by prayitno

Article by Ian Gilda

A Nova Scotia businessman, Samuel Cunard, founded the Cunard Shipping Line in 1840. The line was inaugurated to carry mail from Britain to North America making use of the most contemporary technique of the day – steamships. For the following 60 years Samuel Cunard continued to expand his fleet with larger and more rapidly boats even though by no means sacrificing a ship or a life in pursuit of achievement.

By the turn of the 20 th century Cunard were in a position to negotiate a deal with the British Government, in which they accepted a subsidy in return for permitting their vessels to be requisitioned as merchant ships in a war scenario. On the strength of this, Cunard developed the Mauritania and the Lusitania, two names that would turn into legendary. They were unbelievably quickly, becoming powered by the latest technology – steam turbines, and before lengthy the Mauritania took, and held, the North Atlantic speed record for 22 many years.

During WWI the Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat off the Irish coast with a loss of 785 passengers and 413 crew an atrocity for which the German government was forced to apologise.

During the 1920s Cunard launched three liners to serve the transatlantic routes. By the end of the decade, in spite of the influence of the Wonderful Depression, Cunard commissioned two more ships to operate a weekly service in between Southampton and New York. They had been the Queen Mary, launched in 1935, and the Queen Elizabeth, launched in 1939. Like her predecessor, the Queen Mary was to win the North Atlantic speed record and retain it in the face of stiff opposition from the French for 16 years.

The Second Planet War disrupted shipping but the two Queens served with distinction – acting as troop carriers, and had been credited with shortening the war in Europe by transporting 1000′s of troops at a time.

When the war was above Cunard resumed passenger sailings across the Atlantic, but with air transport cutting the travelling time to America, the appeal of luxury transatlantic sea voyages began to fade.

One particular by one the fantastic ships had been withdrawn from service the Queen Mary was sold in 1967 to the city of Long Beach, California as a hotel and conference centre, and in 1968 the Queen Elizabeth made her final voyage to New York as a passenger liner.

As the Queen Mary became a Californian hotel, a new Cunard liner was launched with the name Queen Elizabeth two, now universally recognized as the QE2.

With a continuing decline in Atlantic passenger trade, the organization turned to a different market place, and Cunard Cruises started offering cruise holidays . The QE2 had been constructed with this in thoughts and she was ready to supply holidaymakers wonderful cruising experiences.

In 1982 the QE2 served as a troop ship in the Falkland’s War and after a comprehensive refurbishment she resumed her cruise programme as if absolutely nothing had happened.

Now with a fleet of three magnificent liners, the name Cunard is synonymous with traditional cruising, with the emphasis on service and luxury.

About the Writer

Jetline Cruise are fully bonded agents, and members of the Association of Cruise Professionals (ACE). Offering Cunard Cruises and Late Cunard cruise deals, we sell cruise holidays cheaply not inexpensive cruise holidays.

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