entered service in February 1898, and , which was nearing completion at Belfast. Cymric had initially been designed as a combination passenger and livestock carrier and was designed with smaller engines capable of running the ship at more modest economical speeds. When this combination proved unpopular to travellers, Cymric was reconfigured as a full passenger vessel. The result of this was that although she was considerably smaller than the new Oceanic, her smaller engines and fewer boilers installation allowed more space for passenger accommodations. In September 1898 contracts were made for Celtic, and the keel was laid at Harland and Wolff on 22 March 1899. Celtic was the last liner ordered during Thomas Henry Ismay's lifetime. On the death of Ismay, all the efforts of the Harland & Wolff yards in Belfast were turned towards Celtic. The liner met all new objectives: with it, the company definitively abandoned the race for speed and never again sought to win the Blue Riband, favouring comfort and economy. If this change was really inaugurated by Celtic, it was already tested on a smaller scale a few years ago on Cymric. The success of the formula was enough for White Star to draw its new guideline for the next three decades, up until its demise. Celtic was designed to operate an average speed of 16 knots, which was what White Star ships already reached almost thirty years earlier, the liner, with its 20,904 gross tonnage, was the first to exceed s tonnage. Early career Celtic made her maiden voyage on 26 July 1901 between Liverpool and New York. Her size was such that her loading time in each port was one week, in order to allow the embarkation of coal, goods, and passengers. This combined with her average speed of 16 knots confirmed the exit from the race for speed in which the Cunard Line and Norddeutscher Lloyd were still in. In February 1902, the liner was sent to the Mediterranean Sea for a five-week cruise, with 800 passengers on board, which allowed the White Star Line to experiment with this means to make its ships profitable during the off-season. While two new ships joined her in 1903 and 1904 (Cedric and ), Celtics career was only disturbed by a few incidents at that time. A collision occurred on River Mersey with the steamer Heathmore on 15 April 1903. The liner came out of