SS City of New York City of New York was a British built passenger liner of the Inman Line that was designed to be the largest and fastest liner on the Atlantic . When she entered service in August 1888 , she was the first twin screw express liner and while she did not achieve the westbound Blue Riband , she ultimately held the eastbound record from August 1892 to May 1893 at a speed of 20 . 11 knots . " City of New York " , and her sister " City of Paris " are considered especially beautiful ships and throughout their careers were rivals to the White Star " Teutonic " and " Majestic " . In February 1893 , the Inman Line was merged into the American Line and by act of Congress , the renamed " New York " was transferred to the US flag . Beginning in the mid - 1890s , " New York " and " Paris " were paired with " St Louis " and " St Paul " to form one of the premier Atlantic services . " New York " continued with the American Line until 1920 and was broken for scrap in 1923 . She served the US Navy as " Harvard " during the Spanish American War and " Plattsburg " in World War I . She is also remembered for nearly colliding with the RMS " Titanic " as the latter ship began her doomed maiden voyage in 1912 . Development and design . When International Navigation Company purchased the Inman Line in 1886 , the fleet needed new units to revive the line ' s fortunes against the Cunard Line and White Star . International Navigation ' s Vice President , Clement Griscom immediately sailed to Liverpool with a commitment from the Pennsylvania Railroad to provide $ 2 million in capital towards the building of a new ship . Shipbuilders in Scotland were experiencing a recession at the time and offered to deliver two ships at $ 1 , 850 , 000 per unit . The Pennsylvania Railroad agreed to underwrite the additional capital and the contracts were signed for " City of New York " and her sister , " City of Paris " . When designing the new liners , the lessons of the " City of Rome " fiasco were recalled . The original design called two ships of 8 , 500 GRT that were only slightly bigger than " City of Rome " , but with steel hulls and twin screws . Because powerful single screw liners were prone to shaft failure , they carried extensive rigging for sails . Twin screws rendered this extra rigging unnecessary . Starting in 1866 , a few twin screw ships sailed the Atlantic , but the new Inman ships were the first twin screw express liners . While size was increased by almost 25 % to 10 , 500 GRT in the final design , the plan retained " City of Rome ' s " classic clipper bow and three raked funnels . " City of New York " even had a figurehead of a female figure carved by sculptor James Allan . To address the vibration problems of most liners of the period , the new Inman liners were given a ratio of length to beam of 8 . 3 to 1 as compared to the then common ratio of 10 to 1 . The hull was more extensively subdivided than previously attempted . The ships were equipped with a full double bottom and 15 transverse bulkheads that reached the saloon deck . They also received a fore - aft bulkhead over their entire length . Each ship had two triple expansion engines , of 9 , 000 indicated horsepower each that were placed in separate compartments . While the engines for the sisters were identical , " City of Paris " produced 1 , 500 more horsepower than " City of New York . " City of New York " was designed for 540 first , 200 second and 1 , 000 steerage passengers . Her quarters were fitted with running hot and cold water , electric ventilation , and electric lighting . Her first class public rooms , such as library and smoking room , were fitted with walnut panels and her dining salon came with a massive dome that provided a natural light to the passengers . Service history . On March 15 , 1888 , " City of New York " was christened by Lady Randolph Churchill . That August , she entered service but while achieving respectable crossings , she was unable to produce records . Her sister , " City of Paris " entered service in April 1889 and took the westbound Blue Riband a month later . That August , White Star commissioned the twin screw " Teutonic " followed the next year by " Majestic " and the Inman and White Star pairs took turns bettering each other ' s times . While " City of Paris " proved to be the fastest of the four , in 1892 " City of New York " was finally able to outrun her sister for the eastbound record . It had been International Navigation ' s plan to maintain Inman ' s status as a British flag carrier . However , even before " City of New York " was completed , the British Government responded to Inman ' s ownership change by revoking the line ' s mail contract . International Navigation lobbied the US Congress to replace the subsidy and allow the Inman speedsters to register in the US despite the law that only permitted US - built ships to be registered