7/29/2019 Cunard Line is a British
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Cunard Line is a British-American owned shipping company based
at Carnival House in
Southampton, England and operated by Carnival UK. It has been a
leading operator of
passenger ships on theNorth Atlanticfor over a century. In 1839,
Canadian-born SamuelCunard was awarded the first British
transatlantic steamship mail contract, and the next
year formed the British and North American Royal Mail
Steam-Packet Company to
operate the line's four pioneer paddle steamers on the
LiverpoolHalifaxBoston route.For most of the next 30 years, Cunard
held the Blue Riband for the fastest Atlantic
voyage. However, in the 1870s Cunard fell behind its rivals, the
White Star Line and the
Inman Line. To meet this competition, in 1879 the firm was
reorganized as Cunard
Steamship Company, Ltd to raise capital.[1]
White Star joined the American ownedInternational Mercantile
Marine Co. in 1902. The
British Government provided Cunard with substantial loans and a
subsidy to build two
superliners needed to retain its competitive position.Mauretania
held the Blue Ribandfrom 1909 to 1929. The sinking of her sister
shipLusitania in 1915 was one of the causes
of the United States' entering the First World War. In the late
1920s, Cunard faced new
competition when the Germans, Italians and French built large
prestige liners. Cunardwas forced to suspend construction on its
own new superliner because of the Great
Depression. In 1934 the British Government offered Cunard loans
to finish the Queen
Mary and to build a second ship, the Queen Elizabeth, on the
condition that Cunard
merged with the then ailing White Star line to form Cunard
White-Star Ltd. Cunardowned two-thirds of the new company. Cunard
purchased White Star's share in 1947; the
name reverted to the Cunard Line in 1950.[1]
Winston Churchill estimated that the two Queens helped to
shorten the Second World
War by at least a year. Upon the end of the war, Cunard regained
its position as thelargest Atlantic passenger line. By the mid
1950s, it operated twelve ships to the United
States and Canada. After 1958, transatlantic passenger ships
became increasinglyunprofitable because of the introduction ofjet
airliners. Cunard withdrew from its yearround service in 1968 to
concentrate on cruising and summer transatlantic voyages for
vacationers. The Queens were replaced by the Queen Elizabeth 2
(QE2), which was
designed for the dual role.[2] In 1998 Cunard was acquired by
the Carnival Corporationand five years laterQE2 was replaced on the
Transatlantic runs by theQueen Mary 2
(QM2). The line also operates the Queen Victoria (QV) and the
brand new Queen
Elizabeth (QE), which entered service in October 2010.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunard_Line
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_Househttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southamptonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_UKhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_UKhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Cunardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Cunardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamshiphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Ribandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Star_Linehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inman_Linehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunard_Line#cite_note-gibbs-0%23cite_note-gibbs-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mercantile_Marine_Co.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mercantile_Marine_Co.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superliner_(passenger_ship)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Mauretania_(1906)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lusitaniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_World_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Maryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Maryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Elizabethhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Elizabethhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunard_Line#cite_note-gibbs-0%23cite_note-gibbs-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchillhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_airlinerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_airlinerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Elizabeth_2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunard_Line#cite_note-graham-1%23cite_note-graham-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_Corporationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Mary_2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Mary_2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Queen_Victoriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Queen_Elizabethhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Queen_Elizabethhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_Househttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southamptonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_UKhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Cunardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Cunardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamshiphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Ribandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Star_Linehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inman_Linehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunard_Line#cite_note-gibbs-0%23cite_note-gibbs-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mercantile_Marine_Co.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superliner_(passenger_ship)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Mauretania_(1906)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lusitaniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_World_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Maryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Maryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Elizabethhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunard_Line#cite_note-gibbs-0%23cite_note-gibbs-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchillhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_airlinerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Elizabeth_2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunard_Line#cite_note-graham-1%23cite_note-graham-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_Corporationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Mary_2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Queen_Victoriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Queen_Elizabethhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Queen_Elizabeth
