Seeking Supremacy In Atlantic Traffic.

New York Times 100 years ago today, March 2, 1913:
Germans Strive for New Business While British Companies Are Busy with Building.
ENGLISH PLANS COMPLETE
New Vessels Will Be Last Word in Comfort, and Will, It Is Expected, Meet All Competition.
Special Cable to The New York Times.
    LONDON, March 1.— The fact that the Cunard Company was compelled to send out the Anchor liner California today to fulfill its weekly Saturday service has drawn attention to the present shortage of first-class boats in the British transatlantic service.
    No date has yet been fixed for the launching of the Aquitania, while the Lusitania will be unable to sail until the end of July at the earliest, thus losing a season's business and throwing the entire weight of service on the Mauretania and smaller vessels. Similarly the White Star Line has the Olympic out of commission for an uncertain period.
    Meanwhile the German lines are trying to snap up the business. The maiden voyage of the Imperator to New York will mark the beginning of another great struggle for the supremacy of the North Atlantic passenger trade. With the Imperitor as the forerunner of other great fast palatial steamships, Germany hope's to regain her lost position on the Atlantic.
    But Great Britain, although for the present crippled, has been quietly preparing for this move for the past three years, and to-day, according to an influential shipping authority, has a programme of two keels to one to meet Germany's enterprise. The Hamburg-American will build two sister vessels to the Imperator, and by means of this trio hopes again to secure the supremacy of the Atlantic which it possessed years ago. Referring to this coming struggle the above mentioned shipping authority says:
    "Germany has set to work just two years too late. Had they laid down the keel of the Imperator and followed their present programme, after they had seen the success of the Lusitania, they might have done something, but their experts refused to believe in the turbine, declared there would be frequent breakdowns, and, in any case, the cost of running would be so enormous that it would be prohibitive.
    "They discovered their mistake too late. Meanwhile the British companies, in spite of terrible setbacks of the last eighteen months, have not swerved and have continued their policy. There are now two vessels being built, both of which are larger than the Imperator. The first is the Aquitania, a 50,000-ton liner, which the Cunard Line is constructing. The utmost secrecy is being maintained concerning her exact dimensions and speed, but it is understood that she approaches very nearly 1,000 feet in length, which is regarded by many authorities as the final word in the size of an Atlantic liner.
    "The Britannic, being constructed at Belfast for the White Star Line, has a tonnage, I understand, of 52,000, with a specified speed of about twenty-two knots an hour. In both of these vessels the appointments will represent the last word in luxury and comfort.
    "Thus, in the course of a few months, to Germany's one keel. England will have two, and plans, I believe, are already made for the laying down of yet another gigantic ship. As fast as Germany may build, Great Britain will have the lead and keep the pace and so maintain the supremacy.
    "There is another factor to be considered in this great struggle, and that is the question of docks and landing stages for these huge ships.
    "The White Star and Cunard Lines have adequate piers in New York and this country and are secure, in this respect, for a number of years. I do not think that the German companies are in such a satisfactory position, and the time, I fancy, may come shortly when they may have to look for some other port of entrance than New York; but, in any case, Great Britain is assured of victory in the forthcoming struggle."
    The Cunard Line states officially that the Lusitania will be withdrawn till the end of July on account of the time required for the delivery of turbine blades and the confined space in which the reblading is being done. The company adds that the reports about the cost of the work are greatly exaggerated.