126-460: The Cunard Line ( / ˈ k j uː n ɑː r d / ) is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton , England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc . Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been registered in Hamilton, Bermuda . In 1839, Samuel Cunard was awarded the first British transatlantic steamship mail contract, and
252-448: A cargo-carrying hull that has some sharpness. In the right conditions and with a capable captain, some of these achieved notable quick passages. They were also able to pay their way when the high freight rates often paid to a fast sailing ship were not available (in a fluctuating market). The term "clipper" applied to vessels between these two categories. They often made passages as fast as extreme clippers, but had less difficulty in making
378-606: A hull of the same external shape. After 1869, with the opening of the Suez Canal that greatly advantaged steam vessels (see Decline below), the tea trade collapsed for clippers. From the late 1860s until the early 1870s, the clipper trade increasingly focused on the Britain to Australia and New Zealand route, carrying goods and immigrants, services that had begun earlier with the Australian Gold Rush of
504-616: A living when freight rates were lower. The first ships to which the term "clipper" seems to have been applied were the Baltimore clippers, developed in the Chesapeake Bay before the American Revolution , and reached their zenith between 1795 and 1815. They were small, rarely exceeding 200 tons OM . Their hulls were sharp ended and displayed much deadrise. They were rigged as schooners, brigs, or brigantines. In
630-562: A major generator of US currency for Great Britain. Cunard's slogan, "Getting there is half the fun", was specifically aimed at the tourist trade. Beginning in 1954, Cunard took delivery of four new 22,000-GRT intermediate liners for the Canadian route and the Liverpool–New York route. The last White Star motor ship, Britannic of 1930, remained in service until 1960. The introduction of jet airliners in 1958 heralded major change for
756-410: A more evolutionary, multiple-step development of the type. ) She measured 494 tons OM , and was built on the enlarged lines of a Baltimore clipper, with sharply raked stem , counter stern , and square rig. Although Ann McKim was the first large clipper ship ever constructed, she cannot be said to have founded the clipper ship era, or even that she directly influenced shipbuilders, since no other ship
882-661: A naming convention that utilised words ending in "IA". Cunard's reputation for safety was one of the significant factors in the firm's early success. Both of the first transatlantic lines failed after major accidents: the British and American line collapsed after the President foundered in a gale, and the Great Western Steamship Company failed after Great Britain stranded because of a navigation error. Cunard's orders to his masters were, "Your ship
1008-535: A new rival when the White Star Line commissioned the Oceanic and her five sisters. The new White Star record-breakers were especially economical because of their use of compound engines. White Star also set new standards for comfort by placing the dining saloon midships and doubling the size of cabins. Inman rebuilt its express fleet to the new standard, but Cunard lagged behind both of its rivals. Throughout
1134-565: A new £30 million joint venture with Cunard. BOAC contributed 70% of the new company's capital and eight Boeing 707s. Cunard Eagle's long-haul scheduled operation – including the two new 707s – was absorbed into BOAC-Cunard before delivery of the second 707, in June 1962. BOAC-Cunard leased any spare aircraft capacity to BOAC to augment the BOAC mainline fleet at peak times. As part of this deal, BOAC-Cunard also bought flying hours from BOAC for using
1260-446: A second ship, if Cunard merged with White Star. The merger took place on 10 May 1934, creating Cunard-White Star Limited . The merger was accomplished with Cunard owning about two-thirds of the capital. Due to the surplus tonnage of the new combined Cunard White Star fleet many of the older liners were sent to the scrapyard; these included the ex-Cunard liner Mauretania and the ex-White Star liners Olympic and Homeric . In 1936
1386-531: A significant share of the 1 million people that crossed the Atlantic by air in 1960. This was the first time more passengers chose to make their transatlantic crossing by air than sea. In June 1961, Cunard Eagle became the first independent airline in the UK to be awarded a licence by the newly constituted Air Transport Licensing Board (ATLB) to operate a scheduled service on the prime Heathrow – New York JFK route, but
SECTION 10
#17327648603131512-475: A sleek, graceful appearance, less sheer, less freeboard, lower bulwarks, and smaller breadth. They were built for the China tea trade, starting with Falcon in 1859, and continuing until 1870. The earlier ships were made from wood, though some were made from iron, just as some British clippers had been made from iron prior to 1859. In 1863, the first tea clippers of composite construction were brought out, combining
1638-473: A tender for North Atlantic monthly mail service to Halifax beginning in April 1839 using steamships with 300 horsepower. The Great Western Steamship Company , which had opened its pioneer Bristol–New York service earlier that year, bid £45,000 for a monthly Bristol–Halifax–New York service using three ships of 450 horsepower. While British American , the other pioneer transatlantic steamship company, did not submit
1764-580: A tender, the St George Steam Packet Company , owner of Sirius , bid £45,000 for a monthly Cork–Halifax service and £65,000 for a monthly Cork–Halifax–New York service. The Admiralty rejected both tenders because neither bid offered to begin services early enough. Cunard, who was back in Halifax, unfortunately did not know of the tender until after the deadline. He returned to London and started negotiations with Admiral Parry, who
1890-534: A westbound voyage the same year, and the French Normandie crossed the Atlantic in just under four days at 30.58 knots (56.63 km/h) in 1937. In 1930 Cunard ordered an 80,000-ton liner that was to be the first of two record-breakers fast enough to fit into a two-ship weekly Southampton–New York service. Work on "Hull Number 534" was halted in 1931 because of the economic conditions. In 1934, both
2016-406: Is Cutty Sark , preserved in dry dock at Greenwich , United Kingdom. Damaged by fire on 21 May 2007 while undergoing conservation, the ship was permanently elevated 3.0 m above the dry dock floor in 2010 as part of a plan for long-term preservation. Clippers were built for seasonal trades such as tea, where an early cargo was more valuable, or for passenger routes. One passenger ship survives,
