November 5, 1918 saw the end of the Cunard liner Campania. She had been built in 1893 in Scotland and made her maiden voyage in April of that year. The following month Campania won the Blue Riband and held it until Aug. of 1894 when her sister, Lucania, bested her record. An unfortunate incident on her decks occurred on Oct. 11, 1905 when a large wave crashed the ship killing 5 passengers, the first time in Cunard history that a passenger had been killed.

By 1914 her time as a passenger ship was coming to an end and in October of that year she was sold for scrap. She was saved by the Admiralty who bought the ship in November, she was then converted into a seaplane carrier. Her forward funnel was replaced with twin stacks and an angled launch deck was built forward of the bridge and she was commissioned into the Royal Navy on on April 17, 1915 as HMS Campania. After the refit the once grand liner was hardly recognizable, but in her new roll she served to teach vital lessons in how to operate aircraft from ships.

On November 5, 1918, just a few days before the armistice was signed, HMS Campania was moored in the Firth of Forth when a storm hit the Firth. During the storm Campania broke her moorings and drifted across the Firth and collided with HMS Revenge. The old liner was mortally damaged by the much stronger battleship and her hull plated were wrenched open. Sadly she could not be saved and she slowly sank beneath the waves, fortunately no lives were lost.