Construction and service to Canada
Before World War I, the International Mercantile Marine Co. ordered Harland & Wolff shipyards to build several ships for its companies. The first two, the Regina and the Pittsburgh, started in 1913, were completed after the war and put into service in the early 1920s. Doric was the third ship built on this model and a fourth, slightly larger, the SS Laurentic (1927), would follow in 1927. The keel of Doric was laid in 1921, and the hull was launched on 8 August 1922, and delivered on 29 May 1923.[1]
Doric made her maiden voyage between Liverpool and Montreal via Quebec on the following 8 June.[2] She then remained on this service for several years, but stopped during winter in Halifax, the St. Lawrence River being frozen and impassable.[3] On this route, she was accompanied by Regina, similar in appearance but operated by another company, the Dominion Line; the two ships were supposed to provide a joint service between the two companies. The Regina however took the colors of the White Star Line in 1925, when it absorbed the remains of the Dominion Line.
In 1926, her accommodation, originally intended only for the cabin class and the third class, was revised to integrate a tourist class.[4] On 14 September 1927, the bow of the liner was damaged in Montreal by the British ship Barrie, but rapid repairs enabled her to reach Liverpool without incident. Another incident occurred on 8 December 1930, when the ship, then undergoing maintenance in the port of Liverpool, was the victim of a fire which affected several of her cabins before being brought under control.
At the beginning of the 1930s, the Great Depression strongly affected the White Star Line, which had to eliminate its less profitable crossings. This was how the Doric, like RMS Homeric at the same time, was withdrawn from service, before being reassigned to cruises to bring in some additional funds.
Cruise service and fate
Doric was still in use after her withdrawal from the Canadian route in October 1932. In April 1933, after several months of waiting in Liverpool, she was reassigned to cruising in the Mediterranean Sea.[5] The liner proved to be very popular with a clientele of young people, in particular young couples, which earned it the nickname "Cupid's ship"; and it was the scene of no fewer than nine engagement announcements during a cruise.[6] In 1934, the White Star Line and its rival, the Cunard Line, merged. The Doric was one of the ships to be preserved due to her young age unlike the other older ships within the newly merged fleet. She continued her cruises, departing from Southampton, with very reduced tourist prices: 12 pounds sterling for thirteen days of cruise.[5]
The cruise of 5 September 1935 sealed her fate. Doric was carrying 736 passengers and 350 crew members and has just made the last stop of her trip at Gibraltar, when she was in a heavy fog off Portugal.[6] During the night, at around 3 AM, she collided with the
