Conception

The Cunard line for the first decade of the 20th century enjoyed their time in the spotlight. In the 1900s Cunard introduced two vessels that would become icons of their day. These two ships were the Lusitania and the Mauretania, the former being infamous for having been torpedoed by the Germans in WWI and sinking in a matter of minutes. At the time of their introduction, they were both the largest and fastest ships in the world. Truly the most advanced ships of their era. However, the White Star Line would not take this lying down. To combat Cunard’s ocean greyhounds White Star conceived and introduced the world to the Olympic class of ships. Of course the Olympic class was made up of Olympic (1911) and the ill fated Titanic which would sink in April of 1912. Finally the Britannic would come along a few years later. The Olympic class ships were significantly larger and more luxurious than Cunard’s best offerings. White Star had taken the luxury and comfort over speed route as the Olympic and Titanic were never going to be Blue Ribband holders. (The Blue Riband was an award presented to a ship for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic, either east or west bound. Meaning their could potentially be two Blue Ribands issued at once.) So in 1910, with Cunard having the fastest ships in the world and White Star soon to be rolling out the largest vessels in the world, Cunard needed to act. The company was already in need of a third flag ship vessel in order to complete their perfect trio and weekly transatlantic schedule. In July of the same year Cunard finally began construction of the vessel, contracting building duties to John Brown and Company. (The same builders who had built the Lusitania a few years prior.) Aquitania was to be of a unique design, not belonging to another class of vessels like her future running mates and White Star’s Olympic class. Aquitania was not intended to be a speed demon like her two older siblings, she was to be larger and more luxurious, sacrificing speed for comfort and size. Cunard had taken an Olympic class-style approach to the construction of their new vessel. Aquitania was a direct jab at what White Star had planned. The race was on.

The Olympic arrives in New York in June of 1911 having just completed her maiden voyage. The Lusitania can be seen in the background.

Construction and Design

The Aquitania was designed by Leonard Peskett, a man who in 1910 was already highly regarded for he had previously designed the Lusitania and Mauretania. As the Senior naval architect for Cunard he was put in charge of their most ambitious project. The keel of the Aquitania was laid towards the end of 1910, where basic construction of the ship’s hull began. As time went on the hull progressed however the ship was not entirely complete in its design. These ships took so long to build that at times changes and alterations could be made with little to no consequence. In 1911 Mr. Peskett would take a voyage on the world’s largest ship, the Olympic. Here he took the trip as time to experience what a ship of this magnitude felt like and to take some pointers and take aways for incorporation into his own designs. Construction progressed smoothly in Clydebank, Scotland, where on 21 April 1913 she was launched. For her launch her hull was painted a light shade of grey to make photography easier. (This was also done for the launch of the Mauretania and White Star’s Olympic)

Aquitania on the stocks

The Aquitania is launched. The hull is greased up to make facilitation of the launch easier. Her stern slides into the water first, followed by the bow. Tow boats then quickly gain control of the mighty vessel.

The ship’s construction was funded entirely by the Cunard line however Peskett still designed the ship to be within British Admiralty specifications. Said specifications were put in place so a ship could be used for other purposes in the event of war, such as a hospital or troop transport ship. In 1903 Cunard approached the government asking for financial assistance to construct two super liners that they argued would greatly benefit the British shipping industry. These two ships were Lusitania and Mauretania. When funding became a topical question for Aquitania, Cunard deemed government assistance unnecessary. So despite not technically needing to be within Admiralty specification, Peskett still designed her to meet these requirements as he had done previously with his design of Lucy and Maury. A ship as large as the Aquitania would be an extremely important asset in the event of war and I like to imagine Peskett realized this.

The Aquitania following her launch would be fitted out, where the interior and super structure of the ship would finish completion. This process took 13 months. Cunard hired some of the best names in the business to adorn the Aquitania’s interiors. Arthur Joseph Davis would lead fitting out and interior design. He was most qualified having been heavily involved with the construction of the London Ritz Hotel, a hotel which at the time was viewed as one of the nicest in the world. Interestingly enough, his partner Charles Mewes whom he’d established a firm with would head up design of HAPAG’s Imperator class of ships. The two worked separately and in different countries. They were to keep all of their designs for their respective employers secrets from each other as to not upset the two rival shipping companies. This deal was more than likely broken although each ship has a distinct style reflective of their respective designers.

The ship was powered and driven via steam powered Parsons Turbines. (The same innovation that would power the Lusitania and Mauretania which preceded Aquitania.) The steam needed to power these turbines was provided from 21 double-ended Scotch boilers. These boilers not only fed the turbines but also the electrical generators that made up the ship’s power plant.

