chairman Thomas Ismay in November 1899, the order was postponed and then cancelled. Instead the company decided to deploy the resources to produce a set of larger liners which would become the "Big Four" class. The name Olympic was later bestowed upon the RMS Olympic of 1910. CareerOceanic was launched on 14 January 1899, an event watched by over 50,000 people. She would be the largest and last British liner to be launched in the 19th century. Following her fitting out and sea trials, she left Belfast for Liverpool on the 26 August that year, and when she arrived she was opened to the public and press where she was received with great fanfare. She departed Liverpool on her maiden voyage to New York on 6 September, under the command of Captain John G. Cameron. Thomas Ismay had planned to be on board but was by this stage too unwell. She completed the voyage in 6 days 2 hours and 37 minutes at an average speed of 19.57 knots and arrived at New York to a rapturous welcome. One disappointing feature which soon became apparent in service was the tendency for the ship to experience excessive vibration at full speed, due in part to her long and narrow design. To avoid this problem it was soon found necessary to operate her at a service speed of , lower than her planned service speed of . The early years of Oceanic's career were fairly eventful, as she was well received by the public on both sides of the Atlantic. Between 1900 and 1906, she bested her main rivals, Cunard's speed queens Campania and Lucania, as well as her own running mates for westbound crossings. In 1900 she was struck by lightning while at dock at Liverpool and lost the top of her mainmast. On 4 August that year while berthed at New York harbour, she was threatened by a serious fire in a cargo hold of the SS Bovic which was docked adjacent to her. Fortunately the fire was brought under control before it could spread to Oceanic. On 7 August 1901 in a heavy fog, near Tuskar Rock, Ireland, Oceanic was involved in a collision with the small Waterford Steamship Company SS Kincora, sinking the smaller vessel and killing seven. On 18 November 1904, four days out from New York, Oceanic encountered strong gales, stormy seas and snow, the battering