Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: Mauretania, Proud holder of the Blue Riband of the Atlantic

AssociatedAssociated with Lord Mountbatten of Burma (Frogmore House, Windsor, England, 1900 - 1979)

Medallist John Pinches, Medallists

DateMay 2004

Object NameMedal

MediumSterling Silver

ClassificationsMedals

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDMS072500.75

Keywords

About MeThere were two threats to British supremacy in the North Atlantic passenger trade at the beginning of the 20th century. First, German shipowners and shipbuilders made rapid strides in the development of large passenger liners, and wrested from Britain the cherished 'Blue Riband' of the Atlantic-the hotly contested emblem held by the ship that made the fastest transatlantic passage.

Second, the International Mercantile Marine, the combine controlled by J .P. Morgan, the American millionaire, gained a substantial share of the much sought after passenger and emigrant traffic which played a crucial part in ensuring profitable operations.

With Britain's maritime predominance threatened, and with armed conflict in Europe a growing possibility, an Admiralty Committee was formed to consider ways in which the subsidies and subventions granted to certain British shipowners engaged in North Atlantic mail services could best be modified. After negotiation, the Cunard Steam Ship Company was granted an Admiralty subvention for the construction of two passenger liners which would be made available to the Admiralty as auxiliary cruisers in time of war. They were to be capable of not less than 24 Y2 knots in moderate weather.

This agreement led to the building of two large passenger vessels-Lusitania and Mauretania -of which the latter was the most successful. She was built at Newcastle-upon- Tyne by Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Limited, with turbine engines designed by Andrew Laing and constructed by Wallsend Slipway and Engineering Company Limited, driving four propellor shafts. Thus, the inventive genius of Charles Parsons in developing the steam turbine bore fruit in the maturity of turbine propulsion.

With a gross tonnage of30, 704 tons, Mauretania measured 762.2 feet in length, 88.0 feet in breadth and 57.1 feet in depth. She accommodated 563 first-class, 464 second-class, and 1,138 third-class passengers, and mustered a crew of no fewer than 812 officers and men. Her proud owners, the Cunard Steam Ship Company, registered her, as was the custom with all the firm's ships, -at the port of Liverpool, whence she sailed on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic to New York on 16th November, 1907.

Mauretania saw successful and useful service during the First World War as a troopship and as an hospital ship, and she resumed her peacetime role when she sailed from Southampton to New York in 1919. She was converted to oil-fuel fired boilers in 1921, and was finally with- drawn from service in October 1934, being scrapped at Rosyth in 1935.

This fine vessel was extremely popular with passengers and crew alike and reasserted Britain's supremacy in the North Atlantic trade. She gained the unique distinction of holding the coveted 'Blue Riband' of the Atlantic over two decades, both before and after the First World War. She made some of her finest transatlantic passages in the late 1920s and early 1930s - a worthy tribute to her designers and builders.

The Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea, John Pinches Medallists Ltd.