RMS Adriatic was an ocean liner of the White Star Line. She was the fourth of a quartet of ships measuring over 20,000 tons, dubbed The Big Four. The ship was the only one of the four which was never the world's largest ship; however, she was the fastest of the Big Four. Adriatic was the first ocean liner to have an indoor swimming pool and a Turkish bath.
History
She was built by Harland and Wolff and was launched on 20 September 1906. She set off on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York City on 8 May 1907 under the command of Captain Edward Smith. She was changed to the Southampton run after her maiden voyage and inaugurated White Star's Southampton service. She was the first White Star liner to use the newly constructed dock in Southampton, named the White Star Dock. She ran this route until 1911 when Olympic replaced her; Adriatic then returned to the Liverpool run. Adriatic sailed from Liverpool on 18 April 1912 and arrived in New York on 27 April 1912. Some of Titanic rescued passengers and crew travelled back to Britain aboard her, departing New York on 2 May 1912. The passengers included White Star Line chairman J. Bruce Ismay and Millvina Dean, the disaster's youngest and last living survivor.
War and later service
During World War I, Adriatic served as a troopship and survived the war without incident. After the war ended, she returned to passenger service. In 1928, she was converted to a "cabin-class" ship. In 1933, she was withdrawn from the North Atlantic route and was converted into cruising. Following the successful 1933 "Peace Cruise" in the Baltic by the Calgaric, in 1934 the British Boy Scouts and Girl Guides chartered her for a similar cruise in the Mediterranean, under the command of Commander C.P. Freeman, R.D.. Adriatic sailed from Liverpool on 29 March 1934, and called at Gibraltar, Villefranche, Malta, Algiers, and Lisbon.
Fate
Adriatic left Liverpool for the last time on 19 December 1934, her longest voyage ever, to be scrapped at Onomichi, Japan, in 1935.