2142-850: Is loaded, take her; speed is nothing, follow your own road, deliver her safe, bring her back safe – safety is all that is required." In particular, Charles MacIver's constant inspections were responsible for the firm's safety discipline. In 1850 the American Collins Line and the British Inman Line started new Atlantic steamship services. The American Government supplied Collins with a large annual subsidy to operate four wooden paddlers that were superior to Cunard's best, as they demonstrated with three Blue Riband -winning voyages between 1850 and 1854. Meanwhile, Inman showed that iron-hulled, screw propelled steamers of modest speed could be profitable without subsidy. Inman also became
2268-465: Is the older of the two survivors, and was transported to Australia for conservation. The clipper legacy appears in collectible cards and in the name of a basketball team . Departures of clipper ships, mostly from New York and Boston to San Francisco, were advertised by clipper-ship sailing cards. These cards, slightly larger than today's postcards, were produced by letterpress and wood engraving on coated card stock. Most clipper cards were printed in
2394-474: The City of Adelaide designed by William Pile of Sunderland . The fast ships were ideally suited to low-volume, high-profit goods, such as tea, opium , spices, people, and mail. The return could be spectacular. The Challenger returned from Shanghai with "the most valuable cargo of tea and silk ever to be laden in one bottom". Competition among the clippers was public and fierce, with their times recorded in
2520-662: The Black Ball Line opened a regularly scheduled New York–Liverpool service with clipper ships , beginning an era when American sailing packets dominated the North Atlantic saloon-passenger trade that lasted until the introduction of steamships . A Committee of Parliament decided in 1836 that to become more competitive, the mail packets operated by the Post Office should be replaced by private shipping companies. The Admiralty assumed responsibility for managing
2646-753: The Celtic -class liners on the secondary Liverpool–New York route. In 1911 Cunard entered the St Lawrence trade by purchasing the Thompson line, and absorbed the Royal line five years later. Not to be outdone, both White Star and Hamburg–America each ordered a trio of superliners. The White Star Olympic -class liners at 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h) and the Hapag Imperator -class liners at 22.5 knots (41.7 km/h) were larger and more luxurious than
SECTION 20
#17327648603132772-586: The Crimean War Cunard supplied 11 ships for war service. Every British North Atlantic route was suspended until 1856 except Cunard's Liverpool–Halifax–Boston service. While Collins' fortunes improved because of the lack of competition during the war, it collapsed in 1858 after its subsidy for carrying mail across the Atlantic was reduced by the US Congress. Cunard emerged as the leading carrier of saloon passengers and in 1862 commissioned Scotia ,
2898-637: The Guion Line when that firm defaulted on payments to the shipyard. That year, Cunard also commissioned the record-breakers Umbria and Etruria capable of 19.5 knots (36.1 km/h). Starting in 1887, Cunard's newly won leadership on the North Atlantic was threatened when Inman and then White Star responded with twin screw record-breakers. In 1893 Cunard countered with two even faster Blue Riband winners, Campania and Lucania , capable of 21.8 knots (40.4 km/h). No sooner had Cunard re-established its supremacy than new rivals emerged. Beginning in
3024-735: The Nomadic every 15 April in memory of the Titanic disaster. Cruise line A cruise line is a company that operates cruise ships that operate on ocean or rivers and which markets cruises to the public. Cruise lines are distinct from passenger lines which are primarily concerned with transportation of passengers. Though cruise packages provided by cruise lines vary, there are some features most have in common, such as accommodation, all meals and entertainment. They may include alcohol and shore excursions, sometimes on additional payment. Among cruise lines, some are direct descendants of
3150-572: The Rainbow , had a top speed of 14 knots.) Eleven other instances are reported of a ship's logging 18 knots (33 km/h) or over. Ten of these were recorded by American clippers. Besides the breath-taking 465-nautical-mile (861 km) day's run of the Champion of the Seas , 13 other cases are known of a ship's sailing over 400 nautical miles (740 km) in 24 hours. With few exceptions, though, all
3276-616: The Royal Navy in 1780 in the West Indies ;– represents the earliest draught of what became known as the Baltimore clipper. Vessels of the Baltimore clipper type continued to be built for the slave trade, being useful for escaping enforcement of the British and American legislation prohibiting the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Some of these Baltimore clippers were captured when working as slavers, condemned by
3402-603: The War of 1812 , some were lightly armed, sailing under letters of marque and reprisal , when the type – exemplified by Chasseur , launched at Fells Point, Baltimore in 1814 – became known for her incredible speed; the deep draft enabled the Baltimore clipper to sail close to the wind . Clippers, running the British blockade of Baltimore, came to be recognized for speed rather than cargo space. The type existed as early as 1780. A 1789 drawing of HMS Berbice (1780) – purchased by
3528-597: The fuel efficiency to carry sufficient cargo to make a profitable voyage. The auxiliary steamships struggled to make any profit. The situation changed in 1866 when the Alfred Holt -designed and owned SS Agamemnon made her first voyage to China. Holt had persuaded the Board of Trade to allow higher steam pressures in British merchant vessels. Running at 60 psi instead of the previously permitted 25 psi, and using an efficient compound engine , Agamemnon had
3654-403: The ocean liner industry. In 1960 a government-appointed committee recommended the construction of project Q3, a conventional 75,000 GRT liner to replace Queen Mary . Under the plan, the government would lend Cunard the majority of the liner's cost. However, some Cunard stockholders questioned the plan at the June 1961 board meeting because transatlantic flights were gaining in popularity. By 1963
3780-462: The 1844-built Houqua , 581 tons OM. These larger vessels were built predominantly for use in the China tea trade and known as "tea clippers". Then in 1845 Rainbow , 757 tons OM, the first extreme clipper, was launched in New York. These American clippers were larger vessels designed to sacrifice cargo capacity for speed. They had a bow lengthened above the water, a drawing out and sharpening of
3906-547: The 1850s and 1860s, and represented the first pronounced use of color in American advertising art. Perhaps 3,500 cards survive. With their rarity and importance as artifacts of nautical, Western, and printing history, clipper cards are valued by both private collectors and institutions. The Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association take their name from the type of ship. After
Cunard Line - Misplaced Pages Continue
