HISTORY - A photo tour of the golden age of crossing and cruising

CUNARD revealed pictures from its archive, that are depicting their their Golden Age of crossing and cruising.

written by Becky Pemberton for Mail Online, March 24th, 2015

edited by Earl of Cruise, in cursive

I found an article, written by Becky Pemberton at MAIL ONLINE, a nice read, BUT written to rejoice the marketing department and filled with historic mistakes, and wrong statements and twisted and turned facts. The photo tour of the golden age of cruising (most pictures are made during crossings! And with her wording Mrs. Pemberton reveals she does not know the difference between CRUISING and CROSSING! Mrs. Pemberton should have been better wrting about the social aspect.)

- Pictures from the Cunard archive reveal the VERY glamorous world of ocean liners as CUNARD celebrates its 175th anniversary

- CUNARD LINE have shared rare archived photos showing life on board over its 175 years of sailing

- The British / Amercan owned line is the one that currently provides a regular transatlantic crossing

- CUNARD´s ships were the first with email, a library and a gymnasium on board, and even transported war horses

email - maybe, our modern day letter service, but I suspect Mrs. Pemberton meant mail service, the contract that enabled Samuel Cunard and his partners to start the British & North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, later renamed to CUNARD LINE Ltd. the first gymnasium on board a ship was installed on the KAISER WILHELM DER GROSSE in 1897, as the LLOYD directors realized their passengers became "fat" on board, for the extra ordinairy food quality they served, since their FLÜSSE Class vessels - a quality only rivaled by HAMBURG AMERIKA LINIE and COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE transporting war horses - maybe during the Crimean War, as for the mail subsidiary contract CUNARD had to hand out its vessels for war service, but the Admirality did charter also German steamers back then, e.g. HAPAG´s HAMMONIA as well. And France, an allie, was using its French flagged steamers

One of their ships came to the rescue when the Titanic was sinking, and Charles Dickens described one of their cabins as a 'profoundly preposterous box'.

sleight of hand, as CARPATHIA was the only ship near enough TITANIC that got the CQD, not SOS!, message of the sinking WHITE STAR LINER

Cunard Line celebrates 175 years of sailing the seas this year and has opened its archives to reveal the magical glamour of life on board over the decades.

Since being launched by Samuel Cunard in 1840, the fleet has welcomed the most illustrious members of society on board, and has a guest book which includes everyone from Queen Elizabeth II to Liz Taylor to Beyonce.

In the lap of luxury: Passengers being served on board a CUNARD ship with the deck steward in summer whites

HM Queen Elizabeth II. during a christening ceremony, presumably QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 

CUNARD has had many royal visits, and their prized ships are named after monarchs: Mary of Teck - Queen Mary, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth

Academy Award-winning British born actress Elizabeth Taylor was a frequent guest on CUNARD's Transatlantic crossings and Mediterranean cruises

For the first time in 1911, guests could exercise on their cruises; The FRANCONIA was the first ship to have a sundeck and gymnasium

The maiden voyage of a Cunard's liner, Britannia, took place in 1840 across the Atlantic. 

A pioneer in facilities and fleet, celebrities and animals alike were treated to experience the ocean crossing.

There is no doubt about BRITANNIA´s first palce as the first Transatlantic liner Only when CUNARD inaugurated state financed LUSITANIA and MAURETANIA the company entered finally the luxury business on the Atlantic. Up to these fabulous greyhounds CUNARD liners had been more or less simple ferry boats, with no real luxuries, that was provided by the French and German companies

CUNARD's ARABIA had a series of equine guests when transported all horses for the Crimean War in the Charge of the Light Brigade in 1853.

1853 WRONG! Great Britain entered the war in March 1854

Even American author Mark Twain was among the celebrities who "enjoyed" voyaging in the 1870s.

The ship was a ship of firsts and broke records when it sailed the first steel ship, Servia, which used electrical lighting and en suites in 1881, and successfully achieved the first wireless communication between ships out at sea in 1901.

