 The first shipping line to begin regular transatlantic steamer services was the British-backed Cunard Line, which began operating on July 4, 1840, with the departure from Liverpool of RMS "Britannia", bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Boston.As the principal transatlantic mail carrier, the Cunard Line received subsidies from the British government and from the United States Post Office Department; many Americans, however, thought that an American line should benefit from these subsidies.Thus, in 1845, the United States Postmaster General asked shipowners to tender for the right to operate a subsidized passenger and mail service between the U.S. to Europe.