1914 The First World War interrupts Cunard’s fleet development as
Cunard called into active service. Cunard carries over one
million troops and ten million tons of cargo for the war cause.
22 ships - including the Lusitania - lost.

1917 The Cunard Building in Liverpool, the company’s Head Office
until the 1960s, completed.

1919 Cunard awarded the German liner, Imperator, by the British
Government to compensate for the loss of Lusitania. The
vessel renamed Berengaria.

1920s /
1930s The heyday of transatlantic shipping, when Cunard’s slogan
“Getting there is half the fun!” becomes a household
phrase.

1922 The Laconia undertook the first-ever world cruise.

1934 The 80,744-ton Queen Mary launched and after entering
service in 1936 soon gains the Blue Riband. The Queen Mary
is the first merchant vessel to be launched by a member of the
Royal family (Her Majesty Queen Mary).

1938 The Queen Elizabeth - the largest liner ever built - launched
by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, now the Queen Mother.

1939 Mauretania (II) enters service.

Cunard ships requisitioned once more for war. The Queen
Mary and Queen Elizabeth carry between them over 1.5
million troops; Churchill remarks that the two ships helped
shorten the war in Europe by at least a year.

Late
1940s The Queens begin their transatlantic shuttle, carrying tens of
thousands of guests, from film stars and diplomats to
businessmen and tourists.

1949 Cunard’s first cruise ship, the Caronia, enters service. She is
known as the ‘Green Goddess’ because of the colour of her
hull.

1950s 12 liners in service, carrying one third of all passengers
crossing the Atlantic.


1959 The first jet crosses the Atlantic. Air crossings continue to gain
passengers at the expense of the great liners. It is in this year
when, for the first time, more people cross the Atlantic by air
than by sea.


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