RMS Cedric

British transatlantic liner

RMS Cedric was an ocean liner owned by the White Star Line. She was the second of a quartet of ships over 20,000 tons, dubbed the Big Four, and was the largest vessel in the world at the time of her entering service. Her career, peppered with collisions and minor incidents, took place mainly on the route from Liverpool to New York. Requisitioned as an auxiliary cruiser in World War I, Cedric carried out patrol missions until 1916. Her large size being a handicap in this function, she was then transformed into a troop transport and transported soldiers from Egypt and Palestine, then from the United States in the direction of the European fronts. She then resumed civilian service in 1919. In the 1920s Cedric faced competition from increasingly modern ships. After having been refitted several times to adapt to new clienteles, she was withdrawn from service in 1931 and scrapped the following year.

At the end of the nineteenth century, White Star Line decided to build large ships at moderate speed, in order to take advantage of the area of comfort and regularity while achieving fuel economy. The first unit of series known as the "Big Four" entered service in 1901, A second ship built on the same model was already under construction: Cedric. Built by Harland & Wolff in Belfast as yard number 337, she was launched in Belfast on 21 August 1902, in a private ceremony whose guests included William Pirrie, the chairman of Harland & Wolff and Bruce Ismay, chairman of White Star Line. A month later, a third liner was laid down, the Throughout her period of service before World War I, Cedric was mainly used on the route from Liverpool to New York. From 1906, however, she occasionally made cruises between New York and the Mediterranean each winter and sometimes also between January and March. In 1910, the ship also suffered a fire at the quayside, but the damage was negligible. In April 1912, on the other hand, Cedric was involved in the events following Titanics disaster. The president of the White Star, Bruce Ismay, asked that the liner be detained in New York so that the surviving crewmembers of could return to the United Kingdom.

At the start of the World War I, Cedric was one of the ships that were requisitioned and converted into armed merchant cruisers, along with Celtic, and All were assigned to the 10th Cruiser Squadron and sent to patrol between Shetland and Norway. Cedric was assigned from November 1914 to patrol A, along with Teutonic. On 1 July 1917, Cedric collided with and sank the French schooner Yvonne Odette with the latter losing 24 of her crew. On 29 January 1918, Cedric collided with and sank the Canadian Pacific ship Montreal off Morecambe Bay. Montreal was taken in tow, but she sank the next day 14 mile (23 km) from the Mersey Bar lightvessel. On 24 July 1919, while the ship was docked in New York, a fire broke out in her No. 6 hold, prompting the intervention of city firefighters who found themselves trapped with crew members. Other teams of police and firefighters were needed to save the victims and bring the blaze under control, while the damage was estimated at $25,000.

Cedric was returned to her owner in September 1919 and refitted by Harland & Wolff. She was refitted to accommodate 347 first , 250 second and 1000 third class passengers. On 30 September 1923, Cedric collided with Cunard Lines in Queenstown harbour in dense fog. Neither vessel was seriously damaged, but Scythia needed to return to Liverpool to be repaired. On 26 December 1924, she was again the victim of a fire affecting a large shipment of Peruvian cotton aboard; the ship was not damaged, but the cargo was lost. Finally, while she was in Boston harbor on 12 September 1926, she struck and severely damaged the river vessel Van. She continued her regular service between Liverpool and New York in the 1920s. In 1928, with new ships entering service, her age began to show and her first class became a "cabin class". Cedrics profile and dimensions were similar to Celtics. Her lengths were 213.36 m overall and 207.54 m registered. Her beam was 22.95 m and her depth was 13.44 m. But Cedric had a few more cabins,

Internally, Cedric was decorated and benefited from many luxury amenities of the time. The ship offered lounge, promenade deck, verandah café, reading and writing lounge decorated with large bay windows, smoking room decorated with stained glass windows and dining room topped with a glass roof. The ship also benefited from its own orchestra. Finally, comfort was improved by the low extent of the roll. When commissioned, the ship could accommodate 365 first class, 160 second class and 2,350 third class, for a total capacity of 2,875 passengers. Technically, Cedric stood out from her sister ships by being equipped with the new Welin type davits (those which were subsequently fitted to many vessels such as those of the s), instead of the swiveling davits. and arriving in New York City on 11 April 1912. On 5 December 1912 he travelled on Celtic from New York to Liverpool. Shoghi Effendi, as a youth 15 years old, accompanied ‘Abdu’l Bahá from Egypt, disembarking in Italy. Future garment industry trade union leader Sidney Hillman sailed to the United States (his name was spelled Sydney Hilman on the passenger manifest) as a steerage passenger on Cedric from Liverpool in August 1907.