The Mauretania, along with her sister Lusitania, was the result of the German four-stackers that were plying the waves during the first decade of the 1900's, and John Pierpont Morgan's acquisition of the White Star Line, making it part of the International Mercantile Marine, or IMM.  As a result, the British government voted to give the Cunard Line a £2.6 million construction loan, the dominant English transatlantic firm at the time.  On top of this, the government agreed to give Cunard a annual £150,000 mail subsidy, on the condition that they remain British for at least 20 years.

The Mauretania had statistics that were staggering.  She had 25 boilers, 192 furnaces, a storage capacity for 6,000 tons of coal, with a reserve in her second cargo hold.  As a result, she had a service speed of 24-25 knots.

She was ordered from Swan, Hunter, and Wigham Richardson Limited in May 1905, and on September 20, 1906, she was ready to be launched, with the ceremony being performed by the Dowager Duchess of Roxburgh.  When she was ready in the fall of 1907, her trials went without a hitch - even better than without a hitch, in fact, exceeding her listed speed, and averaging 26.3 knots.

Mauretania captured the Blue Riband from her sister on her eastbound voyage in 1907.  She made 23.69 knots compared to Lusitania's 23.61.  However, having the Riband in possession was not enough.  When she went in for refitting in 1909, she was fitted with new propellers, which allowed her to set a new record, averaging 25.5 knots, which later was exceeded with 25.8 knots, and finally, she set her top record of 26.6 knots.  This record would hold until the German liner Bremen made her first crossing in 1929.

In the summer of 1914, World War I began, and in 1915, Mauretania was seized by the British government and painted in gray in order to serve as a troop ship.  As such, she made three full voyages to Gallipoli.  In September, well after her sister, the Lusitania, had been torpedoed and sunk, she was redesignated as a hospital ship, and was painted white with the stripe and red crosses to reflect this.  In 1916, she was transferred back to trooping, and was this time "dazzle painted", which consisted of geometric shapes of various shades of gray that allowed her to blend with the sea and escape the U-boats.

In 1919, she returned to commercial service, sailing from Southampton to Liverpool.  Later, she became part of Cunard's "Big Three".  This consisted of the Blue Riband-holder Mauretania, the flagship Berengaria, and the beautiful Aquitania.

In Southampton, on July 25, 1921, the Mauretania caught fire.  However, she was thankfully saved, but the damage was enough to send her back to Newcastle, where she was built, in order to be repaired.  Since she was back with her builder anyway, Cunard put her time there to good use.  Thus while she was being repaired, she was also converted to an oil-burning ship, allowing the amount of people working the boiler rooms to be tremendously reduced.  They also modernized the accommodation at this time.

During the 1920's, the Mauretania remained very popular.  She made her first cruise in 1923, and logged 26.16 knots on an eastbound crossing.  However, the Mauretania's days as the speed champion of the Atlantic were numbered, as Germany planned a new duo of liners that would take the Blue Riband from her.

The Mauretania lost the Riband to the Bremen in July 1929, with the Bremen logging 27.92 knots over Mauretania's best time of 27.22 knots.  There were some efforts on the part of the Mauretania's crew to regain the Riband, including throwing some furniture in the boilers to raise additional steam, but the new liner proved the faster.  The Mauretania radioed congratulations to her German successor.

When the Great Depression hit, the Atlantic passenger liners' numbers began to fall.  Starting in 1930, Mauretania began making mostly cruises.  In 1932, she was painted in all white, which added a tropical flavor to her, and designated her use as a cruise ship year-round thereafter.  However, in September 1934, she made her last departure from New York, and upon arrival in Southampton, was laid up, alongside the Olympic.

In the spring of 1935, the Mauretania was sold to scrappers in Rosyth, Scotland.  On her way to be scrapped, she carried a 20-foot blue ribbon that said "1907 to 1929" on it.  She stopped at the mouth of the Tyne, where she was built.  Thousands gathered around her, and the Mauretania fired rockets from her bridge.  After everyone sang the song "Auld Lang Syne", the Mauretania sailed to Rosyth, where she was scrapped.

Mauretania Vital Statistics:

Gross tonnage: 31, 938 (1907), 30,696 (1921)

Length: 790 feet

Width: 88 feet

Machinery: Steam turbines geared to quadruple screw

Speed: 25 knots

Capacity: 560 First, 475 Second, 1,300 Third (1907); 589 First, 400 Second, 767 Third (1921)

Built: Swan, Hunter, and Wigham Richardson Limited, Newcastle, England, 1907

Demise: Scrapped in Rosyth, Scotland, 1935

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