships is a hugely symbolic event,
0:33:30 > 0:33:36because it seems to signal a resurgence, a national resurgence.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39When the Bremen went on its maiden voyage,
0:33:39 > 0:33:44it was followed with keen interest on the part of the public.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47And this was not just simply because it was the first new ship
0:33:47 > 0:33:52that was to cross the Atlantic Ocean after the First World War,
0:33:52 > 0:33:54but this was a ship that had been constructed
0:33:54 > 0:33:57with the intention of regaining the Blue Riband
0:33:57 > 0:33:58and the Bremen did that.
0:34:19 > 0:34:24More than ever, the liners became the emblems of competing powers.
0:34:24 > 0:34:28The Italian Line's Rex, launched in 1931,
0:34:28 > 0:34:30soon seized the Blue Riband from Germany.
0:34:40 > 0:34:44But these fast new ships found business slow.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46American immigration restrictions
0:34:46 > 0:34:49had already killed the profitable steerage trade.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52Now the economic woes of the Great Depression
0:34:52 > 0:34:56meant even fewer travellers on the North Atlantic.
0:34:56 > 0:35:00All this had a rather surprising effect - the rise of cruising.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06The companies running ocean liners
0:35:06 > 0:35:10had a fantastic tonnage by the early 1930s
0:35:10 > 0:35:13of superannuated liners that they needed to do something with.
0:35:13 > 0:35:18The began to send them on cruise holidays to warm water ports.
0:35:18 > 0:35:22The liner companies come up with plans
0:35:22 > 0:35:27to make available cruises that are within the reach of,
0:35:27 > 0:35:31say, the middle class rather than exclusively the upper class.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34Darling! A cruise! How lovely!
0:35:38 > 0:35:42These cruises met rising demand for leisure activities
0:35:42 > 0:35:45and the prospect of pre-paid, fixed priced holidays
0:35:45 > 0:35:47was particularly appealing.
0:35:47 > 0:35:49Cruising became the height of fashion.
0:35:51 > 0:35:56Cruising profited very much from the high profile
0:35:56 > 0:35:58that the liners had,
0:35:58 > 0:36:02because of their history of the glamour of life on the seas.
0:36:02 > 0:36:06So basically, all of a sudden, what became possible
0:36:06 > 0:36:09is to enjoy a stay in a space
0:36:09 > 0:36:14that had previously been the preserve of the upper classes.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18So cruising retains its mystique to this day,
0:36:18 > 0:36:22because ocean travel is so strongly connected
0:36:22 > 0:36:26with luxury and with aristocratic forms of life.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29The cruising boom was about enjoying life on board,
0:36:29 > 0:36:31as well as the exotic ports en route.
0:36:31 > 0:36:37It brought with it cruise clothing and an emphasis on outdoor pursuits.
0:36:37 > 0:36:42It became more fashionable to have a suntan, to do sunbathing,
0:36:42 > 0:36:46to do more rigorous activities outside on deck, as it were,
0:36:46 > 0:36:49which hadn't really happened in the earlier ships,
0:36:49 > 0:36:52which mimicked that kind of aristocratic
0:36:52 > 0:36:54country house weekend experience.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05All sorts of special cruises began to be organised.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08As I was making this programme, I found out that my father
0:37:08 > 0:37:11had been on one such cruise in the 1930s, at the age of 12.
0:37:11 > 0:37:15You know I've done quite a bit of cruising on ships
0:37:15 > 0:37:16- and I always like it...- Yes.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19..but it's something I didn't realise you'd done...
0:37:19 > 0:37:23How is it you've only just revealed that you were cruising in the 1930s?
0:37:23 > 0:37:25Nobody ever asked me.
0:37:25 > 0:37:29And I collected things.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32I kept this you see.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35Because cruising really started in the 1930s, I think...
0:37:35 > 0:37:39- But this is a School cruise, isn't it?- Yes.- 1932.
0:37:39 > 0:37:43- So it was called the Scholars' Wonder cruise?- Yes.
0:37:43 > 0:37:44And were there lessons?
0:37:44 > 0:37:47- No, no, just a holiday. - What was the ship like?
0:37:47 > 0:37:51The Doric - a rather aging cruise ship, or a liner of some kind,
0:37:51 > 0:37:53I think it had been a liner in its day.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55It was 16,000 tons,
0:37:55 > 0:37:57White Star Line.
