On 20 June 1914 a colossal new vessel was launched at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, Germany. She was ordered by Albert Ballin of Hamburg-Amerika (HAPAG) as the third, and largest, IMPERATOR-class ocean liner: SS BISMARCK. With the outbreak of World War I the following month she was left incomplete as Germany's industrial might was diverted to war duties. Surrounded on all sides by the UK, France, Russia, and eventually the United States the German Empire collapsed in 1918. Among the many indignities suffered by the devastated nation was the loss of her merchant fleet to the victorious allies. The unfinished ship was completed by Blohm & Voss, with oversight by Harland & Wolff, for the White Star Line as a replacement for the lost BRITANNIC. She was delivered to them in 1922, albeit with fully buff funnels -- the livery of HAPAG. At 56,551 GRT she was now the flagship of the White Star Line, the British merchant fleet, and indeed the Largest Liner in the World: RMS MAJESTIC. She joined RMS OLYMPIC & HOMERIC to form the "Magnificent Trio." Over the next decade she was one of the most popular ships on the Atlantic run and earned the nickname "Magic Stick."
Негізгі бет RMS MAJESTIC: World's Largest Liner (1922)
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