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Cedric was the second of four
White Star Line ships that became known
as the Big Four. Cedric differed
from her 20,904-ton sister ship
Celtic as she had been fitted with
more upper deck passenger compartments.
As a result, she was the largest ship in
the world at that time. Cedric set
out on her maiden voyage from Liverpool
February 11th 1903. That voyage took over
seven days to reach New York traveling at
the White Star Line’s leisurely
recommended speed of 16 knots. In the
winter of that year, she set out on a
five-week Mediterranean cruise. The
complete success of the cruise led to
winter cruises becoming an annual
occurrence. With Cedric being in
New York when news broke about the
sinking of Titanic April 15th
1912, her captain was instructed to
remain in port until the rescue ship
Carpathia docked in New York.
Survivors of the disaster were then given
the opportunity to travel back to Britain
onboard Cedric.
The British Admiralty requisitioned
Cedric in 1914 to serve as an
armed merchant cruiser. By 1916, she had
been converted to a troopship for the
transfer of troops from Britain - Egypt.
After America entered the war in 1917,
Cedric joined the convoys
transporting US troops to Europe. Her
only incident during the war was when she
rammed and sunk the Canadian Pacific
steamer Montreal in January 1918.
Both ships had been steaming together in
a convoy off the coast of Liverpool when
the accident occurred.
Cedric’s interiors had to be
restored after the war before being
re-deployed on the Liverpool - New York
run in 1919. Whilst traveling through
thick fog in 1923, she collided with the
Cunard liner Cythia. Although
neither ship sunk, both sustained
considerable damage. Cedric was
returned to the Atlantic run after
repairs and continued in service until
1931. She set out on her final voyage
from Liverpool to the scrap yard at
Inverkeithing/Scotland January 11th
1932.
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