Timeline of largest passenger ships

"Largest ship" redirects here. For other uses, see Largest ship (disambiguation).

This is a timeline of the world's largest passenger ships based upon internal volume, initially measured by gross register tonnage and later by gross tonnage. This timeline reflects the largest extant passenger ship in the world at any given time. If a given ship was superseded by another, scrapped, or lost at sea, it is then succeeded. Some records for tonnage outlived the ships that set them - notably the SS Great Eastern, and RMS Queen Elizabeth. The term "largest passenger ship" has evolved over time to also include ships by length as supertankers built by the 1970s were over 400 metres (1,300 ft) long. In the modern era the term has gradually fallen out of use in favor of "largest cruise ship" as the industry has shifted to cruising rather than transatlantic ocean travel.^[1] While some of these modern cruise ships were later expanded, they did not regain their "largest" titles.

RMS Queen Elizabeth's size record stood for the longest time at over 54 years

Timeline

Year completed	Ship	Tonnage	Length	Title held	Status	Image
19th century 19th century
1831	SS Royal William	1,370 GRT[2]	49 m (160 ft)	1831 – 1839[3]	Sank in 1860
1838	SS Great Western	1,700 GRT[4]	76.8 m (252 ft)	1839[5]	Scrapped in 1856
1839	SS British Queen	1,850 GRT[6]	75 m (245 ft)	1839 – 1840[7][8] 1841 – 1843	Scrapped in 1844
1840	SS President	2,366 GRT[9]	74 m (243 ft)	1840 – 1841[10]	Lost at sea in 1841
1843[a]	SS Great Britain	3,270 GRT[11]	98 m (322 ft)	1843 – 1853[12]	Currently a Museum ship
1853[13]	SS Atrato	3,466 GRT[14]	107 m (350 ft)	1853 – 1857[15][b]	Sank in 1884
1857	SS Adriatic	3,670 GRT[16]	108 m (354 ft)	1857 — 1858[17]	Beached and Abandoned in 1885
1858	SS Great Eastern	18,915 GRT[18]	211 m (692 ft)	1858 – c. 1888[19][20] (Scrapped)	Scrapped by 1891[c]
1888	SS City of New York	10,499 GRT[23]	171 m (560 ft)	c. 1888 – 1893[20]	Scrapped in 1923
1893	RMS Campania RMS Lucania[d]	12,950 GRT[24]	190 m (622 ft)	1893 – 1897[25]	Campania: Sank in 1918 Lucania: Scrapped in 1909
1897	SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse	14,349 GRT[26]	200 m (655 ft)	1897 – 1899[27]	Sank in 1914
1899	RMS Oceanic	17,272 GRT[28]	215 m (704 ft)	1899 – 1901[29]	Sank in 1914
20th century 20th century
11 July 1901	RMS Celtic	20,904 GRT[30]	214 m (701 ft)	1901 – 1903[31][32]	Ran aground in 1928, Scrapped on site in 1929
31 January 1903	RMS Cedric	21,073 GRT[33]	213 m (700 ft)	1903 – 1904[32]	Scrapped in 1932
23 June 1904	RMS Baltic	23,876 GRT[34]	222 m (729 ft)	1904 – 1906[34][35]	Scrapped in 1933
10 May 1906 (entered service)	SS Kaiserin Auguste Victoria	24,581 GRT[36]	206.5 m (677.5 ft)	1906 – 1907[37]	Scrapped in 1930
7 September 1907 (entered service)	RMS Lusitania	31,550 GRT[38]	240 m (787 ft)	1907[39][40]	Sank in 1915
7 November 1907	RMS Mauretania	31,938 GRT[38]	241 m (790 ft)	1907 – 1911[40][41]	Scrapped in 1935
31 May 1911	RMS Olympic	45,324 GRT[42]	269.0 m (882.5 ft)	1911 – 1912[43][44] 1912 – 1913[43][45]	Scrapped by 1937
31 March 1912	RMS Titanic	46,328 GRT[46]	269.1 m (882.9 ft)	1912[47] (Sank)	Sank in 1912[47]
June 1913	SS Imperator	52,117 GRT[48]	276 m (906 ft)	1913 – 1914[45][48]	Scrapped in 1938
14 May 1914 (entered service)	SS Vaterland	54,282 GRT[49][50]	290 m (950 ft)	1914 – 1922[51][52]	Scrapped in 1938
12 May 1922 (entered service)	RMS Majestic	56,551 GRT[53]	291 m (956 ft)	1922 – 1935[52][54]	Scrapped in 1943 (after sinking)
29 May 1935 (entered service)	SS Normandie	79,280 GRT (as built) 83,404 GRT (final size)[e]	314 m (1,029 ft)	1935 – 1936[56] 1936 – 1942[55][57] (Destroyed by fire)	Scrapped in 1946 (after sinking)
27 May 1936 (entered service)	RMS Queen Mary	80,774 GRT (as built) 81,237 GRT (final size)[58][59]	310.7 m (1,019.4 ft)	1936[60][59]	Currently a Hotel ship
2 March 1940[f]	RMS Queen Elizabeth	83,673 GRT[61]	314 m (1,031 ft)	1942 – 1972[57] (Destroyed by fire)	Scrapped in 1974 (after sinking)
3 February 1962 (entered service)	SS France (1962-1980) SS Norway (post-1980)	66,343 GRT (as built)[62] 76,049 GRT (final size)[g]	315 m (1,035 ft)	1972 – 1987[66][67] 1990 – 1995[68][69]	Scrapped in 2008
18 December 1987	MS Sovereign of the Seas	73,529 GT[70]	268 m (880 ft)	1987 – 1990[67][69] (Surpassed by SS Norway)	Scrapped in 2020
26 June 1995	Sun Princess	77,000 GT[71][72]	261 m (857 ft)	1995 – 1996[72]	In service as Pacific World
24 November 1996 (entered service)	Carnival Destiny	101,353 GT[72]	272 m (893 ft)	1996 – 1998[72]	In service as Carnival Sunshine
27 May 1998 (entered service)	Grand Princess	109,000 GT	290 m (951 ft)	1998 – 1999	In service
29 October 1999	Voyager of the Seas	137,276 GT[73]	311 m (1,020 ft)	1999 – 2000	In service
28 September 2000	Explorer of the Seas	137,308 GT	311 m (1,020 ft)	2000 – 2002	In service
21st century 21st century
18 November 2002	Navigator of the Seas	139,999 GT[74]	311 m (1,020 ft)	2002 – 2003	In service
22 December 2003	RMS Queen Mary 2	148,528 GT (as built)[75]	345.03 m (1,132.0 ft)	2003 – 2006	In service
24 April 2006	MS Freedom of the Seas	154,407 GT (as built)[76]	338.774 m (1,111.46 ft)	2006 – 2007[h]	In service
19 May 2007	Liberty of the Seas	155,889 GT[77]	338.92 m (1,111.9 ft)	2007 – 2009	In service
28 October 2009	Oasis of the Seas	225,282 GT[78] (as built)	360 m (1,180 ft)	2009 – 2016[i]	In service
13 May 2016	Harmony of the Seas	226,963 GT[82]	362.12 m (1,188.1 ft)	2016 – 2018	In service
23 March 2018	Symphony of the Seas	228,081 GT[83]	361.011 m (1,184.42 ft)	2018 – 2022	In service
27 January 2022	Wonder of the Seas	236,857 GT[84]	362.04 m (1,187.8 ft)	2022 – 2023	In service
27 November 2023	Icon of the Seas	248,663 GT[85]	364.75 m (1,196.7 ft)	2023 – present	In service

