The Imperator was the first of three liners that were the Hamburg-America Line's answer to the White Star Line's Olympic class liners.  The keel for the first of Germany's trio was laid on June 18, 1910 at the Vulcan Werke shipyards in Hamburg.  She was launched by the German Kaiser himself on May 23, 1912, a month after the Titanic went down.   Because of this, Imperator's C deck was carved out for lifeboats, and she would carry a total of 83 lifeboats.

Imperator was ready for transatlantic service exactly one year after launching, and left Cuxhaven via Southampton for New York on June 10, 1913.

One interesting thing to note about the Imperator is that she carried a large bronze decorative eagle figurehead on her bow.  It is believed that this was added to the ship to make her the longest ship on the seas, which she apparently just barely didn't meet or beat.   You can see this figurehead in the picture at right, depicting the Imperator in New York, partly flooded and listing after a fire.

The Imperator was not without her fair share of problems, though.  The large areas in Imperator's superstructure helped to make the ship a notorious roller, which, in the line's estimation, could ruin her from a financial perspective.  So Hamburg-America had to take drastic measures.  In her first fall refit, her funnels were cut down nine feet, all upper-deck fittings and panels were replaced by ones made of lighter materials, the aforementioned eagle figurehead was removed, and lots and lots of cement was poured in her bottom.  Still, the Imperator earned the name the "Limperator".

When World War I broke out, the Imperator found herself in Hamburg.  Here she would remain for the next four years.  When United States forces arrived, they found the Imperator in a decaying and rusted state.   However, that didn't stop them from reactivating the Imperator for trooping as the USS Imperator.  This service lasted from May 1919 until the following August.  After this, she was laid up again, this time in New York.

After the war was over, Imperator was chartered to the Cunard Line as the most readily available replacement for the Lusitania.  She was sold, along with her sister the Bismarck (which would become White Star's Majestic), to the Cunard and White Star Lines jointly.  In this state, she sailed for Cunard as the Imperator on the Liverpool to New York service, but soon enough, changes were to come...

After Cunard bought out White Star's interest in the Imperator, Cunard renamed her the Berengaria, making her the first Cunarder to be named after a queen.  In this case it was the wife of Richard the Lion Heart.  Despite originally being a German liner, Berengaria received the title of flagship, and sailed as a running mate to the Aquitania and the Mauretania.

Starting in October 1921, Berengaria was withdrawn for six months for an extensive refit, in order to bring her up to Cunard standards.  She was converted to oil-burning equipment, fitted with bunkers that could hold 6,500 tons of oil, more cement was poured into her bottom, and most of the original marble fittings in first class were replaced with metal ones.

Throughout the 1920's, the Berengaria continued to sail as part of Cunard's "big three" (others were Mauretania and Aquitania).  When the depression hit, Berengaria became a part-time cruise liner.  Her cruise movements took her to Bermuda and the Caribbean, and on weekend runs to Nova Scotia.  When Cunard and White Star merged in 1934, Berengaria survived, though with a different clientele than in her glory days, she was referred to as the "Bargain-area".

Cunard planned to keep the Berengaria in service until 1940, and then replace her with the Queen Elizabeth.  Unfortunately, though, this was not to be.  Her age created a serious problem - fires from outmoded wiring systems.  In 1936, a fire erupted along the Southampton docks.  In 1938, there was a far more serious one in new York.  This fire caused American authorities to revoke her passenger certificate, and she returned to Britain empty.  In Southampton, a third damaging fire started.  As a result, Cunard had to realize that Berengaria would not last until 1940.

Berengaria was put up for sale in October 1938, but because she needed a major overhaul in order to be usable, there were no serious bidders.   Eventually, she was bought by scrappers, and went to Jarrow, where she was cut down to the waterline.  In 1946, after World War II, her remains were cut in two, and towed to Rosyth and demolished.

Imperator/Berengaria Vital Statistics

Gross Tonnage: 52,117 (1913), 52,226 (1922)

Length: 919 feet

Width: 98 feet

Draft: 35 feet

Machinery: Steam turbines geared to quadruple screw

Speed: 23 knots

Capacity: 908 First, 972 Second, 942 Third, 1,772 Steerage (1913); 972 First, 630 Second, 606 Third, 515 Tourist (1922)

Built: Vulcan Werke, Hamburg, Germany, 1913

Demise: Scrapped in Jarrow, 1939; completely dismantled in Rosyth in 1946

The Classic Liners of Long Ago © 2000-2007 Nick Works, Inc.