SS Amerika
Amerika — a steel-hulled, twin-screw, steam passenger liner— was launched on 20 April 1905 at Belfast, Northern Ireland, by the noted shipbuilding firm of Harland and Wolff, Ltd. Built for the Hamburg America Line, the steamer entered transatlantic service in the autumn of 1905, when she departed Hamburg on 11 October, bound for the United States.
A slightly larger sister ship, Kaiserin Auguste Victoria was being built at the same time at Hamburg and would remain the largest ship in the world until the Lusitania. Easily one of the most luxurious passenger vessels to sail the seas, Amerika entered upper New York Bay on 20 October, reaching the Hamburg America piers at Hoboken, New Jersey, in mid-afternoon. Some 2,000 people turned out to watch her as she was moored near her consorts at the Hamburg America Line which were bedecked in colorful bunting in nearby slips.
Lavishly decorated throughout, Amerika boasted of a couple of unique shipboard features; an electric passenger elevator, and an a-la-carte restaurant which, from early morning to midnight, offered a variety of dishes to delight the discriminating gourmet.
From 1905 to 1914, Amerika plied the North Atlantic trade routes touching at Cherbourg, France, while steaming between Hamburg and New York. Toward the end of that period, her itinerary was altered so that the ship also called at Boulougne, France, and Southampton, England.
On 14 April 1912, a ship's officer sent a telegram message to the Hydrographic Office in Washington, D.C. reporting that the ship "passed two large icebergs in 41 27N 50 8W on the 14th of April" signed "Knutp, 10;51p". This message was, coincidentally, relayed by the Marconi operator on Titanic to the station at Cape Race because the transmitter of Amerika was not powerful enough to reach Cape Race directly.
Amerika was responsible for the accidental loss of British submarine B2 by collision 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) northeast of Dover in the early hours of 4 October 1912.
The eruption of fighting at the outset of World War I caught Amerika at Boston, where she was preparing to sail for home. Although due to leave port on 1 August 1914, Amerika stayed at Boston to avoid capture by the Royal Navy. She remained there through almost three years of United States neutrality.
During its voyage from New York to Europe in the second week of April 1911, Amerika carried the mortally ill composer Gustav Mahler back home. He was to die in Vienna on 18 May 1911.
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