Scale: 1:96 A contemporary full hull model of the passenger liner ‘Britannic’ (1874). The solid wooden hull is fully rigged with masts and yards on which the sails are furled for stowage. The deck is complete with numerous fittings such as anchors and handling gear, a full set of boats rigged from davits, compass binnacle and a large number of cowlings for providing ventilation to the engine room and passenger accommodation below. The model is fitted in its original wooden display case.

The ‘Britannic’ was designed and built by Harland & Wolff, Belfast, and launched in 1874. Measuring 467 feet in length by 45 feet in the beam and a tonnage of 5004 gross, the iron hull was fitted with eight watertight bulkheads, providing nine compartments and making it a very safe ship. The ‘Britannic’ was owned by the famous White Star Line and ran the very popular immigration route from Liverpool to New York, carrying up to 450 passengers at a time. In 1876, it received the Blue Ribband for the fastest crossing of the North Atlantic both east and westbound, at an average speed of 16.1 knots. However, a year later the ‘Britannic’ was involved in a collision with the ‘Celtic’, another White Star liner, in thick fog just off the American coast. Seven passengers were killed and over 20 injured, but although both ships were badly damaged, they managed to carry on into New York harbour.

In 1899 it was requisitioned by the government to serve as a troopship in the Boer War making ten voyages in all. Three years later, the ‘Britannic’ was returned to White Star and soon found to be old and out dated. It was eventually sold in July 1903 and sent to Hamburg for breaking.