The Berengaria was originally launched as the SS Imperator by the German HAPAG Line in 1912.

At the outbreak of World War I, the Imperator was in harbor at New York. In 1917, the United States Government seized the ship following their entry into the war. The Imperator was given to the British Cunard Lines as war reparations, to replace the torpedoed RMS Lusitania.

In addition to some refitting, Cunard renamed the Imperator after the name of Queen Berengaria, the wife of Richard the Lion-Hearted. This was the first Cunard ship to not carry the name of a Roman province.

The Berengaria served as flagship of the Cunard fleet until she was replaced by her sister ship, the Bismarck, now the RMS Majestic in 1934. In later years, she was used for cheap prohibition-dodging cruises, which earned her the unfortunate nick-name "Bargain-area". Towards the end, she suffered the small fires that many older ships experience, and Cunard sent her to be broken up in 1938.

See also: Imperator

Specifications

• 51,680 gross register tons (146 300 m³)
• 909 ft (277.1 m) overall length, 98.3 ft (30.0 m) beam.
• Engines: steam turbines geared to 4 screws, 60,000 shaft horsepower (45 MW), designed speed 22.5 knots (41.7 km/h).
• 4,234 passengers (908 first class, 592 second class, 962 third class, 1,772 steerage), 1,180 crew.