Cunard Line in the context of "RMS Lusitania"

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⭐ Core Definition: Cunard Line

The Cunard Line (/ˈkjnɑːrd/ KEW-nard) is a British shipping company and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been registered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In 1839, Samuel Cunard was awarded the first British transatlantic steamship mail contract, and the next year formed the British and North American Royal Mail Steam-Packet Company in Glasgow with shipowner Sir George Burns together with Robert Napier, the famous Scottish steamship engine designer and builder, to operate the line's four pioneer paddle steamers on the Liverpool–Halifax–Boston route. For most of the next 30 years, Cunard held the Blue Riband for the fastest Atlantic voyage. However, in the 1870s Cunard fell behind its rivals, the White Star Line and the Inman Line. To meet this competition, in 1879 the firm was reorganised as the Cunard Steamship Company Ltd, to raise capital.

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👉 Cunard Line in the context of RMS Lusitania

RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner launched by the Cunard Line in 1906 as a Royal Mail Ship. She was the world's largest passenger ship until the completion of her running mate Mauretania three months later. In 1907, she gained the Blue Riband appellation for the fastest Atlantic crossing, which had been held by German ships for a decade.

Though reserved for conversion as an armed merchant cruiser, Lusitania was not commissioned as such during WWI but continued a transatlantic passenger service, sometimes carrying war materials, including a quantity of .303 ammunition, in her cargo. The German submarine U-20 hit her with a torpedo on 7 May 1915 at 14:10, 11 miles (18 km) off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, leading to her sinking about 18 minutes later. Only six of several dozen lifeboats and rafts were successfully lowered; there were 767 survivors out of the 1,960 people on board, while 1,193 perished.

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Cunard Line in the context of RMS Ivernia (1899)

RMS Ivernia was a British ocean liner built for the Cunard Line by C. S. Swan & Hunter of Wallsend, England, and launched in 1899. The Ivernia was one of Cunard's intermediate ships that catered to the vast immigrant trade between Europe and the United States of America in the early 20th century. She saw military service during World War I and was sunk by a torpedo from a German U-boat on New Year's Day 1917.

Ivernia was the first of three related liners of the Ivernia class. Saxonia was her larger sister ship, and was launched three months after her at John Brown & Company of Clydebank, leaving Ivernia the largest Cunard steamer during those months. Carpathia was a smaller half-sister of Ivernia and Saxonia, built at the same yard as Ivernia and launched in 1902, to a modified design based on her older half-sisters. Carpathia was made famous for her role in the aftermath of the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912.

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Cunard Line in the context of Ocean liner

An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The Queen Mary 2 is the only active ocean liner in 2025, serving with Cunard Line.

The category does not include ferries or other vessels engaged in short-sea trading, nor dedicated cruise ships where the voyage itself, and not transportation, is the primary purpose of the trip. Nor does it include tramp steamers, even those equipped to handle limited numbers of passengers. Some shipping companies refer to themselves as "lines" and their passenger ships, which often operate over set routes according to established schedules, as "liners".

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Cunard Line in the context of Saint Michael, Barbados

The parish of St. Michael is one of eleven in Barbados. It has a land area of 39 km (15 sq mi) and is found at the southwest portion of the island. Saint Michael has survived by name as one of the original six parishes created in 1629 by Governor Sir William Tufton.

The parish is home to Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados. Bridgetown is the centre of commercial activity in Barbados, as well as a central hub for the public transport network. Other major infrastructure in St. Michael is the international seaport of Barbados—the Deep Water Harbour. Therein, a number of cruise ships arrive and depart including various lines such as Royal Caribbean and Cunard. The harbour features several sugar towers for loading locally produced sugar into transport ships, and a tower for loading flour for transport.

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Cunard Line in the context of RMS Saxonia (1899)

The first RMS Saxonia was a passenger ship of the British Cunard Line. Between 1900 and 1925, Saxonia operated on North Atlantic and Mediterranean passenger routes, and she saw military service during World War I (1914–1918).

Saxonia was the second and largest ship launched of the Ivernia class of intermediate liners for Cunard. RMS Ivernia was launched a few months before Saxonia, and RMS Carpathia was launched in 1902.

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Cunard Line in the context of RMS Carpathia

RMS Carpathia was a Cunard Line transatlantic passenger steamship built by C. S. Swan & Hunter in their shipyard in Wallsend, England.

Carpathia made her maiden voyage in 1903 from Liverpool to Boston, and continued on this route before being transferred to Mediterranean service in 1904. In April 1912, she became famous for rescuing survivors of the rival White Star Line's RMS Titanic after it struck an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean. Carpathia navigated the ice fields to arrive two hours after Titanic had sunk, and the crew rescued 712 survivors from the ship's lifeboats.

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Cunard Line in the context of Queen Mary 2

RMS Queen Mary 2 (QM2) is a British ocean liner. She has served as the flagship of the Cunard Line since April 2004, and as of 2025, is the only active, purpose-built ocean liner still in service. Queen Mary 2 sails regular transatlantic crossings between Southampton and New York City, in addition to short cruises and an annual world voyage.

She was designed by a team of British naval architects led by Stephen Payne, and was constructed in France by Chantiers de l'Atlantique. At the time of her construction, Queen Mary 2 was the longest, at 1,131.99 ft (345.03 m), and largest, with a gross tonnage of 148,528 GT, passenger ship ever built. She no longer holds these records after the construction of Royal Caribbean International's 154,407 GT Freedom of the Seas (a cruise ship) in April 2006, but remains the largest ocean liner ever built.

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Cunard Line in the context of Blue Riband

The Blue Riband (/ˈrɪbənd/) is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest average speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. The record is based on average speed rather than passage time because ships follow different routes. Also, eastbound and westbound speed records are reckoned separately, as the more difficult westbound record voyage, against the Gulf Stream and the prevailing weather systems, typically results in lower average speeds.

Of the 35 Atlantic liners to hold the Blue Riband, 25 were British, followed by five German, three American, and one each from Italy and France. Thirteen were Cunarders (plus Queen Mary of Cunard White Star), five White Star liners, with four owned by Norddeutscher Lloyd, two by Collins, two by Inman, two by Guion, and one each by British American, Great Western, Hamburg-America, the Italian Line, Compagnie Générale Transatlantique and finally the United States Lines. The record set by United States in 1952 remains unbroken by any passenger liner. The next-longest period through which the Blue Riband was retained was 19 years, held from 1909 to 1929 by Mauretania. The shortest period was six weeks, by Bremen from July to August 1933.

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Cunard Line in the context of MS Prinsendam (1988)

MS Amera (formerly Royal Viking Sun, Seabourn Sun and Prinsendam) is a cruise ship operated by Phoenix Reisen. She was launched in 1988 as Royal Viking Sun for Royal Viking Line, and began operating for Cunard Line under the same name in 1994. She was renamed Seabourn Sun when Seabourn Cruise Line acquired the ship in 1999. In 2002, Seabourn transferred the ship to Holland America Line, which was renamed as Prinsendam. In 2018, Prinsendam was sold to Phoenix Reisen, debuting in 2019, and rechristened Amera in Bremerhaven on 16 August 2019.

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