RMS Mauretania (1906) and launched with passengers. When "Britannic", working as a hospital ship during World War I, sank in 1916 after hitting a mine in the Kea channel the already davited boats were swiftly lowered saving nearly all on board, but the ship took nearly three times as long to sink as "Lusitania" and thus the crew had more time to evacuate passengers. "Mauretania" departed Liverpool on her maiden voyage on 16 November 1907 under the command of Captain John Pritchard, and on the return voyage captured the record for the fastest eastbound crossing of the Atlantic, with an average speed of
Ship of the line so that by about 1750, with a few notable exceptions, they were of little use in naval battles. King Erik XIV of Sweden initiated construction of the ship "Mars" in 1563; this might have been the first attempt of this battle tactic, roughly 50 years ahead of widespread adoption of the line of battle strategy. "Mars" was likely the largest ship in the world at the time of her build, equipped with 107 guns at a full length of 96 meters. Ironically it became the first ship to be sunk by gunfire from other ships in a naval battle .