THE WHITE STAR LINE
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GERMANIC was built in 1874 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 5008grt, a length of 455ft, a beam of 45ft 2in and a service speed of 16 knots. Sister of the Britannic she was launched on 15th July 1874, the drop propeller shaft having been removed during construction. After spending 3 months at Belfast before she was finished and painted due to the fact that White Star did not require her until the start of the Summer season when she replaced the Oceanic, her maiden voyage to New York commenced on 30th May 1875. In the following July she broke the eastbound record when she completed the crossing in 7 days 11 hrs 17 mins at an average speed of 15.76 knots. By February 1876, when the New York - Queenstown record was broken again, both ships were recognised as the best liners on the North Atlantic. In January her propeller shaft snapped and she was forced to resort to sail to complete her voyage to Waterford. Being before the days of wireless her problem was reported by Donald Currie's Westmoreland whose offer of a salvage tow was refused. Triple expansion engines and new high pressure boilers were fitted in 1895 and on 15th May she was the first ship to embark passengers at Liverpool's new floating landing stage. On 13th February 1899, whilst coaling at New York in a blizzard, her port side coaling doors were open and she half capsized due to snow and ice on the upper decks causing her to heel over and came to rest almost upright and leaning against the dock wall. Had her sodden passenger accommodation been damage she would have been scrapped but in the event she was refloated on 23rd February and sent to Belfast where she remained out of service for four months. On 23rd September 1903 she made her final voyage for the White Star Line before being laid up for the winter. In 1904 she was transferred to the International Mercantile Marine Company and became American Line's Germanic. On 24th April she commenced the first of six voyages from Southampton to New York before being transferred again to the Dominion Line for carrying emigrants. She was renamed Ottawa on 5th January 1905 and deployed on the Liverpool - Halifax service during the winter months and from 27th April between Quebec and Montreal for the summer. At the end of the summer season in October 1909 she was laid up and in the following year was sold to the Turkish Government for use as a transport. On 15th March 1911 she sailed from Liverpool as the Gul Djemal operated by the Administration de Nav. a Vapeur Ottomane of Istanbul and commenced carrying troops to the fighting in the Yemen. She was transferred to the Black Sea in 1912 and, although too big for that area, was a prestigious deployment. In April 1915 she was used to carry troops to the Gallipoli Peninsular following the Anglo-French landings and on 3rd May was torpedoed whilst at anchor in shallow water in the Sea of Marmara, by the submarine E-14. She settled with her superstructure above water and the majority of the 4000 men said to be aboard were lost. When she was raised the submarine shared a bounty of £31,000 based on £5 per Turk plus assessed value. In November 1918 she was used to repatriate German troops from Turkey and arrived at the Allied control point off Dover totally unannounced with 1500 armed troops on board which caused much confusion. She was, however, disarmed and sent to Germany. In 1920 she was transferred to the Ottoman - America Line for deployment on an emigrant service from Istanbul to New York and on 10th October 1921 commenced her first voyage. She later operated along Turkey's Black Sea coast to Trabzon. By 1928 and still government owned she was being operated by Turkiye Seyrisefain Idaresi as the Gulcemal. In 1931 she grounded in the Sea of Marmara and by 1949 she was being used as a store ship at Istanbul. She briefly became a floating hotel in 1950 before being towed to Messina on 29th October where she was broken up after 40 years service with the Turkish Government.

ASIATIC (2)/ARABIC (1) was built in 1881 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 4368grt, a length of 430ft 2in, a beam of 42ft 2in and a service speed of 14 knots. White Star's first steel hulled ship she was launched as the Asiatic on 30 April 1881 but completed as the Arabic. Similar in appearance to the Adriatic class the intention was to charter her to the Occidental & Oriental Steamship Co for operation on their transpacific route but before being transferred to San Francisco she made three end of season voyages from Liverpool to New York, her maiden voyage commencing on 10th September 1881. On 4th February 1882 she sailed from Liverpool to Hong Kong via the Suez Canal to begin her transpacific service. In 1886 she made one sailing to Australia for Occidental & Oriental. When she came off charter in 1887 fifty second class berths were added which were referred to as the Intermediate Class and on 12th May began to operate on the Liverpool - Queenstown - New York service. In May 1888 she reverted to Occidental & Oriental service and in February 1890 was sold to Holland America Line for £65,000 and renamed Spaarndam. She commenced her first sailing from Rotterdam to New York on 29th March and remained with the company until 7th February 1901 when she made her final sailing. In August of the same year she was broken up by Thos. W. Ward at Preston.

