RMS Saxonia ( 1899 ) The first RMS " Saxonia " was a passenger ship of the British Cunard Line . Between 1900 and 1925 , " Saxonia " operated on North Atlantic and Mediterranean passenger routes , and she saw military service during World War I ( 1914 – 1918 ) . " Saxonia " s sister ship was " Ivernia " . Design . Around 1900 , the Cunard Line faced tight competition from the British White Star Line and the German Norddeutscher Lloyd company , and the threat of a possible takeover by the aggressively acquisitive American International Mercantile Marine Company ( IMM ) . Cunards largest liners , as of 1898 and , had a reputation for size and speed , both being of 12 , 950 gross register tons ( grt ) and having held the Blue Riband for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean . However , Norddeutscher Lloyds new liner had taken the Blue Riband from them in 1897 , while White Star was planning to place a new 17 , 000 - grt liner , RMS " Oceanic " into service . Cunard also updated its fleet during this time , ordering three new liners , , RMS " Saxonia " , and . Rather than attempting to fully regain prestige by spending the additional money necessary to order liners that were fast enough to win back the Blue Riband from " Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse " or large enough to rival " Oceanic " in size , Cunard tried to maximize their profitability in order to remain solvent enough to fend off any takeover attempts by IMM . The three new ships were not especially fast , but all were larger than " Campania " and " Lucania " ; in fact , " Saxonia " at 14 , 281 grt was the largest Cunard liner up to that time – beating out " Ivernia " , which entered service a month before " Saxonia " , for that distinction – and the largest until Cunard placed RMS " Caronia " in service in 1905 . Thus , although the decision to order and launch " Saxonia " in 1898 - 1899 was taken well before J . P . Morgan ’ s efforts of 1900 - 1902 , to put together the large combination of shipping lines that was officially designated IMM in October 1902 , " Saxonia " , her sister " Ivernia " , and her " half - sister " " Carpathia " became both instruments and models through which Cunard was able to successfully compete with its larger rivals – most notably IMM ’ s lead company , White Star . " Saxonia " was steam - powered , with her two propellers powered by quadruple expansion engine s , and had a service speed of . She had a long , black hull , a low , well - balanced superstructure , and four masts . " Saxonia " and " Ivernia " both had a single funnel which was 106 feet ( 32 . 3 m ) tall , probably the tallest funnel ever installed on a passenger ship . " Saxonia " had a large cargo capacity , so much so that her passenger accommodations were smaller than most people expected for a liner of her size . Her four masts were intended to allow effective handling of larger amounts of cargo than was customary on a liner . Constructed at the John Brown & Company shipyard at Clydebank , Scotland , " Saxonia " was launched on 16 December 1899 . She completed fitting out in mid - May 1900 . Operational history . Early history . " Saxonia " departed Liverpool on her maiden voyage on 22 May 1900 , bound for Boston , Massachusetts . She operated on the Liverpool - Boston route until 1909 , when she shifted on an alternating basis between Boston and New York , and between Liverpool and the Adriatic ports of Fiume and Trieste . World War I . When the United Kingdom entered World War I in August 1914 , " Saxonia " was requisitioned for government service and taken off her Trieste - Boston route . She made a single voyage as a troopship , then was tied up in England on the River Thames as an accommodation ship for German prisoners of war . In March 1915 , she resumed service as a troopship . Later career . After the war ended in November 1918 , " Saxonia " returned to commercial service , returning to the North Atlantic run on the route between Liverpool and New York City . On 17 April 1919 , one of her propellers struck the United States Navy tug while " Freehold " was assisting in docking her at New York . " Freehold " sank with the loss of one crew member killed , but soon was refloated and repaired . " Saxonia " underwent a major refit at Tilbury in 1920 . Her funnel was shortened to 90 feet ( 27 . 4 m ) in height , her passenger accommodations were modified to allow her to carry 1 , 449 passengers – 471 in cabin class and 978 in third class – and her gross tonnage dropped to 14 , 197 . After her refit , " Saxonia " returned to the North Atlantic service , operating between London and New York City . An additional stop at Hamburg , Germany , was added later . Disposal . In 1925 , the aging and outdated " Saxonia " was sold to the Hendrik Ido Ambacht company in the Netherlands for scrapping . Her scrapping was completed before the end of the year . Cunard next used the name " Saxonia " for the passenger liner RMS " Saxonia " , launched in 1954 .