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 United States "United States" obtained the Blue Riband which marked the first time a US-flagged ship had held the record since the claimed the prize 100 years earlier. "United States" maintained a crossing speed on the North Atlantic in a service career that lasted 17 years. "United States" lost the eastbound speed record in 1990 to "Hoverspeed Great Britain"; however, she continues to hold the Blue Riband as all subsequent record breakers were neither in passenger service nor were their voyages westbound. SS United States SS "United States" is a retired passenger liner built in 1950–51 for the United States Lines at