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Description

Class Overview
Name:                         Atlas-class Ocean Liner
Builders:                      Hunterson Shipbuilding & Engineering Company
Operator:                     Helius Lines
Preceeded by:               Athena-class Ocean Liner
Suceeded by:   SS Artemis, SS Astraea
Subclasses:       1
Built:                            1932-1935
In service:         1936-1970
Planned:           2
Completed:        2

Class Characteristics
Type:                           Ocean Liner
Tonnage:                     83,537 - 83, 673 gross tons
Displacement:             83,000+ tonnes
Length:                        1,031.2 ft (314.3 m) - 1,033 ft (315 m)
Beam:                          119.5 ft ft (36 m)
Decks:                         12 (all two liners); 11 for passengers
Installed power:           160,000 hp (120 MW) driving four propellers
Propulsion:         Four bronze quadruple-blade wing propellers
Speed:         28.5 knots, 32 knots (maximum)
Capacity:        3,276 passengers and crew
Crew:         1,120 crew members (maximum)
Cost:                           3.5 million GBP per ship

Career
Name:                          RMS Atlas
Operator:                   Helius Lines
Purpose:                      Ocean Liner
Ordered:                      26 June 1932
Laid down:                   30 August 1932
Launched:      12 April 1936
Completed:      31 July 1936
Maiden voyage:      10 August 1936
In service:       1936-1939; 1947-1968
Military service:            1940-1945 (as troop transport)
General Characteristics
Tonnage:       83,537 GRT
Length:          1,031.2 ft (314.3 m)
Beam:        119.5 ft (36 m)
Decks:       12; 11 for passengers
Installed power:         160,000 hp (120 MW) driving four propellers
Propulsion:         Four bronze quadruple-blade wing propellers
Speed:         28.5 knots, 32 knots (maximum)
Capacity:        2,156 passengers (780 first class, 722 second class, 654 third class)
Crew:         1,120

    The Atlas was an ocean liner built by Hunterson Shipbuilding and Engineering Company for the Helius Line, a newly formed company that was a result of the merger of several shipping companies that went bankrupt during the Great Depression. While Helius Lines was doing financially well with their number of old liners which were transferred from their previous companies and refurbished to match the age's tastes, the emergence of the SS Normandie and the RMS Queen Mary began to set new demands for shipping companies to build bigger, better, and more sophisticated ships which will carter to upper-class tourists and celebrities alike. It was a challenge that the Helius Line was not able to refuse.

    In order not loose competition with Cunard-White Star and the French Line, Helius Lines began to commission their very own two super-liners, which was then called the Atlas-class. The Atlas-class liners were ambitious projects from the company to gain attention while attracting future customers while also to fulfil public demand.

    Entering service in 1936, the Atlas quickly captured the public's attention. Her unique, raked bow with bulbous front and cruiser stern design, topped with the classic four stackers brought many praise and yet not a little amount of criticism from the press. Nonetheless, the Atlas quickly proved to be a massive commercial success. Her luxurious interiors were decorated in Art Deco, Streamline Moderne and hints of Edwardian and Jacobean from the pre-WWI times.

    The Atlas boasts voluminous public spaces for all classes, which was achieved by splitting the boiler uptakes to the sides of the ship instead of coming straight upward through the centre of the ship's width. As for passenger safety, the Atlas was equipped with 14 watertight compartments with fireproof bulkheads reaching as high as the A Deck, 26 passenger lifeboats capable of holding 100 each with additional 10 life rafts which can be filled up to 70 passengers.

    Among the many facilities on-board, the Atlas featured indoor and outdoor swimming pools (with the first class indoor pool being part of the Turkish Bath complex), libraries, cinemas, beauty salons, chapels, and children's nursery for all three classes, a music studio, a lecture hall, telephone connectivity to everywhere in the world, and outdoor tennis courts, with gymnasiums to keep her passengers entertained during the journey. The largest space inside the ship was the first class Dining Room, stretching the width of the ship with the height of four decks, equipped with a balcony with tiered seating, and topped with an illuminated dome. As an alternative to the main dining room, the Atlas provided several separate first class restaurants such as the Promenade Cafe on the aft starboard promenade, the Crown Grill—an exclusive à la carte restaurant that converts to Club Borealis at night, and the Observation Bar on the forward Sun Deck; an Art Deco styled lounge with wide sea view, directly above the first class Winter Garden.

