RMS MAURETANIA

Artist James A. Flood

Built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Limited in Newcastle, England, 1907 for Cunard Line's Liverpool-New York Service. Reigning as the world's fastest liner from 1907 to 1929, she was 790 feet long, 88 feet wide, and powered by steam turbines, quadruple screw. More conservative than the Lusitania, Mauretania was still exquisitely decorated. Her Verandah Café, with glazed roof and open air, was surrounded by evergreens and flowering plants, while her first class smoke room was elegant with its walnut, sycamore, and mahogany woodwork. In Cunard's determination to attract an overall higher level of traveler, great attention had been given to upgrading the second-class accommodations. Here the capacious public rooms were well decorated, and the second class smoke room sported handsome mahogany panels.
Commissioned into World War I, she carried more than 10,000 troops through three voyages to the battlefront. In 1915, her hull painted white, striped green, and funnels buff; she served as a hospital ship. Then, in 1916, painted in camouflage squares and bands of blue and grey, she transported over 6,000 Canadian troops to Halifax. Later, after the United States joined the war, she was to transport thousands of American troops to Europe. In 1934, after a series of mishaps, reconstructions, and bold resurgences, the Mauretania was at last removed from service. In the end, her masts cut down and white hull streaked with rust, she left Southampton surrounded by mournful crowds and headed towards the Firth of Forth, towards the breaker's yard, where her engines were stopped for the last time.