RMS Mauretania

The story of the fastest ship of the early twentieth century.

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Holder of the Blue Riband as fastest steamship across the Atlantic from 1907 until 1929, the Mauretania was the second British four-funnelled liner, after her sister ship Lusitania. She had a long and illustrious career, only being scrapped at the height of the Great Depression in 1935. Built for speed, Mauretania was also luxurious and she captured the imagination of the travelling public, many of whom would choose their crossings so as to travel aboard her. She was a firm favourite of film stars, politicians and royalty and spent the war years as a hospital ship and troop ship. Built on the Tyne in 1906 and entering service in 1907, she soon gave an idea of her potential by breaking the record for the shortest Atlantic crossing, and kept up healthy competition with her sister, until 1909, when she retained the Blue Riband for the next two decades. Her sleek lines brought many admirers and she looked equally beautiful with her original black-painted hull and with her latter day white hull. Originally based at Liverpool, at the end of the First World War she transferred to the Southampton-New York run.
Kent Layton uses many previously unpublished images to tell the story of the Mauretania, the speed queen of the Atlantic.