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Timeline of largest passenger ships

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"Largest ship" redirects here. For other uses, see Largest ship (disambiguation).

This is a timeline of the world's largest passenger ships based upon internal volume, initially measured by gross register tonnage and later by gross tonnage. This timeline reflects the largest extant passenger ship in the world at any given time. If a given ship was superseded by another, scrapped, or lost at sea, it is then succeeded. Some records for tonnage outlived the ships that set them - notably the SS Great Eastern, and RMS Queen Elizabeth. The term "largest passenger ship" has evolved over time to also include ships by length as supertankers built by the 1970s were over 400 metres (1,300 ft) long. In the modern era the term has gradually fallen out of use in favor of "largest cruise ship" as the industry has shifted to cruising rather than transatlantic ocean travel.[1] While some of these modern cruise ships were later expanded, they did not regain their "largest" titles.

RMS Queen Elizabeth's size record stood for the longest time at over 54 years

Timeline

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Year completed Ship Tonnage Length Title held Status Image

19th century

19th century
1831 SS Royal William 1,370 GRT[2] 49 m (160 ft) 1831 – 1839[3] Sank in 1860  
1838 SS Great Western 1,700 GRT[4] 76.8 m (252 ft) 1839[5] Scrapped in 1856  
1839 SS British Queen 1,850 GRT[6] 75 m (245 ft) 1839 – 1840[7][8]
1841 – 1843 		Scrapped in 1844  
1840 SS President 2,366 GRT[9] 74 m (243 ft) 1840 – 1841[10] Lost at sea in 1841  
1843[a] SS Great Britain 3,270 GRT[11] 98 m (322 ft) 1843 – 1853[12] Currently a Museum ship  
1853[13] SS Atrato 3,466 GRT[14] 107 m

(350 ft)

1853 – 1857[15][b] Sank in 1884  
1857 SS Adriatic 3,670 GRT[16] 108 m

(354 ft)

1857 — 1858[17] Beached and Abandoned in 1885  
1858 SS Great Eastern 18,915 GRT[18] 211 m (692 ft) 1858 – c. 1888[19][20]
(Scrapped) 		Scrapped by 1891[c]  
1888 SS City of New York 10,499 GRT[23] 171 m

(560 ft)

c. 1888 – 1893[20] Scrapped in 1923  
1893 RMS Campania
RMS Lucania[d] 		12,950 GRT[24] 190 m (622 ft) 1893 – 1897[25] Campania: Sank in 1918

Lucania: Scrapped in 1909

 
1897 SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse 14,349 GRT[26] 200 m (655 ft) 1897 – 1899[27] Sank in 1914  
1899 RMS Oceanic 17,272 GRT[28] 215 m (704 ft) 1899 – 1901[29] Sank in 1914  

20th century

20th century
11 July 1901 RMS Celtic 20,904 GRT[30] 214 m (701 ft) 1901 – 1903[31][32] Scrapped in 1929  
31 January 1903 RMS Cedric 21,073 GRT[33] 213 m

(700 ft)

1903 – 1904[32] Scrapped in 1932  
23 June 1904 RMS Baltic 23,876 GRT[34] 222 m (729 ft) 1904 – 1906[34][35] Scrapped in 1933  
10 May 1906
(entered service) 		SS Kaiserin Auguste Victoria 24,581 GRT[36] 206.5 m (677.5 ft) 1906 – 1907[37] Scrapped in 1930  
7 September 1907
(entered service) 		RMS Lusitania 31,550 GRT[38] 240 m (787 ft) 1907[39][40] Sank in 1915  
7 November 1907 RMS Mauretania 31,938 GRT[38] 241 m

(790 ft)

1907 – 1911[40][41] Scrapped in 1935  
31 May 1911 RMS Olympic 45,324 GRT[42] 269.0 m (882.5 ft) 1911 – 1912[43][44]
1912 – 1913[43][45] 		Scrapped by 1937  
31 March 1912 RMS Titanic 46,328 GRT[46] 269.1 m (882.9 ft) 1912[47]
(Sank) 		Sank in 1912[47]  
June 1913 SS Imperator 52,117 GRT[48] 276 m (906 ft) 1913 – 1914[45][48] Scrapped in 1938  
14 May 1914
(entered service) 		SS Vaterland 54,282 GRT[49][50] 290 m (950 ft) 1914 – 1922[51][52] Scrapped in 1938  
12 May 1922
(entered service) 		RMS Majestic 56,551 GRT[53] 291 m (956 ft) 1922 – 1935[52][54] Scrapped in 1943
(after sinking) 		 
29 May 1935
(entered service) 		SS Normandie 79,280 GRT
(as built)
83,404 GRT
(final size)[e] 		314 m (1,029 ft) 1935 – 1936[56]
1936 – 1942[55][57]
(Destroyed by fire) 		Scrapped in 1946
(after sinking) 		 
27 May 1936
(entered service) 		RMS Queen Mary 80,774 GRT (as built)