Pardon, but Mark Twain was not that pleased about CUNARD and its service. He wrote an essay about his journey with CUNARD, and uin another comment he stated he would preffer the HAPAG liners. His essay about can be found via google search. It is interesting.

A passenger enjoying breakfast in bed on the new MAURETANIA in the West Indies on July, 21, 1955

MAURETANIA, 1939, was the first liner for CUNARD where the idea of cruise compatabilty was slightly in mind - when CARONIA was introduced in 1947 she was CUNARD´s first dual porpose vessel - crossing and cruising. In the summer CARONIA crossed the Atlantic and in winter season she was used for cruises.
Below two Youtube videos about CARONIA´s cruising, worth watching. 
When cruising was an Art and Travelling was done in style.

CARONIA Mediterranean Cruise 1950s - Source: Youtube

CARONIA World Cruise - Source: Youtube

Prime Minister Winston Churchill (pictured during an official visit) enjoyed the lavish surroundings of the CUNARD cruise liners

The difference between a liner and a cruise vessel is certainly unknown to Mrs Pemberton

Back then CUNARD had only one dual purpose vessel, CARONIA!

A man and woman enjoying a game of shuffleboard on the top deck of rms MAURETANIA, 1939, which made its final voyage in 1965

Staff on board the Carpathia, famous for its role in the rescue of survivors from the sinking of the rms TITANIC on April 15, 1912

South African Prime Minister Nelson Mandela and wife Graca Machel on QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 in 1998

The comedians Laurel and Hardy onboard a CUNARD liner

Not only could they enjoy the lavish parties but guests could exercise on board a ship for the first time in 1911, when the FRANCONIA was the first ship to have a sundeck and gymnasium.

For the Fitness Room onboard FRANCONIA, as stated above, it was a German liner taht first introduced fitness equipment onboard, a novelty for the then society, and a trend that was started by fitness, youth and beauty maniac Kaiserin Elisabeth of Austria. The room is stated in Wikipedia as a first for any liner, but it is wrong. It was just the first for a CUNARD ship! And for the Sun Deck, naming that space is an exaggeration. Sorry! But truth is that term was introduced and used far later when cruising became more popular ... in the 1920s. It was then that a tanned skin became a signature for wealthy and healthy living. But paper is patiently ...

The next year the company famously made history when their CARPATHIA ship rescued survivors from the tragic sinking of WHITE STAR's TITANIC. See my comment about in the begining of the article.

Cunard enjoyed its first royal visit in 1913, when HM King George V and Queen Mary visited MAURETANIA.

Passengers in formal dress relax on CUNARD's BERENGARIA, ex IMPERATOR, as they listen to a piano performance while at sea or simply posing as social interacting models, staging passengers

A couple enjoys a meal during their cruise;

Couple seated at a bar thought to be on the rms CARONIA, which sailed from 1947 to 1967 and was nicknamed the GREEN GODDESS

CARONIA indeed was a marvel, and a great success for CUNARD, especially when she was cruising. According to John Maxtome-Graham passengers took their own furtniture and art with them, when they cruised with CARONIA. She was a ship for the millionaires and British aristocracy.

CUNARD attracted many famous stars of the day, (1950s and 1960s), including American actresses, pictured Ginger Rogers

When Transatlantic service reappeared, it was CUNARD as the first back on track. And with its two speedy liners, QUEEN MARY and QUEEN ELIZABETH they have been the "Platzhirsch". CUNARD finally was able to offer its 4/5 day double liner service, it intended to establish pre WWII. And both liners earned fortunes during their service in the 1950s. 