0:37:57 > 0:38:01In a way you were pioneers, because as children, going on a cruise,
0:38:01 > 0:38:06at a time when cruising was just in its infancy as a popular activity.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09Yes, I think it was an unusual thing to do.
0:38:09 > 0:38:15There weren't many people doing it. I think they were the pioneers.
0:38:15 > 0:38:17But you did keep this diary
0:38:17 > 0:38:20It's good cos it's about your impressions of what you see,
0:38:20 > 0:38:23and you must have been seeing really strange things.
0:38:23 > 0:38:29Well, yes, from Colchester and my parents' house and everything.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31Yes, it was a complete break, wasn't it?
0:38:31 > 0:38:35At my age, to go to Lisbon and places like that, and Gibraltar.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38That shows the map so it's mostly,
0:38:38 > 0:38:40- a lot of it was at sea, wasn't it? - Yes.
0:38:40 > 0:38:42What on earth did you do all that time at sea?
0:38:42 > 0:38:46Well, going across the Bay of Biscay, I think we vomited!
0:38:46 > 0:38:50"The cruise was rather dull until we got to Gib,
0:38:50 > 0:38:52"and we got to Gib about 10.00 on Sunday morning.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55"We drove round in cabs and went to the top of the rock
0:38:55 > 0:38:58"and left Gib that night and reached Ceuta the next morning."
0:38:58 > 0:39:03And here we are, that's the page about Tetuan and Ceuta.
0:39:03 > 0:39:05Yes, that was an amazing place.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08Tetuan I shall never forget. We got onto a railway train
0:39:08 > 0:39:11and went into this single line,
0:39:11 > 0:39:15about 20, 30 miles into Morocco I suppose.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18I remember then seeing the camels and the desert.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22It was a very lonely railway line. I do remember that.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24"It was a lovely journey all the time,
0:39:24 > 0:39:28"and we were all very sorry to get to the ship".
0:39:28 > 0:39:29And this is you.
0:39:29 > 0:39:31That's me standing on the funnel.
0:39:32 > 0:39:34This photograph was taken by a journalist who came on board
0:39:34 > 0:39:39- from one of the newspapers to interview people like me.- Mmm.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44It must have been about 500 to 1,000 children I'd have thought.
0:39:44 > 0:39:46They'd have fitted you in two to a cabin at least.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49Oh, I think you'll find more like four.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52I think it's extraordinary that I've never seen it.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54There are so many corners of your life
0:39:54 > 0:39:56that I suppose are still to be revealed.
0:39:56 > 0:39:58I hope not! THEY LAUGH
0:39:58 > 0:40:03It was not only British schools who wondered if cruising could benefit
0:40:03 > 0:40:07the wider population. In Nazi Germany, a scheme was created
0:40:07 > 0:40:10to bring cruises to workers.
0:40:10 > 0:40:16In National Socialist Germany it's a conscious attempt
0:40:16 > 0:40:21to use the liners for political purposes.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25The National Socialist dictatorship did not simply function
0:40:25 > 0:40:32through suppression. Hitler also wanted to offer
0:40:32 > 0:40:37the German citizens the prospect of a better life,
0:40:37 > 0:40:41bringing within reach of the ordinary citizens,
0:40:41 > 0:40:47leisure activities, pastimes that had been
0:40:47 > 0:40:50the preserve of the middle class and the upper middle class.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53The Nazi leisure programme, known as "Strength through Joy"
0:40:53 > 0:40:56sought to make the workers more productive
0:40:56 > 0:40:58by giving them subsidized holidays.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01From 1933, cruises were offered on specially chartered liners,
0:41:01 > 0:41:05but later, two purpose-built cruise ships were launched,
0:41:05 > 0:41:07equipped with basic, single-class facilities -
0:41:07 > 0:41:11the Wilhelm Gustloff and the Robert Ley.
0:41:11 > 0:41:16What the National Socialists do during the promotion
0:41:16 > 0:41:19of their liners is they try to create a counter-image
0:41:19 > 0:41:22to the image of the floating palace.
0:41:22 > 0:41:27So on the one had they try to profit from the glamour
0:41:27 > 0:41:29that ocean cruising possesses,
0:41:29 > 0:41:33however they want to establish their own version
0:41:33 > 0:41:37and they want to let the people know that it is their own version -
0:41:37 > 0:41:40a classless form of cruising.
0:41:40 > 0:41:45One needs to say two things however, the first is that of course this was
0:41:45 > 0:41:47restricted to so-called Aryans,
0:41:47 > 0:41:50the second thing is that the ships did not attract the workers
0:41:50 > 0:41:55in the numbers the regime had intended.
