Above is a drawing of the First Class dining saloon of the famous steamship Lusitania.
As readers would have seen from my previous articles, the extensive Healy family was wealthy and liked to travel to Europe in style. Thanks to Susan Healy’s research we have numerous references to the comings and goings of the Healy extended family.
Increase in use of ships
Starting with the vast migration of Irish people as the result of the Great Potato Famine in the 1840s, followed soon after by gold strikes, there developed a huge passenger trade between Great Britain and the United States. The start of the 20th Century heralded an unprecedented rate of technical development of ships, ushering in a romantic era of large and fast passenger ships (beginning with single funnel ships and progressing to four funnel ships) which appealed to the wealthy citizens as well as the penniless migrants.
I will start briefly with the sailing ship first used by the Healy family and then I will concentrate on the 20th Century ships, some of which became famous for reasons I will describe.
James Healy migrates
This is a drawing of Stag Hound, which I will refer to later.
In 1852 James Healy, his wife Catherine and sons John and Patrick migrated from Burnfort in Ireland via the English port of Liverpool to Boston on the 871 ton Boston clipper Moses Wheeler.
Burnfort is in County Cork, the largest and southernmost county of Ireland.
But why were the family migrating to the United States?
Here are some explanatory snippets from Patrick’s 1907 book “An Appreciation”, where he talks about himself in the third person:
“Patrick’s father’s little house was situated about two miles from Burnfort, in the county of Cork. This farm differed in no way from hundreds of its neighbors. His father and mother were both of the sturdiest type of the rural Irish and Patrick found himself rich in brothers and sisters, for he was the youngest of thirteen children. At the time of Patrick’s birth, his father was seventy-five years old, or perhaps it might better be said seventy five years young, for he lived to be a hundred, and then fell asleep peacefully while sitting in the sunshine of his Boston doorway. He had never known sickness, and only at the last had his activity diminished.
Yielding to the inevitable, the Healy family gave up the struggle to make headway amid the pretty but impoverished vales of Burnfort, and when Patrick was ten years of age they planted his small feet in the classic city of Boston.”
In the United States 1860 Census James described his occupation as “labourer”.
The somewhat surprising result is that we have James at the advanced age of 85, with some of his family, migrating to Boston. Scarcely the usual age of a migrant seeking fame and fortune in a foreign land. In addition he travelled on a clipper, rather than the usual cheaper and slower passenger ship.
But what was a “clipper”?
Clipper
This is a photo of the famous clipper Cutty Sark, which has been preserved in England.
“Clipper” does not refer to a specific sailplan; they may be schooners, brigantines, barquentines etc. Their stock-in-trade was the streamlined shape of their hulls.
To sailors, three things made a ship a clipper. She must be sharp-lined, built for speed and she must be tall-sparred and carry the utmost spread of canvas. And she must use that sail, day and night, fair weather and foul. Optimized for speed, clippers were too fine-lined to carry much cargo. They typically carried extra sails. In high winds where other ships would shorten sail, clippers drove on, heeling so much that their lee rails were in the water.
The boom years of the clipper ship era began in 1843 in response to a growing demand for faster delivery of tea from China. This continued under the stimulating influence of the discovery of gold in California and Australia in 1848 and 1851, and ended with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.
We do not have a photo of the Moses Wheeler, but it would have been built very similarly to the Stag Hound, pictured above. The Staghound was bigger than the 871 ton “Moses Wheeler” and built in the same year (1850) by the same builder. Its second passage, which would be indicative of the time taken by the Healys in their voyage, was from Liverpool to Boston in a brisk 28 days.
Blue Riband
“Blue Riband” is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the highest average speed.
Traditionally, the record is based on average speed rather than passage time because ships follow different routes. Also, eastbound and westbound speed records are reckoned separately, as the more difficult westbound voyage, against the Gulf Stream and the prevailing weather systems, typically results in lower average speeds
My first choice of passenger liner is the smallest, being the modest single funnelled Carpathia, belying its subsequent fame.
RMS Carpathia (pictured above right)
Paul Joseph Healy travelled on the Carpathia (shown in this photo) from Naples to New York in 1914.