81,237 GRT (final size)[58][59]

310.7 m (1,019.4 ft) 1936[60][59] Currently a Hotel ship  
2 March 1940[f] RMS Queen Elizabeth 83,673 GRT[61] 314 m (1,031 ft) 1942 – 1972[57]
(Destroyed by fire) 		Scrapped in 1974
(after sinking) 		 
3 February 1962
(entered service) 		SS France (1962-1980)
SS Norway (post-1980) 		66,343 GRT
(as built)[62]
76,049 GRT
(final size)[g] 		315 m (1,035 ft) 1972 – 1987[66][67]
1990 – 1995[68][69] 		Scrapped in 2008  
18 December 1987 MS Sovereign of the Seas 73,529 GT[70] 268 m

(880 ft)

1987 – 1990[67][69]
(Surpassed by SS Norway) 		Scrapped in 2020  
26 June 1995 Sun Princess 77,000 GT[71][72] 261 m (857 ft) 1995 – 1996[72] In service as Pacific World  
24 November 1996
(entered service) 		Carnival Destiny 101,353 GT[72] 272 m (893 ft) 1996 – 1998[72] In service as Carnival Sunshine  
27 May 1998
(entered service) 		Grand Princess 109,000 GT 290 m (951 ft) 1998 – 1999 In service  
29 October 1999 Voyager of the Seas 137,276 GT[73] 311 m

(1,020 ft)

1999 – 2000 In service  
28 September 2000 Explorer of the Seas 137,308 GT 311 m

(1,020 ft)

2000 – 2002 In service  

21st century

21st century
18 November 2002 Navigator of the Seas 139,999 GT[74] 311 m (1,020 ft) 2002 – 2003 In service  
22 December 2003 RMS Queen Mary 2 148,528 GT
(as built)[75] 		345.03 m (1,132.0 ft) 2003 – 2006 In service  
24 April 2006 MS Freedom of the Seas 154,407 GT
(as built)[76] 		338.774 m (1,111.46 ft) 2006 – 2007[h] In service  
19 May 2007 Liberty of the Seas 155,889 GT[77] 338.92 m (1,111.9 ft) 2007 – 2009 In service  
28 October 2009 Oasis of the Seas 225,282 GT[78]
(as built) 		360 m (1,180 ft) 2009 – 2016[i] In service  
13 May 2016 Harmony of the Seas 226,963 GT[82] 362.12 m (1,188.1 ft) 2016 – 2018 In service  
23 March 2018 Symphony of the Seas 228,081 GT[83] 361.011 m (1,184.42 ft) 2018 – 2022 In service  
27 January 2022 Wonder of the Seas 236,857 GT[84] 362.04 m (1,187.8 ft) 2022 – 2023 In service  
27 November 2023 Icon of the Seas 248,663 GT[85] 364.75 m (1,196.7 ft) 2023 – present In service  

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Sources have the Great Britain as the "world's largest" ship from her launch year.
  2. ^ While the Great Republic was concurrently larger (at 4,555 GRT), she was not a passenger ship.
  3. ^ Great Eastern was sold for scrap in 1888 but the breaking up was not completed until 1891.[21][22]
  4. ^ The Campania and Lucania had the same GRT.
  5. ^ The tonnage was increased on Normandie in August 1936 to reclaim the title of "largest ship" from the Queen Mary.[55]
  6. ^ Although Queen Elizabeth was completed on 2 March 1940 as an ocean liner, she was converted into a troop ship due to the outbreak of World War II. She became the largest ship in the world in 1942 when SS Normandie burned and sank at her moorings. Transatlantic service was not resumed until after the war ended, and Queen Elizabeth officially entered into passenger service on 16 October 1946.
  7. ^ SS France increased her tonnage in 1980, when she was refurbished into a cruise ship. Her final size peaked at 76,049 GRT in 1990.[63] She was the last ship on this list to be measured by "GRT", as the term was changed to "GT" on 18 July 1994.[64][65]
  8. ^ Freedom of the Seas never held the title of "largest passenger ship" after 2007. While she was later extended to match her sister ship Liberty of the Seas (in 2015), by this time the title had passed on to Oasis of the Seas.
  9. ^ Oasis was initially launched at 225,282 GT.[79] This was tied a year later by Allure of the Seas, although the latter was 50 mm (2.0 in) longer.[80] Oasis of the Seas was expanded to 226,838 GT in November 2019.[81]