4032-476: The 1850s. British-built clipper ships and many American-built, British-owned ships were used. Even in the 1880s, sailing ships were still the main carriers of cargo between Britain, and Australia and New Zealand . This trade eventually became unprofitable, and the ageing clipper fleet became unseaworthy. Before the early 18th century, the East India Company paid for its tea mainly in silver. When
4158-855: The 1870s Cunard fell behind its rivals, the White Star Line and the Inman Line . To meet this competition, in 1879 the firm was reorganised as the Cunard Steamship Company Ltd , to raise capital. In 1902, White Star joined the American-owned International Mercantile Marine Co. In response, the British Government provided Cunard with substantial loans and a subsidy to build two superliners needed to retain Britain's competitive position. Mauretania held
4284-590: The 1870s Cunard passage times were longer than either White Star or Inman. In 1867 responsibility for mail contracts was transferred back to the Post Office and opened for bid. Cunard, Inman and the German Norddeutscher Lloyd were each awarded one of the three weekly New York mail services. The fortnightly route to Halifax formerly held by Cunard went to Inman. Cunard continued to receive an £80,000 subsidy (equivalent to £8,947,514 in 2023), while NDL and Inman were paid sea postage. Two years later
4410-583: The 1990s has led to many companies being bought by much larger holding companies and to operate as "brands" within larger corporations. Brands exist partly because of repeat customer loyalty, and also to offer different levels of quality and service. For instance, Carnival Corporation & plc owns both Carnival Cruise Line , whose former image were vessels that had a reputation as "party ships" for younger travellers, but have become large, modern, yet still profitable, and Holland America Line , whose ships cultivate an image of classic elegance. A common practice in
4536-583: The Allied powers as war reparations. In 1916 Cunard Line completed its European headquarters in Liverpool , moving in on 12 June of that year. The grand neo-Classical Cunard Building was the third of Liverpool's Three Graces . The headquarters were used by Cunard until the 1960s. In 1917, Cunard's facilities were co-opted by the War Office to build aircraft for the expanding Royal Flying Corps , later
4662-472: The Atlantic. The United States was just starting to recover from this in 1861 when the American Civil War started, causing significant disruption to trade in both Union and Confederate states. As the economic situation deteriorated in 1853, American shipowners either did not order new vessels, or specified an ordinary clipper or a medium clipper instead of an extreme clipper. No extreme clipper
4788-508: The Australia and timber trades. Clipper ships largely ceased being built in American shipyards in 1859 when, unlike the earlier boom years, only four clipper ships were built; a few were built in the 1860s. British clipper ships continued to be built after 1859. From 1859, a new design was developed for British clipper ships that was nothing like the American clippers; these ships continued to be called extreme clippers. The new design had
4914-615: The Blue Riband from 1909 to 1929. Her sister ship, Lusitania , was torpedoed in 1915 during the First World War . In 1919, Cunard relocated its British homeport from Liverpool to Southampton, better to cater for travellers from London. In the late 1920s, Cunard faced new competition when the Germans, Italians and French built large prestige liners. Cunard was forced to suspend construction on its own new superliner because of
5040-526: The Chinese emperor chose to embargo European-manufactured commodities and demand payment for all Chinese goods in silver, the price rose, restricting trade. The East India Company began to produce opium in India, something desired by the Chinese as much as tea was by the British. This had to be smuggled into China on smaller, fast-sailing ships, called "opium clippers". Some of these were built specifically for
5166-559: The Cunard Line and the White Star Line were experiencing financial difficulties. David Kirkwood , MP for Clydebank where the unfinished Hull Number 534 had been sitting idle for two and a half years, made a passionate plea in the House of Commons for funding to finish the ship and restart the dormant British economy. The government offered Cunard a loan of £3 million to complete Hull Number 534 and an additional £5 million to build
Cunard Line - Misplaced Pages Continue
5292-520: The Cunard brand and the company began Project Queen Mary to build a new ocean liner/cruise ship for the transatlantic route. Following the Carnival acquisition, Cunard Line introduced White Star Service to Queen Elizabeth 2 and Caronia , as a reference to the high standards of customer service expected of the company. The term is still today onboard its newer vessels. The company has also created
5418-534: The Cunarders, but not as fast. Cunard also ordered a new ship, Aquitania , capable of 24.0 knots (44.4 km/h), to complete the Liverpool mail fleet. Events prevented the expected competition between the three sets of superliners. White Star's Titanic sank on its maiden voyage, both White Star's Britannic and Cunard's Lusitania were war losses, and the three Hapag super-liners were handed over to
5544-475: The Great Depression. In 1934, the British Government offered Cunard loans to finish Queen Mary and to build a second ship, Queen Elizabeth , on the condition that Cunard merged with the then-ailing White Star Line to form Cunard-White Star Line . Cunard owned two-thirds of the new company. Cunard purchased White Star's share in 1947; the name reverted to the Cunard Line in 1950. Upon the end of
5670-672: The Halifax–Boston route. The sailing packet lines were now reduced to the immigrant trade. From the beginning Cunard's ships used the line's distinctive red funnel with two or three narrow black bands and black top. It appears that Robert Napier was responsible for this feature. His shipyard in Glasgow used this combination previously in 1830 on Thomas Assheton Smith 's private steam yacht "Menai". The renovation of her model by Glasgow Museum of Transport revealed that she had vermilion funnels with black bands and black top. The line also adopted
5796-628: The Mersey into Liverpool to commemorate the 175th anniversary of Cunard. The ships performed manoeuvres, including 180-degree turns, as the Red Arrows performed a fly-past. Just over a year later Queen Elizabeth returned to Liverpool under Captain Olsen to take part in the celebrations of the centenary of the Cunard Building on 2 June 2016. In September 2017, Cunard announced a fourth ship
5922-663: The Netherlands, and other nations also produced some. Clippers sailed all over the world, primarily on the trade routes between the United Kingdom and China, in transatlantic trade, and on the New York-to-San Francisco route around Cape Horn during the California gold rush . Dutch clippers were built beginning in the 1850s for the tea trade and passenger service to Java . The boom years of
