SS Bismarck
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| History | |
|---|---|
 Germany
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| Name: | SS Bismarck |
| Builder: | Blohm & Voss |
| Laid down: | 1913 |
| Launched: | 20 June 1914 |
| Fate: | Turned over to Great Britain in 1920 as compensation for the sinking of HMHS Britannic |
  United Kingdom
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| Name: | RMS Majestic |
| Namesake: | SS Majestic |
| Operator: |
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| Maiden voyage: | 12 May 1922 |
| Renamed: | HMS Caledonia (23 April 1937) |
| Fate: | Caught fire and sank on 29 September 1939 and scrapped 1943 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage: | 56,551 gross tons |
| Length: | 956.0 ft (291.4 m) |
| Beam: | 100.1 ft (30.5 m) |
| Draft: | 36 ft (11.0 m) |
| Installed power: |
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| Propulsion: | 4 Parsons steam turbines, 4 screws |
| Speed: | 23.5 knots (43.5 km/h; 27.0 mph) |
| Capacity: |
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RMS Majestic was a White Star ocean liner working on the North Atlantic run, originally launched in 1914 as the Hamburg America Line liner SS Bismarck. At 56,551 gross register tons, she was the largest ship in the world until completion of SS Normandie in 1935. The third and largest member of German HAPAG Line's trio of transatlantic liners, her completion was delayed by World War I. She never sailed under the German flag except on her sea trials in 1922. Following the war, she was finished by her German builders, handed over to the allies as war reparations and became the White Star Line flagship Majestic. She was the second White Star ship to bear the name, the first being SS Majestic. She served successfully throughout the 1920s but the onset of the Great Depression made her increasingly unprofitable. She managed to struggle through the first half of the 1930s before being sold off for scrapping to Thos W Ward. She was taken possession of by the British Admiralty before demolition commenced after an agreement was reached with White Star and Thomas Ward. She served the Royal Navy as the training ship HMS Caledonia before catching fire in 1939 and sinking. She was subsequently raised and scrapped in 1943.
Bismarck was built by the Blohm & Voss shipbuilders in Hamburg, Germany. She was laid down in 1913 and launched on 20 June 1914 by Countess Hanna von Bismarck, the granddaughter of the 19th century German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. During the launching ceremony Countess Bismarck had difficulty breaking the bottle of champagne herself, and Kaiser [pWilhelm II]] had to assist. The ship was to have been the flagship of the Hamburg America Line and the final of Albert Ballin's "Big Three" (Imperator, which later became RMS Berengaria, and Vaterland, which later became SS Leviathan). Majestic was intended to be the same size as Vaterland, in both tonnage and length, but a miscommunication that Cunard's Aquitania would be larger made HAPAG demand an extra 6 feet (1.8 m) in length, increasing her gross tonnage. Aquitania was actually 50 feet (15 m) shorter than both Vaterland and Bismarck.
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