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Cedric was the second of four White Star Line ships that became known as the Big Four. Cedric differed from her 20,904-ton sister ship Celtic as she had been fitted with more upper deck passenger compartments. As a result, she was the largest ship in the world at that time. Cedric set out on her maiden voyage from Liverpool February 11th 1903. That voyage took over seven days to reach New York traveling at the White Star Line’s leisurely recommended speed of 16 knots. In the winter of that year, she set out on a five-week Mediterranean cruise. The complete success of the cruise led to winter cruises becoming an annual occurrence. With Cedric being in New York when news broke about the sinking of Titanic April 15th 1912, her captain was instructed to remain in port until the rescue ship Carpathia docked in New York. Survivors of the disaster were then given the opportunity to travel back to Britain onboard Cedric.

The British Admiralty requisitioned Cedric in 1914 to serve as an armed merchant cruiser. By 1916, she had been converted to a troopship for the transfer of troops from Britain - Egypt. After America entered the war in 1917, Cedric joined the convoys transporting US troops to Europe. Her only incident during the war was when she rammed and sunk the Canadian Pacific steamer Montreal in January 1918. Both ships had been steaming together in a convoy off the coast of Liverpool when the accident occurred. Cedric’s interiors had to be restored after the war before being re-deployed on the Liverpool - New York run in 1919. Whilst traveling through thick fog in 1923, she collided with the Cunard liner Cythia. Although neither ship sunk, both sustained considerable damage. Cedric was returned to the Atlantic run after repairs and continued in service until 1931. She set out on her final voyage from Liverpool to the scrap yard at Inverkeithing/Scotland January 11th 1932.