Bismarck was built by the Blohm & Voss shipbuilders in Hamburg, Germany.
She was laid down in 1913 and launched on 20 June 1914 by Countess Hanna von Bismarck, the granddaughter of the 19th century German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.
During the launching ceremony Countess Bismarck had difficulty breaking the bottle of champagne herself by swinging it too late and Kaiser Wilhelm II had to assist by quick-wittedly snatching the bottle that had missed the ship's hull and throwing it himself, finally causing it to break as it should.
The ship was to have been the flagship of the Hamburg America Line and the final of Albert Ballin's "Big Three" (Imperator, which later became RMS Berengaria, and Vaterland, which later became SS Leviathan).
Majestic was intended to be the same size as Vaterland, in both tonnage and length, but a miscommunication that Cunard's Aquitania would be larger made HAPAG demand an extra 6 feet (1.8 m) in length, increasing her gross tonnage.
Aquitania was actually 50 feet (15 m) shorter than both Vaterland and Bismarck.

Though Bismarck was third of the "Big Three", she was most similar to her immediate predecessor SS Vaterland and was essentially a slightly enlarged version of that ship.
There were significant differences between her and the first of the three, SS Imperator.
Bismarck had an overall length of 956.0 ft (291.4 m), a breadth of 100.1 ft (30.5 m) and according to her British registration papers a gross tonnage of 56,551 tons.
Excluding the tank-top, there were 11 decks ranging from Deck-A to Deck-L (there was no Deck-I).
Decks J and K were only present at the ends of ship.
Transversely the ship was divided into 14 watertight compartments.
Like her sister Vaterland, the boiler uptakes (used to carry exhaust gases from the boilers to the funnels) instead of coming up through the centre of the ship's width, were divided in two and came up on opposite sides of the ship's centre line.
The immediate effect was to allow the allocation of enormous public rooms of unprecedented length and volume.
Traditionally the boiler uptakes ended up in the middle of large public rooms and were considered a major obstacle to well proportioned rooms.

Bismarck was propelled by a set of quadruple screws driven by four direct drive Parsons turbines.
The port centre propeller shaft was driven by a high-pressure turbine, which exhausted to an intermediate pressure turbine that drove the starboard centre shaft.
These two turbines were located in the forward watertight compartment.
Exhaust from the intermediate turbine was divided equally and fed into two low-pressure turbines on the outer shafts located in a separate compartment aft.
The steam turbines generated approximately 66,000 shaft horsepower (49,000 kW) when running at 180 rpm.
Each one of the low-pressure turbines weighed 375 tons.
Steam was supplied to the turbines at 260 psi by 48 Yarrow & Normand water-tube boilers located in four watertight compartments.
The boilers had a heating surface of 220,000 square feet (20,000 m²) and there was a total of 240 oil burners fitted to them.
Three funnels were fitted to the vessel but only the forward two were used to carry boiler exhaust.
As with many large liners, the third funnel was used to ventilate the engines rooms.
Bismarck was originally designed to burn coal but was converted to oil while being completed at Blohm & Voss.

After launch, fitting out of Bismarck proceeded until the start of the First World War in August 1914, when it slowed and substantive work on the vessel stopped altogether.
Other than maintenance work, not much more work was done on the vessel, as naval priorities occupied the ship yard until 1918.
By the time the war was over, the funnels had still not been erected.
During the war brass and copper components were scavenged from the Bismarck for munitions.
After being ceded to Britain under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, the as-yet uncompleted ship was purchased jointly by the White Star and Cunard Lines, together with Imperator.
Construction of the ship resumed after the end of World
Bismarck was built by the Blohm & Voss shipbuilders in Hamburg, Germany. She was laid down in 1913 and launched on 20 June 1914 by Countess Hanna von Bismarck, the granddaughter of the 19th century German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. During the launching ceremony Countess Bismarck had difficulty breaking the bottle of champagne herself by swinging it too late and Kaiser Wilhelm II had to assist by quick-wittedly snatching the bottle that had missed the ship's hull and throwing it himself, finally causing it to break as it should. The ship was to have been the flagship of the Hamburg America Line and the final of Albert Ballin's "Big Three" (Imperator, which later became RMS Berengaria, and Vaterland, which later became SS Leviathan). Majestic was intended to be the same size as Vaterland, in both tonnage and length, but a miscommunication that Cunard's Aquitania would be larger made HAPAG demand an extra 6 feet (1.8 m) in length, increasing her gross tonnage. Aquitania was actually 50 feet (15 m) shorter than both Vaterland and Bismarck.
Though Bismarck was third of the "Big Three", she was most similar to her immediate predecessor SS Vaterland and was essentially a slightly enlarged version of that ship. There were significant differences between her and the first of the three, SS Imperator. Bismarck had an overall length of 956.0 ft (291.4 m), a breadth of 100.1 ft (30.5 m) and according to her British registration papers a gross tonnage of 56,551 tons. Excluding the tank-top, there were 11 decks ranging from Deck-A to Deck-L (there was no Deck-I). Decks J and K were only present at the ends of ship. Transversely the ship was divided into 14 watertight compartments. Like her sister Vaterland, the boiler uptakes (used to carry exhaust gases from the boilers to the funnels) instead of coming up through the centre of the ship's width, were divided in two and came up on opposite sides of the ship's centre line. The immediate effect was to allow the allocation of enormous public rooms of unprecedented length and volume. Traditionally the boiler uptakes ended up in the middle of large public rooms and were considered a major obstacle to well proportioned rooms.
Bismarck was propelled by a set of quadruple screws driven by four direct drive Parsons turbines. The port centre propeller shaft was driven by a high-pressure turbine, which exhausted to an intermediate pressure turbine that drove the starboard centre shaft. These two turbines were located in the forward watertight compartment. Exhaust from the intermediate turbine was divided equally and fed into two low-pressure turbines on the outer shafts located in a separate compartment aft. The steam turbines generated approximately 66,000 shaft horsepower (49,000 kW) when running at 180 rpm. Each one of the low-pressure turbines weighed 375 tons. Steam was supplied to the turbines at 260 psi by 48 Yarrow & Normand water-tube boilers located in four watertight compartments. The boilers had a heating surface of 220,000 square feet (20,000 m²) and there was a total of 240 oil burners fitted to them. Three funnels were fitted to the vessel but only the forward two were used to carry boiler exhaust. As with many large liners, the third funnel was used to ventilate the engines rooms. Bismarck was originally designed to burn coal but was converted to oil while being completed at Blohm & Voss.
After launch, fitting out of Bismarck proceeded until the start of the First World War in August 1914, when it slowed and substantive work on the vessel stopped altogether. Other than maintenance work, not much more work was done on the vessel, as naval priorities occupied the ship yard until 1918. By the time the war was over, the funnels had still not been erected. During the war brass and copper components were scavenged from the Bismarck for munitions. After being ceded to Britain under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, the as-yet uncompleted ship was purchased jointly by the White Star and Cunard Lines, together with Imperator. Construction of the ship resumed after the end of World 
RMS Majestic (1914)