Tagline: The most famous ocean liners in the world
This company (its full name originally looked like Cunard Steamship Line Shipping Company) is legendary. It was named after its founder, Samuel Cunard.
The company began its activities back in 1840 - on July 4, the first (and at that time the only) ship of the company "Arcadia" went on a flight on the route Liverpool - Halifax - Boston. The first regular transatlantic line. And for almost ten years the company did not have a single competitor. She had an excellent reputation - not a single crash, not a single delay, not a single lost package.
Competitors appeared later. American Collins Line and English "White Star Line" were more than serious opponents. However, who remembers them now?
Under the flag of Kunard sailed such legendary transatlantics as "Mauritania", "Queen Mary", "Queen Elizabeth" and infamous "Louisitania" (Sunk in World War I by the German submarine U-20). The company's ships have repeatedly won, and for a long time kept, the honorary prize "Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic", awarded for the shortest time of crossing the Atlantic Ocean - for example, "Mauritania" kept it for twelve whole years without a break.
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| "Mauritania" (photo from the site titanic-model.com) |
In the 30s of the 20th century, the company experienced a severe crisis. However, she was not alone - White Star also had a hard time. The situation was saved by the British government (namely Chamberlain), which provided a loan to both companies, subject to their merger. So there was "Cunard White Star Line", which lasted until 1958, when Kunard completely absorbed the White Star, buying out all its shares.
Now Cunard Line is one of the brands of the Anglo-American company Carnival Corporation & plcengaged in sea cruises and tourism. Under the standard of the company go such well-known liners as "Queen Mary 2" и "Queen Victoria". In the summer of 2010, it is planned to commission a new "Queen Elizabeth".
Interesting Facts:
Historically, all Cunard Line liners were named with the ending in "-ia" (-ia): "Mauritania", "Franconia", "Caledonia"... While the White Star liners are on "-ic" (-ic): Olympic, Titanic, Celtic... The first liner of the combined company received a "neutral" name - "Queen Mary". The appearance of this name is anecdotal. Even before the completion of construction, one of the Lords of the Admiralty, who favored Cunard, turned to King George V with a proposal to name the new liner “the name of one of the most majestic women of all times and peoples,” meaning the legendary Queen Victoria. In this case, the name of the ship would have received the Kunard ending "-iya". However, His Majesty, not suffering from false modesty, understood everything literally, commanding that the ship be named after his wife - "Queen Mary".
Cunard Line went down in history as the first spammer. Back in the 19th century, Cunard sent letters to wealthy people in England with an offer to use his services.