6048-668: The Queens was in drydock. The ex-Cunard liner Berengaria was sold for scrap in 1938 after a series of fires. During the Second World War the Queens carried over two million servicemen and were credited by Churchill as helping to shorten the war by a year. All four of the large Cunard-White Star express liners, the two Queens, Aquitania and Mauretania survived, but many of the secondary ships were lost. Both Lancastria and Laconia were sunk with heavy loss of life. In 1947 Cunard purchased White Star's interest, and by 1949
6174-448: The RAF. Due to First World War losses, Cunard began a post-war rebuilding programme including eleven intermediate liners. It acquired the former Hapag Imperator (renamed Berengaria ) to replace the lost Lusitania as the running mate for Mauretania and Aquitania , and Southampton replaced Liverpool as the British destination for the three-ship express service. By 1926 Cunard's fleet
6300-531: The Second World War, Cunard regained its position as the largest Atlantic passenger line. By the mid-1950s, it operated 12 ships to the United States and Canada. After 1958, transatlantic passenger ships became increasingly unprofitable because of the introduction of jet airliners . Cunard undertook a brief foray into air travel via the "Cunard Eagle" and "BOAC Cunard" airlines, but withdrew from
6426-478: The United States, to Carnival UK , the primary operating company of Carnival plc. As the UK-listed holding company of the group, Carnival plc had executive control of all Carnival Group activities in the UK, with the headquarters of all UK-based brands, including Cunard, in offices at Carnival House. In 2004, the 36-year-old QE2 was replaced on the North Atlantic by the ocean liner RMS Queen Mary 2 . Caronia
SECTION 50
#17327648603136552-512: The White Star Academy, an in-house programme for preparing new crew members for the service standards expected on Cunard ships. By 2001, Carnival was the largest cruise company, followed by Royal Caribbean and P&O Princess Cruises , which had recently separated from its parent, P&O. When Royal Caribbean and P&O Princess agreed to merge, Carnival countered with a hostile takeover bid for P&O Princess. Carnival rejected
6678-478: The airline market in 1966. Cunard withdrew from its year-round service in 1968 to concentrate on cruising and summer transatlantic voyages for holiday makers. The Queens were replaced by Queen Elizabeth 2 ( QE2 ), which was designed for the dual role. In 1998, Cunard was acquired by the Carnival Corporation , and accounted for 8.7% of that company's revenue in 2012. In 2004, QE2 was replaced on
6804-467: The appropriate court, and sold to owners who then used them as opium clippers – moving from one illegal international trade to another. Ann McKim , built in Baltimore in 1833 by the Kennard & Williamson shipyard, is considered by some to be the original clipper ship. (Maritime historians Howard I. Chapelle and David MacGregor decry the concept of the "first" clipper, preferring
6930-522: The basis of weight, at a rate substantially higher than paid by the United States Post Office . Cunard's weekly New York mail sailings were reduced to one and White Star was awarded the third mail sailing. Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday a liner from one of the three firms departed Liverpool with the mail for New York. To raise additional capital, in 1879 the privately held British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
7056-415: The best of both worlds. Composite clippers had the strength of an iron hull framework but with wooden planking that, with properly insulated fastenings, could use copper sheathing without the problem of galvanic corrosion . Copper sheathing prevented fouling and teredo worm , but could not be used on iron hulls. The iron framework of composite clippers was less bulky and lighter, so allowing more cargo in
7182-418: The block coefficient of fineness or the prismatic coefficient of various clippers, but measured drawings or accurate half models may not exist to calculate either of these figures. An alternative measure of sharpness for hulls of a broadly similar shape is the coefficient of underdeck tonnage, as used by David MacGregor in comparing tea clippers. This could be calculated from the measurements taken to determine
7308-564: The brand, not the larger holding corporation, as the cruise line is also followed in the member cruise lines in Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) and the member-based reviews of cruise lines. Clipper ship A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel , designed for speed. The term was also retrospectively applied to the Baltimore clipper , which originated in
7434-568: The cargo business and focus solely on cruise ships. Cunard's cargo fleet was sold off between 1989 and 1991, with a single container ship, the second Atlantic Conveyor , remaining under Cunard ownership until 1996. In 1993, Cunard entered into a 10-year agreement to handle marketing, sales and reservations for the Crown Cruise Line , and its three vessels joined the Cunard fleet under the Cunard Crown banner. In 1994 Cunard purchased
7560-433: The clipper era began in 1843 in response to a growing demand for faster delivery of tea from China and continued with the demand for swift passage to gold fields in California and Australia beginning in 1848 and 1851, respectively. The era ended with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. The etymological origin of the word clipper is uncertain, but is believed to be derived from the English language verb "to clip", which at
7686-451: The coastal paddle steamer Unicorn made the company's first voyage to Halifax to begin the supplementary service to Montreal. Two months later the first of the four ocean-going steamers of the Britannia Class , departed Liverpool. By coincidence, the steamer's departure had patriotic significance on both sides of the Atlantic: she was named Britannia , and sailed on 4 July. Even on her maiden voyage, however, her performance indicated that
SECTION 60
#17327648603137812-403: The company US$ 13 million. After Cunard reported a US$ 25 million loss in 1995, Trafalgar assigned a new CEO to the line, who concluded that the company had management issues. In 1996 the Norwegian conglomerate Kværner acquired Trafalgar House, and attempted to sell Cunard. When there were no takers, Kværner made substantial investments to turn around the company's tarnished reputation. In 1998,
7938-400: The company had dropped the White Star name and was renamed "Cunard Line". Also in 1947 the company commissioned five freighters and two cargo liners . Caronia , was completed in 1949 as a permanent cruise liner and Aquitania was retired the next year. Cunard was in an especially good position to take advantage of the increase in North Atlantic travel during the 1950s and the Queens were
8064-403: The contracts. The famed Arctic explorer Admiral Sir William Edward Parry was appointed as Comptroller of Steam Machinery and Packet Service in April 1837. Nova Scotians led by their young Assembly Speaker, Joseph Howe , lobbied for steam service to Halifax . On his arrival in London in May 1838, Howe discussed the enterprise with his fellow Nova Scotian Samuel Cunard (1787–1865), a shipowner who