COPTIC was built in 1881 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 4367grt, a length of 430ft 2in, a beam of 42ft 2in and a service speed of 14 knots. Sister of the Asiatic she was launched on 10th August 1881 for deployment on the transpacific service of Occidental & Oriental Steamship Co. However, she made two voyages from Liverpool to New York commencing 16th November before, on 11th March 1882, sailing to Hong Kong via Suez to join the transpacific service. In 1883 the Occidental & Oriental Steamship Co. became over tonnaged and, as a result, she was chartered to the New Zealand Shipping Co. while they were awaiting the arrival of ships under construction. A 750 ton capacity refrigeration plant was installed in 1884 to enable her to participate in a new joint venture with Shaw, Savill & Albion to New Zealand, a service which had been devised by Walter Savill and Thomas Ismay. Five ships were required and White Star provided three. Her name became a Shaw, Saville & Albion nomenclature and was not repeated by White Star. She made the inaugural sailing of the service, London - New Zealand - Cape Horn - South America - UK, on 26th May 1884 when the First Class fare was £77, the Steerage £7 7s 0d and the First Class 'Round the World ticket, £105. In 1889 she went aground near Rio de Janeiro, was flooded forward and repaired locally. She was modernised with triple expansion engines in 1894 and reverted to Occidental & Oriental service to replace the Oceanic which was due for re-engining. On 30th October 1906 she made the final Occidental & Oriental sailing from San Francisco and went off charter when she arrived at Hong Kong. In the following December she was sold to the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. and renamed Persia for the same service. She also retained the Red Ensign as she had not been built in the USA. Refitted in 1911 she was sold to Toyo Kisen Kabusiki Kaisya of Tokyo in 1915 and renamed Persia Maru for their transpacific service. By 1922 she was operating on the Dutch East Indies route and in December 1924 was laid up at Yokohama where her furnishing and fittings were sold by auction. She was broken up at Osaka during 1926 after 44 years service.

IONIC (1) was built in 1883 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 4753grt, a length of 439ft 11in, a beam of 44ft 2in and a service speed of 14 knots. A slightly larger version of the Asiatic she was launched on 10th January 1883 and was powered, for the first time, by a Harland and Wolff engine. A fast freighter with limited passenger accommodation she was initially chartered with the Doric and the Coptic to the New Zealand Shipping Co. who were awaiting the delivery of new buildings for a joint service with Shaw, Savill & Albion. She sailed from Belfast on 26th March, arrived in London on 1st April and commenced her maiden voyage from London to Wellington via the Cape on 26th April completing the voyage in a record time of 43 days 22 hrs 5 mins. Prior to sailing from London she was inspected by the Prince of Wales who later became Edward V11. In December 1884 she was placed on the joint White Star - Shaw, Savill & Albion. the White Star vessels being crewed by their own personnel but managed by Shaw, Savill. On 8th February 1893 her propeller shaft snapped shortly after leaving Cape Town and she had to return there initially under sail and, then after three days, under the tow of Donald Currie's Hawarden Castle. She arrived in Cape Town on 15th February when £7,000 was awarded as salvage and resumed her voyage in the April. In 1894 she returned to her builder and was extensively refurbished during which an economical quadruple expansion engine was installed which increased her speed to 15 knots. She made her last voyage from London to New Zealand via Cape Town, where she disembarked cavalry horses for the Boer War, in December 1899. In April 1900 she was chartered to the Spanish Government to repatriate troops from Manila following the war with the United States before being sold to the Aberdeen Line for £47,000 to replace the Thermopylae which had been lost in the previous September. Renamed Sophocles she commenced her first voyage for the Aberdeen Line on 23rd October 1900. On 21st August 1906 she made her final voyage and in April 1908 was broken up by Thos. W. Ward at Morecambe, Lancashire.

