Posted by Timothy R. Laurence on November 25, 1998 at 19:16:41 in 207.136.80.204:
In Reply to: One more forgotten lost steamer posted by Ken Rubin on November 25, 1998 at 15:31:44:
: I'm trying to find out if there's any info on Cunard's RMS or HMS : Ken :RMS Aquitania was the last of the Cunard's Big Three. She was
:
the largest and most luxurious of the series - Mauretania, Lusitania
and Aquitania. She was built by the same company as the Lusitania,
John Brown and Company, Clydebank, Glasgow. She was 902' x 97' easily
outstripping the Titanic in both girth and length, and a good 200 '
larger in length than her sisters. She was Quadruple (4) screws,
all of which were turbines. The Aquitania had a service speed of
24 knots and was the LAST of the great 4 funnel liners. She also
has an astonishing service record. Her Maiden Voyage took place
from Liverpool to New York, just before the First World War in May
30th, 1914. Her last voyage, believe it or not was in 1949. To this
day many maritime experts consider the Aquitania to be the most
beautiful North Atlantic liner ever built. In August of 1914 she
was commissioned by the British Admiralty and entered the war as
an armed merchant cruiser in August 1914. She had only 3 voyages before
she was commissioned. In 1915-19 she served as a Hospital Ship,
much the same way as the Titanic's sister, Britannic. Amazingly,
she also served as a troopship again in the 2nd World War between
1939 and 1948. She was the only great liner to serve in both world
wars. In 1948-49 she was partially refitted to take home Canadian
and American war brides before being withdrawn from service in
December of 1949. During her incredible career she sailed a total
of 3 million miles and carried a total of 1,200,000 passengers. She
was broken up in Faslane in 1950. She was much beloved by the passenger
trade during peacetime. She reminded many regular passengers of the
'good old days' of the elegant passenger liners, so many of which were
lost in WW1. She was reknowned for her elegant, old world interiors
and her magnificent wood panelling and carving. Because so much publicity
has been given to Titanic, Lusitania and Britannic, ships like Aquitania
and Mauretania are often forgotten. Yet these ships had devoted passengers
who insisted on them when travelling. Her luxury was certainly equal to
that of Titanic, yet with all the publicity and hyperbole given over to
the Titanic, the magnificent and beautiful Aquitania has become a maritime
footnote. Many of her fixtures and her interior panelling etc. was
salvaged and is in private and public buildings all over the UK today.
hope this information is of help. For more information on Aquitania
and other magnificent ships of the era, I would suggest you try and
find a copy of "The Sway of the Grand Saloon, or "The Only Way to Cross"
Both books were published in the 1970's and are magnificent histories of
all the great Atlantic liners from the Great Eastern to the Elizabeth II.