8190-431: The cruise industry in listing cruise ship transfers and orders is to list the smaller operating company, not the larger holding corporation, as the recipient cruise line of the sale, transfer, or new order. For example, Carnival Cruise Line and Holland America Line are the cruise lines whereas Carnival Corporation & plc and Royal Caribbean Group are considered holding corporations. This industry practice of using
8316-455: The cruise line conglomerate Carnival Corporation acquired 62% of Cunard for US$ 425 million. Coincidently, it was the same percentage that Cunard owned in Cunard-White Star Line and the company historian later stated the acquisition was in-part due to the success of James Cameron ’s blockbuster 1997 film, Titanic . The next year Carnival acquired the remaining 38% and stock for US$ 205 million. Ultimately, Carnival sued Kværner claiming that
8442-445: The equally conservative Charles MacIver assumed Cunard's role. The firm retained its reluctance about change and was overtaken by competitors that more quickly adopted new technology. In 1866 Inman started to build screw propelled express liners that matched Cunard's premier unit, Scotia . Cunard responded with its first high speed screw propellered steamer, Russia which was followed by two larger editions. In 1871 both companies faced
8568-402: The ex-White Star Majestic was sold when Hull Number 534, now named Queen Mary , replaced her in the express mail service. Queen Mary reached 30.99 knots (57.39 km/h) on her 1938 Blue Riband voyage. Cunard-White Star started construction on Queen Elizabeth , and a smaller ship, the second Mauretania , joined the fleet and could also be used on the Atlantic run when one of
8694-455: The final days of the slave trade ( circa 1835–1850) – just as the type was dying out – the term, Baltimore clipper , became common. The common retrospective application of the word "clipper" to this type of vessel has caused confusion. The Oxford English Dictionary's earliest quote (referring to the Baltimore clipper) is from 1824. The dictionary cites Royal Navy officer and novelist Frederick Marryat as using
8820-445: The first British independent airline to operate pure jet airliners , as a result of a £6 million order for two new Boeing 707–420 passenger aircraft. The order had been placed (including an option on a third aircraft) in expectation of being granted traffic rights for transatlantic scheduled services. The airline took delivery of its first Bristol Britannia aircraft on 5 April 1960 (on lease from Cubana ). Cunard hoped to capture
8946-417: The first steamship line to carry steerage passengers. Both of the newcomers suffered major disasters in 1854. The next year, Cunard put pressure on Collins by commissioning its first iron-hulled paddler, Persia . That pressure may well have been a factor in a second major disaster suffered by the Collins Line, the loss of its steamer Pacific . Pacific sailed out of Liverpool just a few days before Persia
9072-575: The forward body, and the greatest breadth further aft. Extreme clippers were built in the period 1845 to 1855. In 1851, shipbuilders in Medford, Massachusetts, built what is sometimes called one of the first medium clippers, the Antelope , often called the Antelope of Boston to distinguish her from other ships of the same name. A contemporary ship-design journalist noted that "the design of her model
9198-609: The fuel efficiency to steam at 10 knots to China and back, with coaling stops at Mauritius on the outward and return legs – crucially carrying sufficient cargo to make a profit. In 1869, the Suez Canal opened, giving steamships a route about 3,000 nautical miles (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) shorter than that taken by sailing ships round the Cape of Good Hope. Despite initial conservatism by tea merchants, by 1871, tea clippers found strong competition from steamers in
9324-399: The hull of a clipper, different maritime historians use different criteria to measure "sharpness", "fine lines" or "fineness", a concept which is explained by comparing a rectangular cuboid with the underwater shape of a vessel's hull. The more material one has to carve off the cuboid to achieve the hull shape, the sharper the hull. Ideally, a maritime historian would be able to look at either
9450-619: The idea of selling Cunard to resolve antitrust issues with the acquisition. European and US regulators approved the merger without requiring Cunard's sale. After the merger was completed, Carnival moved Cunard's headquarters to the offices of Princess Cruises in Santa Clarita, California , so that administrative, financial and technology services could be combined. Carnival House opened in Southampton in 2009, and executive control of Cunard Line transferred from Carnival Corporation in
9576-434: The introduction of jet airliners in 1958, most of the conventional Atlantic liners were gone. Mauretania was retired in 1965, Queen Mary and Caronia in 1967, and Queen Elizabeth in 1968. Two of the new intermediate liners were sold by 1970 and the other two were converted to cruise ships . All Cunard ships flew both the Cunard and White Star Line house flags until 4 November 1968, when the last White Star ship, Nomadic
9702-518: The last paddle steamer to win the Blue Riband. Inman carried more passengers because of its success in the immigrant trade. To compete, in May 1863 Cunard started a secondary Liverpool–New York service with iron-hulled screw steamers that catered for steerage passengers. Beginning with China , the line also replaced the last three wooden paddlers on the New York mail service with iron screw steamers that only carried saloon passengers. When Cunard died in 1865,
9828-557: The late 1860s several German firms commissioned liners that were almost as fast as the British mail steamers from Liverpool. In 1897 Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse of Norddeutscher Lloyd raised the Blue Riband to 22.3 knots (41.3 km/h), and was followed by a succession of German record-breakers. Rather than match the new German speedsters, White Star – a rival which Cunard line would merge with – commissioned four very profitable Big Four ocean liners of more moderate speed for its secondary Liverpool–New York service. In 1902 White Star joined
9954-418: The late 18th century. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th-century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "Clipper" does not refer to a specific sailplan ; clippers may be schooners , brigs , brigantines , etc., as well as full-rigged ships . Clippers were mostly constructed in British and American shipyards , although France, Brazil,
10080-447: The latter's aircraft in the event of capacity shortfalls. This maximised combined fleet use. The joint fleet use agreement did not cover Cunard Eagle's European scheduled, trooping and charter operations. However, the joint venture was not successful for Cunard and lasted only until 1966, when BOAC bought out Cunard's share. Cunard also sold a majority holding in the remainder of Cunard Eagle back to its founder in 1963. Within ten years of
