1914: The Start of a Newly Built Ocean Liner’s First Voyage

May 30, 1914

The Cunard Line ship RMS Aquitania, in her maiden voyage, left Liverpool, England, for New York. In doing so, Aquitania joined the RMS Mauretania and RMS Lusitania as Cunard Line’s “grand trio” of express ocean liners providing regular transatlantic service.

Aquitania would be nicknamed “Ship Beautiful” due to her reputation as one of the most attractive ships of that era. This ship would also become the last surviving liner with four chimneys (also known as funnels). Making her debut about two years after the Titanic disaster, Aquitania was one of the first ships to come equipped with enough lifeboats for all passengers and crew.

While slower than other ocean liners, and lacking the yacht-like appearance of Mauretania and Lusitania, Aquitania distinguished herself with spacious public rooms and other luxurious accommodations on board. The first-class drawing room, for example, had several features based on London’s elegant Lansdowne House. In addition, the walls featured prints of English seaports and portraits of royalty as well as other notable individuals of that period.

The oak paneling and beams in the ship’s smoking room were modeled after what could be found in Greenwich Hospital, another landmark building in London. The restaurant on board was decorated in Louis XIV style, while the passenger cabins were seen as superior to anything similar that had been built for other Cunard Line ships.

Aquitania sailed on her maiden voyage under the command of Captain William Turner, but that milestone was largely overlooked due to the tragic sinking of the RMS Empress of Ireland in the Saint Lawrence River in Canada the previous day. In addition, Aquitania’s civilian career would soon be interrupted with the outbreak of World War I. The ship was put into use in a military capacity during that conflict, and would be similarly pressed into service throughout World War II. After each of those wars, however, Aquitania was returned to passenger service.

“Ship Beautiful” remained in service until being retired and scrapped in 1950 — after a career encompassing nearly 36 years, three million miles (4.8 million kilometers) of travel during 450 voyages, and a total of 1.2 million passengers. Aquitania also had the longest service career of any express liner launched during the 20th century until the ship Queen Elizabeth 2 broke that record in 2004.

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on RMS Aquitania, please check out https://gracesguide.co.uk/RMS_Aquitania