DORIC (1) was built in 1883 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 4784grt, a length of 440ft 11in, a beam of 44ft 2in and a service speed of 14 knots. Sister of the Ionic she was launched for the New Zealand trade on 10th March 1883 and during her positioning voyage to London called at Holyhead to embark Thomas Ismay and a party of celebrated guests. On 26th July she commenced her maiden voyage from London to Wellington via the Cape under charter to the New Zealand Shipping Co. During the voyage, on 27th August, a baby was born and christened William Doric Jenkin. In July 1885 she was allocated to the White Star - Shaw, Savill & Albion joint venture. She was chartered to the Occidental & Oriental Steamship Co. in 1896 for their San Francisco - Yokohama - Hong Kong service and after ten years commenced her final voyage on 8th August 1906 before being sold to the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. who renamed her Asia. After a refit she made her first sailing for Pacific on 11th June 1907. On 23rd April 1911 she was wrecked on Hea Chu Island near Wenchow in South China during a voyage from Hong Kong to San Francisco with no loss of life. The survivors were taken to Shanghai by China Navigation's Shaoshing and the Doric was looted and and set on fire by local fishermen.

BELGIC (2) was built in 1885 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 4212grt, a length of 420ft 4in, a beam of 42ft 5in and a service speed of 14 knots. The first of a pair of sisters which were virtually the same as the Ionic she was launched on 3rd January 1885 and delivered on 7th July for charter to the Occidental & Oriental Steamship Co's Pacific service. After completing her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York she commenced first voyage for O & O on 28th November from San Francisco to Hong Kong via Yokohama. In 1898 she made her final Pacific crossing before returning to the United Kingdom when, in the following year, she was sold to the Atlantic Transport Line who renamed her Mohawk. She commenced her first sailing from London to New York on 7th September 1899 and in the following December was requisitioned for service during the Boer War. After she was released in 1902 it was decided not to refurbish her and she was broken up at Garston, Liverpool during the following year.

GAELIC (2) was built in 1885 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 4206grt, a length of 420ft 4in, a beam of 42ft 5in and a service speed of 14 knots. Sister of the Belgic she was launched on 28th February 1885, commenced her maiden voyage from London to New York on 18th July and her first Pacific crossing for the Occidental & Oriental Steamship Co. on 10th November. In May 1904 O & O gave six months notice prior to cancelling the charter contract and on 13th December the Gaelic commenced her final voyage from San Francisco before returning to the United Kingdom. She was overhauled by her builder early in 1905 and in March of that year was sold to the Pacific Steam Navigation Co. who changed her name to Callao. Purchased for the Liverpool - Valparaiso - Callao service as a stopgap until the new Quillota was delivered she was finally broken up at Briton Ferry during September 1907.

CUFIC (1) was built in 1888 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 4639grt, a length of 430ft 8in, a beam of 45ft 2in and a service speed of 13 knots. The company's first triple expansion engined vessel she was launched on 10th October 1888 for the carriage of general cargo outward bound to the USA and a 1000 head of cattle on the return. She commenced her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York on 8th December. In 1896 she was chartered to Cia Trasatlantica Espanola of Cadiz for use as a horse remount carrier between Spain and Cuba during the Cuban revolution as the Nuestra Senora de Guadaloupe. She came off charter in 1898 when she was renamed Cufic. In December 1900 she lost her propeller in the Atlantic and was towed into Queenstown by the Bristol City Line's Kansas City for which a salvage award of £6,800 was made. She was sold to the Mississippi & Dominion Line Steamship Co. in 1901 and renamed Manxman for their Liverpool to New Orleans during the cotton season and US and Canadian ports at other times. In February 1902 the Dominion Line was taken over by J Peirpoint Morgan's International Mercantile Marine Co. but that did not affect the ship's operational programme. She was acquired by Elder, Dempster in 1915 who, in the following year, sold her to R. Lawrence Smith Ltd of Montreal for employment on Canadian Government service. In April 1917 she was taken over by the Shipping Controller under the Liner Requisition Scheme and in February 1919 was sold to the Universal Transport Co. of New York, later restyled United States & Canadian Transport & trading Co. of Toronto, who retained her name. On 18th December 1919 she foundered in the North Atlantic during a voyage from Portland, Maine to Gibraltar carrying wheat with the loss of all hands.