The Carpathia was a modest single funnel Cunard Line steamship built in England. It weighed a very petite 13,555tons (one sixth of the weight of the Queen Mary, which I will refer to in more detail later), was a sleek 558 feet long, and had a large passenger capacity of 2550 (100 First Class, 200 Second Class and 2250 Steerage). It must have been squeezy in Steerage!
The Carpathia made her maiden voyage in 1903. In April 1912 she became famous for rescuing survivors of the rival White Star Line’s Titanic after the latter struck an iceberg and sank. There were approximately 2208 people on board and approximately 1503 died in the North Atlantic Ocean. When it heard by radio of the Titanic’s SOS message the Carpathia steamed at high speed through the night, navigating the ice fields at considerable risk, to arrive two hours after the Titanic had sunk. The crew rescued 705 survivors from the ship’s lifeboats, being awarded medals for their bravery.
The Carpathia was sunk in 1918 after being torpedoed by a German submarine.
My next choice is the equally famous four-funnelled Lusitania.
Lusitania
Here is a photo of the Lusitania sitting at its New York berth, looming over the nearby onlookers. Its black hull and black funnels contrasted sharply with its white superstructure. In 1914 Anita Healy and Stuyvesant Peabody Sr, after a honeymoon in Italy, returned to the United States on the famous ship.
The Lusitania was launched in Scotland in 1906. It was the first of the Cunard Line’s four funnel liners and had a weight of 32,000 tonnes and a considerable length of 787 ft (240m), making it one of the largest liners of the time. It could carry 552 First Class passengers, 460 Second Class and 1186 Steerage. As can be seen from the above drawing of its interior (designed in the Louis XVl style) it was luxuriously appointed for First Class passengers, typical of the new wave of liners.
Catastrophically, the Lusitania was sunk in May 1915 during the First World War, as Germany waged submarine warfare against the United Kingdom which had implemented a naval blockade of Germany. The ship was identified and torpedoed by a German U-boat and sank in 18 minutes. The vessel went down off the coast of Ireland, killing 1,198 and leaving 761 survivors.
The sinking turned public opinion in many countries against Germany, and reputedly contributed to the American entry into World War I several years later.
My next choice is the famous Mauretania.
Mauretania
This is a dramatic photo of the Mauretania at full speed with a pronounced bow wave and its four funnels belching black smoke. It was popular with the Healy families. Raymond John Healy travelled to Europe in it with his daughter Grace Anita Healy. Paul Joseph Healy sailed on it in 1912 and his widow Marie did likewise in 1933 and 1952.
The Mauretania was built for the British Cunard Line, and was (like the Lusitania) launched in 1906. She was the world’s largest ship (31,938 tons, 790 feet/240.8 metres, 563 First class passengers, 464 Second Class, 1138 Steerage) until the completion of the Olympic in 1911.
The ship became a favourite among her passengers. She captured the Eastbound Blue Riband on her maiden return voyage in December 1907, with an average speed of 23.69 knots (43.87 km/h; 27.26mph, then claimed the Westbound Blue Riband during her 1909 season, a record of 26.06 knots(48.26km) that was to stand for more than two decades.
In the spring of 1913 westbound transatlantic passage aboard Mauretania cost roughly $17 for third class passengers.
But how important was it that a ship was the biggest or fastest of its time? What about the comfort afforded by ships like the Aquitania?
RMS Aquitania
This is a photo of the Aquitania quietly approaching port under escort by a tugboat, its four dark funnels merely showing wisps of smoke. Paul Joseph Healy’s widow Marie, a prolific traveller, chose this ship in 1930, 1931, 1934 and 1935.
The origins of Aquitania lay in the rivalry between the White Star Line and Cunard Line, Britain’s two leading shipping companies. The White Star Line’s Olympic, Titanic and Britannic were larger than the latest Cunard ships, Mauretania and Lusitania. However the Cunard duo were significantly faster than the White Star ships, while White Star’s ships were seen as more luxurious. Cunard needed another liner for its weekly transatlantic express service, and elected to copy the White Star Line’s Olympic-class model with a larger, slower, but more luxurious (if that was possible!) ship, the Aquitania.
Her vital statistics were weight 45,647 tons, an outstanding length of 901 feet/274.6 metres, passengers 618 First Class, 650 Second Class and 640 Steerage.