10206-659: The licence was revoked in November 1961 after main competitor, state-owned BOAC , appealed to Aviation Minister Peter Thorneycroft . On 5 May 1962, the airline's first 707 inaugurated scheduled jet services from London Heathrow to Bermuda and Nassau. The new jet service – marketed as the Cunarder Jet in the UK and as the Londoner in the western hemisphere – replaced the earlier Britannia operation on this route. Cunard Eagle succeeded in extending this service to Miami despite
10332-505: The loss of its original transatlantic scheduled licence and BOAC's claim that there was insufficient traffic to warrant a direct service from the UK. A load factor of 56% was achieved at the outset. Inauguration of the first British through-plane service between London and Miami also helped Cunard Eagle increase utilisation of its 707s. BOAC countered Eagle's move to establish itself as a full-fledged scheduled transatlantic competitor on its Heathrow–JFK flagship route by forming BOAC-Cunard as
10458-476: The many clipper ships built during the mid-19th century, only two are known to survive. The only intact survivor is Cutty Sark , which was preserved as a museum ship in 1954 at Greenwich for public display. The other known survivor is City of Adelaide ; unlike Cutty Sark , she was reduced to a hulk over the years. She eventually sank at her moorings in 1991, but was raised the following year, and remained on dry land for years. Adelaide (or S.V. Carrick )
10584-512: The monsoon winds that prevailed when the first tea crop of the season was ready. These difficult sailing conditions (light and/or contrary winds) dictated the design of tea clippers. The US clippers were designed for the strong winds encountered on their route around Cape Horn. Donald McKay's Sovereign of the Seas reported the highest speed ever achieved by a sailing ship of the era, 22 knots (41 km/h), made while running her easting down to Australia in 1854. (John Griffiths' first clipper,
10710-409: The need to carry a profitable quantity of cargo. A clipper carried a large sail area and a fast hull; by the standards of any other type of sailing ship, a clipper was greatly over-canvassed. The last defining feature of a clipper, in the view of maritime historian David MacGregor, was a captain who had the courage, skill, and determination to get the fastest speed possible out of her. In assessing
10836-520: The new era she heralded would be much more beneficial for Britain than the US. At a time when the typical packet ship might take several weeks to cross the Atlantic, Britannia reached Halifax in 12 days and 10 hours, averaging 8.5 knots (15.7 km/h), before proceeding to Boston. Such relatively brisk crossings quickly became the norm for the Cunard Line: during 1840–41, mean Liverpool–Halifax times for
10962-537: The newspapers. The last China clippers had peak speeds over 16 knots (30 km/h), but their average speeds over a whole voyage were substantially less. The joint winner of the Great Tea Race of 1866 logged about 15,800 nautical miles on a 99-day trip. This gives an average speed slightly over 6.6 knots (12.2 km/h). The key to a fast passage for a tea clipper was getting across the China Sea against
11088-542: The next year formed the British and North American Royal Mail Steam-Packet Company in Glasgow with shipowner Sir George Burns together with Robert Napier , the famous Scottish steamship engine designer and builder, to operate the line's four pioneer paddle steamers on the Liverpool–Halifax–Boston route. For most of the next 30 years, Cunard held the Blue Riband for the fastest Atlantic voyage. However, in
11214-662: The plan had been changed to a dual-purpose 55,000 GRT ship designed to cruise in the off-season. The new vessel design was known as Q4. Ultimately, this ship came into service in 1969 as the 70,300 GRT Queen Elizabeth 2 . Cunard attempted to address the challenge presented by jet airliners by diversifying its business into air travel. In March 1960, Cunard bought a 60% shareholding in British Eagle , an independent (non-government owned) airline, for £30 million, and changed its name to Cunard Eagle Airways . The support from this new shareholder enabled Cunard Eagle to become
11340-716: The port-to-port sailing records are held by the American clippers. The 24-hour record of the Champion of the Seas , set in 1854, was not broken until 1984 (by a multihull), or 2001 (by another monohull). The American clippers sailing from the East Coast to the California goldfields were working in a booming market. Freight rates were high everywhere in the first years of the 1850s. This started to fade in late 1853. The ports of California and Australia reported that they were overstocked with goods that had been shipped earlier in
11466-460: The purpose – mostly in India and Britain, such as the 1842-built Ariel , 100 tons OM. Some fruit schooners were bought for this trade, as were some Baltimore clippers. Among the most notable clippers were the China clippers, also called tea clippers, designed to ply the trade routes between Europe and the East Indies . The last example of these still in reasonable condition
11592-596: The quartet were 13 days 6 hours to Halifax and 11 days 4 hours homeward. Two larger ships were quickly ordered, one to replace the Columbia , which sank at Seal Island, Nova Scotia , in 1843 without loss of life. By 1845, steamship lines led by Cunard carried more saloon passengers than the sailing packets. Three years later, the British Government increased the annual subsidy to £156,000 so that Cunard could double its frequency. Four additional wooden paddlers were ordered and alternate sailings were direct to New York instead of
11718-503: The registered tonnage, so can be applied to more vessels. An extreme clipper has a hull of great fineness, as judged either by the prismatic coefficient, the coefficient of underdeck tonnage, or some other technical assessment of hull shape. This term has been misapplied in the past, without reference to hull shape. As commercial vessels, these are totally reliant on speed to generate a profit for their owners, as their sharpness limits their cargo-carrying capacity. A medium clipper has
11844-477: The rights to the name of the Royal Viking Line and its Royal Viking Sun . The rest of Royal Viking Line's fleet stayed with the line's owner, Norwegian Cruise Line . By the mid-1990s Cunard was ailing. The company was embarrassed in late 1994 when Queen Elizabeth 2 experienced numerous defects during the first voyage of the season because of unfinished renovation work. Claims from passengers cost
11970-479: The service was rebid and Cunard was awarded a seven-year contract for two weekly New York mail services at £70,000 per annum. Inman was awarded a seven-year contract for the third weekly New York service at £35,000 per year. The Panic of 1873 started a five-year shipping depression that strained the finances of all of the Atlantic competitors. In 1876 the mail contracts expired and the Post Office ended both Cunard's and Inman's subsidies. The new contracts were paid on