RUNIC (1) was built in 1889 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 4833grt, a length of 430ft 8in, a beam of 45ft 2in and a service speed of 13 knots. Sister of the Cufic she was launched on 21st February 1889 as a livestock carrier across the Atlantic. In May 1895 she was sold to the West India & Pacific Steamship Co. who renamed her Tampican. On 31st December 1899 she was transferred to Frederick Leyland & Co. with the rest of the fleet. She was sold to H. E. Moss & Co. of Liverpool in 1912 with the intention of being used within their non-tanker fleet which was owned by the Sefton Steamship Co. but, in the event, was almost immediately sold to the South Pacific Whaling Co. of Christiana who changed her name to Imo and converted her for the carriage of whale oil during the Antarctic whaling season. At 0845 on 6th December 1917 she collided with the French Line's Mont Blanc, which was fully laden with explosives, in Halifax roadstead. The French ship blew up seventeen minutes later and the blast, which was felt some 120 miles away, obliterated the suburb of Richmond. 1,500 people were killed, 2,000 were never found, 8,000 were injured and 3,000 buildings in Richmond were destroyed. Across the water at Dartmouth thousands of buildings were damaged by the blast. The Mont Blanc was totally lost but the Imo, which had drifted clear, was swamped but only lost two masts, her funnel and all of her lifeboats. After she had been repaired she was, in 1918, tactfully renamed Guvernoren. On 26th October 1921 she sailed from Sandford and on 30th November, while proceeding in fog, grounded on rocks 20 miles from Port Stanley, Falkland Islands and was a total loss.

TEUTONIC was built in 1889 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 9984grt, a length of 582ft, a beam of 57ft 8in and a service speed of 20 knots. When her keel was laid in March 1887 her design was approved by the Admiralty who said that "it was the finest ever put forward". As she had twin screws she was the first ship to have no square rigged masts and, in fact, despite having three gaffs carried no sails at all. Designed by the Hon. Alexander Montgomery Carlisle, Harland and Wolff's chief designer, she was built under the Auxiliary Armed Cruiser Agreement and launched on 19th January 1889. Completed on 25th July 1889 she was delivered to Liverpool where she was converted into an Armed Merchant Cruiser within 24 hours and equipped with 8 4.7 inch guns. On 1st August she sailed from Liverpool to attend the Spithead Naval Review to mark the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria as the first AMC. At Spithead she was inspected by the Prince of Wales and Kaiser Willhelm II on August 3rd but because the actual review was postponed until the following Monday because of bad weather the Teutonic had to leave on the Sunday because of her maiden voyage. Hence her omission from the Review line up. On her return to Liverpool she was disarmed for commercial service and sailed on her maiden voyage to New York with a call at Queenstown on 7th August, replacing the Baltic. In August 1891 she broke the westbound crossing record with a passage time of 5 days, 16hrs, 31mins at and average speed of 20.5 knots, a record which she held for the following twelve months. On 26th June 1897 she took part in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Spithead Review, again as an Armed Merchant Cruiser and with the Megantic as her tender. During the review Charles Parsons took his yacht Turbinia ,which was the first vessel powered by steam turbines driving three propellers on three shafts, through the line of ships at an unheard of speed of 32 knots. The Turbinia was later moored alongside the Teutonic and Thomas Ismay and his guest were given a trial run at '40 miles per hours'. In 1898 she collided with the US transport Berlin in New York harbour. When the Boer War was declared she was deployed as a transport in 1900. In February 1901 she was swamped by a massive tsunami following an earthquake and two men in the crows nest were washed onto the deck and survived. Had the incident happened during the day many passengers on the decks would have been washed overboard. In 1907 her departure port was changed to Southampton and on 12th June she made her first sailing to New York with a call at Cherbourg. She was rebuilt in 1911 and in June of that year operated on the White Star - Dominion Line summer service to Montreal and the winter service to Portland, Maine. In 1913 the First Class was discontinued and she was reconfigured to carry 550 2nd Class and 1000 3rd Class passengers. On 12th September 1914 she was urgently requisitioned for Armed Merchant Cruiser duties to replace the Aquitania which had been damaged following a collision with Frederick Leyland's Canadian. Attached to the 18 ship 10th Cruiser Squadron she operated on Patrol 'A', North Faeroes to the ice belt. On 16th August 1916 she was acquired by the Admiralty and equipped with 6 inch guns and in December of the following year was placed in reserve for a year. She was recommissioned for White Sea convoy escort duties in October 1917 and attached to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron whose flagship was the Alsatian. In 1918 she was taken over by the Shipping Controller, with the White Star Line as managers, and used as a troopship between the UK and Alexandria with the capacity for 1500 persons. She was laid up in Cowes Roads in 1921 where she was sold and eventually broken up at Emden.