there . After considerable controversy , Congress enacted the subsidy provided that International Navigation build two similar ships in the US and all four twin - screw liners being available to the government in the event of a crisis . In one of his last acts in office , on February 22 , 1893 , President Benjamin Harrison boarded the now renamed " New York " during a snowstorm and raised the American Flag . The Inman Line was merged into International Navigation ' s American Line . As a part of the change , the former Inman liners now used Southampton as their UK destination rather than Liverpool , ending their direct rivalry with the White Star pair until 1907 when " Teutonic " and " Majestic " were also transferred to Southampton . Spanish – American War . At the outbreak of the Spanish - American War , " New York " was chartered as an auxiliary cruiser with a civilian crew , commissioning on 26 April 1898 at New York , Captain C . S . Cotton in command and renamed " Harvard " . Assigned as a scout , " Harvard " departed New York on 30 April to cruise West Indian waters in search of the Spanish fleet . After sending back several reports on the location of Spanish units in the Caribbean , " Harvard " was blockaded by a larger force at Saint - Pierre , Martinique from 11 – 17 May , after which she proceeded to Santiago de Cuba and St . Nicholas Mole , Haiti , with dispatches from Commodore Winfield Scott Schley . Interrupting her scouting duties , " Harvard " returned to Newport News , Virginia , 7 – 26 June during which time her crew was officially taken into the Naval Service . " Harvard " returned to the Caribbean with troops and supplies , arriving at Altares , Cuba , about 1 July . After Rear Admiral William T . Sampson ' s victory at the victory off Santiago , she rescued survivors . Despite the high surf and ammunition explosions from the stricken Spanish ships , " Harvard " succeeded in recovering over 600 officers and men . On 4 July 1898 , the 9th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry were guarding the prisoners of war inside " Harvard " . A guard ordered a prisoner , who was attempting to cross the line , to return . The prisoner did not understand English and the guard fired a shot causing other prisoners to stand up . Fearing the prisoners were about to attack , the guards opened fire , killing six prisoners and wounding thirteen more . After the investigation , it was concluded that it was a mistake . The tragedy was known as " Harvard Incident " . No longer needed as a scout in the Caribbean , " Harvard " was sent back to the United States 10 July 1898 . She was temporarily turned over to the War Department , and returned to Santiago de Cuba to transport troops back to the United States . " Harvard " arrived at New York on 27 August and decommissioned 2 September 1898 at New York Navy Yard . Post - war . " New York " resumed her civilian service on the New York – Southampton run in January 1899 . During her first post - war crossing , one of her engines broke down and she had to return to Southampton for repairs lasting three months . Three years later , " New York " was taken out of service for an extensive refit that included replacing her machinery with quadruple expansion engines . Her good looks were partly spoiled when her three raked funnels were replaced with two taller ones . She resumed service on 14 April 1903 . On 10 April 1912 , " New York " was berthed in Southampton beside . The three - inch steel hawser s that secured her were torn from their moorings when the much larger ( leaving port to begin her maiden voyage to New York City ) passed by , creating a suction effect . A collision was narrowly avoided when " Titanic ' s " captain , Edward Smith , ordered the port propeller to reverse , turning the larger liner while a nearby tugboat towed " New York " in the opposite direction . In 1913 , " New York " was re - configured as a second and third - class only liner . At the beginning of the first world war , the American Line reverted to Liverpool for their UK terminal . As a neutral flagged liner , " New York " was very profitable until the United States entered the war . The US Navy commissioned her as a troop transport renamed the " Plattsburg " . During her service , she was damaged by a mine in the Mersey . After the war , " New York ' s " reconditioning included removal of a mast . She resumed her passenger service in 1920 and remained with the American Line for nine months until she was sold to the Polish Navigation Company . After one voyage , her new owner went bankrupt and " New York " was seized by the creditors who sold her to the Irish American Line in 1922 . She was then sold to the United Transatlantic Line and again to the American Black Sea Line . Her last Atlantic crossing was on 10 June 1922 from New York to Naples and Constantinople . Later that year , she was sold for scrap .