0:41:55 > 0:41:59Propaganda was disseminated during these pleasure outings
0:41:59 > 0:42:03and many Germans would have been put off by this
0:42:03 > 0:42:06because, of course, when you go on holiday you don't necessarily
0:42:06 > 0:42:10want to run across political indoctrination all the time.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14In a political age, liners increasingly
0:42:14 > 0:42:16were becoming a tool of governments.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19And such direct intervention saw the creation
0:42:19 > 0:42:24of the French liner Normandie, which entered service in 1935.
0:42:30 > 0:42:37The Normandie's style was aggressively contrived to reassert
0:42:37 > 0:42:42France as the centre of visual culture in the 1930s.
0:42:42 > 0:42:46The Normandie was the most powerful and largest ship afloat.
0:42:46 > 0:42:52It was extremely formal, and it was the product of a huge government
0:42:52 > 0:42:58subsidy which meant that every major craftsman and designer in Paris was
0:42:58 > 0:43:01involved in the production of the interiors of that ship.
0:43:01 > 0:43:04You went on board and you were entering a whole kind of
0:43:04 > 0:43:06art gallery almost.
0:43:06 > 0:43:08The sort of public rooms
0:43:08 > 0:43:13particularly were the very best that the French designers could produce.
0:43:13 > 0:43:15They were...
0:43:15 > 0:43:20intimidating to say the least. Everyone was on view the whole time,
0:43:20 > 0:43:22it was about entrances,
0:43:22 > 0:43:26about appearances, and about formal glamour.
0:43:32 > 0:43:37The gigantic 1st class dining room had no natural light,
0:43:37 > 0:43:39but was lit by glass pillars and chandeliers
0:43:39 > 0:43:41designed by Rene Lalique.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52The emphasis was on grand vistas.
0:44:00 > 0:44:04Enormous interior spaces were freed up by diverting the uptakes
0:44:04 > 0:44:08from the engine rooms to the sides of the ship.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12In fact, the ship was not commercially successful, perhaps
0:44:12 > 0:44:17because it was too ostentatious. But the image of the Normandie lives on.
0:44:17 > 0:44:21The ocean liner of the 1930s had become an icon,
0:44:21 > 0:44:25embodied in the looming abstraction of Cassandre's famous poster.
0:44:25 > 0:44:29Indeed, the style of the whole era had been directly influenced
0:44:29 > 0:44:31by liners
0:44:31 > 0:44:35Although today we tend to be very wrapped up in our fascination with
0:44:35 > 0:44:39the 1st class areas of the great liners of the Edwardian period
0:44:39 > 0:44:41of the 1920s and '30s.
0:44:41 > 0:44:47During that time, the avant garde architects of Europe,
0:44:47 > 0:44:50and in particular Le Corbusier,
0:44:50 > 0:44:54were attracted to the 3rd class sections of these liners
0:44:54 > 0:44:57where the structure of the ship was visible.
0:44:57 > 0:45:02And it was those sections of the liners plus the deckscapes,
0:45:02 > 0:45:05the promenade areas that
0:45:05 > 0:45:10influenced the modernist architecture of the 1920s and '30s.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye, for example,
0:45:13 > 0:45:16built in 1930, just outside Paris
0:45:16 > 0:45:21was heavily influenced by the design of liners such as the Aquitaine -
0:45:21 > 0:45:24these Edwardian liners,
0:45:24 > 0:45:28and in particular by their 2nd and 3rd class accommodations
0:45:28 > 0:45:31which were practical, efficient and hygienic.
0:45:38 > 0:45:42Whereas in earlier generations, the design of grand buildings,
0:45:42 > 0:45:46of hotels, of clubs and country houses
0:45:46 > 0:45:49had been the primary influence on liner design,
0:45:49 > 0:45:53now the utilitarian aspects of ocean liner design
0:45:53 > 0:45:56were influencing grand modern architecture.
0:45:58 > 0:45:59Other modern styles
0:45:59 > 0:46:03drew on the sumptuous first class spaces of liners.
0:46:03 > 0:46:07This is the great entrance hall for Eltham Palace.
0:46:07 > 0:46:11It was built for the cloth magnate Sir Stephen Courtauld and his wife
0:46:11 > 0:46:15Virginia from 1933.
0:46:15 > 0:46:20It is probably the most famous Art Deco interior in Britain.
