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SS Imperator
History
Germany
Name
SS Imperator
Namesake
Latin Imperator, "emperor"
Owner
Hamburg - Amerika Linie
Port of registry
Hamburg
Route
Cuxhaven - Southampton - New York
Builder
AG Vulcan
Hamburg, Germany
Laid down
18 June 1910
Launched
23 May 1912
Christened
23 May 1912
Completed
June 1913 at Hamburg, Germany
Maiden voyage
11 June 1913, Cuxhaven to New York Via Southampton
Fate
Seized as war reparations. Used as a troop transport ship for the United States from May 1919. Handed over to the Cunard Line in September 1919, and renamed as RMS Berengaria. Sold for scrap in 1939; final demolition completed in or around 1946.
United States
Name
USS Imperator
Acquired
by the Navy 5 May 1919 at Brest, France
Commissioned
5 May 1919 USS Imperator at Brest, France
Decommissioned
24 November 1919 at New York City
Identification
ID-4080
Fate
Ceded to the Cunard Line as a war prize to make up for the loss of the RMS Lusitania and later renamed Berengaria
United Kingdom
Name
RMS Berengaria
Namesake
Berengaria of Navarre
Owner
1919–1934: Cunard Line
1934–1938: Cunard White Star Line
Route
Southampton to New York via Cherbourg.
Acquired
1919
Homeport
Liverpool, UK
Fate
Scrapped between 1939–1946
General characteristics
Class and type
Imperator-class ocean liner
Tonnage
52,117 GRT
Displacement
53,000 tons[citation needed]
Length
906 ft (276 m)
Beam
98 ft 3 in (29.95 m)
Draught
35 ft 2 in (10.72 m)
Decks
11
Installed power
Steam generated at 265 psi by 46 watertube boilers of Vulcan Yarrow design, originally coal burning, later converted to oil fired in 1921.
Propulsion
4 steam turbines AEG-Vulcan / Parsons direct drive on four shafts, total of 60,000 shp (45,000 kW)
Speed
24 kn (44 km/h; 28 mph) max
Capacity
4,234 passengers:
908 first class
592 second class
962 third class
1,772 steerage (fourth class)
Crew
1,180
SS Imperator (known as RMS Berengaria for most of her career) was a German ocean liner built for the Hamburg America Line, launched in 1912. At the time of her completion in June 1913, she was the largest passenger ship in the world, surpassing the new White Star liner Olympic.
Imperator was the first of a trio of successively larger Hamburg American liners that included Vaterland (later the United States Liner Leviathan) and Bismarck (later the White Star Line Majestic) all of which were seized as war reparations.
Imperator served for 14 months on HAPAG's transatlantic route, until the outbreak of World War I, after which she remained in port in Hamburg. After the war, she was briefly commissioned into the United States Navy as USS Imperator (ID-4080) and employed as a transport, returning American troops from Europe. Following her service with the U.S. Navy, Imperator was purchased jointly by Britain's Cunard Line and White Star Line as part of war reparations, due to the loss of the RMS Lusitania, where she sailed as the flagship RMS Berengaria for the last 20 years of her career. William H. Miller wrote that "despite her German heritage and the barely disguised Teutonic tone of her interiors, she was thought of in the 1920s and 30s as one of Britain's finest liners."[1]
^William H. Miller (2001). Picture History of British Ocean Liners: 1900 to the Present. Dover Publications. p. 26.
SSImperator (known as RMS Berengaria for most of her career) was a German ocean liner built for the Hamburg America Line, launched in 1912. At the time...
000-passenger capacity was surpassed in 1913 by the 4,234-passenger SSImperator. The ship having five funnels (which were later reduced to four) was...
same dimensions but higher gross register tonnage, before the German SSImperator went into service in June 1913. Olympic also held the title of the largest...
Wing, a United States Air Force wing USS Imperator (ID-4080), another name for the German ocean liner SSImperator 4080 Galinskij, a minor planet State Road...
America Line Scandinavian America Line Swedish American Line SS Cleveland SS Hertford SSImperator USS President Lincoln "Hapag Halle Museum Cuxhaven". Archived...
on board the SSImperator, one of the largest ocean liners of the Hamburg-Amerika Line. The culinary experience on board the Imperator was overseen by...
to be more luxurious than her sister ships in order to compete with SSImperator, SS Vaterland and RMS Aquitania. Enough cabins were provided for passengers...
In 1913, the Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) brought its showpiece liner SSImperator into service. But in 1919 it became part of the White Star Line as compensation...
Englishwoman Henrietta Lüthy. In October 1913, Winold Reiss boarded the SSImperator and immigrated to America against the will of his parents. Like many...
New York: Warner Books. ISBN 978-0-446-51385-2. J. Kent Layton (2009). "Imperator". AtlanticLiners.com. Retrieved 20 June 2020. "Vaterland/Leviathan". The...
returned to normal passenger service in June 1919. He took command of SSImperator (later renamed Berengaria) in July 1920. From February to May 1924, he...
Instruments Company, Robert Juzek had traveled to New York aboard the SSImperator, arriving March 2, 1920, as a secretary for the Czecho Slovak Commercial...
be completed, in 1913 was SSImperator. She was followed by SS Vaterland in 1914. The construction of the third liner, SS Bismarck, was paused by the...
Royal Air Force) is established. May 23 – The Hamburg America Line's SSImperator is launched in Hamburg and is the world's largest ship. May 30 – Pioneer...
names Fate Image SSImperator 1912 USS Imperator (1919–1920) RMS Berengaria (1920–1939) Scrapped in 1946 (fully) As Imperator USS Imperator with USS Leviathan...
which he ruled alone. Louis's usual title was imperator augustus ("august emperor"), but he used imperator Romanorum ("emperor of the Romans") after his...
mother (Lady Blake). They left England for New York on the Cunard SS Berengaria SSImperator in November 1935, across the US to San Francisco and on to Honolulu...
Denmark, and were joined by Gustaf of Sweden. The Hamburg America Line's SSImperator was launched from the Vulcan Shipyards Hamburg as the world's largest...
large paintings that were created as decorations for the ocean liner SSImperator. His works were part of a major exhibition in 2019: Hamburger Schule...