The flagship of the White Star Line in the years between the two World Wars was the appropriately named "Majestic", although she actually began life as the "Bismarck", the third and last of Albert Ballin's fabulous trio of "super" liners conceived just before World War I. Created to achieve German domination of the highly profitable North Atlantic passenger trade, the first vessel "Imperator" (completed 1912) was soon followed by "Vaterland". "Bismarck" however was only launched in June 1914 and was far from ready for sea when the Great War began only two months later. The changed priorities of war meant that neither men nor money were available to finish the ship, the result being that she was laid up and untouched for the next five years.

Ceded to Great Britain by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, she passed into the ownership of the White Star Line by way of compensation for the wartime sinking of their liner "Britannic" (sister ship to "Olympic" and "Titanic"), and the company struggled to complete her in Germany despite a reluctant labor force and a serious shortage of steel. Finished at last in March 1922, she finally left Blohm & Voss's yard in Hamburg -- where she had been built over the previous nine years -- for her sea trials off Ireland during which she was renamed "Majestic". A splendid vessel registered at 56,551 tons, she measured 956 feet in length with a 100 foot beam, and her quadruple screws drove her effortlessly at 23½ knots. With accommodation for 750 1st, 542 2nd and 850 3rd class passengers, her main public rooms were every bit as sumptuous as her sisters' had been and she entered service as White Star's new flagship in June 1922. Shortly afterwards toured by King George V and Queen Mary, a visit which provided valuable publicity, she soon settled into her routine as a reliable though not record-breaking trans-Atlantic steamer.

As a result of financial difficulties caused by the worldwide shipping slump, White Star was amalgamated with Cunard in 1934 and both fleets were rationalised in consequence. Despite "Majestic's" glamour and size, her curious lack of popularity with the travelling public cast a shadow over her future and when passenger traffic continued to decline as the Depression wore on, she was laid up in February 1936 and sold for scrapping in May. Unexpectedly reprieved when bought by the British Admiralty, they converted her into a boys' training ship, renamed her H.M.S. "Caledonia" and gave her a permanent mooring at Rosyth (Scotland) in April 1937. Requisitioned as a troop transport when World War II began, she caught fire whilst refitting in September 1939 and sank at the dockside. Subsequently salvaged, she was considered too damaged to be worth repairing and was sadly broken up in 1943.