Editing RMS Baltic (section)

==Early career==
[[File:EJ Smith.jpg|thumb|left|[[Edward Smith (sea captain)|Edward Smith]] was the first captain of the ''Baltic''.]]

The ''Baltic'' made her maiden voyage on 29 June 1904 from [[Liverpool]] to [[New York City|New York]] under the command of [[Edward Smith (sea captain)|Edward Smith]], the future captain of the ''Titanic''. She arrived in New York on 8 July, with 906 passengers onboard (209 first class, 142 second class and 555 third class). She made the crossing in 7 days, 13 hours and 37 minutes at an average speed of 16.1 knots, burning just 235 tons of coal per day on average.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.norwayheritage.com/articles/templates/ships.asp?articleid=111&zoneid=5 | title=White Star Liner Baltic Completes Maiden Voyage in 1904 }}</ref> She was at the time, the largest liner yet built. However, the modifications made to her structure during her design posed a problem: the machinery was not upgraded accordingly, and due to her increased tonnage the ship struggled to maintain the service speed required to ensure regular rotations.<ref>{{harvnb|de Kerbrech|2009|pp=123–124}}</ref>

The ''Baltic'' remained on the route from Liverpool to New York for the following years, and proved to be more popular with customers than her fellow liners, probably thanks to her more spacious facilities. Her early years, however, were peppered with incidents. In May 1905, she was held back for six hours by a breakdown of machinery.<ref>{{harvnb|Eaton|Haas|1989|p=72}}</ref> More serious, on 3 November 1906, a fire broke out in one of her holds. It was put under control, but water and fire destroyed more than 600 bales of cotton.<ref>{{harvnb|Eaton|Haas|1989|p=83}}</ref> On April 13, 1907, she collided with and sank a barge loaded with coal in the middle of New York Harbor, and in August 1908, a fire broke out in her holds during a stopover in New York, causing $10,000 in damage.<ref>{{harvnb|Eaton|Haas|1989|pp=98–99}}</ref> On 30 June 1910, she collided with the tanker ''Standard'' of the German-American Petroleum Company: The collision tore the hull of the ''Baltic'' above and below the waterline, and one compartment was flooded, while a severely injured sailor from the tanker was transferred aboard the liner by boat to be operated on there.<ref>{{harvnb|Eaton|Haas|1989|p=119}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=The Fleets of the Mail Lines: Coincidences in Shipping Affairs|magazine=The Marine Engineer and Naval Architect |volume=33| date=September 1910|page=40}}</ref>

From 1907 onwards, the Baltic provided, along with the ''Celtic'', the ''Cedric'', and the {{SS|Arabic|1902|2}}, a secondary service from Liverpool on Thursdays, in addition to the main service from Southampton.<ref>{{harvnb|Anderson|1964|p=100}}</ref>

[[File:RMS Baltic old postcard.jpg|thumb|Ca. 1910s postcard of ''Baltic'']]
On 23 January 1909, the White Star liner {{RMS|Republic|1903|6}} steaming in a fog was rammed by the Italian ship SS ''Florida'' off the northeastern coast of the United States and was severely damaged by the collision. Her radio operator, Jack Binns, hastened to telegraph a CQD, a distress signal in use at the time for the stations of the Marconi company.<ref>{{harvnb|Eaton|Haas|1989|p=109}}</ref> Despite the collision having damaged the wireless set on ''Republic'', Binns made repairs and, using battery power, managed to reach the Siasconsett wireless station on [[Nantucket]]. The signal was also picked up by the ''Baltic''{{'}}s radio operator around six in the morning. The liner (commanded by [[J. B. Ranson]]), which was traveling westbound 64 miles from the collision site, turned around to rescue the passengers.<ref name=RK124>{{harvnb|de Kerbrech|2009|p=124}}</ref> In the meantime, the ''Republic''{{'}}s passengers were evacuated onto the less damaged ''Florida'', and only part of the crew, including Captain Sealby, remained on board, still hoping to be able to have the liner towed by another ship in order to beach her to prevent her from sinking.<ref>{{harvnb|Eaton|Haas|1989|p=110}}</ref>

Due to the thick fog that enveloped the area, the ''Baltic'' was forced to seek the ''Republic'' by methodically steaming around the area. Captain J.B. Ranson estimated that she travelled 200 miles zigzagging through the region. By dint of the use of rockets and bombs, the two ships met each other around 7 PM.<ref>{{harvnb|Eaton|Haas|1989|pp=112–113}}</ref> The ''Florida'' was in turn in a bad position, and the passengers were transferred again, this time to the ''Baltic'', without any losses despite the complexity of the operation in the middle of the night and in the fog. The ''Republic'' finally sank around 8 PM the next day, with her captain remaining on board with an officer before being picked up by another one of the ships that had arrived in the vicinity.<ref>{{harvnb|Eaton|Haas|1989|p=116}}</ref> There were only five victims, killed in the collision. This was the first time that wireless telegraphy has played a leading role in saving lives at sea.<ref name=RK125>{{harvnb|de Kerbrech|2009|p=125}}</ref> During the return voyage, wireless telegraphy continued to play an important role in enabling the transmission of news. The ''Baltic'' and the survivors were greeted by a large crowd on their arrival in New York, to which the ''Florida'' also returned on its own. The passengers of the ''Baltic'' for their part decided to contribute to offering commemorative medals to the three captains, as well as to the radio operator Jack Binns.<ref name=RA105>{{harvnb|Anderson|1964|p=105}}</ref>

On 14 April 1912, ''Baltic'' sent an ice warning message to the ill-fated {{RMS|Titanic}}: <blockquote>"''Greek steamer ''Athenia''<ref>{{harvnb|Eaton|Haas|1989|p=158}}</ref> reports passing [[iceberg]]s and large quantities of field ice today in latitude 41° 51' N, longitude 49° 52' W. Wish you and ''Titanic'' all success. Commander.''"<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.titanic-titanic.com/warnings.shtml|title = The Ice Warnings Received by Titanic|date = 17 June 2019}}</ref></blockquote> This was not enough for the ''Titanic'' to avoid a collision and she [[sinking of the Titanic|sank]] the next morning. The ''Baltic'' then received the SOS from the ''Titanic'' via the {{RMS|Caronia|1904|2}} and diverted for nine hours to try to come to her rescue. The ''Baltic'' was, however, too far away to be of any help. After the Titanic disaster, the liner was, like all the other ships of the company, provided with additional lifeboats to take into account the lessons of the sinking.<ref name=RK125/>