0:46:20 > 0:46:24It was a reception space, it was an entertaining space,
0:46:24 > 0:46:29and it was designed for them by Rolf Engstromer, a Swedish architect.
0:46:29 > 0:46:34It's a very exciting space, full of all sorts of details
0:46:34 > 0:46:37and wonderful Art Deco finishes.
0:46:37 > 0:46:41But, of course, really its importance is quite separate.
0:46:41 > 0:46:45When we look around and look at the shape and feel of the room,
0:46:45 > 0:46:47we're actually at sea.
0:46:47 > 0:46:51This is a room on a ship.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55One of the great features is this
0:46:55 > 0:46:57wonderful glazed dome.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00It brings light into the room and, of course, it's a technique
0:47:00 > 0:47:03frequently used on ships to bring
0:47:03 > 0:47:08light into lower decks where there were no portholes or windows.
0:47:08 > 0:47:13I'm standing on a great Art Deco carpet, designed by Marion Dorn,
0:47:13 > 0:47:18one of the great names of textiles of the 1930s and a name frequently
0:47:18 > 0:47:22associated with carpets and rugs on great liners.
0:47:22 > 0:47:26And I'm looking at two great marquetry panels -
0:47:26 > 0:47:32Italy, the Baltic, very popular cruise destinations in the 1930s.
0:47:42 > 0:47:44The ocean liner had found its
0:47:44 > 0:47:49way onto land, bringing with it the allure and mystique of the cruise.
0:47:52 > 0:47:54In turn, the ships themselves
0:47:54 > 0:47:57took on the greater simplicity of modernism.
0:47:57 > 0:48:01The Orient line's Orion, which entered service in 1935,
0:48:01 > 0:48:03was particularly groundbreaking.
0:48:03 > 0:48:09Liners such as the Orion designed by Brian O'Rorke began to reflect
0:48:09 > 0:48:14Corbusier's ideas about modernism in architecture,
0:48:14 > 0:48:19furniture design, the use of new materials, linoleum, for example,
0:48:19 > 0:48:22stainless steel, chromium.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27But Britain's transatlantic lines were more conservative.
0:48:27 > 0:48:32Cunard's first new liner for a generation, the Queen Mary, was
0:48:32 > 0:48:37put on hold during the Depression, and only entered service in 1936.
0:48:37 > 0:48:42The Queen Mary was an interesting ship because what you had on the
0:48:42 > 0:48:45one hand was a management that really did not want to create
0:48:45 > 0:48:47a liner that looked modern.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50At the same time, however,
0:48:50 > 0:48:53the marketing department of Cunard was very much aware that
0:48:53 > 0:48:57what customers wanted at the time was a modernist look, so there was
0:48:57 > 0:49:02an internal negotiation process of how modern this ship could look.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05Certain key modernist artists were
0:49:05 > 0:49:08employed to advise, like Duncan Grant,
0:49:08 > 0:49:12whose screen and painting was not allowed on board ship
0:49:12 > 0:49:13because it was too shocking
0:49:13 > 0:49:17because it featured naked bodies and it was in a modernist kind of style,
0:49:17 > 0:49:20and the Cunard directors took offence at this.
0:49:20 > 0:49:24Avant Garde artists had their work rejected in favour of theatrical
0:49:24 > 0:49:28artists and commercial artists who designed the interiors
0:49:28 > 0:49:30in a much more popular manner,
0:49:30 > 0:49:32meant to appeal to a broader audience.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45Cunard estimated that 70% of their income
0:49:45 > 0:49:48would come from Americans, and to oversee the designs,
0:49:48 > 0:49:52they even hired a prominent American architect, Benjamin Morris.
0:49:54 > 0:50:00The Queen Mary satisfied an American image of Britain,
0:50:00 > 0:50:04of British high society, the club,
0:50:04 > 0:50:06the country house,
0:50:06 > 0:50:09all imbued with a sense of whimsy,
0:50:11 > 0:50:14and a kind of elan associated with British culture
0:50:14 > 0:50:16as seen through the lens of Hollywood.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22Whether or not the design was cutting edge,
0:50:22 > 0:50:25the Queen Mary was an immediate success.
0:50:25 > 0:50:29On the 27th of May 1936, the Queen Mary sailed on
0:50:29 > 0:50:31her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37Cheering crowds lined the shore, many of whom
0:50:37 > 0:50:39had come by special excursion trains.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44And she was followed out by a flotilla of small boats.
