page_title: SS Imperator
hierarchical_section_title: SS Imperator
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo #: NH 41938 Imperator (German Passenger Liner, 1913) At anchor, circa 1913. Note her huge figurehead, which was removed early in the ship's career after being damaged in a storm. This ship served as USS Imperator (ID # 4080) in 1919. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-civil/civsh-i/imperatr.htm
context_page_description: SS Imperator 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 by gross tonnage, surpassing the new White Star giants, Olympic and Titanic.
  Imperator was the first of a trio of successively larger Hamburg American liners that included SS Vaterland and SS Bismarck.
  During World War I, the ship remained in port in Hamburg. After the war, she was briefly commissioned into the United States Navy as USS Imperator and employed as a transport, returning American troops from Europe. Following her service with the U.S. Navy, Imperator was handed over to Britain's Cunard Line as part of war reparations where she sailed as the flagship RMS Berengaria for the final decade of her career.
context_section_description: SS Imperator was a German ocean liner built for the Hamburg America Line (Hamburg Amerikanische Paketfahrt Aktien Gesellschaft, or HAPAG), launched in 1912. At the time of her completion in June 1913, she was the largest passenger ship in the world by gross tonnage, surpassing the new White Star giants, Olympic and Titanic.
  Imperator was the first of a trio of successively larger Hamburg American liners that included SS Vaterland (later the United States Liner Leviathan) and SS Bismarck (purchased and renamed Majestic for the White Star Line transatlantic passenger service).
  During World War I, the ship 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 handed over to Britain's Cunard Line as part of war reparations where she sailed as the flagship RMS Berengaria for the final decade of her career.
caption: German liner Imperator at anchor, c. 1913, with the grandiose bow eagle of the Hapag company still in place.
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