SS Homeric (1922)
RMS Homeric in the 1920s
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | RMS Homeric |
| Owner: | White Star Line |
| Operator: | White Star Line |
| Port of registry: | Liverpool, England |
| Route: | Liverpool- New York |
| Ordered: | April 1912 |
| Builder: |
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| Laid down: | 1912 |
| Launched: | 1913 as Columbus for North German Lloyd |
| Christened: | January 1922 as Homeric |
| Completed: | 1920 |
| Maiden voyage: | 15 February 1922 |
| In service: | 1922 |
| Out of service: | 1935 |
| Renamed: | Columbus to Homeric, 1922 |
| Refit: | 1927 |
| Homeport: | Liverpool,England |
| Nickname(s): | "Home at sea" |
| Fate: | Scrapped in 1935; scrapping complete by 1938 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Columbus Class |
| Type: | ocean liner |
| Tonnage: | 35,000 GRT |
| Length: | 774 ft (236 m) |
| Beam: | 82.3 ft (25.1 m) |
| Propulsion: | Twin screw |
| Speed: | Before refit: 18 knots (33 km/h) After refit: 19.5 knots (36.1 km/h) |
| Capacity: | 2,145 passengers: 750 First Class, 545 Second Class, 850 Third Class |
| Crew: | 780 |
| Notes: | sister ship to SS Columbus (1924) |
RMS Homeric, originally launched as Columbus, was built for Norddeutscher Lloyd and launched in 1913 at the F. Schichau yard in Danzig. Columbus was ceded to Great Britain in 1919 as part of German war reparations. She was sold to White Star Line in 1920, which named her Homeric. Her sister ship Hindenburg retained her German ownership and was renamed Columbus. Homeric was operated by White Star from 1922 to 1935.
The White Star Line had originally planned that its three Olympic-class liners; Olympic, Titanic and Britannic would operate their planned transatlantic express service. However Titanic was lost on her maiden voyage after striking an iceberg in 1912, and Britannic was lost in the First World War after striking a mine in the Aegean in 1916. Another of their prestigious ships, the 17,000-ton Oceanic of 1899 had also been wrecked on the islands of Foula during war service in 1914. By the end of the war this left Olympic as the only survivor of the planned trio of express liners, which duly re-entered civilian service in 1920 but lacked any suitable running mates. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles which entitled Britain to war reparations, White Star looked at obtaining some large German liners which had been under construction during the war, but were left unfinished. One such Liner was the 56,000-ton Bismarck, third and largest of Albert Ballin’s great Imperator Class trio, left unfinished at the Blohm & Voss Shipyard, this was ceded to White Star and renamed Majestic. The second was the 34,000-ton Columbus at F. Schicau in Danzig. While both ships had been launched, they were left uncompleted due to the priority given to completing naval contracts.
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