Blue Riband
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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
SS United States, last winner of the Blue Riband
Cunard's Mauretania. She held the Blue Riband for the second-longest period of any ship, for 20 years, from 1909 to 1929.
Sirius is considered the first Atlantic record-holder for her 1838 voyage to New York at 8.03 knots (14.87 km/h)
In 1843, Great Western recorded a record-breaking voyage of 10.03 knots (18.58 km/h)
RMS Mauretania (1906)
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RMS Mauretania was a British ocean liner built for the Cunard Line by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson at Wallsend on the River Tyne, England, launched in 1906. She was the world's largest ship until
Blue Riband
…Cunard with an annual subsidy of £150,000 plus a low-interest loan of £2.5 million to pay for the construction of the two superliners, Lusitania and Mauretania, under the condition that they be available for conversion to armed cruisers when needed by the navy. Starting in 1907, both ships won the Blue Riband…
Mauretania in 1907 off the Tyne
Workmen standing below Mauretania's original three-bladed propellers in dry dock
Mauretania on her Tyneside builder's ways prior to launch in 1906
Mauretania's official launch party, 20 September 1906