12096-489: The ships were in worse condition than represented and Kværner agreed to refund US$ 50 million to Carnival. Each of Carnival's cruise lines is designed to appeal to a different market, and Carnival was interested in rebuilding Cunard as a luxury brand trading on its British traditions. Under the slogan "Advancing Civilization Since 1840", Cunard's advertising campaign sought to emphasise the elegance and mystique of ocean travel. Only Queen Elizabeth 2 and Caronia continued under
12222-541: The strong backing of Nova Scotian political leaders at the time when London needed to rebuild support in British North America after the rebellion. Over Great Western's protests, in May 1839 Parry accepted Cunard's tender of £55,000 for a three-ship Liverpool–Halifax service with an extension to Boston and a supplementary service to Montreal. The annual subsidy was later raised £81,000 to add a fourth ship and departures from Liverpool were to be monthly during
12348-480: The tea ports of China. A typical passage time back to London for a steamer was 58 days, while the fastest clippers could occasionally make the trip in less than 100 days; the average was 123 days in the 1867–68 tea season. The freight rate for a steamer in 1871 was roughly double that paid to a sailing vessel. Some clipper owners were severely caught out by this; several extreme clippers had been launched in 1869, including Cutty Sark , Norman Court and Caliph . Of
12474-483: The term in 1830. British newspaper usage of the term can be found as early as 1832 and in shipping advertisements from 1835. A US court case of 1834 has evidence that discusses a clipper being faster than a brig. A clipper is a sailing vessel designed for speed, a priority that takes precedence over cargo-carrying capacity or building or operating costs. It is not restricted to any one rig (while many were fully rigged ships, others were barques, brigs, or schooners), nor
12600-469: The time meant "to run or fly swiftly". The first application of the term "clipper", in a nautical sense, is likewise uncertain. The type known as the Baltimore clipper originated at the end of the 18th century on the eastern seaboard of the USA. At first, these fast sailing vessels were referred to as "Virginia-built" or "pilot-boat model", with the name "Baltimore-built" appearing during the War of 1812 . In
12726-432: The traditional passenger lines, while others were founded since the 1960s specifically for cruising. The business has been extremely volatile; the ships are massive capital expenditures with very high operating costs, and a slight dip in bookings can easily put a company out of business. Cruise lines frequently sell, renovate, or simply rename their ships to keep up with travel trends. A wave of failures and consolidations in
12852-705: The transatlantic runs by Queen Mary 2 ( QM2 ). The line also operates Queen Victoria ( QV ) and Queen Elizabeth ( QE ). As of 2022, Cunard is the only shipping company to still operate a scheduled passenger service between Europe and North America. In 2017, Cunard announced a fourth ship would join its fleet. This was initially scheduled for 2022 but delayed until 2024 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ship has since been named Queen Anne . The British Government started operating monthly mail brigs from Falmouth, Cornwall , to New York in 1756. These ships carried few non-governmental passengers and no cargo. In 1818,
12978-513: The vessel registry of all three of its ships in service to Hamilton, Bermuda , the first time in the 171-year history of the company that it had no ships registered in the United Kingdom. The captains of ships registered in Bermuda can marry couples at sea, whereas those of UK-registered ships cannot, and weddings at sea are a lucrative market. On 25 May 2015, the three Cunard ships – Queen Mary 2 , Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria – sailed up
13104-603: The well-capitalized American combine, the International Mercantile Marine Co. (IMM), which owned the American Line , including the old Inman Line, and other lines. IMM also had trade agreements with Hamburg America and Norddeutscher Lloyd. Negotiators approached Cunard's management in late 1901 and early 1902, but did not succeed in drawing the Cunard Line into IMM, then being formed with support of financier J. P. Morgan. British prestige
13230-600: The winter and fortnightly for the rest of the year. Parliament investigated Great Western's complaints, and upheld the Admiralty's decision. Napier and Cunard recruited other investors including businessmen James Donaldson, Sir George Burns , and David MacIver. In May 1840, just before the first ship was ready, they formed the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company with initial capital of £270,000, later increased to £300,000 (£34,214,789 in 2023). Cunard supplied £55,000. Burns supervised ship construction, MacIver
13356-707: The year. This gave an accelerating fall in freight rates that was halted, however, by the start of the Crimean War in March 1854, as many ships were now being chartered by the French and British governments. The end of the Crimean War in April 1856 released all this capacity back on the world shipping markets – the result being a severe slump. The next year had the Panic of 1857 , with effects on both sides of
13482-573: Was Cunard's good friend from when Parry was a young officer stationed in Halifax 20 years earlier. Cunard offered Parry a fortnightly service beginning in May 1840. While Cunard did not then own a steamship, he had been an investor in an earlier steamship venture, Royal William , and owned coal mines in Nova Scotia. Cunard's major backer was Robert Napier whose Robert Napier and Sons was the Royal Navy's supplier of steam engines. He also had
13608-400: Was also visiting London on business. Cunard and Howe were associates and Howe also owed Cunard £300 (equivalent to £34,119 in 2023). Cunard returned to Halifax to raise capital, and Howe continued to lobby the British government. The Rebellions of 1837–1838 were ongoing and London realised that the proposed Halifax service was also important for the military. That November, Parry released
13734-494: Was at stake. The British Government provided Cunard with an annual subsidy of £150,000 plus a low interest loan of £2.5 million (equivalent to £340 million in 2023), to pay for the construction of the two superliners, the Blue Riband winners Lusitania and Mauretania , capable of 26.0 knots (48.2 km/h). In 1903 the firm started a Fiume –New York service with calls at Italian ports and Gibraltar. The next year Cunard commissioned two ships to compete directly with
13860-445: Was built like her, but she may have suggested the clipper design in vessels of ship rig. She did, however, influence the building of Rainbow in 1845, the first extreme clipper ship. In Aberdeen , Scotland, shipbuilders Alexander Hall and Sons developed the "Aberdeen" clipper bow in the late 1830s; the first was Scottish Maid launched in 1839. Scottish Maid , 150 tons OM, was the first British clipper ship. " Scottish Maid
