SS Teutonic The SS " Teutonic " was a steamship built for the White Star Line in Belfast and was the first armed merchant cruiser . History . Background . In the late 1880s competition for the Blue Riband , the award for the fastest Atlantic crossing , was fierce amongst the top steamship lines , and White Star decided to order two ships from Harland and Wolff that would be capable of an average Atlantic crossing speed of . Construction of the " Teutonic " and the " Majestic " began in 1887 . When " Teutonic " was launched on January 19 , 1889 , she was the first White Star ship not to have square rigged sails . The ship was completed on the July 25 , 1889 and participated in the Spithead Naval Review on August 1 , commemorating Queen Victoria ' s Golden Jubilee . Seeing the ship , the Queen ' s grandson Emperor Wilhelm II , returned to Germany intent of creating such ships within Germany . The show caused the emergence of the future " Kaiser class ocean liner s " , German four funnel liner s . " Teutonic " was built under the British Auxiliary Armed Cruiser Agreement , and was Britain ' s first armed merchant cruiser , sporting eight 4 . 7 " guns . These were removed after the military reviews , and on August 7 , she left on her maiden voyage to New York City , replacing the " SS Baltic " in White Star ' s lineup . In 1891 , " Majestic " brought the Blue Riband to White Star , and in 1891 , " Teutonic " took it from her sister with an average crossing speed of . She later bested her own record with a speed of . The following year the " City of Paris " took the honor away , and no White Star ship would ever regain it . Despite this , both Teutonic and her sister were extremely profitable liners , and the two ships made crossings completely filled to passenger capacity several times . Specifications . The " Teutonic " and " Majestic " were both known as the first modern liners because of their modifications to passenger accommodations . All of White Star ' s former liners only carried two classes of passengers , Cabin and Steerage . " Teutonic " and " Majestic " were large changes to that pattern . Both ships were built with the three - class accommodation system , consisting of First , Second , and Third Classes . First Class , originally known as Cabin Class was renamed as Saloon Class on specific terms , being meant for rich and wealthy travelers and their families . The " Teutonic " had rooms for 300 First Class passengers in spacious cabins situated on her uppermost three decks , and had many interesting features . Many of the cabins were inter - connecting for family travel . A New Class began appearing in ships after this time in shipbuilding , and " Teutonic " was amongst the first to see it . Second Class , also known as Cabin Class , was designed as being in between First Class and Third Class , meant for travelers of the middle class . " Teutonic " was built to carry 190 Second Class passengers in comfortable rooms on the second - highest deck , further aft towards the stern . Third Class , commonly known as steerage , was built for immigrants and lower class travelers . " Teutonic " was built to carry 1 , 000 Third Class passengers in two areas of accommodation aboard the ship . In the bow , there were large multi - berth rooms for single men . Meanwhile , there was accommodations for the remainder of the passengers in the Stern . There were small two - and four - berth rooms for married couples or passengers traveling with children , while single women were berthed , like men were in the bow , in large multi - berth dormitory like rooms . Career . During the first 18 years of service , both " Teutonic " and " Majestic " , along with their older cousins " Britannic " and " Germanic " sailed on the route from their home port of Liverpool , England to New York City . Each ship made on average one sailing per month , and averaged 11 – 14 sailings each season . The White Star Line had it planned so as they could operate a weekly service across the North Atlantic . Each week a ship sailed from Liverpool on a specific day , commonly Wednesday or Thursday . From there , they would stop at the small port of Queenstown ( now known as Cobh ) , Ireland , to pick up more passengers . Records have shown that the " Teutonic " and her partner ships were known to pick up as many as 800 Irish immigrants in a single stop , as the White Star Line was very popular in Ireland because most of their ships , including " Teutonic " were Irish built . After Queenstown , the ships would then continue on the long voyage to New York , almost 2 , 500 miles of open sea . Once passengers were disbursed at either the White Star Line pier in New York or the Immigration center at Castle Garden , and later on Ellis Island , the ship would be prepared for her return voyage . In 1897 , " Teutonic " reassumed her military role for a review commemorating Victoria ' s 60th anniversary . In 1898 , she had a minor collision in New York Harbor with the United States Lines ' " Berlin " , but neither ship suffered major damage . During the Boer War in 1900 , she served as a troop transport . In 1901 , " Teutonic " encountered a tsunami , which washed two lookouts out of the crows nest , but survived . Fortunately the tsunami hit at night , there were no passengers up on deck . In 1911 , she was replaced in the White Star lineup by the new " Olympic " and transferred to sister company Dominion Line for Canadian service . By 1913 , " Teutonic ' s " age meant that she no longer attracted the top - class passengers , and so was refitted to carry only second and third class travelers . In 1914 , with the start of World War I , " Teutonic " became a merchant cruiser once again , being commissioned into the 10th Cruiser Squadron . In 1916 , she was refitted with 6 " guns , and served as a convoy escort ship as well as being used for troop transport . In October , 1913 , the ship narrowly avoided the same fate as the " Titanic " when , at 172 miles east of Belle Isle off the Newfoundland coast , it ran so close to an iceberg that it avoided collision only by reversing its engines and putting the helm hard aport . According to the October 29 , 1913 issue of the " Chicago Tribune " , " the liner passed within twenty feet of the iceberg . The fog was so thick that even at that small distance the berg could scarcely be distinguished . It was so close that there was danger that the propeller of the ship would strike it as the vessel went around . The passengers were not aware of their peril until it had been averted . They signed a testimonial to the captain and his officers expressing their gratitude and admiration for the care and skill displayed by them . " In 1921 , she was scrapped at Emden .