Cunard Line 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 three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Bermuda.
The Blue Riband is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest average speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. The record is based on average speed rather than passage time because ships follow different routes. Also, eastbound and westbound speed records are reckoned separately, as the more difficult westbound record voyage, against the Gulf Stream and the prevailing weather systems, typically results in lower average speeds.
SS City of Glasgow of 1850 was a single-screw passenger steamship of the Inman Line, which disappeared en route from Liverpool to Philadelphia in March 1854 with 480 passengers and crew. Based on ideas pioneered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel's SS Great Britain of 1845, City of Glasgow established that Atlantic steamships could be operated profitably without government subsidy. After a refit in 1852, she was also the first Atlantic steamship to carry steerage passengers, representing a significant improvement in the conditions experienced by immigrants. In March 1854 City of Glasgow vanished at sea with no known survivors.
The International Navigation Company (INC) was a Philadelphia-based holding company owning 26 ships totaling 181,000 tons and carried more passengers than either Cunard or White Star, when the company was reorganized as International Mercantile Marine in 1902. INC was formed in 1871 with the backing of the Pennsylvania Railroad to operate foreign flagged vessels on transatlantic routes to Philadelphia. Clement Griscom, the company's general manager, entered into an agreement with the Belgian Government to establish the Red Star Line to operate a mail service out of Antwerp to Philadelphia and New York. This subsidiary would provide most of the company's profits for the next 30 years.
William Inman was the owner of the Liverpool, New York and Philadelphia Steamship Company. Also known as the Inman Line, it ran services from Liverpool to New York and Philadelphia, in the United States, for emigration in the mid-19th century.
City of New York was a British built passenger liner that was designed to be the largest and fastest liner on the Atlantic When she entered service with the Inman Line in August 1888, she was the first twin screw express liner and while she did not achieve the westbound Blue Riband, she ultimately held the eastbound record from August 1892 to May 1893 at a speed of 20.11 knots. City of New York and her sister City of Paris are considered especially beautiful ships and throughout their careers were rivals to White Star Line's Teutonic and Majestic. In February 1893, the Inman Line was merged into the American Line and by act of Congress, the renamed New York was transferred to the US flag. Beginning in the mid-1890s, New York and Paris were paired with St Louis and St Paul to form one of the premier Atlantic services. New York continued with the American Line until 1920 and was broken for scrap in 1923. She served in the United States Navy as USS Harvard during the Spanish–American War and Plattsburg in World War I. She is also remembered for nearly colliding with RMS Titanic as the latter ship began her maiden voyage in 1912.
Baltic was an Oceanic-class ocean liner that was built in 1871 for the White Star Line. She was one of the first four ships ordered by White Star from shipbuilders Harland & Wolff after Thomas Ismay bought the company, and the third ship of the Oceanic class to be delivered. In 1888 Holland America Line bought her, and renamed her Veendam. In 1898 she struck a submerged wreck and sank, but with no loss of life.
City of Paris, was a British-built passenger liner of the Inman Line that held the Blue Riband as the fastest ship on the north Atlantic route from 1889 to 1891 and again from 1892 to 1893. A sister ship of the City of New York and a rival of the White Star Line Teutonic and Majestic, she proved to be the quickest of the pre-Campania twin-screw express liners. In 1893, she was renamed Paris and transferred to US registry when the Inman Line was merged into the American Line. She and her sister were paired with the new American built St Louis and St Paul to form one of the premier Atlantic services. Paris served the US Navy as the auxiliary cruiser USS Yale during the Spanish–American War and is remembered for slipping into the harbor at San Juan, Puerto Rico, under the Spanish guns of Morro Castle. After Paris returned to commercial service, she was seriously damaged in 1899 when she grounded on The Manacles off the British coast. Rebuilt and renamed Philadelphia, she sailed for the American Line until requisitioned again during World War I as the transport Harrisburg. After the war, she continued with the American Line until 1920 and was scrapped in 1923.