     For first class passenger accommodations, each special stateroom and suites were individually decorated by select artists, giving their own unique feel. The most luxurious first class suites on-board the Atlas were the two Palatial Suites, located on A Deck, one on each side. They featured their own dining rooms, sitting parlors, music rooms, multiple bedrooms, and their own private promenade. Travelling celebrities and important figures who wanted a cheaper but no less level of luxury could choose from the four, slightly smaller Empire Suites on the same deck, featuring a spacious sitting parlor which could be converted into an extra bedroom space connected to the main bedroom and private promenade. Families could also opt to take one of the two Family Suites, with their integrated sitting room-promenade setting, with two smaller bedrooms adjacent to the master bedroom.

    During her service as the flagship of the Helius Line, she made 143 crossings for westbound and eastbound journeys. She was soon joined by her sisterhip, the RMS Atlantis, which was slightly longer, and larger in 1937. Though she was never intended to compete as the fastest ship with the Normandie and Queen Mary, the Atlas captured the Blue Ribband once in her Southampton-New York crossing in April 1937. Hundreds of people who were waiting for the Normandie and the Queen Mary to arrive on their appointed pier were surprised to see the four funneled Atlas steaming through the Hudson River, an hour and a day earlier than scheduled. Captain Bennett Reagan, who had been the Atlas' commander from her start of service, gladly received the Blue Riband in honor of the ship. Said trophy was then subsequently recaptured by the Normandie and Queen Mary simultaneously on the following months.

    The Atlas continued her illustrious service until the beginning of the Second World War, where the she, and her sister ship's commercial services were put on hold. The Atlas went through conversion as a troop transport during World War II, where she carried hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the United States to Great Britain.

I finally finished this project after so long. I've always wanted to draw my own fictional ocean liner for so long, and there she is. ^^ Truth to be told, she looked a bit different from what I've imagined her years ago, but I'm very satisfied with the outcome. Thanks to all who had watched and favorited the Atlas' progress through my WIPs. Really appreciated.

Description

Class Overview
Name:                         Atlas-class Ocean Liner
Builders:                      Hunterson Shipbuilding & Engineering Company
Operator:                     Helius Lines
Preceeded by:               Athena-class Ocean Liner
Suceeded by:   SS Artemis, SS Astraea
Subclasses:       1
Built:                            1932-1935
In service:         1936-1970
Planned:           2
Completed:        2

Class Characteristics
Type:                           Ocean Liner
Tonnage:                     83,537 - 83, 673 gross tons
Displacement:             83,000+ tonnes
Length:                        1,031.2 ft (314.3 m) - 1,033 ft (315 m)
Beam:                          119.5 ft ft (36 m)
Decks:                         12 (all two liners); 11 for passengers
Installed power:           160,000 hp (120 MW) driving four propellers
Propulsion:         Four bronze quadruple-blade wing propellers
Speed:         28.5 knots, 32 knots (maximum)
Capacity:        3,276 passengers and crew
Crew:         1,120 crew members (maximum)
Cost:                           3.5 million GBP per ship

Career
Name:                          RMS Atlas
Operator:                   Helius Lines
Purpose:                      Ocean Liner
Ordered:                      26 June 1932
Laid down:                   30 August 1932
Launched:      12 April 1936
Completed:      31 July 1936
Maiden voyage:      10 August 1936
In service:       1936-1939; 1947-1968
Military service:            1940-1945 (as troop transport)
General Characteristics
Tonnage:       83,537 GRT
Length:          1,031.2 ft (314.3 m)
Beam:        119.5 ft (36 m)
Decks:       12; 11 for passengers
Installed power:         160,000 hp (120 MW) driving four propellers
Propulsion:         Four bronze quadruple-blade wing propellers
Speed:         28.5 knots, 32 knots (maximum)
Capacity:        2,156 passengers (780 first class, 722 second class, 654 third class)
Crew:         1,120

    The Atlas was an ocean liner built by Hunterson Shipbuilding and Engineering Company for the Helius Line, a newly formed company that was a result of the merger of several shipping companies that went bankrupt during the Great Depression. While Helius Lines was doing financially well with their number of old liners which were transferred from their previous companies and refurbished to match the age's tastes, the emergence of the SS Normandie and the RMS Queen Mary began to set new demands for shipping companies to build bigger, better, and more sophisticated ships which will carter to upper-class tourists and celebrities alike. It was a challenge that the Helius Line was not able to refuse.

