Cunard Line: Books - History and Ships (2/3)

RMS Mauretania II (Classic Liners)

This book tells the remarkable story of the second Mauretania (1938-1965): her construction, her naming, her maiden voyage and her distinguished Second World War service, told through extracts from a rare diary of a soldier. Also recalled are two exciting escapes from torpedoing by German U-boats, and the tale of how this great liner was almost lost in a high-speed collision with the SS Île de France, which could have resulted in catastrophic loss of life.

Interviews with those who served on board, peppered with fascinating anecdotes, describe daily life on the ship, as well as the more unusual events such as royal visits. Recollections of the crew, from bell boy to captain, cover the famous Sunshine Caribbean cruises and an encounter with a hurricane in the North Atlantic, as well as her final voyage to the scrapyard.

Andrew Britton's unique access to original artefacts from the Mauretania, including captains' logbooks, publicity material, menus, deck plans and much more, makes this a collection like no other. Coupled with lavish photography, including a wealth of previously unpublished colour images, the result is an evocative book that preserves the memory of this great Cunard liner for future generations.

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RMS Queen Elizabeth

Built at the end of the Depression and launched on the weekend of the Munich Crisis, the Queen Elizabeth's maiden voyage was a wartime dash to New York to escape the Luftwaffe's bombs.
After a wartime career that saw her bring an American division to Gourock every few weeks, she finally entered company service for Cunard in 1946. She sailed with her sister Queen Mary through Cunard's golden years and was sold out of service in 1968, becoming a tourist attraction in Port Everglades.
Sold again, she became C. Y. Tung's Seawise University and was burned out in 1972 while being converted, before being scrapped where she lay in Hong Kong harbour.

Janette McCutcheon tells the story of Cunard's beautiful lady, as the Queen Elizabeth was known, using her fabulous collection of images and ephemera of the ship.

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The Lusitania Saga and Myth - 100 Years on

The RMS Lusitania entered service with Cunard in 1907. The first transatlantic express liner powered by marine turbines, she could complete the Liverpool-New York crossing in five days and had a top speed of 25 knots. She restored the British supremacy of the key North Atlantic route which the Germans had seized.

All this ended on 7 May 1915 when she was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sank 18 minutes later with the loss of 1,198 passengers and crew (interestingly 39% of those aboard survived whereas only 32% of those on the Titanic survived despite the latter taking 2 hours, 40 minutes to sink.)

The Author concentrates not just on the disaster but its aftermath including the political recriminations and the inquiry. As a result of the loss of 128 American citizens the Germans signed an agreement not to attack US shipping.
Their breach of this was a major contributory reason, along with the Zimmermann Telegram, why the USA entered the War.

This is a fascinating study of a major shipping disaster with profound consequences.

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