RMS Aquitania

Aquitania was the third of the Cunard Line’s trio of express ocean liners before the First World War, the other two being Lusitania and Mauretania. Serving from 1914 to 1950, she would outlast her peers and become the last and longest-surviving four-funnel liner in the world.

Aquitania was designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown & Company of Clydebank, Scotland.  She was launched on 21 April 1913 and entered the Liverpool, England to New York, United States service on 30 May 1914.  Nicknamed “Ship Beautiful,” Aquitania had a career of 36 years and served in and survived both world wars.

During World War I, she served as an auxiliary cruiser, troop transport, and hospital ship. Between wars, she served with running mates Mauretania and the ex-Imperator turned Berengaria on the North Atlantic run, and she continued in service after Cunard and White Star merged in 1934. She was originally planned to be retired and replaced by the RMS Queen Elizabeth in 1940, but the outbreak of World War II extended her service life for another ten years. During the war and until 1947, she served as a troop transport. Most notably she took Canadian soldiers home from Europe and war brides and migrants to Canada. Aquitania was retired from service in 1949 and was scrapped the next year. 

She is the third longest-serving passenger liner in history after Cunard’s RMS Scythia (second) and RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (first).

References:
“Aquitania.” Cunard Heritage.  Web.  28 April 2011.  <http://www.cunard.com/About-Cunard-Line/Cunard-Heritage/The-Fleet/Aquitania/>.

Braynard, Frank O. and William H. Miller.  Fifty Famous Liners, Volume I.  W. W. Norton & Company, 1982.

Kludas, Arnold.  Great Passenger Ships of the World, Volume I.  Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1975.

Maxtone-Graham, John. Liners to the Sun. Sheridan House, 2001.

“RMS Aquitania.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 July 2004. Web. 28 April 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Aquitania>