I recall they were motorships with a cruising speed of about 18 knots. Tonnage was about 18,000.
My understanding is that they were esentially built from the abortion of the 80k ton MV Oceanic.
Many of the design features are the same albiet on a much smaller scale.
One has a squared off superstructure, other round. The interiors were X-Atlantic deco.

GEORGIC was the stylish Art Deco liner of the two. Unfortunately she was bombed and burnt-out during WWII. She was refitted as a troopship and later as an emigrant carrier, without her original interiors. Scrapped in 1956.

BRITANNIC was designed in the old world, traditional period style of the old liners. She survived the War intact and sailed until December of 1960, always keeping her White Star buff funnels, even though she was part of Cunard Line.

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Originally posted by Thad:
Rich,
I thought that the Britannic was under construction during the ill fated Oceanic adventure, while the Georgic was ordered around the same time the Oceanic was cancelled, so some of the Georgic's steel was likely destined for the Oceanic before the cancellation.

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Yes, that's true--GEORGIC was expedited, most likely using steel which was intended for OCEANIC. BRITANNIC had already been finished, and the original plan was for GEORGIC to come after OCEANIC.

"Do you like modernity...with a touch of the future in it? If you do, then GEORGIC is your ship." They go on with lots of praise and photos of her rooms which looked much like ships decades later.

For the section on BRITANNIC:

"The BRITANNIC is a sister-ship to GEORGIC. Not that she is exactly like the GEORGIC, of course...sisters practically never are...but there is a strong family resemblance, particularly in general layout and design. Perhaps the main difference BRITANNIC and GEORGIC, which we have already described to you, is the fact that BRITANNIC eschews ultra-modernism for a modern and eclectic treatment of more traditional forms of decoration."

This section, with photos of her, looking like so many period rooms in previous liners, the most modern-looking room perhaps her dining room, looking similar to that of the later QUEEN MARY. Perhaps Art Deco in appearance to our 20th Century eyes, but certainly nothing as modernistic as the GEORGIC was in those years.

It's a shame that WSL was never able to finish Oceanic; I think she would have been a lovely ship.

Of course the same can be said of Hapag's second Vaterland...

Upon arrival in Greenock, luggage was off-loaded in nets - standing on the dock with my parents I pointed out my cabin trunk - at that moment it escaped the net and plunged into the River Clyde. Little damage was done but a letter of apology together, with a cheque was sent to me.

See -

In the book Peter Jackson, a later commander of the Queens, described Britannic as "one of the best ships for behavior at sea that I have ever been on. She wasn't a fast ship at 16 knots but she kept it up no matter what the weather was."
He also says Britannic, especially as she aged required quite a bit or preventative maintenance on her diesel engines to keep them in good condition.
According to "Power of the Great Liners" in 1935 Britannic averaged 18 knots per crossing and consumed 81 tons of fuel daily, including the hotel load. The faster Manhattan and Washington of USL used about 200 tons a day at 20 knots.

[ 07-14-2008: Message edited by: desirod7 ]

The Georgic never really recovered from the bombing damage she sustained during WW2, and was used as an emigrant carrier postwar, and kept off this trade during the winter. I never got why no one made an attempt to repair her. But there seems to be no real logic for not repairing a lot of the big ships that survived the war. Why couldn't the Marshall Plan's funds be used to repair them?

[ 07-16-2008: Message edited by: Rex ]

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Originally posted by Rex:
I think that it was posted right here that the two sisters were created from the keel and skeleton of the ill-planned MS or MV Oceanic. I have read this elsewhere - is the info incorrect?

[ 07-16-2008: Message edited by: Rex ]

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quote:

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Originally posted by Rex:
I think that it was posted right here that the two sisters were created from the keel and skeleton of the ill-planned MS or MV Oceanic. I have read this elsewhere - is the info incorrect? 07-16-2008: Message edited by: Rex ]

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That's a popular myth, which has been explained in earlier posts in this thread. BRITANNIC was launched on 6 August 1929. On 26 Sept. 1929 it was announced that work on OCEANIC (whose keel was already layed) would be deferred in order to give priority to construction of GEORGIC. Her keel was laid on 29 November 1929, but NOT from the keel of OCEANIC, which lay in place until at least the middle of 1930.

[ 10-02-2012: Message edited by: Linerrich ]

[ 10-02-2012: Message edited by: Linerrich ]

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Originally posted by miamicruiser:
I'm suprised how spotless the paintwork seems to be on her as I had expected she would have looked a bit more wornout by then. Perhaps there was still a good sense of White Star pride among her staff. It seems strange to see the lifeboat there looking as if it could have been on any one of their turn-of-the-century ships, with the White Star emblem right where they always were. To think the Cunard could have easily changed her to a "real" Cunard ship after the war, it is nice that they let her continue as a White Star Liner to her very last.

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They have tried to repaint the smokestacks in Cunard colors so i read in one of William Millers books. But they where to short fore the colors so they left theme as they where.

Rich nice pictures a real treasure.

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Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:
Rich,

Were those images originally slides?

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Yes, they are from slides. I'm gradually converting thousands of slides in my collection to digital format, and re-discovering lots of great old images from liners which I haven't seen in years.