SS Majestic ( 1890 ) The SS " Majestic " was a steamship built in 1890 for and operated by the White Star Line . Her story is tightly intertwined with that of Titanic . Titanic was ordered to replace Majestic , then one of the oldest ships in the White Star Line , and served as the replacement for Titanic when she sank after striking an iceberg in 1912 . History . A product of shipbuilders Harland and Wolff , the " Majestic " was launched on 29 June 1889 . The ship spent the next nine months being fitted out for delivery to White Star in March , 1890 . White Star had sought to fund the construction of the " Majestic " and her sister ship through the British government , a proposal which was accepted , with the stipulation that the Royal Navy would have access to the two liners in a time of war . On 2 April 1890 , she left for her six - day , ten - hour maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York . There was a strong desire in the White Star management to regain the coveted Blue Riband , the award for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic . The maiden voyage did not produce a time good enough to win the Blue Riband away from the " City of Paris " , but on a west - bound voyage between 30 July and 5 August 1891 , she achieved that goal , with an average speed of 20 . 1 knots . Unfortunately , the " Majestic " held the honour for a mere two weeks , as her sister ship , the completed a crossing on 19 August with a speed of 20 . 35 knots ( the " City of Paris " then won it back a year later ) . In 1895 , the " Majestic " was assigned a new captain , an up - and - coming officer named Edward Smith , who years later would gain lasting fame as the captain of the " Titanic " . Smith served as " Majestic ' s " captain for nine years . When the Boer War started in 1899 , Smith and the " Majestic " were called upon to transport troops to " Cape Colony " . Two trips were made to " South Africa " , one in December , 1899 and one in February , 1900 , both without incident . In 1902 – 1903 , the ship underwent a refit , which included new boilers ( and consequently taller twin funnels ) , after which she returned to the Liverpool - New York run . Smith left as captain in 1904 to take on the new " Baltic " , then the largest ship in the world . In 1905 , the " Majestic " suffered a fire in her bunker , but the damage was not significant . In 1907 , White Star ' s main terminal was moved from Liverpool to Southampton and , on 26 June , the " Majestic " sailed from these new facilities for the first time . When the entered service in 1911 , Majestic ' s sister " Teutonic " was removed from the New York run and put on Canadian service with the Dominion Line . Likewise when " Titanic " came on the scene in 1912 " Majestic " was retired from White Star ' s New York service and designated as a reserve ship , biding her time at Birkenhead ' s Bidston Dock . When the " Titanic " met her fate in April , 1912 , " Majestic " was pressed back into service , filling the hole in the transatlantic schedule . On 17 October 1913 , she came to the rescue of the French schooner " Garonne " , which had wrecked . 14 January 1914 saw the " Majestic " leave for her last Atlantic crossing . Soon after , she was sold for £26 , 700 for scrap to the Thomas Ward yard at Morecambe . Before scrapping of the ship commenced the scrapping company opened the ship for public tours , and some of the still - beautiful interior panelling was saved and used in the offices of the Ward company .