134 Book of Steamships 



The Oceanic had a length of 420 ft., a 

 beam of 41 ft., a tonnage of 4,500, and the 

 horse-power of the engines was 3,000. To 

 run with the Oceanic several other ships 

 of similar tonnage were ordered, and they 

 took the names of some of the ill-fated 

 Collins liners, which we have already 

 noted. Always the ships of the White Star 

 have had names ending with the suffix 

 * ic ". Two of the Collins liners met with 

 grave misfortune, and although their 

 names appeared in the first announcement 

 of the White Star sailings as Pacific and 

 Arctic, they were actually renamed 

 Republic and Celtic before they came into 

 service. 



The compound engine had now made 

 considerable strides, and the White Star 

 were well advised in choosing it for the 

 Oceanic. There were two high-pressure 

 cylinders, and two low-pressure, and they 

 were divided into pairs, actually forming 

 for the single- screw two distinct engines. 



The Oceanic captured the Blue Riband 