In April of 1912 the world was shook by the Titanic disaster. Immediate change was called for in terms of safety regulations. Aquitania would be one of the first newly constructed vessels to carry enough lifeboats for all passengers aboard. Existing ships like the Lusitania would have their lifeboat arrangements altered to accommodate the adequate number of lifeboats. In comparison to the Olympic class Aquitania would have greater outer dimensions with a lower tonnage and displacement. Unlike her rivals her fourth funnel was not a “dummy” funnel. All four of her funnels were connected to boiler rooms to facilitate ventilation.

Technical Specifications

• Tonnage: 45,647 GRT
• Length: 901 ft
• Beam: 97 ft
• Draught: 36 ft
• Decks: 10
• Power: Direct drive Parsons steam turbines, 59,000 shp
• Propulsion: Four shafts, four quad bladed propellers
• Speed: 24 knots (Service) 25 knots (Maximum speed achieved)
• Capacity: 3,230 (1914) 2,200 (1926 refit)
• Crew: 972

Entering Service

On 10 May 1914 Aquitania would undergo her sea trials. Straight away she would impress her builders and owners by exceeding her expected maximum speed by one whole knot. In comparison to the Olympic class ships which had a service speed of 21 knots, Aquitania had a service speed of 24 knots, which made her significantly faster than the Olympic class. Although she was not as fast as her older running mates she still upheld Cunard’s reputation for punctuality and speed quite well. On 14 May 1914 Aquitania would enter the port of Mersey. Here final preparations were made for her maiden voyage such as cleaning and the arrangement of public and private spaces. She stayed here for a little over two weeks before sailing to Liverpool where her maiden voyage would begin.

Aquitania’s maiden voyage would commence on 30 May 1914 to much fanfare. Although she was neither the largest nor the fastest ship at the time of her first crossing she was still a huge mile stone for Cunard and was a symbol of pride to the British public. The ship was to be captained by William Turner who would later be remembered as the captain of the Lusitania when she sank just a year later. The ship arrived in New York on 5 June 1914. Despite her first voyage only being roughly a third full in terms of carrying capacity the voyage was seen as a success by its owners and operators. The reason for the ship being so empty was that a superstition around crossing on a ship’s maiden voyage had developed in the wake of the Titanic disaster. Even more notable is the sinking of the Empress of Ireland which had sank just a day before Aquitania’s maiden voyage was due to begin. The disaster in a way overshadowed Aquitania’s maiden voyage. Miraculously, despite the disaster, not a single passenger cancelled their crossing at the last moment.

Return To Commercial Voyages

In December of 1918 Aquitania was finally relieved of her wartime duties. Through 1919 she would run an austerity service at a reduced cost to passengers and reduced income to the Cunard line. A year after her wartime service had ended she would finally be properly refit for commercial service in New Castle, having all of her beautiful interior arrangements fit once again. Her first proper commercial voyage post-war would commence on 17 July 1920. This voyage was to be an important one. Her refit took almost a full year and this is because one major alteration was made to her power system. Aquitania, along with many surviving ocean liners of the day such as Olympic and Mauretania, was converted to an oil-fueled system, replacing the dated coal-fueled system. Oiling a ship was a much quicker process that required much less labor, whilst also making the ships more efficient. The only downside of the transition from coal to oil was that many men were put out of work as firemen were no longer needed in as abundant of numbers as there was no longer coal needing to tended to and shoveled into boilers. The voyage proved that oil was indeed more efficient than coal and that the correct decision had been made.

The early 1920s would prove to be an extremely successful time for the ship as she carried a record number of passengers in 1921 at nearly 60,000. Aquitania’s running mate Mauretania suffered a fire which put her out of service for roughly a year. This meant the Aquitania was Cunard’s only large ship in service. In 1922 Mauretania was finally put back into service. The two ships were even given a proper third running mate to replace the sunken Lusitania in the Berengaria. The Berengaria was formerly the Imperator of the HAPAG line but was ceded to the allies as war reparations.

In 1924 the United States passed new immigration laws which would hurt the industry as a whole. The days of mass immigration to the states in which these ships played a massive roll were coming to a close. The third-class where most immigrants would book was becoming less profitable due to the new legislation, so the shipping industry made some changes. In most ships third class was renamed and rethemed to a more appropriate sounding tourist class with slightly better accommodations but with a reduced overall capacity. One thing all European based ships benefitted from was prohibition which began in 1919. American liners were legally not allowed to sell alcohol. European ships however were allowed to and this lead to many European ships being favored over their American alternatives. The SS Leviathan (formerly the Vaterland of the HAPAG line) was hurt by this and throughout all her time in service was almost never anywhere near full capacity and hardly turned a profit. Cunard’s aptly named “Big Three” was extremely profitable throughout the 20s until the great depression began where things took a turn for the worse.