    In order not loose competition with Cunard-White Star and the French Line, Helius Lines began to commission their very own two super-liners, which was then called the Atlas-class. The Atlas-class liners were ambitious projects from the company to gain attention while attracting future customers while also to fulfil public demand.

    Entering service in 1936, the Atlas quickly captured the public's attention. Her unique, raked bow with bulbous front and cruiser stern design, topped with the classic four stackers brought many praise and yet not a little amount of criticism from the press. Nonetheless, the Atlas quickly proved to be a massive commercial success. Her luxurious interiors were decorated in Art Deco, Streamline Moderne and hints of Edwardian and Jacobean from the pre-WWI times.

    The Atlas boasts voluminous public spaces for all classes, which was achieved by splitting the boiler uptakes to the sides of the ship instead of coming straight upward through the centre of the ship's width. As for passenger safety, the Atlas was equipped with 14 watertight compartments with fireproof bulkheads reaching as high as the A Deck, 26 passenger lifeboats capable of holding 100 each with additional 10 life rafts which can be filled up to 70 passengers.

    Among the many facilities on-board, the Atlas featured indoor and outdoor swimming pools (with the first class indoor pool being part of the Turkish Bath complex), libraries, cinemas, beauty salons, chapels, and children's nursery for all three classes, a music studio, a lecture hall, telephone connectivity to everywhere in the world, and outdoor tennis courts, with gymnasiums to keep her passengers entertained during the journey. The largest space inside the ship was the first class Dining Room, stretching the width of the ship with the height of four decks, equipped with a balcony with tiered seating, and topped with an illuminated dome. As an alternative to the main dining room, the Atlas provided several separate first class restaurants such as the Promenade Cafe on the aft starboard promenade, the Crown Grill—an exclusive à la carte restaurant that converts to Club Borealis at night, and the Observation Bar on the forward Sun Deck; an Art Deco styled lounge with wide sea view, directly above the first class Winter Garden.

     For first class passenger accommodations, each special stateroom and suites were individually decorated by select artists, giving their own unique feel. The most luxurious first class suites on-board the Atlas were the two Palatial Suites, located on A Deck, one on each side. They featured their own dining rooms, sitting parlors, music rooms, multiple bedrooms, and their own private promenade. Travelling celebrities and important figures who wanted a cheaper but no less level of luxury could choose from the four, slightly smaller Empire Suites on the same deck, featuring a spacious sitting parlor which could be converted into an extra bedroom space connected to the main bedroom and private promenade. Families could also opt to take one of the two Family Suites, with their integrated sitting room-promenade setting, with two smaller bedrooms adjacent to the master bedroom.

    During her service as the flagship of the Helius Line, she made 143 crossings for westbound and eastbound journeys. She was soon joined by her sisterhip, the RMS Atlantis, which was slightly longer, and larger in 1937. Though she was never intended to compete as the fastest ship with the Normandie and Queen Mary, the Atlas captured the Blue Ribband once in her Southampton-New York crossing in April 1937. Hundreds of people who were waiting for the Normandie and the Queen Mary to arrive on their appointed pier were surprised to see the four funneled Atlas steaming through the Hudson River, an hour and a day earlier than scheduled. Captain Bennett Reagan, who had been the Atlas' commander from her start of service, gladly received the Blue Riband in honor of the ship. Said trophy was then subsequently recaptured by the Normandie and Queen Mary simultaneously on the following months.

    The Atlas continued her illustrious service until the beginning of the Second World War, where the she, and her sister ship's commercial services were put on hold. The Atlas went through conversion as a troop transport during World War II, where she carried hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the United States to Great Britain.

I finally finished this project after so long. I've always wanted to draw my own fictional ocean liner for so long, and there she is. ^^ Truth to be told, she looked a bit different from what I've imagined her years ago, but I'm very satisfied with the outcome. Thanks to all who had watched and favorited the Atlas' progress through my WIPs. Really appreciated.