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Columbus was the largest liner
built for the North German Lloyd Line at
that time. The outbreak of World War One
in August 1914 led to her fitting out
being suspended until the conflict came
to an end. Following Germany’s
surrender in November 1918, the Treaty of
Versailles awarded Columbus to
Britain as compensation for ships they
lost during the war. Before she joined
the White Star Line, work on her
completion was carried out at Danzig
under the supervision of Harland &
Wolff. She finally arrived in Britain
ready to enter service eight years after
being launched. Columbus then
joined another German ship awarded to the
White Star Line at that time, the Hamburg
Amerika Line’s Bismarck.
After Columbus had been renamed
Homeric and Bismarck
renamed Majestic, they joined the
White Star Line’s Olympic to
provide a three large ship service
between Southampton and New York.
Homeric set out on her maiden
voyage from Southampton - New York
February 15th 1922.
Although that voyage showed she was
stable in heavy seas, it also showed her
to have a service speed well below that
of the other ships on the Atlantic run.
The White Star Line tried to solve the
problem by having Homeric
converted from coal to oil burning
boilers in 1924. As that conversion only
increased her service speed to 19.5
knots, she still lacked the speed of
Olympic and Majestic.
Restrictions on the numbers of emigrants
entering the United States in the 1920s
led to many ships being relocated on
other routes. Homeric completed
her final Atlantic crossing in 1932 and
from then on was used solely for
cruising. These cruises were normally
from British ports to various
destinations throughout the
Mediterranean. The merger of the Cunard
and White Star lines in 1934 saw
Homeric marked for disposal. She
was laid up at Ryde/Isle of Wight after
being taken out of service in September
1935. Homeric’s final voyage
took place the following year when she
set out from Ryde bound for the scrap
yard at Inverkeithing/Scotland.
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