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An Empire of the Seas
For 180 years now, Cunard has been the line for ocean liner travel. Since 1840 they have been pioneers of ocean going trade, but as of the 21st century, they have been reduced to just 3 ships, although that will soon increase to 4.
The long, long, history of Cunard
Cunard was founded in 1840, which is a staggeringly long time ago, for a shipping company. Unlike our friends White Star though, they started out with steamships, their first vessel being the Britannia. This ship would ultimately kick-started the company's tradition of ending their ship names in "ia" as opposed to White Star's "ic." When Britannia was built, the company was referred to as the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, which is quite a mouthful, so it's no wonder that they changed it to Cunard. For the rest of the 19th century, they would continue to build bigger and better ships, just as White Star had, except their debut into the 20th century would go much better than the Olympic Class.
The Fleet Today
RMS Queen Mary 2
Queen Elizabeth
Queen Victoria
The only ocean liner in existence today, and also the largest liner ever built, she is the flagship and icon of 21st century Cunard.
Larger than Queen Victoria, but smaller than Queen Mary 2, she is a heavily modified vessel compared to the sisters that came before her.
She is a pretty standard Vista-Class cruise ship, sharing many features with her sisters. She is the smallest ship operated by Cunard today.
2003-present day
2010-present day
2007-present day
Coming Soon to the Cunard Fleet...
Queen Anne
This new ship will embody the history of Cunard, she will feature a much larger passenger capacity of 3,000, but not much else is known about her.
2024-
The Lusitania and Mauretania
Remember when I said that Cunard's "debut into the 20th century would go much better than the Olympic Class?" Well this is their premier in the 1900's, and I think you find it quite impressive!
Top left: Mauretania boat deck, Bottom left: Mauretania photo, Right: lusitania painting
Lusitania
Now, you may have already heard of her, but I'll give a quick recap for those who don't know about this ship. The RMS Lusitania was a Cunard ocean liner that was the first british-owned ship to have 4 funnels. She boasted some beautiful interiors, and was a well proportioned vessel from the outside, but she is most famous for how she sunk. During world war one, the Lusitania was sailing just off the coast of Ireland, when she was spotted by a U-Boat. All it took was a single torpedo to ignite her explosive wartime cargo, and she sank in under 20 minutes.
Mauretania
Mauritania is the younger sister of the Lusitania, and was a ship that was beloved by the entirety of England. She was a vessel that served for many years after the war, and after her sister's sinking, enduring through each year she served Cunard. Unfortunately, she would always be overshadowed by her sister in the long run, but the put up a good fight for the history books. For several decades, she remained Britain's fastest passenger liner, until the Queen Mary took the title from her. But she remained for a long time afterward, only being scrapped in 1965.
Cunard and the End of Oceanic Travel
By the later half of the 20th century, air travel was on the rise, and Cunard's streams of revenue began to dry up. So how did they make it into the 21st century? How did the line survive when it looked like all hope was lost? The answer is QE2.
Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2)
By the late 20th century, Cunard as a company was foundering. No pun intended. Aircraft had taken the cake for Transatlantic travel, and passenger numbers were plummeting like never before. Many companies had already been liquidated, or bought out. So Cunard determined that a stunning new ocean liner would be needed to win back the public's eye. But this new vessel couldn't be just any big, fancy boat. It would need to be a true show-stopper, so the line's designers went to work. They knew that the new vessel would have to cruise for the winter months, and this was taken into account. The vessel would actually be smaller than the two previous queens, with one boiler room and engine room. She would have a new sleek profile and modern interiors.
At the end of her life, she had gross tonnage of 70,327 and was 963 ft (294 m) in length. She was of welded construction, and featured a bulbous bow. Similar to France's liners, like the SS France, Normandie, and the post-war Île de France, she had a flared stem, and smooth forecastle, but unlike the French liners she exhibited a rounded prow. She would service Cunard for 39 years, from 1969 all the way to 2008.
A New Queen of the Seas
By the 2000s, QE2 was an aging liner, and Cunard needed a new flagship. So they came together and, once again, decided that they needed to make a name for themselves in the 21st century, by blowing their competition out of the water. This new flagship would be built to honor Cunard's then 140 years of service, and a vessel for the history books. Coming in at 149,215 tonnes, with a displacement of 79,287 tonnes, Queen Mary 2 was giant. The largest ocean liner the world had ever seen. Over a thousand feet long, the Goliath superseded QE2 as Cunard's flagship in 2004, and was given the title of RMS, Royal Mail Ship, to pay homage to Cunard's long History. With the retirement of the QE2 in 2008, Queen Mary 2 become the only remaining ocean liner in service. The QM2 today is the last remnant of a lost golden age, that the world remembers fondly.
RMS Mauritania, 1906
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