Cunard Steam Ship Co
of Water Street, Liverpool.
1838/40 The British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Co was formed.
1852 Samuel Cunard introduced his first iron hull.
1878 the firm became Cunard Steamship Company Ltd. The company was registered on 23 May.
1907 The company entered into an agreement with his Majesty's government, by which it undertook to build two large steamers, the agreement to be in force for twenty years from the date of the sailing of the second vessel; these two steamers, the Lusitania and the Mauretania, were completed this year. [1]
1911 Cunard purchased Anchor Line to gain access to Anchor’s lucrative emigrant trade.
Cunard faced many competitors from Britain, France, the United States and Germany, but survived them all. This was mainly due to a great focus on safety. Cunard ships were usually not the largest or the fastest but they earned a reputation for being the most reliable and the safest.
Between 1914 and 1918 Cunard Line built its European headquarters in Liverpool. The grand neo-Classical Cunard Building was to be the third of Liverpool's 'Three Graces'. The headquarters were used by Cunard until the 1960s.
The prosperous company eventually absorbed Canadian Northern Steamships Ltd
1934 merged with their principal competitor, White Star Line. The company was known as Cunard White Star Line and was renamed Cunard Line in 1950.
1934 - 1946 Percy Elly Bates was the Chairman.
1950 The company, then known as Cunard White Star Line, was renamed Cunard Line .
See Cunard Line: Ships and read its history summarised in The Engineer 1893/03/03.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Stock Exchange Year Book 1908