The
White Star Line originally planned for its three liners, , and , to operate a weekly transatlantic express service. However,
Titanic was
lost on her maiden voyage after striking an iceberg in 1912, and
Britannic was lost in the
First World War after striking a
naval mine in the
Aegean in 1916. Another of the line’s express ships, the 17,000-ton of 1899, was also lost during war service in 1914. When
Olympic re-entered civilian service in 1920, she lacked any suitable running mates. Under the terms of the
Treaty of Versailles which entitled Britain to
war reparations, White Star looked to obtain some large German liners which had been under construction during the war but were left unfinished. One was the 56,000-ton
Bismarck, the third and largest of
Albert Ballin's great trio, left unfinished at the Blohm & Voss Shipyard. This was equally sold to the White Star Line and
Cunard Line and renamed . Another was the 34,000-ton
Columbus at F. Schichau in
Danzig. Launched on 17 December 1913,
Columbus was the first of two vessels ordered by
Norddeutscher Lloyd (North German Lloyd) for their
Bremerhaven to New York service. The launch is imagined in
Günter Grass's novel
The Tin Drum. At 34,000 tons,
Columbus was, at the time, the largest twin-screw ship powered by
reciprocating engines in the world. She was built for a relatively modest service speed of just a shade over . White Star Line purchased the unfinished
Columbus in 1920, and renamed her
Homeric. The ship was completed and entered service two years later. At the forward end, beneath the navigating bridge one deck above, was a drawing room with plate glass windows offering views of the bow and the sea beyond. After the drawing room came a reading and writing room, followed by the lounge, music room, smoking room, and a glass-enclosed veranda at the aft-end of the deck. The sides of each room offered "an unbroken vista" of the full 340-foot length of this sequence of rooms. The largest of the main suite of rooms was the lounge, 94 ft. long and 47 ft. wide, with a 20-foot-high vaulted skylight at its center. The lounge was dominated by two large paintings at each end, one of
Columbus landing in the New World, and the other of Columbus being received by
Queen Isabella and
Ferdinand II. Between the windows were fluted columns with gilded
Doric capitals, and the room was furnished in an assortment of styles and upholstery. At the center of the room the carpet could be removed to reveal a circular dance floor with room for 300 dancers. The First-Class dining room, located on D-Deck, was overlooked by a gallery and featured "an inverted dome of crystal pendants...centered in a ceiling of white and gold." The Smoking Room was decorated in the Old Dutch style, with floor-to-ceiling walnut paneling and a carved, white-painted ceiling. On either side of the room were 18-foot-high bow windows hung with buff and olive-colored silk curtains. The furniture was overstuffed and upholstered in
Morocco leather and wool tapestry.
Atlantic service Resplendent in her White Star livery, the newly completed
Homeric arrived in
Southampton 21 January 1922, and on 15 February 1922,
Homeric departed Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York. She joined the venerable old
Olympic, still one of the most stylish ships on the Atlantic, and in May,
Bismarck successfully transformed into the flagship
Majestic would arrive and complete the three-ship express service, operating in direct competition against the rival
Cunard Line's trio of , , and (the former German
Imperator). On 19 April 1925
Homeric received the distress call 'Now very danger. Come quick' from the Japanese freighter which was listing dangerously in heavy seas and taking on water.
Homeric was away and sped to
Raifuku Marus position at 20 knots. However when she arrived,
Raifuku Maru was listing at a 30 degree angle, and the rough seas prevented
Homeric from getting close enough to rescue any of the stricken ship's crew, who had attempted unsuccessfully to get away in their lifeboats, which were smashed by the rough seas.
Homerics crew and passengers watched helplessly as the Japanese freighter sank with all thirty eight of her crew. This incident became controversial at the time: When
Homeric reached New York, several passengers spoke to the press accusing
Homerics crew of not making enough effort to rescue the crew of the stricken ship. The Japanese press even accused the
Homerics crew of racism. These accusations were denied strenuously. Built with the
steerage trade in mind,
Homeric had a huge portion of her accommodations devoted to immigrants, and when the United States curtailed the flow of foreign settlers in the mid-1920s the
Homeric was particularly hit hard. Her original passenger capacity was given as 529 First class, 487 Second class and 1,750 Third class. Some of her transatlantic crossings began to lose money as early as 1926, during which year some of her better third-class accommodation was regraded as the newly introduced Tourist class. From 1927 the ship was sent on cruises around the
Mediterranean and
Caribbean during the slack season. In 1930, second class was abolished and renamed Tourist class; effectively the second class and the best third class cabins had been renamed in an attempt to make the ship's accommodation more appealing to potential clientele. From 1930 her capacity was given as 523 First class, 841 Tourist class, and 314 Third class, reflecting the decline of the steerage trade. By the early 1930s the
Great Depression was hitting the Atlantic Shipping hard, with passenger numbers well down, there were no longer enough passengers to support a three-ship express service, and so it was decided to remove
Homeric from the Atlantic service altogether and devote her to cruising full time. On 10 June 1932
Homeric departed New York for Southampton for the last time. Her career on the Atlantic was short-lived, as she only provided transatlantic service for ten years.
Cruising service Cruising from British ports to the
Mediterranean, the
Homeric was one of the first liners to be used exclusively as a
cruise ship, she handled this position brilliantly, and soon was well established in the cruising industry. To make her better suited to her new role
Homeric was refitted with an outdoor swimming pool and
lido deck. Although the
Homeric never succumbed to any great disaster, she was involved in one minor incident while at anchor off Tenerife on 28 September 1932. Cia Transmediterrania's small
Isla de Tenerife failed to steer while circling the
Homeric, slamming into the side of the ship near the bow. Luckily, the larger ship was not badly damaged and her cruise continued.
Demise Despite
Homerics success as a cruise ship, White Star's financial situation worsened in the early 1930s, and the
Homerics future became increasingly grim. In 1934, White Star merged with their rival Cunard, and the merged company began rationalising their fleet and disposing of surplus ships,
Homeric was earmarked for disposal, however she was given a reprieve due to a well booked cruising season. In July 1935,
Homeric participated in King
George V's Silver Jubilee fleet review, a prestigious honour. Her final voyage as a cruise ship came to an end on 25 September 1935, after which she was laid up at
Ryde, Isle of Wight pending disposal. There was some talk of her original German owners
Norddeutscher Lloyd purchasing her in order to run alongside her sister, the renamed which was still in German ownership. However, this came to nothing when in February 1936 she was sold for scrapping.
Homeric sailed into
Inverkeithing, Scotland for demolition on 27 February 1936. ==Remains==