0:50:44 > 0:50:48In the previous days before her departure, 15,000 people had paid
0:50:48 > 0:50:51five shillings each to tour the great ship -
0:50:51 > 0:50:54this symbol of Britain's economic and political resurgence.
0:50:57 > 0:51:02It is said that when she arrived in New York a few days later,
0:51:02 > 0:51:04there wasn't a single ashtray to be found on board.
0:51:07 > 0:51:10It's curious how this great ship has become a part of our,
0:51:10 > 0:51:13in a sense, collective memory.
0:51:13 > 0:51:15Everybody wants a part of her.
0:51:15 > 0:51:19I must say, Jonathan, it's great to see one of those elusive ashtrays.
0:51:19 > 0:51:23They are quite rare, especially the larger sizes, the only one of
0:51:23 > 0:51:25the larger size in a colour that I've ever seen.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28I believe they were designed specifically for the cocktail
0:51:28 > 0:51:32lounge which actually had a red theme, so that would make sense.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35Now, what is it about the Queen Mary?
0:51:35 > 0:51:39She had a character and grace and style that very few matched up.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42A lot of crew preferred her, she was always the favourite.
0:51:42 > 0:51:45She pulled the country out of the Depression.
0:51:45 > 0:51:49She was a benchmark for a lot of things that came after.
0:51:49 > 0:51:51What's always intrigued me about ships is that
0:51:51 > 0:51:55they are in fact a totality, they have to survive as a floating city,
0:51:55 > 0:51:58and that of course means there's everything on board,
0:51:58 > 0:52:00and I think the Queen Mary was exceptional.
0:52:00 > 0:52:02Queen Mary in particular had everything, she was the
0:52:02 > 0:52:06first ship that had a purpose built synagogue, she had everything from
0:52:06 > 0:52:08hairdressers, WH Smith's on board.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11It was, as they said, "A city at sea".
0:52:11 > 0:52:14And that must also make collecting much more diverse.
0:52:14 > 0:52:18Oh, you can find anything related to that ship from
0:52:18 > 0:52:25biscuits from a lifeboat tin ration box to carpets, rugs, silverplate,
0:52:25 > 0:52:30china, crystal, er, you name it, you'll find something and you can tie
0:52:30 > 0:52:33- it back to Queen Mary. - What is this table?
0:52:33 > 0:52:36The table is from a 2nd class smoking room
0:52:36 > 0:52:39and I bought that myself about 10 years ago.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42I was lucky enough to find it in a junk shop
0:52:42 > 0:52:46and I had to dismantle it to bring it back through Customs.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49- And that's it is it?- Yeah. That's one of the tables in situ.
0:52:49 > 0:52:52It's wonderful to have the positive identification,
0:52:52 > 0:52:54the documentary evidence that it is the right thing.
0:52:54 > 0:52:58Yes, they were specially designed for her, and it's a ship's table,
0:52:58 > 0:53:00a single leg with a centre of gravity
0:53:00 > 0:53:05with a weight in the bottom so it doesn't roll over in rough weather.
0:53:05 > 0:53:07So it matters that things actually have to come off the ship,
0:53:07 > 0:53:10they have to have that magical,
0:53:10 > 0:53:13almost mystical quality of association.
0:53:13 > 0:53:17Yeah, very much that association. If you pick up a table, a stool,
0:53:17 > 0:53:19a piece of silverplate, and you can open up a book,
0:53:19 > 0:53:23and there's this historic ship that all these famous people travelled on
0:53:23 > 0:53:27that was such a piece of the nation, and then there you have that piece
0:53:27 > 0:53:30it's that tangibility, that tactile nature of
0:53:30 > 0:53:32items that all collectors like.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36I notice this book you've got open here which shows one of
0:53:36 > 0:53:38the great rooms, first class lounge,
0:53:38 > 0:53:41but what excites me is the fact that it's in colour.
0:53:41 > 0:53:45One's so used to the black and white pictures, but to actually know
0:53:45 > 0:53:48the colour palette is extraordinary.
0:53:48 > 0:53:49It's quite an important thing.
0:53:49 > 0:53:52I recently bought this book. I was very happy to find it
0:53:52 > 0:53:55cos I actually own one of the rugs from this room.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59- You own one of the rugs? - Yeah, I was very fortunate
0:53:59 > 0:54:00to find one that had survived.
0:54:00 > 0:54:06They had been assumed that they'd all been destroyed until one appeared at
0:54:06 > 0:54:10auction and I was fortunate enough to purchase it at an internet auction.