References

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  2. ^ Boileau, John (2006). Samuel Cunard: Nova Scotia's Master of the North Atlantic. Formac Publishing Company Limited. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-88780-712-1.
  3. ^ John Wilton Cuninghame Haldane (1905). Life as an engineer: its lights, shades and prospects. E. & F. N. Spon. p. 27. Royal William largest launched 1831.
  4. ^ Freeman Hunt (1844). Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review, Volume 10. New York City. p. 383.
  5. ^ Anchor Line (1872). A Souvenir of the Anchor Line Agents Excursion on the Steamer California, 14 August 1872. D. Appleton & Company. p. 87.
  6. ^ Corlett, Ewan (1975). The Iron Ship: the Story of Brunel's ss Great Britain. Conway.
  7. ^ Hereward Philip Spratt (1951). Transatlantic Paddle Steamers. Brown, Son & Ferguson. p. 36. At the time of her launch, the "British Queen" was the largest vessel afloat
  8. ^ International Marine Engineering, Volume 15. Simmons-Boardman Publishing Company. 1910. p. 418.
  9. ^ Gerhard Falk (2013). Twelve Inventions which Changed America: The Influence of Technology on American Culture. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 8. ISBN 9780761860808.
  10. ^ Robinson, Robb (January 2009). "The Cookman Story: Reform in Hull and the United States" (PDF). FAR HORIZONS – to the ends of the Earth. Maritime Historical Studies Centre, University of Hull. Retrieved 27 December 2009. In March 1841 the liner, SS President, then reputedly the largest steamship in the world, disappeared without trace in the vast tracts of the still wintry Atlantic, sometime after leaving New York en route for Liverpool. The SS President was the first steamship to founder on the transatlantic run and there was universal lamentation for the 136 crew and passengers.
  11. ^ William L. Garrison & David M. Levinson (2005). The Transportation Experience: Policy, Planning, and Deployment. Oxford University Press. p. 210. ISBN 9780195346732.
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  57. ^ a b Peter C. Smith (2008). Midway: Dauntless Victory. Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 9781848847057. The French Transatlantic liner Normandie (71,300 tons) was the world's largest ship when built, and, although surpassed by 1942 by the British liners Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth in tonnage, was still the longest vessel afloat at 1,029 feet overall.
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  69. ^ a b "Norway's 15th Anniversary". The Cruise Industry News Quarterly. Vol. 4–5. Cornell University. 1994. p. 119.
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  71. ^ Smith, Peter C. (2010). Cruise Ships: The World's Most Luxurious Vessels. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen & Sword Maritime. p. 243.
  72. ^ a b c d Ian Yeoman; Una McMahon-Beattie (2019). The Future Past of Tourism: Historical Perspectives and Future Evolutions. Channel View Publications. In 1995, Princess Cruise Line's Sun Princess became the largest ship at 77,000 tons. In 1996, Carnival Cruise Lines launched the 101,353 ton Carnival Destiny.
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  74. ^ "Navigator of the Seas (22759)". Vessel Register for DNV. DNV. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
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  78. ^ Sam Dodge, Ana Franca, and Mark Oliver (5 February 2016). "Oasis of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship, in numbers". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 March 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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  81. ^ "Oasis of the Seas (27091)". Vessel Register for DNV. DNV. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  82. ^ "Harmony of the Seas (33249)". Vessel Register for DNV. DNV. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  83. ^ "Symphony of the Seas (34719)". Vessel Register for DNV. DNV. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  84. ^ "Wonder of the Seas Fact Sheet". Royal Caribbean Press Center. Royal Caribbean Group. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  85. ^ "Icon of the Seas (38545)". Vessel Register for DNV. DNV. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
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