13986-459: Was critical of Trafalgar's management of Cunard and their failure to correct Queen Elizabeth 2' s mechanical problems. In 1984, the Commission ruled in favour of the merger, but Trafalgar decided against proceeding. In 1988, Cunard acquired Ellerman Lines and its small fleet of cargo vessels, organising the business as Cunard-Ellerman, however, only a few years later, Cunard decided to abandon
14112-556: Was due to depart on her maiden voyage, and was never seen again; it was widely assumed at the time that the captain had pushed his ship to the limit to stay ahead of the new Cunarder, and had likely collided with an iceberg during what was a particularly severe winter in the North Atlantic. A few months later Persia inflicted a further blow to the Collins Line, regaining the Blue Riband with a Liverpool–New York voyage of 9 days 16 hours, averaging 13.11 knots (24.28 km/h). During
14238-525: Was intended for the Aberdeen-London trade, where speed was crucial to compete with steamships. The Hall brothers tested various hulls in a water tank and found the clipper design most effective. The design was influenced by tonnage regulations. Tonnage measured a ship's cargo capacity and was used to calculate tax and harbour dues. The new 1836 regulations measured depth and breadth with length measured at half midship depth. Extra length above this level
14364-497: Was larger than before the war, and White Star was in decline, having been sold by IMM. Despite the dramatic reduction in North Atlantic passengers caused by the shipping depression beginning in 1929, the Germans, Italians and the French commissioned new "ships of state" prestige liners. The German Bremen took the Blue Riband at 27.8 knots (51.5 km/h) in 1933, the Italian Rex recorded 28.9 knots (53.5 km/h) on
14490-466: Was launched in an American shipyard after the end of 1854 and only a few medium clippers after 1860. By contrast, British trade recovered well at the end of the 1850s. Tea clippers had continued to be launched during the depressed years, apparently little affected by the economic downturn. The long-distance route to China was not realistically challenged by steamships in the early part of the 1860s. No true steamer (as opposed to an auxiliary steamship) had
14616-476: Was ordered for the fleet. It would be a modified hull platform of Holland America's Pinnacle class Koningsdam . The ship was original supposed to be delivered in 2022, but would eventually be pushed back 2 years. At the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Cunard cut short three world-cruises, with the passengers being flown home. The White Star Line flag is raised on all current Cunard ships and
14742-481: Was reorganised as a public stock corporation, the Cunard Steamship Company, Ltd . Under Cunard's new chairman, John Burns (1839–1900), son of one of the firm's original founders, Cunard commissioned four steel-hulled express liners beginning with Servia of 1881, the first passenger liner with electric lighting throughout. In 1884, Cunard purchased the almost new Blue Riband winner Oregon from
14868-437: Was responsible for day-to-day operations, and Cunard was the "first among equals" in the management structure. When MacIver died in 1845, his younger brother Charles assumed his responsibilities for the next 35 years. (For more detail of the first investors in the Cunard Line and also the early life of Charles MacIver, see Liverpool Nautical Research Society's Second Merseyside Maritime History , pp. 33–37 1991.) In May 1840
14994-595: Was sold and Queen Elizabeth 2 continued to cruise until she was retired in 2008. In 2007 Cunard added Queen Victoria , a cruise ship of the Vista class originally designed for Holland America Line . To reinforce Cunard traditions, Queen Victoria has a small museum on board. Cunard commissioned a second Vista class cruise ship, Queen Elizabeth , in 2010. In 2010, Cunard appointed its first female commander, Captain Inger Klein Olsen. In 2011, Cunard changed
15120-613: Was sunk by an Exocet missile. Cunard acquired the Norwegian America Line in 1983, with two classic ocean liner /cruise ships. Also in 1983, the Trafalgar attempted a hostile takeover of P&O , another large passenger and cargo shipping line, which was founded three years before Cunard. P&O objected and forced the issue to the British Monopolies and Mergers Commission . In their filing, P&O
15246-717: Was tax-free and became a feature of clippers. Scottish Maid proved swift and reliable and the design was widely copied." The earliest British clipper ships were built for trade within the British Isles ( Scottish Maid was built for the Aberdeen to London trade ). Then followed the vast clipper trade of tea, opium, spices, and other goods from the Far East to Europe, and the ships became known as "tea clippers". From 1839, larger American clipper ships started to be built beginning with Akbar , 650 tons OM, in 1839, and including
15372-593: Was the medium clipper Andrew Jackson – an unresolvable argument exists over timing these voyages "from pilot to pilot"). Flying Cloud was the most famous of the clippers built by Donald McKay . She was known for her extremely close race with the Hornet in 1853; for having a woman navigator, Eleanor Creesy , wife of Josiah Perkins Creesy, who skippered the Flying Cloud on two record-setting voyages from New York to San Francisco; and for sailing in
15498-447: Was the term restricted to any one hull type. Howard Chapelle lists three basic hull types for clippers. The first was characterised by the sharp deadrise and ends found in the Baltimore clipper. The second was a hull with a full midsection and modest deadrise, but sharp ends – this was a development of the hull form of transatlantic packets. The third was more experimental, with deadrise and sharpness being balanced against
15624-480: Was the two-year-old Queen Elizabeth 2 . The fleet also included the remaining two intermediate liners from the 1950s, plus two purpose-built cruise ships on order. Trafalgar acquired two additional cruise ships and disposed of the intermediate liners and most of the cargo fleet. During the Falklands War , QE2 and Cunard Countess were chartered as troopships while Cunard's container ship Atlantic Conveyor
15750-619: Was to combine large stowage capacity with good sailing qualities." Antelope was relatively flat-floored and had only an 8-inch deadrise at half-floor. The medium clipper, though still very fast, could carry more cargo. After 1854, extreme clippers were replaced in American shipbuilding yards by medium clippers. The Flying Cloud was a clipper ship built in 1851 that established the fastest passage between New York and San Francisco within weeks of her launching, then broke her own records three years later, which stood at 89 days 8 hours until 1989. (The other contender for this "blue ribbon" title
15876-465: Was withdrawn from service. After this, the White Star flag was no longer flown and all remnants of both White Star Line and Cunard-White Star Line were retired. In 1971, when the line was purchased by the conglomerate Trafalgar House , Cunard operated cargo and passenger ships, hotels and resorts. Its cargo fleet consisted of 42 ships in service, with 20 on order. The flagship of the passenger fleet
#312687