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.
William Denny and Brothers Limited, often referred to simply as Denny, was a Scottish shipbuilding company.
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.
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.
The Collins Line was the common name for the American shipping company started by Israel Collins and then built up by his son Edward Knight Collins, formally called the New York and Liverpool United States Mail Steamship Company. Under Edward Collins' guidance, the company grew to be a serious competitor on the transatlantic routes to the British Cunard shipping company.
Sylvania was an ocean liner built in 1957 by John Brown & Co (Clydebank), in Glasgow, for the United Kingdom-based shipping company Cunard Line. She was the last Cunard Line vessel built specifically for transatlantic crossings. The ship was later heavily rebuilt as a cruise ship, and sailed under the names SS Fairwind, SS Sitmar Fairwind, SS Dawn Princess and SS Albatros before being scrapped in 2004. She was renamed SS Genoa for her last voyage.
The Great Western Steam Ship Company operated the first regular transatlantic steamer service from 1838 until 1846. Related to the Great Western Railway, it was expected to achieve the position that was ultimately secured by the Cunard Line. The firm's first ship, Great Western was capable of record Blue Riband crossings as late as 1843 and was the model for Cunard's Britannia and her three sisters. The company's second steamer, the Great Britain was an outstanding technical achievement of the age. The company collapsed because it failed to secure a mail contract and Great Britain appeared to be a total loss after running aground. The company might have had a more successful outcome had it built sister ships for Great Western instead of investing in the too advanced Great Britain.
Scotia was a British passenger liner operated by the Cunard Line that won the Blue Riband in 1863 for the fastest westbound transatlantic voyage. She was the last oceangoing paddle steamer, and as late as 1874 she made Cunard's second fastest voyage. Laid up in 1876, Scotia was converted to a twin-screw cable layer in 1879. She served in her new role for twenty-five years until she was wrecked off of Guam in March 1904.
Persia was a British passenger liner operated by the Cunard Line that won the Blue Riband in 1856 for the fastest westbound transatlantic voyage. She was the first Atlantic record breaker constructed of iron and was the largest ship in the world at the time of her launch. However, the inefficiencies of paddle wheel propulsion rendered Persia obsolete and she was taken out of service in 1868 after only twelve years. Attempts to convert Persia to sail were unsuccessful and the former pride of the British merchant marine was scrapped in 1872.
The Britannia class was the Cunard Line's initial fleet of wooden paddlers that established the first year round scheduled Atlantic steamship service in 1840. By 1845, steamships carried half of the transatlantic saloon passengers and Cunard dominated this trade. While the units of the Britannia class were solid performers, they were not superior to many of the other steamers being placed on the Atlantic at that time. What made the Britannia class successful is that it was the first homogeneous class of transatlantic steamships to provide a frequent and uniform service. Britannia, Acadia and Caledonia entered service in 1840 and Columbia in 1841 enabling Cunard to provide the dependable schedule of sailings required under his mail contracts with the Admiralty. It was these mail contracts that enabled Cunard to survive when all of his early competitors failed.
The Great Western Railway's ships operated in connection with the company's trains to provide services to Ireland, the Channel Islands and France. Powers were granted by Act of Parliament for the Great Western Railway (GWR) to operate ships in 1871. The following year the company took over the ships operated by Ford and Jackson on the route between Wales and Ireland. Services were operated between Weymouth, the Channel Islands and France on the former Weymouth and Channel Islands Steam Packet Company routes. Smaller GWR vessels were also used as tenders at Plymouth and on ferry routes on the River Severn and River Dart. The railway also operated tugs and other craft at their docks in Wales and South West England.
SS Gallic was a paddle steamer that built in Scotland 1894 as Birkenhead, renamed Gallic in 1907 and scrapped in Liverpool in 1914. She was designed and built as a Mersey Ferry for Birkenhead Corporation. White Star Line bought her in 1907 to use as a passenger tender, and renamed her Gallic.
TSS T/T Calshot was a tug tender built in 1929 by John I Thornycroft & Co, and completed in 1930 for the Red Funnel Line. Calshot was one of only three surviving classical tender ships which served the great ocean liners, another example is the SS Nomadic, which tendered the ill-fated RMS Titanic on her maiden voyage at Cherbourg, France. The third being the Manchester Ship Canal's Daniel Adamson. In her career, Calshot has tendered some of the most famous ocean liners ever built, such as the RMS Caronia, the Cunard Queens RMS Queen Elizabeth and RMS Queen Mary, the SS United States, and the White Star Line ship RMS Olympic. During World War II she was requisitioned by the British Admiralty for servicing troop ships and took part in D-Day. She was a registered vessel of the National Historic Fleet of the United Kingdom, holding Certificate No. 1.
SS (RMS) Queen of the Isle was a paddle steamer which was constructed by Robert Napier & Co. Glasgow. No Official number is recorded for the vessel, as formal registration was not introduced until the Merchant Shipping Act 1854.
SS (RMS) King Orry (I) No. 21923 - the first vessel in the line's history to be so named - was a wooden paddle-steamer which served with the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.
SS (RMS) Douglas (III) – the third vessel in the line's history to bear the name – was a packet steamer which entered service with the London and South Western Railway in 1889 under the name Dora until she was purchased by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company in 1901 for £13,500.
SS (RMS) Mona's Queen (I) No. 21930 – the first vessel in the Company's history to bear the name – was an iron paddle-steamer which was owned and operated by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.
SS Parthia (1870–1956) was an iron-hulled transatlantic ocean liner built for the Cunard Line by William Denny and Brothers in Dumbarton, Scotland. Her sister ships were the Abyssinia and Algeria. Unlike her two sisters, Parthia was smaller, built in a different shipyard and had a slightly different funnel arrangement. The Parthia was retired by Cunard in 1883 and sold to John Elder & Co., who subsequently transferred her to the Guion Line. After serving with the Guion Line and operating on trans-Pacific routes with the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, she was refitted and renamed Victoria.
Messrs Robert Napier and Sons was a famous firm of Clyde shipbuilders and marine engineers at Govan, Glasgow founded by Robert Napier in 1826. It was moved to Govan for more space in 1841. His sons James and John were taken into partnership in 1853.
SS Minotaure was a steamer built for the British Royal Navy in 1918 and operated as a tender by the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique from 1929 to 1940; and from 1948 to 1958.
United Kingdom