Aquitania Post War Colors

Aquitania in her twilight years, sporting her wartime grey with traditional Cunard funnels. RMS Aquitania was a Cunard Line ocean liner that was built by the John Brown and Company shipyard near Clydebank, Scotland. She was launched on 21 April 1913 and sailed on her maiden voyage to New York on 30 May 1914. Aquitania was the third in Cunard Line's "grand trio" of express liners, preceded by the RMS Mauretania and RMS Lusitania, and was the last surviving four funneled ocean liner. Widely considered one of the most attractive ships of her time, Aquitania earned the nickname "Ship Beautiful". This despite criticism of her looks; having too many cowl ventilators and the forward funnel being as close to her bridge as it was. In her 36 years of service, Aquitania survived military duty in both world wars and was returned to passenger service after each war. Aquitania's record for the longest service career of any 20th century express liner stood until 2004, when the Queen Elizabeth 2 (ultimate career service of 40 years) became the longest-serving liner, Overview----------------------------------------------- The origins of Aquitania lay in the rivalry between the White Star Line and Cunard, Britain's two leading shipping companies. White Star's Olympic and Titanic were larger than the latest Cunard ships Mauretania and Lusitania by 15,000 gross tons. The Cunard duo were significantly faster than the White Star ships, while White Star's ships were seen as more luxurious. Cunard needed another liner for its weekly transatlantic express service, and elected to follow White Star with a larger, slower, but more luxurious ship.