See also

• Oceans portal

• List of largest ships by gross tonnage
• List of longest wooden ships
• List of large sailing vessels
• List of ocean liners

Notes

1. Sources have the Great Britain as the "world's largest" ship from her launch year.
2. While the Great Republic was concurrently larger (at 4,555 GRT), she was not a passenger ship.
3. Great Eastern was sold for scrap in 1888 but the breaking up was not completed until 1891.^[21][22]
4. The Campania and Lucania had the same GRT.
5. The tonnage was increased on Normandie in August 1936 to reclaim the title of "largest ship" from the Queen Mary.^[55]
6. Although Queen Elizabeth was completed on 2 March 1940 as an ocean liner, she was converted into a troop ship due to the outbreak of World War II. She became the largest ship in the world in 1942 when SS Normandie burned and sank at her moorings. Transatlantic service was not resumed until after the war ended, and Queen Elizabeth officially entered into passenger service on 16 October 1946.
7. SS France increased her tonnage in 1980, when she was refurbished into a cruise ship. Her final size peaked at 76,049 GRT in 1990.^[63] She was the last ship on this list to be measured by "GRT", as the term was changed to "GT" on 18 July 1994.^[64][65]
8. Freedom of the Seas never held the title of "largest passenger ship" after 2007. While she was later extended to match her sister ship Liberty of the Seas (in 2015), by this time the title had passed on to Oasis of the Seas.
9. Oasis was initially launched at 225,282 GT.^[79] This was tied a year later by Allure of the Seas, although the latter was 50 mm (2.0 in) longer.^[80] Oasis of the Seas was expanded to 226,838 GT in November 2019.^[81]