The Lusitania and Mauretania along with the Olympic Class ships were threatening Germany's hold on the Blue Ribbon and passenger trade. The only way Germany could bounce back was the building of more super liners to challenge Cunard and White Star. Dr. Albert Ballin, director of the Hamburg Amerika Line (HAPAG) envisioned three huge liners, larger than Olympic and Titanic with an average speed of around 23 knots. Though not record breakers, they would follow with the trend of White Star in designing ships so luxurious passengers wouldn't be able to resist.
The first keel plates for the first of the trio was laid on June 18, 1910. Known to many workers as the 'Collosus of the Atlantic', she was to be over 50,000 tonnes in weight. At this time, Ballin had estimated that the new ships would be 52,000 tonnes, and the first was to be names Europa.
Unlike the Olympic and Lusitania classes of liners, these new ships were to have only three funnels. The concept of four was over 15 years old in Germany and Ballin wanted something new.
The largest blow to ocean liner history was when the second of the Olympic class ships, the Titanic, sank on her maiden voyage taking 1500 people to their deaths. The sinking affected all shipping lines in some way, and many ships had to be taken out of service to be rebuilt or refitted. One of the most obvious changes to the design of ships was the amount of lifeboats needed. Quickly, the Lusitania and Mauretania, as well as the Olympic dissapeared under a tangle of davits and lifeboats which cluttered their top decks.
The Europa, or Imperator as she was now to be names, was still being built at this time, and the ship's 80 lifeboats bould now be added in many new ways. She too had too few lifeboats on the drawing board, but now, several areas were cut into the superstructure for lifeboats at the aft end, rescuing that area of the top deck.
The launch of the Imperator took place on May 23rd, 1912, just over a month since Titanic sank. Kaiser Wilhelm II had been very impressed with Ballin's plans for the trio, and was asked to launch the ship. The Kaiser and Ballin accended the stairs to a stand just below the ship's bow where he would christen the ship. Dressed in his Admiral's uniform, the Kaiser spoke about the ship, but just as he was about to launch the ship, a piece of lumber fell from the ship's bow and nearly hit the sovereign. This was seen as a bad omen by many, but the launch continued successfully. After the launch, the Kaiser was presented with a silver three foot model of the Imperator, who he gave to Ballin.
In Spring of 1913, Imperator was completed in her fitting out and her maiden voyage took place on the 13th of June that year. Unfortunatly, it was not as successful as many had hoped as it seemed Imperator was very top heavy oweing to the fact that it's funnels were too high and the large amounts of public rooms towards the top of the ship. Seeing the problem, HAPAG shortened the funnels and replaced much of the heavy deck equipment with lighter replicas and pumped several tons of cement into the hull. This helped, but instibility always plauged the Imperator, so much so that the New York harbour pilots dubbed her 'Limperator.'
Despite these problems, all eyes looked towards Imperator. She was the largest ship built at the time, both in weight (52,226 tonnes) and length (280.7 metres). A large gold figure head was added onto the bow for extra length. The figure head depicted a large eagle clutching a globe in it's talons with the banner ’Mein Felt ist die Welt’ (My Field is the World). The feature stayed in place until a violent storn tore off the wings of the eagle. The figure head was taken off shortly afterwards, never to be replaced.
The internal features of the ship proved to be some of the most beautiful ever before seen on a ship. The enormous Social Hall is one of the biggest rooms floating on a ship, and cpuld seat over 100 people in perfect luxury. It was covered by a spectacular dome, as was the first class dining room. The first class swimming oppl was exqually luxurious, as was the gymnasium, where the elite and rish could mingle with the 'normal' first class men to chat and excape from their wives.
Some of the less luxurious areas of the ship was the steerage quarters and dining room. Situated all the way forward with slanting walls, it had long tables with benches. Dispite these conditions, HAPAG expected many emigrants and steerage passengers to journey over the seas with the Imperator. She had room for over 5000 passengers and crew.
As Imperator sailed with great pride and prestige, the second of the trio entered the water. Thirty-one feet longer than Imperator, the Vaterland was set to catch the world by storm and promote HAPAG as the promenant line to sail with.
When the Great War began, Imperator was in New York, and there she remained, HAPAG thinking the safest place for the pride of their fleet was in a neutral harbour. However, when the Germans sunk the Lusitania, America entered the war shortly afterward, and Imperator was seized by the American Government. For some time after the hostilities, she sailed as the USS Imperator, bringing troops home. Britain, however, wanting revenge for the sinking of the majestic Lusitania, took command of Imperator in the form of Cunard. HAPAG had lost Imperator, and if that wasnt bad enough, they also lost the Vaterland, and the third of the trio Bismarck to other lines. Cunard was lifting the darkness of war with their new ship Berengaria.
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