Cunard Line
Ship Built In service for Cunard Type GRT Notes
Unicorn 1836 1840-1846 Express 650 Coastal steamer purchased for Montreal service , sold 1846
Britannia 1840 1840-1849 Express 1,150 Eastbound record holder , sold to North German Navy 1849
Acadia 1840 1840-1849 Express 1,150 Sold to North German Navy 1849
Caledonia 1840 1840-1850 Express 1,150 Sold to Spanish Navy 1850
Columbia 1841 1841-1843 Express 1,150 Blue Riband , wrecked 1843 without loss of life
Hibernia 1843 1843-1850 Express 1,400 Eastbound record holder , sold to Spanish Navy 1850
Cambria 1845 1845-1860 Express 1,400 Blue Riband , sold to Italian owners 1860
America 1848 1848-1863 Express 1,850 Blue Riband , sold 1863 and converted to sail , scrapped 1875
Niagara 1848 1848-1866 Express 1,850 Sold 1866 and converted to sail , wrecked 1875
Europa 1848 1848-1867 Express 1,850 Blue Riband , sold 1867
Canada 1848 1848-1866 Express 1,850 Eastbound record holder , sold 1866 and converted to sail , scrapped 1883
Asia 1850 1850-1868 Express 2,250 Blue Riband , sold 1868 , scrapped 1883
Africa 1850 1850-1868 Express 2,250 Sold 1868
Fleet -- 1840–1850
All ships of this period had wooden hulls and paddle wheels .
Cunard Line is a British cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Bermuda. In 1839, Samuel Cunard was awarded the first British transatlantic steamship mail contract, and the next year formed the British and North American Royal Mail Steam-Packet Company together with Robert Napier, the famous Scottish steamship engine designer and builder, to operate the line's four pioneer paddle steamers on the Liverpool-Halifax-Boston route. For most of the next 30 years, Cunard held the Blue Riband for the fastest Atlantic voyage. However, in the 1870s Cunard fell behind its rivals, the White Star Line and the Inman Line. To meet this competition, in 1879 the firm was reorganised as the Cunard Steamship Company, Ltd, to raise capital. In 1902, White Star joined the American-owned International Mercantile Marine Co. In response, the British Government provided Cunard with substantial loans and a subsidy to build two superliners needed to retain Britain's competitive position. Mauretania held the Blue Riband from 1909 to 1929. The sinking of her running mate Lusitania in 1915 was one of the causes of the United States' entering the First World War. In 1919, Cunard relocated its British homeport from Liverpool to Southampton, to better cater for travellers from London. In the late 1920s, Cunard faced new competition when the Germans, Italians and French built large prestige liners.