SS Imperator SS " Imperator " was an ocean liner built for the Hamburg Amerikanische Packetfahrt Actien Gesellschaft ( HAPAG ) ( " Hamburg America Line " ) launched in 1912 . She surpassed the RMS Titanic by only 24 ft . in 1913 , and she herself was surpassed the same year by the SS Leviathan by 44 ft . She was the first of a trio of successively larger Hamburg America ships that included and built by the line for transatlantic passenger service . At the time of her completion in June 1913 , she was the largest passenger ship in the world , superseding the RMS " Olympic " . 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 U . S . Navy service , " Imperator " was handed over to Britain ' s Cunard Line as part of war reparations , and she sailed as the flagship RMS " Berengaria " for the final decade of her career . History . The first plates of her keel were laid in 1910 at the Vulcan Shipyards in Hamburg , Germany , and made her maiden voyage in 1913 . At 51 , 680 gross tons , " Imperator " was the largest ship in the world until " Vaterland " sailed in 1914 . Before her launch on 23 May 1912 , Cunard announced that their new ship , , which was under construction at the time at the John Brown shipyards in Glasgow , would be longer by one foot . There was an instant uproar in Hamburg . Several weeks later , she was fitted with a large bronze eagle figurehead , created by Professor Bruno Kruse of Berlin , which graced her forepeak with a banner emblazoned with HAPAG ' s motto " Mein Feld ist die Welt " ( " My field is the world " ) ; this extension increased the " Imperator ' s " length sufficiently to ( easily ) surpass the " Aquitania " . The eagle ' s wings were later torn off in an Atlantic storm during the 1914 season , after which it was removed and replaced with gold scrollwork which was similar to what was on her stern . On her initial sea trials , the ship ran aground on the Elbe river due to insufficient dredging and a flash fire in the engine room which resulted in eight crewmen being taken to hospital . On her official trials , she suffered overheating of the turbines and some stability issues were discovered . The trials were therefore abandoned and the builders were called in to carry out emergency work . At the same time , the overnight cruise for the Kaiser was cancelled ; it was eventually carried out in July that year . " Imperator " left on her maiden voyage on Tuesday , 10 June 1913 , with Commodore Hans Ruser in command and Hamburg - Amerika appointing four other captains for the journey to make sure that everything went smoothly . On the way , she stopped at Southampton and Cherbourg before proceeding across the Atlantic to New York , arriving on 19 June 1913 . On board were 4 , 986 , consisting of 859 first - class passengers , 647 second - class passengers , 648 third - class passengers , 1 , 495 in the steerage , and 1 , 332 crew . The ship returned to Europe from Hoboken , New Jersey on 25 June 1913 . On her first arrival the harbour pilot assigned to bring her into the Ambrose channel , Captain George Seeth , noted that the ship listed from side to side when the helm made changes to the ship ' s direction . She was soon nicknamed " Limperator " . In October 1913 , " Imperator " returned to the Vulkan shipyard to facilitate drastic work to improve her handling and stability , as it had been discovered that her centre of gravity was too high ( see metacentric height ) . To correct the problem , the marble bathroom suites in first class were removed and heavy furniture was replaced with lightweight wicker cane . The ship ' s funnels were reduced in height by three metres . Finally , 2000 tons of cement was poured into the ship ' s double bottom to resolve the seaworthiness issues . This work cost £200 , 000 , which had to be borne by the shipyard as part of their five - year warranty to the shipowners . At the same time , an advanced fire sprinkler system was fitted throughout the ship , as several fires had occurred on board since the vessel had entered service . During the 1914 refit of " Imperator " , Commodore Ruser handed over command of the ship to Captain Theo Kier and left to take command of the new larger flagship " Vaterland " , which was nearing completion . " Imperator " returned to service on 11 March , arriving at New York five days later on the 19th . Among her luxurious features , " Imperator " introduced a two - deck - high , Pompeii an - style swimming pool for her first - class passengers . World War I and U . S . Navy service . In August 1914 , as World War I began , she was laid up at Hamburg and remained inactive for more than four years , where she fell into a dilapidated state . Following the 11 November 1918 Armistice , " Imperator " was taken over by the Allied Food Shipping and Finance Agreement , and allocated to the United States for temporary use as a transport alongside " Vaterland " now renamed SS " Leviathan " bringing American service personnel home from France . She was commissioned as USS " Imperator " ( ID - 4080 ) in early May 1919 under Captain Casey . After embarking 2 , 100 American troops and 1 , 100 passengers , " Imperator " departed Brest , France on 15 May 1919 , arriving at New York City one week later . Operating with the Cruiser and Transport Force from 3 June to 10 August , she made three cruises from New York to Brest , returning over 25 , 000 troops , nurses , and civilians to the United States . While en route to New York City 17 June , " Imperator " assisted the French cruiser " Jeanne d ' Arc " , which had broken down in the Atlantic Ocean . The President of Brazil was on board " Jeanne d ' Arc " and " Imperator " received him and his party for transport to the United States , arriving there several days later . Decommissioned at Hoboken , New Jersey in early 1919 , " Imperator " was transferred to the British shipping controller on 20 September , and it was decided that she would be operated by Cunard . Captain Charles A . Smith and a full crew was sent out to New York on the " Carmania " by her new operators and the official handover from the American board of shipping to Cunard took place on 24 November where the vessel was officially received by Cunard ' s Marine superintendent Captain Miller accompanied by his assistant Captain Palfrey . " Imperator " was then transferred to Cunard ' s pier 54 for Cunard service . Cunard service . The ship arrived at Southampton on Sunday 10 December 1919 and then proceeded to Liverpool for what was planned to be a quick overhaul ( she was scheduled to leave on her first voyage for her new owners on 10 January 1920 ) . However , upon inspection , ship was found to be in a poor condition . During the dry docking on 6 January , it was found that the ship ' s rudder had a piece missing and her propellers were suffering from erosion on their leading edges . These issues were attended to while the ship was re - furnished with items borrowed from the Cunard vessels " Transylvania " and " Carmania " . Due to the extent of the work that had to be carried out , " Imperator " remained at Liverpool until the 21 February and during this time the company ' s annual dinner was held on board , before the ship returned to service on the North Atlantic . On 2 March 1920 , the ship left New York and took nine days to reach Southampton . During the voyage , Imperator developed a severe list which was found to be caused by a faulty ash ejector . Cunard decided that the ship was in need of a major overhaul and she was withdrawn from service . The ship was named after Queen Berengaria , the wife of Richard I of England . Many Cunard ships had been named for parts of the Roman Empire and had names that ended in " ia " . RMS " Berengaria " , like many , but not all , Cunard ships , kept the " ia " ending to her name but , like several Cunard ships before and after , was not named after a province of the ancient world . Sir Arthur Rostron of the RMS " Titanic " passenger rescue fame and former captain of " Carpathia " took command of " Berengaria " on July 1920 . The following year both " Berengaria " and " Aquitania " were sent to Armstrong Whitworth shipyards to be converted from coal firing to oil . In September 1925 , a security alert at sea was triggered when the Cunard company offices in New York received a message stating there was a bomb aboard the " Berengaria " ; the vessel was then 1200 miles out from New York , bound for Southampton . The ship was searched , and the passengers and most of the crew were not informed as to the reason . A fire – drill was held just before the supposed time of detonation , so passengers could be placed close by their lifeboat stations without arousing suspicion . The bomb – threat was a hoax . " Berengaria " was again in the headlines in May 1934 , when she ran aground on the mud banks at Calshot on the Solent . She was pulled free from the mud by four Southampton tugs . The vessel suffered no damage and the incident did not affect her sailing schedule . Despite her German heritage , " Berengaria " served as flagship of the Cunard fleet until she was replaced by her sister ship , " Majestic " – ex - " Bismarck " , in 1934 after the merger of Cunard with White Star Line . In later years , " Berengaria " was used for discounted prohibition - dodging cruises , which earned her the unfortunate nickname " Bargain - area " . Towards the end of her service life , she suffered several electrical fires caused by aging wiring , and Cunard - White Star opted to retire her in 1938 . She was sold to Sir John Jarvis , who also purchased " Olympic " , to provide work for his local region . She sailed for the River Tyne under the command of Captain George Gibbons and was scrapped down to the waterline . Final demolition took place in 1946 .