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
Harry Manning preparing for her first crossing in 1951 when he met with representatives from the ship's designers and the US Lines in his captain's quarters on the "America". They were already considering breaking the transatlantic speed record for the Blue Riband and discussed how far the ship should be pushed on her first voyage. The maiden crossing began at Noon on July 3, 1952. The publicity over the new ship and the secrecy over her speed fed speculation that the ship would try for the eastbound speed record. When asked by reporters on board Manning coyly replied, "If the ship makes