CUNARD attracted many famous stars of the day, (1950s and 1960s), including American actresses, picrured Rita Hayworth

A SHIP OF FIRSTS: CUNARD'S INNOVATIVE DEVELOPMENTS
	MAURETANIA and LUSITANIA were the first ships to have cabins to supply  running water.
	LA NORMANDIE of Cie Gle TRANSATLANTIQUE got in 1882 water closets, as a first on any liner! This implies to me, there must have been running water too ... But LUSITANIA and MAURETANIA as a first with running water ... I don´t know where Mrs Pemberton has this fairy tale from
	The first Smoking Rooms appeared on the Cunarders BOTHNIA and SCYTHIA  in 1874. Previous to this, passengers had to go on deck to smoke.
	·         BOTHNIA (1874) also featured three 'firsts': the first lounge for women, the first Library at sea and the first system of electric bells.
	·         The 'Parthia Evening Post' of September 11, 1882 is the first known example of a ship's newspaper.
	·         AURANIA (1893) was the first ship to have a Bridal Suite and suites of rooms.
	·         MAURETANIA (1907) was the first ship to have a dark room for photographers.
	·         The first steel, Bluesteel of Siemens, CUNARDer, SERVIA (1881), was also the first of all liners to be built with electric light. Prior to this public rooms and accommodation were lit by oil lamps.
	SERVIA was the first of the CUNARD liners to introduce electric lighting, using Edison's recently invented incandescent lamp, which had been proven successful on ship usage by its first commercial installation on board the American passenger liner COLUMBIA. The lamps were installed in the public rooms and engineering spaces. (A small but practical electric lighting installation had been made on the smaller Inman liner CITY OF BERLIN a year so earlier. SERVIA was also fitted with a new type of compass and deep-sea sounding device.
	Franconia (1911) was the world's first ship to have a gymnasium.
	see my notes above
	Queen Victoria (2007) featured the first theatre boxes at sea in the Royal Court  Theatre.
	That is definitely a wow ...
	The first sea-going branch of Harrods opened on QE2 in 1984.
	SLAVONIA, wrecked at Flores in The Azores in 1909, was the first ship to send  an SOS signal.
	The first ship to transmit an SOS distress call appears to have been either the Cunard liner SLAVONIA on June 10, 1909, according to "Notable Achievements of Wireless" in the September, 1910 Modern Electrics, or the steamer ARAPAHOE on August 11, 1909. In April, 1904, the morse group was introduced into the German Imperial Navy as an emergency sign; With effect from 1 April 1905 it was also prescribed for the public radio in Germany. This conspicuous morse group was intended as an emergency signal to the interruption of the radio traffic and as a siren sound should call all other radio stations to the radio silence. It was therefore not to be sent as a call, but to be repeated until all other stations have set the transmission mode. Then the contents of the emergency call should follow.
	LACONIA undertook the first World Cruise in 1922
	It was LACONIA´s first world circumnavigation, not ther first such cruise!
	·        QE2 was the first ship to have an email address.
	·        QE2 hosted the world's first Trivial Pursuit cruise.
	QE2 became the world's largest hospital ship during the Falklands Conflict in  1982.
	During the Falkland War QE2 was used as a trooper, which also served as hospital ship.
	When QE2 arrived in Liverpool for the first time on July 24, 1990 more than a  million people lined the banks of the Mersey to greet her - another record and  more people than the visit of the Pope or the Beatles to the city attracted.
	Okay a big number, but Germany, Hamburg may top it with the first visit of QUEEN MARY 2, she attracted 3,5 million visitors!
	QE2 was the first ship ever to sail more than five million miles. Upon her arrival  in Dubai she had clocked up 5,875,493.22 million nautical miles.
	CUNARD appointed its first female Captain in 2010.
	QUEEN MARY 2 was the first Atlantic liner built in 35 years and the first of the  21st Century.
	Enthusiast hope for another real liner ... Hope is dying last!
	The first live TV transmission from a ship at sea took place from QE2 in July 1986.
	In 1969 the German TV broadcast sytem RADIO BREMEN made a life TV show transmission from the liner BREMEN. This transmission started some miles off coast New York and lasted till the embarkation at the pier in Manhattan. I was allowed as a 10 year old to watch it ...

CUNARD achieved the fastest crossing of the Atlantic in 1924 when the Mauretania completed its journey in a record five days, one hour and 49 minutes.

