THE ‘BIG THREE’ CUNARD’S 1920s HEYDAY

In celebrating Cunard’s 180th anniversary, it is hard to pick a heyday for this venerable line. But certainly a high point was 100 years ago, with their ‘Fastest Ocean Service in the World’, the first sustained three-ship weekly transatlantic express service. The schedule was as precise as clockwork, the ships legendary, and the style pure ‘Roaring Twenties’.

Cunard had already introduced the first threeship weekly schedule when Aquitania departed on her maiden voyage from Liverpool on 30 May 1914, joining Mauretania and Lusitania. But Aquitania completed only two more round voyages before World War I, so the service had barely begun, and, with the loss of Lusitania in 1915, could not be resumed until the sunken liner could be replaced.

Cunard’s pre-war ambitions had been shared by their great rival, HAPAG, with three new 50,000grt ships: Imperator, introduced in August 1913, followed by Vaterland the next year, while Bismarck was still fitting out when war began. All three would be spoils of war after the Armistice, as Britain was awarded Imperator (to Cunard as a replacement for Lusitania), Vaterland went to the US, and Bismarck was completed for White Star, replacing the lost Britannic.

MAURETANIA

1920s speed records and fast passages

RECORDS

9 Aug 1924 • Cherbourg-New York 4 days 3 hours