in the headlines when he ran aground on mud banks at Calshot on the Solent. He was pulled free by four tugs from Southampton. The vessel suffered no damage and the incident did not affect his sailing schedule. Despite his German heritage, Berengaria served as flagship of the Cunard fleet until replaced by his sister ship, (also German: ex-SS Bismarck), in 1934 after the merger of Cunard with White Star Line. In later years, Berengaria was used for discounted Prohibition-dodging cruises, which earned his jocular nicknames like Bargainaria and Boringaria. Toward the end of his service life, the ship suffered several electrical fires caused by aging wiring, and Cunard-White Star opted to retire him in 1938. He was sold to Sir John Jarvis, who had also purchased Olympic, to provide work for unemployed shipbuilders in Jarrow, County Durham. Berengaria sailed for the River Tyne under the command of Captain George Gibbons to be scrapped down to the waterline. Due to the size of the vessel and the outbreak of the Second World War, the final demolition took place only in 1946. Gallery References Further reading The Hamburg-American Company's New 50,000-Ton Liner (International Marine Engineering feature article, August 1912, pp. 301–305, with launch photos & engineering details.) SS Imperator / RMS Berengaria Atlantic Liners: A Trio of Trios, by J. Kent Layton Ocean Liners, by Oliver le Goff The Beautiful and Damned, by F. Scott Fitzgerald Imperator/Berengaria, by Les Streater External links S.S. Imperator at Flickr via Library of Congress S.S. Imperator (German Passenger Liner, 1913) – Served as USS Imperator (ID # 4080) in 1919. – Later the British passenger liner Berengaria USS Imperator (ID # 4080), 1919–1919. Imperator / Berengaria Home at Atlantic Liners. Ship's page at ocean-liners.com The Ultimate Imperator Chris' Cunard Page Final sailing to Sir John Jarvis's scrapyard; Jarow Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Ships built in Hamburg Ships of the Cunard Line Ships of the Hamburg America Line Steamships of Germany Steamships of the United Kingdom Steamships of the United States Transports of the United States Navy World War I auxiliary ships of the United States 1912 ships Passenger ships of Germany Imperator-class ocean liners Maritime incidents in 1932