S.S. Lapland
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On 28th June 1908, Harland & Wolff launched the largest vessel to be purposefully commissioned for the Red Star Line. The 17,540 grt S.S. Lapland bared much similarity with the 'Big Four' liners of Red Star's sister company, the White Star Line. She began her maiden voyage from Antwerp to New York via Dover on 10th April 1909. This was coincidentally the same date as R.M.S. Titanic would depart Southampton for her fateful maiden voyage three years later. Lapland herself would see connection to the disaster after she carried back the surviving members of Titanic's crew to Plymouth, thirteen days after Titanic's sinking. During the First World War, her commercial service was preserved through charter to the Cunard Line before she was eventually requisitioned for troop carrying duties in 1917. Returned to I.M.M. after the Armistice, she would complete six crossings on the Liverpool-New York route for the White Star Line before finally returning to the operation of her original owners in 1919.
Her excellent technical design and elegant passenger accommodations combined exceptional stability with modern comfort. As a modestly sized pre-war liner, Lapland was a perfect candidate for the introduction of the new 'Cabin Class' service which she operated from April 1927. Despite popularity with her passengers, the difficult period the late 1920s would not see her remain long in transatlantic service. She began her last voyage on her regular Antwerp-New York route on 29 April 1932, after which she completed a number of popular cruises to the Mediterranean. With Red Star Line now focusing on the 'Tourist Class' only concept introduced aboard Pennland and Westernland and the larger Belgenland proving to be commercially nonviable, Lapland was transferred to cruising duties from London to the Mediterranean. She finally met the scrappers in Osaka, Japan in 1934. |
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