The 3,984 GRT steamship RMS Republic was built by Harland & Wolff in Belfast , Northern Ireland , and was launched on July 4, 1871. The 128-meter-long and 12.46-meter-wide, iron- built passenger and mail ship was the last of four sister ships with which the White Star Line, founded by Thomas Ismay in 1869 , opened its passenger and mail service between Great Britain and North America . The Republic was powered by a combination of steam and sailing power and was equipped with a single chimney and a steam engine that operated on a single screw and allowed a maximum speed of 14 knots. In addition, the ship was equipped with four masts with full rigging . The comfortable passenger accommodations were designed for 166 first-class passengers and 1,000 third-class passengers.
The sister ships of the Republic were the RMS Oceanic (I), the RMS Atlantic and the RMS Baltic (I), all of which had already been commissioned in 1871 and had a volume of 3707 GRT each. The Republic was the largest of the four ships at 3984 GRT.
Construction of the Republic was completed on January 21, 1872, and on February 1, she left Liverpool on her maiden voyage via Queenstown to New York. In 1885 there was a collision with the Aurania of the Cunard Line . The ship remained unchanged for over 17 years on the Liverpool-New York route, until it left for the last time for the White Star Line to New York on January 16, 1889. It was then sold to Holland-America Line and renamed Maasdam (II). The steamer was equipped with new engines from G. Forrester & Co. from Liverpool and could carry 150 passengers first class, 60 second class and 800 third class. On March 15, 1890, the Maasdam sailed for the first time from Rotterdam via Boulogne-sur-Mer to New York. In 1899 it was rebuilt again and from then on only had a second and a third class.
On March 6, 1902, the last departure from Rotterdam to New York for the Holland America Line took place. The ship was sold to Italian owners and renamed Vittoria . In the same year it went to the Italian shipping company La Veloce Navigazione Italiana a Vapore, based in Genoa , for which it will operate under the name Citta di Napoli in the future . On September 30, 1902, it ran for the first time in Genoa via Naples to New York with space for 1424 third-class passengers . Her 30th and last crossing on this route began on April 27, 1907. The following year, the former Republic was sold to Genoa for demolition and scrapped there in 1910.
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