This statement indicates, that only MAURETANIA won the BLUE RIBAND ... Yes the the old lady was a fast liner, but a dark woodded Edwardian castle, and she batteled with BREMEN for the BLUE RIBAND in an attempt not to loose the trophy to the former enemy of WWI. MAURETANIA, financed by the government, to recapture Britains pride from the German KAISER Class vessels, earned money for CUNARD. Who wonders, when the subsidies had been higher than the interests ...

A lavish addition to the fleet came in 1934 with the launch of the QUEEN MARY liner, celebrated by monarch herself. Queen Mary´s comment about QUEEN MARY´s interior, according to Bill Miller: "Not as bad as I thought", she wrote in her diary. You can take as positive or even as negative. Dubbed 'the most elusive dining room at sea,' the Cunard's signature Grills concept was opened for all guests on this luxury ship.

I guess all readers may know my fascination for NORMANDIE, Le Vaisseau de Lunmière, La Deesse de la Mer, Le Seigneur de l´ATLANTIQUE. To be frank, QUEEN MARY was a good ship, and did a tremendous job during WWII!, but interior QUEEN MARY is only an attempt to be hip when inaugurated. I recall Bill Miller who re-stated a comment about the interior: "She is designed for Texan millionaires." A number of features introduced on QUEEN MARY had been copied from NORMANDIE, but explained to the audience as the first ever on board QUEEN MARY. Mrs Pe,berton ingnored the fact of the NORMANDIE Salle á Manger, or the Café Grill. Taking in mind the common conservative approach to design in Britain, I clearly understand, that QUEEN MARY is preffered by British people, and those who may be intimidated by style and elegance from the continent.

Walt Disney poses for a group photo while celebrating an occasion on a transatlantic voyage with CUNARD

With the inauguration of UNITED STATES he as so many US celebrities, including the Duke and Cuchess of Windsor, changed to UNITED STATES LINES.

"Getting there, is half the fun!" a famous and well known advertising speach of CUNARD in the 1950s and 1960s. Alas, CUNARD was too far bound in tradition in those lucky days, that even the then CEO stated that air travel won´t become a threat or a mass phonomenon. Something of a similar wrong statement was made about computer "Not for the masses!" andf the internet "It is a thing for only a few!"

A female passengers smiles as a Cunard ship arrives in New York on May 9, 1967, following a transatlantic voyage

Passengers ride exercise bikes whilst wearing day clothes in a gymnasium on board the RMS Franconia on February 21, 1911

Passengers at a table wait to be served tea and coffee

 Evening dancing was a common activity during and after dinner

This happend on all the liners, on each ocean.

Joining the QUEEN MARY was another royal cruise liner, which maintained the title of the world's largest cruise liner until 1996. This was the QUEEN ELIZABETH, launched by HM Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by HRH Princess Elizabeth.

Again, Mrs Pemberton should have learned the difference between a liner and cruise vessel! Normally I throw such badly researched articles in the bin, and hearing such nonsense in a film, I stop watching ... nothing good can come.

The two royal ships were praised by Winston Churchill for shortening the war in Europe by at least a year, when they helped out with troop carrying in WWII.

What the Allies could achive with these two gigantic liners, can´t be underestimateed or downgraded! As a historian, interpretating the facts, I would suggest, both liners shortend WWII by min. 1,5 years. Normally not allowed for historians, but sometimes in FB groups pop up the suggestion about the possible impact of NORMANDIE in the same effort, if le NORMANDIE would not have been destroyed out of arrogance, carelessness and sheer incompetence - I would say anthoer half year to end the war earlier. For this I took the facts of transporting troops and roughly calculated the impact of NORMANDIE´s possible capacity.

Fine dining in the 1950s; Cunard's earlier ocean liners had sails, used to help stabilise the ship in rough weather.

ehm ... Mrs Pemberton ... Early steamships needed sails as the machines could break down much easier than later, but not for stabilising only! Besides sails had the effect.

