[3] It was under these circumstances that Albert Ballin, president of Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) who was close to Kaiser Wilhelm II, decided to build three liners intended to be the largest in the world.

The sinking of RMS Titanic, which occurred during the construction of the first of the liners in the series, highlighted the need for enough lifeboats for all passengers, which was a real challenge for ships intended to carry more than 5,000 people in total.

Her keel was laid shortly after the launch of the Vaterland, in the spring of 1913, in the Blohm & Voss shipyards in Hamburg, Germany, under the watchful eyes of Kaiser Wilhelm II.

[8] The original project called for the Bismarck to be similar to the Vaterland, which itself differed from the Imperator in several ways, including the fact that the ducts of its chimneys did not descend into the center of the ship, but split into smaller pipes that run along its sides, allowing for larger interior spaces.

As an employee of HAPAG noted with annoyance, these six feet were particularly expensive, since they required a total revision of the plans and the addition of two couples in the center of the ship to allow this modification of the structure.

[13] After launch, the fitting out of Bismarck proceeded until the start of World War I in August 1914, when it slowed and substantive work on the vessel stopped altogether.

[14] After being ceded to Britain under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, the as-yet uncompleted ship was purchased jointly by the White Star and Cunard Lines, together with Imperator.

The company requested to modify its original propulsion (powered by coal-burning boilers) to consume fuel oil instead, which was more economical.

[17][18] In February 1921, the assignment of the ship to the White Star was confirmed, and its name was quickly announced: Majestic, in reference to a previous liner of the same name.

To adapt to a curtailment of migration, the fourth class was abolished, and the ship was decided to carry less than 1,000 emigrants and a total of just over 2,000 passengers, far from the 4,000 of the capacity of the Imperator.

[19] The Bismarck was completed on 28 March 1922, and Commodore Bertram Hayes and a number of officers were sent to Hamburg to take command of the ship prior to the physical handover.

Briefly she ran aground after leaving at Pagensand, Schleswig-Holstein,[21] but was refloated on the peak of high tide on 30 March and under way again.

Upon boarding, men started re-painting the funnels in White Star colours, and painting out the name and home port "Bismarck, Hamburg," on the stern and replacing it with "Majestic, Liverpool."

[28] On the eastern leg of her maiden voyage, Majestic managed to travel from New York (Ambrose Channel Lightship) to Eddystone Light, a distance of 3,139 nautical miles (5,813 km; 3,612 mi) in 5 days, 9 hours and 42 minutes at an average speed of 24.2 knots (44.8 km/h; 27.8 mph).

[29][30] On 4 August 1922, Majestic arrived at Southampton and her crew were told that the next day they would be departing and anchoring off Cowes, where they would be inspected by the British monarchs George V and Queen Mary.

The launch carrying the King and Queen arrived shortly after 11:00 am and the Royal Standard was broken on the main mast as the visitors came aboard.

The guests were received by Harold A Sanderson – the Chairman of the International Merchant Marine, owners of the White Star Line and Majestic's captain, Bertram Hayes.

They were given an inspection of the ship lasting an hour and a half, viewing the major public rooms and the three classes of accommodation before sitting down to lunch on B-Deck.

[36] The end of the 1920s saw the Majestic undergo several refits, notably in 1928, in order to adapt the ship to the decline of migratory currents on the North Atlantic.

[38] When the Great Depression of 1929 struck, the White Star Line was already weakened by the mismanagement of Lord Kylsant, its president for several years.

[40] In these times of Prohibition in the United States, the Majestic also sometimes went on "cruises to nowhere" in order to allow its American passengers to drink alcohol during very short voyages out of territorial waters.

[37] At the beginning of the 1930s, and while passengers became increasingly scarce, the Majestic began to suffer from repeated onboard fires, due to the poor quality of her electrical installation.

[41] The situation of the company worsened at the same time, although the Majestic found herself briefly in the limelight in 1932, when she transported the British delegation to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

In 1934 an enormous wave smashed over the bridge of Majestic in the North Atlantic, injuring the first officer and White Star's final commodore Edgar J. Trant, who was hospitalised for five weeks and never sailed again.

The Majestic's à-la-carte restaurant was closed down and its kitchen equipment immediately sold; however, this was not enough to reduce the running costs, and the company decided to dispose of one of the two giants initially built for HAPAG.

However, due to a stipulation in her original agreement of being a prize of war handed over to the White Star Line as compensation for lost tonnage, she could not be sold to Thos W. Ward, so an exchange was set up where the British Admiralty would take possession of the Majestic and give the shipbreakers twenty-four outmoded destroyers as compensation for the equivalent scrap value of Majestic.

[52] After the outbreak of World War II, the trainees were removed to accommodation ashore and the ship's berth was emptied for naval use.

As far as the Majestic was concerned, incidents remained limited during its commercial career; however, it was this wiring which triggered the fire onboard the liner after her transformation into a military training ship in September 1939.

The Vaterland was the only sister ship to escape these incidents; her entire electrical installation was modified when the Americans took ownership of her and renamed her Leviathan.

[58] Similar to her two sister ships, the then-named Bismarck was originally designed to offer four classes to its more than 4,000 passengers traveling in conditions ranging from the luxurious Imperial Suite with veranda to the steerage dormitories.