[Illustration: FIG. 114.--"KAISER WILHELM DER GROSSE."]
[Illustration: FIG. 115.--"OCEANIC" COMPARED WITH BROADWAY BUILDINGS.]
The "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse," owned by the North German Lloyd Company, and built in 1897, is shown in Fig. 114, and for three years held the record as the fastest steamship afloat. The "Kaiser Wilhelm" was followed by the "Oceanic," in 1899, of the White Star Company, which is the largest ocean steamer ever built, exceeding the proportions of the "Great Eastern." Just what the dimensions of the "Oceanic" mean, as given in the preceding tables, can be best illustrated by the accompanying Fig. 115, in which she is juxtaposed with several blocks of large buildings on Broadway, New York, opposite City Hall Park. If the "Oceanic" were placed on end beside Washington's Monument, at the United States Capital, she would tower 150 feet above the top of the same. An ordinary brick house four rooms deep and three stories high could be built with its length crosswise in her hull. There is accommodation for 410 first-class passengers, 300 second-class passengers, and 1,000 third class, and as her crew will number 390, the total number of souls on board, when she carries her full complement, will be 2,100.
The latest achievement in marine architecture, however, is the "Deutschland," built for the Hamburg-American Company. The "Deutschland" is not quite so large as the "Oceanic," but is of higher speed, her maximum speed of 23½ knots an hour exceeding that of any other ocean steamer. The "Savannah," the first steam vessel to cross the Atlantic, made the trip in 1819 in 26 days. The "Deutschland" in her eastward trip September 4, 1900, crossed the Atlantic in 5 days 7 hours and 38 minutes, which is the fastest time on record. The "Deutschland" is of 35,640 horse power, her two bronze propellers are 23 feet diameter, and weigh 30 tons, and her propeller shafts are 25 inches in diameter. The cranks of her propeller shafts, like those of the "Kaiser Wilhelm" and the "Oceanic," are set according to the Schlick system, to reduce vibration. The "Deutschland's" engines are seen in Fig. 92, and in general appearance the ship resembles the "Kaiser Wilhelm." Still larger and possibly swifter steamships are in process of construction, viz.: the "Kaiser Wilhelm II.," by the North German Lloyd Company, and a mammoth unnamed ship by the White Star Line, whose length of 750 feet will exceed all others.