THE OLYMPIC IN HALIFAX N.S.

THE SECOND "A-CLASS" OF CUNARD

R.M.S. AUSONIA maiden voyage August 31st 1921.
sold to the British Admiralty 1942.

R.M.S. ANDANIA maiden voyage June 1st 1922.

Armed merchant cruiser Sept 1939.

Torpedoed and sunk June 16th 1940.

R.M.S. ANTONIA maiden voyage June 15th 1922.
sold to the British Admiralty 1942.

R.M.S. AURANIA maiden voyage September 13th 1924.

Sold to the British Admiralty 1942.

R.M.S. ASCANIA maiden voyage May 22nd 1925.

Scrapped 1957.

R.M.S. ASCANIA

R.M.S. ALAUNIA maiden voyage July 24th 1925.

Sold to the British Admiralty 1944.

LANCASTRIA - ESTIMATES OF UPTO 5,000 LOST

Launched in 1920 as the "TYRRHENIA" as a sister ship to
the "CAMERONIA" of the Anchor Line. Maiden voyage
Glasgow - Montreal, in June of 1922. Switched to the Hamburg
- New York route in 1923.

Renamed "LANCASTRIA" in 1924. First voyage from London

- New York in 1926

From 1932 the "LANCASTRIA" was used almost exclusively

for cuising. This is a photograph of her from around this time.

Entered service as a troop transport in March of 1940.

JUNE 16th 1940

The day before the French capitulation, the "LANCASTRIA" embarked British service personnel at Saint Nazaire who were being evacuated from the path of the advancing German troops. With about 5,500 people on board the ship waited at the Saint Nazaire anchorage for the other ships involved in the operation, intending to join them in convoy for England.

JUNE 17th 1940

The "LANCASTRIA" was attacked by German bombers, suffered four serios direct hits, and sank within 20 minutes.

THE SINKING OF THE "LANCASTRIA" WAS UP TO THAT TIME THE WORST CATASTROPHE IN SHIPPING HISTORY.

3,000 died, either in the explosions or by drowning. 2,500 were rescued by ships lying nearby or by vessels which hurried out of Saint Nazaire.

Exact figures of the number of victims have never been established. The British public only learned of the loss of the "LANCASTRIA" four weeks later, and the number of victims was put officially at 2,500.

THE "ASSOCIATION OF "LANCASTRIA" SURVIVORS" IN LONDON BELIEVES THAT MORE THAN 9,000 PEOPLE WERE ON BOARD, OF WHOM ONLY 4,000 SURVIVED.

THE CUNARD SEA GODDESS I

Showing her blue livery

Off Cabo San Lucas in red livery

Just can't seem to find any cards of SEA GODESS II...

R.M.S. ARUNDEL CASTLE

R.M.S. ARUNDEL CASTLE was laid down in 1915, but due
to the War was not launched until 1919. Maiden voyage
1921 on the Southampton - Cape Town service for the
Union-Castle Line


The R.M.S. ARUNDEL CASTLE was rebuilt in 1937 with
a longer bow and only two funnels. Scrapped in 1959

R.M.S QUEEN MARY 2 COMPARISONS

Number 1 in a series of 6 illustrations by Andrew Davidson
this shows how the 1,132 feet length of the QUEEN MARY 2
dwarfs some of the most famous buildings from around the
world.



Number 2 in a series of 6 illustrations by Andrew Davidson
this emphasises that nearly a quater of a million corks are
popped each year, which if put end to end would measure
the same as Mount Everests height

Number 3 in a series of 6 illustrations by Andrew Davidson

this shows how many of the new Airbus A380's would be

needed to carry the QUEEN MARY 2's 2,620 passengers.

Number 4 in a series of 6 illustrations by Andrew Davidson

At the time she was the largest, the tallest and the widest

passenger vessel ever built. Twice the size of the original

QUEEN MARY and three times the size of the TITANIC.

The ships featured are:

BRITANNIA 1840 - 1849 1,135 GRT

SCOTIA 1862 - 1904 3,871 GRT

ETRURIA 1885 - 1910 7,718 GRT

SAXONIA 1900 - 1925 14,281 GRT

AQUITANIA 1914 - 1949 45,647 GRT

QUEEN MARY 1936 - 1967 80,774 GRT

QUEEN MARY 2 2004 - 150,000 GRT

Number 5 in a series of 6 illustrations by Andrew Davidson

Passengers on the QUEEN MARY 2 will consume 62,426 lbs

of lobster a year - the catch harvested by 3 Maine fishing

boats continuously patrolling their pots

Number 6 in a series of 6 illustrations by Andrew Davidson

The hull of the QUEEN MARY 2 weighs 50,000 tons,

more than the total weight of 330 Blue Whales.