MAJESTIC (1) was built in 1890 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 9965grt, a length of 582ft, a beam of 57ft 8in and a service speed of 20 knots. Sister of the Teutonic she was ordered in March 1887, launched on 29th June 1889 and delivered on 23rd March 1890.Replacing the Republic she commenced her maiden voyage to New York on 2nd April and in July 1891 broke the westbound record between Queenstown and Sandy Hook with a time of 5 days, 18hrs, 8mins at an average speed of 20.1 knots, her only record. On 13th December 1899 she was requisitioned as a Boer War transport for service between Liverpool and Cape Town and on 12th February 1900 made a second trooping voyage between Southampton and Cape Town. During 1902-3 she was refitted by Harland & Wolff when her funnels were heightened by 10ft, her mast reduced to two and new boilers installed which increased her tonnage to 10,147grt. During 1905 she was damaged following a bunker fire when in dock at Liverpool. Her terminal port was changed to Southampton in 1907 and she commenced her first sailing to New York on 26th June. In November 1911 she was relegated to a reserve ship and spent much of her time laid up at Bidston Dock, Birkenhead. The wisdom of retaining a reserve ship was demonstrated in May 1912 when the Majestic replaced the Titanic which had been tragically lost in previous April. On 17th October she rescued the crew of the French schooner Garonne and on 14th January 1914 made her final sailing to New York after 24 years service. She was sold for £25,000 and on 5th May 1914 arrived at the yard of Thos. W. Ward at Morecambe where she was broken up.

NOMADIC (1) was built in 1891 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 5749grt, a length of 460ft 10in, a beam of 49ft 1in and a service speed of 13 knots. She was launched as a livestock carrier on 11th February 1891 and commenced her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York on 24th April. In October 1899 she was the first White Star ship to be requisitioned as a Boer War troopship and horse transport and as HMT No.34 served for nearly two years. She was transferred within the International Mercantile Marine organisation to the Dominion Line under the company's Steamship Amalgamation Plan in 1903 and in the following year was renamed Cornishman and deployed on the USA and Canadian routes. In 1921 she was transferred to Frederick Leyland & Co. for deployment on the same routes and with the same name. Sold for £10,500 she arrived at Hayle, Cornwall on 12th May 1926 and broken up at Lelant.

TAURIC was built in 1891 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 5728grt, a length of 460ft 10in, a beam of 49ft 1in and a service speed of 13 knots. Sister of the Nomadic she was launched on 12th March 1891 and commenced her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York on 16th May. In 1903 she was transferred to the Dominion Line and made her first sailing from Liverpool to Portland on 12th March. She was renamed Welshman in 1904. Transferred with her sister to Frederick Leyland & Co. in 1921 she was eventually broken up at Bo'ness, Firth of Forth in December 1929.

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