1906 – 1914 / Although not as famous as her larger contemporaries, the Empress of Ireland made tragic history when she collided and sank in the St. Lawrence River, with the loss of over 1,000 lives.
Henrik Reimertz
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1907 – 1915 / The first of Cunard’s two stunning greyhounds, the Lusitania’s life was tragically cut short during World War I, when she was torpedoed and sunk with great loss of life.
1914 – 1938 / Also known as Leviathan / The second ship of the great HAPAG trio, Vaterland was seized and used as the allied troop transport USS Leviathan during World War I. Handed over to the United States Lines after the war, she became the company flagship and the largest ship in the US merchant fleet.
1915 – 1916 / The third and largest of the Olympic-class trio, the Britannic would unfortunately never carry a single paying passenger. While serving as a hospital ship during World War I, she was sunk in the Mediterranean.
1917 – 1918 / Also known as Statendam (II) / Launched for the Holland-America Line, she was requisitioned by the British for wartime use as a troopship. In that role, she was unfortunately torpedoed and sunk after only a year in service.
1922 – 1943 / The second of Union-Castle Line’s ‘four-stackers’, the Windsor Castle was not as fortunate as her younger sister. She was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean during World War II.
1922 – 1952 / Also known as Admiral von Tirpitz, Tirpitz, and Empress of China (II) / Built and intended as a ship of the Hamburg-Amerika Line, this ship was yet another that was handed over to Britain following World War I. Joining the Canadian-Pacific Line, she then had a long career both as a civilian vessel and a troop transport.
1927 – 2006 / A truly unique vessel, the Stella Polaris was constructed purely with cruising in mind. Offering an exclusive experience, she quickly became a legend in her field and would enjoy a long, distinguished career. After a few decades as a stationary ship in Japan, she was unfortunately lost when she sank while under tow in 2006.
1927 – 1940 / As one of the last ships built with reciprocating engines in conjunction with an auxiliary turbine, the second Laurentic was an intermediate White Star liner built to fill gaps in the interwar years. When World War II broke out, she was refitted as an armed merchant cruiser, and in that guise she was torpedoed and sunk in 1940.
1927 – 1945 / As the largest and fastest liner on the South American run, this German liner saw great success during her early years. She remained stationary during World War II, and was tragically bombed in 1945 while packed full with prisoners transferred from concentration camps. More than 5,000 lives were lost.