R.M.S. CARPATHIA

The first vessel to arrive at the scene of the "TITANIC"
sinking, the R.M.S. CARPATHIA of 1903 rescued all 715
survivors.
Launched on the River Tyne, Newcastle in 1902, she was
hit by three torpedoes from the U55 on July 17th 1918.
She sank with the loss of 5 lives.

DEUTSCHLAND

The Hamburg America Line responded to North German
Lloyd's "KAISER WILHELM DER GROSSE" in 1900, with
the "DEUTSCHLAND". She won the Blue Ribband, but her
engines caused excessive vibration and noise - to the point
where she even lost her rudder in 1902. Taken out of service
in 1910.

In 1911 she was re-fitted as a luxury cruise liner, and

re-named "VICTORIA LUISE". Fitted out as an auxiliary

cruiser in 1914, but the boilers were no longer suitable for

high performance.

After the War, Victoria Luise was left in German ownership

because of her poor condition. 1920/21 she was refitted as

the "HANSA" with only 2 funnels. She was broken up in 1925.

KAISER WILHELM DER GROSSE

The first of the "four stackers" of which there were fourteen
KAISER WILHELM DER GROSSE of 1897. The first German
ship to win the Blue Ribband

Became an auxiliary cruiser on August 4th 1914. Encountered

H.M.S. HIGHFLYER whilst taking on coal off Rio Del Oro,

Spanish West Africa. After a battle of 90 minuets the KAISER

ran out of ammunition and the captain ordered her to be scuttled,

so this card is wrong - she was not sunk by the "HIGHFLYER".

S.S. FRANCE 1912

S.S. FRANCE started her maiden voyage only 5 days after
the "TITANIC" sank

During the First World War she was re-named "FRANCE IV"

and she served as a troop transport 1914/16 & 1917/18. Here

she is as a hospital ship in 1916

A hospital ward on the "FRANCE IV" 1916

A stern view of S.S. FRANCE

Interior shot of the S.S. FRANCE showing the Rotonde

Interior shot of the S.S. FRANCE showing the 1st class

Moorish Saloon

Interior shot of the S.S. FRANCE showing the 1st class

Louis XIV Grand Salon

Interior shot of the S.S. FRANCE showing the 1st class

dining room

R.M.S. MAURETANIA

R.M.S. MAURETANIA 1939


R.M.S. MAURETANIA with green hull from 1962

R.M.S.QUEEN ELIZABETH 2

R.M.S. QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 passing the needles in the
mid-1980's

R.M.S. QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 in New York 1983 with the

short-lived grey hull

R.M.S. QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 in Southampton 1969 -
the mini-skirts are a giveaway!

R.M.S. QUEEN ELIZABETH 2

R.M.S. QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 - promotional artists impression

before the ship was completed.

R.M.S. QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 in New York after her 1987
refit, with the the larger funnel. Before the Twin Towers were
destroyed in 2001

R.M.S. QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 after the 1987 refit

R.M.S. QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 leaving New York

Artists impression of R.M.S. QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 in the

River Mersey

R.M.S. QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 overflown by

a British Airways Concorde and the Red Arrows

QUEEN ELIZABETH "TWO" or QUEEN ELIZABETH "THE SECOND"?

The easy answer is "TWO"

Yes, it was Cunard's second Queen Elizabeth, but they had had two Queen Elizabeths, and the first was still around when number two was launched.

The arabic numeral 2 rather than the roman numeral II was used because the ship was named after a ship... not the monarch.

The Queen Elizabeth 2 was built in Scotland, and whilst Her Majesty is known as Queen Elizabeth II throughout the world... she is actually the first queen of that name to rule Scotland.

H.M.H.S. BRITANNIC

The launch of "TITANIC's" younger sister 1914

Due to World War I, "BRITANNIC" was completed as

HIS MAJESTY'S HOSPITAL SHIP BRITANNIC in 1915.

November 21st 1916 "BRITANNIC" hit a mine in the Aegean

Sea and sank within 1 hour. 28 lives were lost. She is the largest

ocean liner wreck in the world.

R.M.S. BRITANNIC as she should have looked in commercial

service