The Inman Line was one of the three largest 19th-century British passenger shipping companies on the North Atlantic, along with the White Star Line and Cunard Line. Founded in 1850, it was absorbed in 1893 into American Line. The firm's formal name for much of its history was the Liverpool, Philadelphia and New York Steamship Company, but it was also variously known as the Liverpool and Philadelphia Steamship Company, as Inman Steamship Company, Limited, and, in the last few years before absorption, as the Inman and International Steamship Company.
RMS Germanic was an ocean liner built by Harland and Wolff in 1874 and operated by the White Star Line. She was the sister ship of Britannic, serving with the White Star Line until 1904. She later operated under the name Ottawa until 1910. After passing into Turkish ownership she operated under the name Gülcemal and gained great popularity until she was broken up in 1950 after a total career of 75 years.
SS Abyssinia was a British mail liner built in 1870, and originally operated by the Cunard Line on the Liverpool–New York route. She later served the Guion Line on the same route and the Canadian Pacific Line in the Pacific. In December 1891, Abyssinia was destroyed mid-Atlantic without loss of life by a fire that started in her cargo of cotton, further highlighting the danger in carrying both cotton and passengers on the same ship.
Arizona was a record breaking British passenger liner that was the first of the Guion Line's Atlantic Greyhounds on the Liverpool-Queenstown-New York route. One nautical historian called Arizona "a souped up transatlantic hot rod." Entering service in 1879, she was the prototype for Atlantic express liners until the Inman Line introduced its twin screw City of New York in 1889. The Arizona type liner is generally considered as unsuccessful because too much was sacrificed for speed. Laid up in 1894 when Guion stopped sailings, Arizona was sold four years later and briefly employed in the Pacific until she was acquired by the US Government for service in the Spanish–American War. As the US Navy's Hancock she continued trooping through World War I, and was scrapped in 1926.
The SS City of Philadelphia was an iron-hulled single screw passenger steam ship owned by the Liverpool and Philadelphia Steam Ship Company, also known as the "Inman Line."
The SS City of Manchester was an iron-hulled single screw liner built 1851 by Tod & McGregor, Glasgow, Scotland and the second such ship owned by the Inman Line. It was an improved version of their first ship City of Glasgow which had been launched a year earlier.
City of Paris was a British passenger liner operated by the Inman Line that established that a ship driven by a screw could match the speed of the paddlers on the Atlantic crossing. Built by Tod and Macgregor, she served the Inman Line until 1884 when she was converted to a cargo ship.
City of Brussels was a British passenger liner that set the record for the fastest Atlantic eastbound voyage in 1869, becoming the first record breaker driven by a screw. Built by Tod and Macgregor, she served the Inman Line until 1883 when she sank with the loss of ten people after a collision while entering the Mersey.
City of Berlin was a British ocean liner that won the Blue Riband for the Inman Line in 1875 as the fastest liner on the Atlantic. She was also the largest active passenger ship for six years except for the inactive Great Eastern Built by Caird & Company in Scotland, City of Berlin was the Inman Line's premier unit for thirteen years until City of New York was commissioned in 1888. She served the Inman Line until 1893 when Inman was merged into the American Line, and she was operated by her new owners on both the American Line and Red Star Line until 1898. She was sold to the U.S. Government, and was in their service until after World War I.
SS Lapland was a steam ocean liner built in Ireland for the Belgian Red Star Line, as Red Star's flagship, similar in appearance to the fellow liners SS Samland, SS Gothland and SS Poland, but far larger. She was a half sister to White Star Line's "Big Four." They were similar in many ways, such as the island bridge, 4 masts, 2 funnels. But Lapland had a less luxurious interior.
Liverpool in North West England, is a major British city with significant road, rail, and ferry networks, in addition to an international airport and a well-known dock system. As with most other major UK cities, Liverpool's transport infrastructure is centred on its road and rail networks. Public transport services within the city are controlled and run by Merseytravel.
City of Rome was a British ocean liner, built by the Barrow Ship Building Company for the Inman Line to be the largest and fastest liner on the North Atlantic route. Though not achieving the requested specifications due to design compromise, and so returned to Barrow-in-Furness after only six voyages, she is considered one of the most beautiful steamships built, with her classic clipper bow and sail rigging illustrating the transitional period of sail to steam. The Anchor Line managed her on various routes until 1900. She was scrapped in 1902.
United Kingdom