The 1930s and New Competition

In 1930 the amount of passengers she was carrying was nearly halved from the prior year, going from nearly 30,000 to 13,000. The slum in business was not only caused by the depression but by new competition entering the fray. Norddeutscher LLoyd’s Bremen and Europa were instantly popular following their introduction. They would soon also steal away the Blue Riband from Mauretania which had held it longer than any other ship that would come before or after. In order to maintain its relevance the Cunard Line made some adjustments to Aquitania. These changes mostly involved cutting down the total number of passengers the ship could carry in order to make room for more accommodations such as a movie theatre. With waning profits from both White Star and Cunard the two companies were encouraged by the government to merge. So in 1934 they did. Now all ships from all of the fleets would boast both companies flags, with the Cunard one on top as they held a majority share in the newly founded Cunard-White Star Line. 1934 saw the death of two icons. Mauretania and Olympic had been pulled from service almost immediately as their age was truly showing. The Aquitania however, despite being just as old as her two fleet mates, was not. The merging of the companies also saw the funds finally being allocated for Cunard’s new flag ship which would later be revealed to be the Queen Mary. In 1936 the Queen Mary entered service and she was both larger and faster than the aging Aquitania. 1939 proved to be a good year for the Aquitania though as she saw an increase in 1st class ticket sales. Despite being 26 years old the Aquitania was still a profitable asset for the company.

World War II and the 1940s

1939 saw the beginning of the Second World War which was started because of an Austrian man with a silly mustache. Ships like the Aquitania were not immediately dragged into this conflict however they would soon be called upon. There were plans to replace the Aquitania with the Queen Mary’s sister, the Queen Elizabeth however the war and need for large ships for transport purposes saved Aquitania. From mid-September to mid-November 1939 Aquitania remained in New York awaiting initial transformation into a troop ship. She would sail back to Southampton after this to be officially requestioned and repurposed into a troop ship once again. Throughout the earlier parts of the war the Aquitania along with her two newer counterparts were busy transporting troops to Europe. Aquitania would take Canadian troops to Scotland and troops from New Zealand and Australia to join the Australian component off the coast of Sydney. Here the Queen Mary joined the convoy and the group of ships including the smaller but still just as modern Mauretania II. The convoy would ultimately end up in the river Clyde in Scotland where the troops would be off loaded. After numerous voyages in the Pacific there was a potential close call. The German battleship Kormoran which had sank an Australian battleship was rumored to be waiting for Aquitania but sank the Australian battleship when it appeared instead of the Aquitania. When the US joined the war she even ran a few voyages taking troops from the west coast of the US to Hawaii in the earlier months of 1942. For the remainder of the war she would sail to and from the most exotic locations in the world transporting allied troops to the fight.

Twilight Years

Aquitania following the war was still used by the British government to take troops back home to North America. In 1948 she was finally handed back over to the Cunard-White Star line. She was then chartered by the Canadian government to transport war brides to Canada, again stopping in Halifax regularly. These final years in service is when Halifax began to grow a certain fondness for the ship because she soon became a frequent fixture along the city’s coastline. In December of 1949 she had finished her last voyage for the Canadian government. Shortly there after the ship failed to receive Board of Trade certification which was required for her to sail commercially. This was due to her age and state of decay. Rumors exist that in these final years her decks were porous and one could simply stick their finger inside of the ship’s funnel. There was even a story about a piano falling through her decks during a luncheon however this is highly unlikely to be true. It would not have been economically viable for the company to bring her up to date so ultimately Aquitania was retired.

End of an era

In 1950 Aquitania was sold for scrap. Her final destination would be Faslane, Scotland, where she would be broken up. This process took nearly a year. The Aquitania being scrapped marked the end of an era and the end of an illustrious career. Aquitania was the last notable ship of the Edwardian era liners to be taken out of service. Throughout her career Aquitania had tallied many huge accolades such as 1.2 million passengers carried and over 3 million miles sailed. She was the longest serving ocean liner of the 20th century and the last four-funneled liner to be scrapped. Aquitania was truly an icon of the era and is in my opinion, the greatest ocean liner there ever was. She was truly, “The Ship Beautiful.”