She sailed on her maiden voyage in 1914 and was the last surviving four-funnelled ocean liner. She was widely considered to be one of the most attractive ships. She continued in service after the merger of Cunard Line with White Star Line in 1934. The company planned to retire her and replace her with the Queen Elizabeth in 1940, however due to the Second World War she was kept in service until 1950.
RMS Majestic
Here is a photo of the Majestic, with its tall mast and smoke belching dramatically from its forward funnel. Paul Joseph Healy travelled to England on the Majestic in 1923, and his widow Marie used it in 1926 to 1929, followed by Anita Margaret Healy in 1931.
Majestic was a White Star ocean liner, originally launched in 1914. At a hefty 56,551 tons she had a comparatively short length of 582 feet/177.8 metres, and held 300 First Class, 190 Second Class and 1000 Steerage passengers. She was in fact the largest ship in the world until completion of SS Normandie in 1935.
The third and largest member of German HAPAG Line’s trio of transatlantic liners, her completion was delayed by World War I. Following the war, she was finished by her German builders, handed over to the allies as war reparations and became the White Star Line flagship Majestic. She served successfully throughout the 1920s but the onset of the Great Depression made her increasingly unprofitable. She managed to struggle through the first half of the 1930s but then served the Royal Navy as the training ship HMS Caledonia before catching fire in 1939 and sinking.
Queen Mary
Here is a photo of the famous Queen Mary, which needs little introduction, sitting quietly with New York in the background. Mary Virginia (1887-1951) (daughter of PJ Healy) travelled on the Queen Mary in 1937 with her husband Francis Augustus Georger. Paul Joseph Healy’s widow Marie travelled on it in 1936, 1954, 1955 and 1956.
This ship, which had three sturdy funnels, weighed in at a mammoth 80,000 tons and 1019 feet/310 metres. Although it re-wrote the record books it tends to be overshadowed by her slightly larger sister ship, the iconic Queen Elizabeth, which was launched four years later and went straight into military service.
The ship, built in Scotland, sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Route from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard-White Star Line. The. Queen Mary, along with the Queen Elizabeth, were built as part of Cunard’s planned two-ship weekly Atlantic express service.
The Queen Mary sailed on her maiden voyage in 1936 and soon won the Blue Riband for fastest Atlantic crossing. She lost the title to SS Normandie in 1937 and recaptured it in 1938 posting a very impressive 30.99 knots (57.39 km/h), holding the record until 1952 when it was taken by the new SS United States.
During the Second World War she was fitted out for carrying troops and was painted grey. As a result of her new colour, and in combination with her great speed, she became known as the “Grey Ghost”. In July 1943, Queen Mary carried 15,740 soldiers and 943 crew (total 16,683), a standing record for the most passengers ever transported on one vessel.
After delivering war brides to Canada, Queen Mary made her fastest ever crossing, returning to Southampton in only three days, 22 hours and 42 minutes at an amazing average speed of just under 32 knots (59 km/h).
Conte di Savoia
Now for something completely different! Here is a cutaway picture of the Conte di Savoia. Thanks to Susan’s research, we have a most unusual ship upon which James E. Healy returned in 1939 to the United States from Europe, where he had been living. He was accompanied by his wife Marie K. Healy and his son George W. Healy.
They travelled on the 48,500-ton liner, the world’s first gyro-stabilized passenger ship. Her three-unit stabilizer plant was installed by the Sperry Company of Brooklyn, at a cost of $1,000,000. Each unit was equipped with a giant rotor, or flywheel, thirteen feet in diameter and weighing 108 tons. The combined counter force of these rotors was said to be capable of producing a resistance sufficient to counteract the heaviest seas.
Unfortunately, for safety reasons the system was quickly abandoned on eastbound crossings where the prevailing weather produced following seas, although it was still used on westbound crossings.
The ship was pulled from commercial service in 1940 for wartime service. She was sunk in 1943, and despite being refloated and rebuilt in 1945 was scrapped in 1950.
Conclusion
The ships I have described are only a sample of the ships used by the well-travelled Healys (for instance I also researched the Queen Elizabeth, the Oceanic, the France, and the Olympic), but it has at least given me the opportunity to describe a significant aspect of their lives.