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The third of Albert
Ballin's trio of pre-World War I superliners—the other two were Vaterland
and Imperator, Majestic was laid down in 1913 and launched in
June 1914 as Hamburg-Amerika Linie's Bismarck.
The beginning of
World War One prevented her completion, and she was mothballed for the duration
of hostilities. Under the Treaty of Versailles, she was handed over to the
British government. The world's largest passenger ship was completed in Hamburg
and on May 10, 1922, Majestic finally sailed from Southampton to
Cherbourg and New York on her maiden voyage for White Star Lines. She remained
in regular weekly service with occasional cruises from New York to Halifax
during the lean years of the Depression and Prohibition in the United States.
Following the merger of Cunard and White Star in 1934, Majestic was
sold for scrap in 1936, but the British Admiralty bought her for use as the
training ship HMS Caledonia at Rosyth. Slated for conversion as a troop
transport, on September 29, 1939, Majestic was burned beyond repair and
sank; she was scrapped by T. W. Ward between 1941 and 1943.
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