The balloon dance was held on every voyage on Cunard ships from the 1920s to the early 1960s 

The pool of QUEEN ELIZABETH after her adaption to be cruise comnpatible; many of Hollywood's greatest celebrities travelled on Cunard liners during the 1950s and 60s

A game of hoopla is enjoyed by guests on deck, with the ship's funnel partially visible in the background

The liner (which?) was known for its parties with the popular balloon dance being held on every voyage on Cunard ships from the 1920s to the early 1960s. A main feature of the soirees would be the Fancy Hat Parade, where guests could create their own creative headpieces. 

Race Nights were also held with bets placed on the winning wooden horses across the dance floor in the Main Lounge. The 50s and 60s were a time for celebration and decadence, with many Hollywood greats coming aboard Cunard ships.

Mrs Pemberton seems to be unaware of the parties on the in British view, most decadent liner ever ... Le Seigneur de l´Atlantique, le NORMANDIE.

A group of passengers enjoy a game of hoops in the sun
these (top and below) awfull colourings are definitely not the work of one of our well known FB friends who are masters at: Steve Walker and/or Daryl LeBlanc

CUNARD, a member of staff plays a deck game with a couple

The birthday boy blows on the candles on his cake as children attend a part on board a Cunard cruise ship 

The liner (again which? I assume QM) was known for its parties with the popular balloon dance being held on every voyage from the 1920s to the early 1960s

Liz Taylor, David Niven, Clark Gable and Bing Crosby were all fans of the Atlantic crossing. Parties and dancing were accompanied by the new addition of jukeboxes on the ships, introduced from America. 

The third royal liner, the Queen Elizabeth 2, was another addition to the Cunard's fleet in 1967.

Sorry Mre Pemberton, QUEEN ELIZBATH 2 was inaugurated in 1969!

It boasted the title of being the first big Atlantic liner with private facilities in every cabin. 

The ship also had military duties, when it carried 6,000 troops and 650 crew volunteers to the Falklands War in 1982. 

HM Queen Elizabeth II attended a ceremony when RMS Queen Mary 2, CUNARD's new flagship, entered into service in 2004

QUEEN MARY 2 makes transatlantic voyages, which can be enjoyed in the exquisite and luxurious duplex suite

In May all three of Cunard's prized ships will call at Liverpool as they meet on the Mersey for the first time ever

With QUEEN MARY 2, CUNARD is the only cruise line in the world to provide a regular transatlantic crossing
'Crossing, Cruising, Shipping Line, Cruise Copmany ... one can get confused ... I suggest a compass

Nelson Mandela joined the celebrities who travelled on the QE2 when he journeyed from Durban to Cape Town. 

When Cunard was purchased by Carnival Cooperation in 1998, the transaction was celebrated by the launch of the largest and grandest ocean liner ever built, the Queen Mary 2.

Mrs Pemberton´s incorrect writing implements that QM2 was launched in 1998, and was created to celebrate the purchase ... ? ...

Not only did this have the largest planetarium at sea, it also had the largest champagne bar, and ballroom at sea. 

The three prize royal liners, the QUEEN MARY 2, QUEEN VICTORIA and QUEEN ELIZABETH, had been set for special commemoration events to celebrate 175 years of ocean travel for CUNARD.

In May, they will call at Liverpool as they meet on the Mersey for the first time ever before embarking on separate journeys.

QUEEN VICTORIA and QUEEN ELIZABETH are definitely cruise vessels, their construction is basd on the VISTA Class "model" of CARNIVAL CORP. Wir QUEEN MARY 2 ... to me! she is a cruise vessel in liner disguise as it is with the DISNEY CRUISES vessels, which are in my! view the nearest in design to a liner. Their modern design is recalling a number of great liners from the Golden Era of Crossing.

I feel insulted in my intelligence and historical knowledge when fake facts are made to me as truth.

In our schools our pupils are trained from the begining in First Grade to learn a life long, and are educated how to learn. And when studying Journalism, Politics, History and Design, including Cultural History I learned how to do a propper research, and how I have to judge the resource I am reading - at no means with only my todays knowledge and mindset. I had learned to accept and see the mindset of the people and their time, when studying a resource.

Innovation and CUNARD? 

Gathering of the three QUEENs - Cruise vessels meet in Southampton to celebrate the 175th anniversary of CUNARD