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
SS Pacific (1849) on 1 February 1849 and made her maiden voyage from New York to Liverpool on 25 May 1850. She would retain service on the New York-Liverpool route for her entire career. Between 11 and 21 September, "Pacific" made a record passage from Liverpool to New York with an average speed of , breaking the previous record of 12.25 knots held by the Cunard Line's "Asia", and thus winning the coveted Blue Riband for fastest transatlantic crossing. "Pacific" would hold the record for less than a year however, as her sister ship "Baltic" would set a new record the following August