0:54:10 > 0:54:12What are you going to do with it?
0:54:12 > 0:54:14Well, after having it for a couple of years
0:54:14 > 0:54:16and not really knowing what to do with it,
0:54:16 > 0:54:18I've tracked down a very good,
0:54:18 > 0:54:22reputable, experienced rug restorer cleaner
0:54:22 > 0:54:25and it's going to be whisked off next week to be unrolled.
0:54:30 > 0:54:33Jonathan's carpet has arrived at the workshop of Robert Behar,
0:54:33 > 0:54:38whose family has been in the carpet cleaning business since 1920.
0:54:42 > 0:54:47- So you have four pieces like this. - Yeah, three more, four in total,
0:54:47 > 0:54:51Then just plain rugs either side on the runners in the main body of
0:54:51 > 0:54:53the room which was three storeys high
0:54:53 > 0:54:55and almost the width of the ship.
0:54:55 > 0:54:57You can just see the people
0:54:57 > 0:54:59walking across it in their cocktail dresses.
0:54:59 > 0:55:02- ..Before dinner.- Diamonds dripping.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05It hasn't ever been fully unrolled since it left the ship,
0:55:05 > 0:55:10so it's the first time I've really been able to examine it
0:55:10 > 0:55:13since it left the ship in 1967. They describe this rug
0:55:13 > 0:55:17as "walking on clouds", they were that proud of it,
0:55:17 > 0:55:18that it was that thick.
0:55:18 > 0:55:20It's not so much that it's that
0:55:20 > 0:55:26thick, it's the density, number of wool strands per knot, type of wool,
0:55:26 > 0:55:28and they used to dye everything by hand.
0:55:28 > 0:55:31Oh, right, so this is all done hand-dyed.
0:55:31 > 0:55:33I didn't know that.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36And, er cleaning wise...
0:55:37 > 0:55:41..the thorough cleansing will make quite a big difference to this.
0:55:41 > 0:55:45It's the first time it's been cleaned in 43-odd years.
0:55:45 > 0:55:49- So we should keep the dirt. - Yeah, bottle it and sell it on eBay!
0:55:49 > 0:55:53The magic of these objects goes on, each one bringing with it
0:55:53 > 0:55:56some of the glamour we associate with the ships.
0:56:09 > 0:56:15There truly is an elegiac quality to the great liners of the 1930s.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20Within a few years, war had come again.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23The Queen Mary and her sister ship the Queen Elizabeth
0:56:23 > 0:56:24were painted grey,
0:56:24 > 0:56:26and took on new roles, as the valiant transporters
0:56:26 > 0:56:29of vast numbers of soldiers.
0:56:32 > 0:56:34GUN BOOMS
0:56:56 > 0:56:58CHEERING
0:56:58 > 0:57:01In 1942, in New York harbour,
0:57:01 > 0:57:06the Normandie caught fire while being converted to a troop ship.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11The water pumped into her to douse the flames
0:57:11 > 0:57:14fatally destabilized her.
0:57:15 > 0:57:20The great French Line flagship lay on her side for 18 months,
0:57:20 > 0:57:23and eventually, she was broken up.
0:57:23 > 0:57:26Her destruction after just a few short years has given her
0:57:26 > 0:57:28an almost mythic quality,
0:57:28 > 0:57:31forever young and mysterious.
0:57:31 > 0:57:34The fate of the Normandie captures the sense of nostalgia we feel
0:57:34 > 0:57:38for the golden age of liners before the war.
0:57:39 > 0:57:41In this age of high speed travel
0:57:41 > 0:57:43we still love the idea of the ocean liner.
0:57:43 > 0:57:47It's an idea we created about a hundred years ago when a means of
0:57:47 > 0:57:53transport became a floating hotel, a palace, a ship of dreams.
0:57:53 > 0:57:56And it's an idea that is really a fantasy.
0:57:56 > 0:57:59It has nothing to do with the often harsh realities of sea travel -
0:57:59 > 0:58:03seasickness, steerage conditions.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06It's also a fantasy that we love because
0:58:06 > 0:58:09it has everything, it has romance,
0:58:09 > 0:58:15glamour, drama, excitement, politics, propaganda,
0:58:15 > 0:58:18and of course a good slice of tragedy.
0:58:19 > 0:58:21And that's why in our imagination
0:58:21 > 0:58:26we will go on enjoying the idea of the ocean liner forever.
0:58:46 > 0:58:49Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:49 > 0:58:52E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk