On her second voyage, she won the prestigious Blue Riband from the other Cunarder to become the fastest passenger liner afloat, a title she kept until 1898.

The contracts were awarded to the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, which at the time was one of Britain's biggest producers of warships.

Plans were soon drawn up for a large, twin-screw steamer powered by triple expansion engines, and construction began in 1891, just 43 days after Cunards' order.

According to maritime historian Basil Greenhill, in his book Merchant Steamships, the interiors of Campania and Lucania represented Victorian opulence at its peak – an expression of a highly confident and prosperous age that would never be quite repeated on any other ship.

[2]: 39  Greenhill remarked that later vessels' interiors degenerated into "grandiose vulgarity, the classical syntax debased to mere jargon".

[2]: 40 All the first-class public rooms, and the en-suite staterooms of the upper deck, were generally heavily panelled, in oak, satinwood or mahogany; and thickly carpeted.

Velvet curtains hung aside the windows and portholes, while the furniture was richly upholstered in matching design.

In October 1903, Guglielmo Marconi chose Lucania to carry out further experiments in wireless telegraphy, and was able to stay in contact with radio stations in Nova Scotia and Poldhu.

On 10 October, Lucania made history again by publishing an onboard news-sheet based on information received by wireless telegraphy whilst at sea.