The Cunard Line

The Cunard Line started life in 1840 as the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. Founded by Samuel Cunard, a successful Canadian businessman who lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the Company was to provide a fast mail service between Liverpool and North America.

In 1878, the Company changed its name to the Cunard Line and prospered in the early twentieth century carrying migrants and mail across the Atlantic. In 1930, the Line announced it would commence construction of the Queen Mary, the largest liner the world had ever seen. However, even Cunard was not immune to the worldwide economic downturn of the 1930's and work was suspended in December 1931. The government stepped in and forced Cunard to merge with one of its great rivals, the White Star Line. In return, loans were made available to restart construction of Queen Mary and the great liner was finally launched in September 1934.

In the years after the Second World War, Queen Mary and her sister, Queen Elizabeth dominated the transatlantic routes. Royalty, politicians and movie stars strolled their decks and the Cunard "Queens" became symbols of elegance and style. Cunard continued to trade independently until 1998 when it became part of the Carnival Corporation. New "Queens" are now in construction to prolong the historic traditions of this great shipping name.

Probably the world's most famous liner after Titanic, Queen Mary was originally destined to be named after "Britain's greatest queen" - Queen Victoria. However, the story goes that King George V misunderstood this accolade and enthusiastically endorsed the name "Queen Mary" - that of his own wife.

At 81,000 tons she was designed to be the world's largest liner, but the French were determined not to be outdone and added extra tonnage to the Normandie just prior to Queen Mary's maiden voyage in 1936. She traded the Blue Riband with Normandie in the late 30's but the outbreak of war and the sad end of the Normandie in New York harbour ended this famous rivalry.

After a distinguished war service, Queen Mary returned to the Atlantic routes she was built for. The United States claimed her Blue Riband in 1952 but she was as popular as ever, carrying thousands of passengers between Southampton and New York. When her time finally came, the city of Long Beach in California offered in excess of $3m to refit her as a hotel and tourist attraction. In October 1967, Queen Mary left Ocean Terminal for the last time with a full complement of nostalgic passengers. She sailed round South America to Long Beach - where she resides to this day.

Our footage begins with Queen Mary passing Cowes. She then is shown coming down Southampton water towed by two Alexander Company tugs. She docks at Ocean Terminal and the camera roves around her mighty decks. Another sequence taken from a tug shows her making smoke prior to a departure. Finally we see unique footage of her leaving Southampton on her final voyage in October 1967 with a London bus stowed on her after decks and a paying-off pennant streaming behind.

Queen Elizabeth 2 was built in the John Brown shipyard in Glasgow on the slipway that Queen Mary had vacated 30 years previously. She was designed for the new era having only two classes of accomodation that could easily be combined for her winter cruising schedule. She was launched in September 1967 and, after considerable teething problems finally entered service in May 1969.

Despite her modern design, she struggled against burgeoning competition in the skies. Other transatlantic liners were quickly disappearing and the "QE2", as she was affectionately known, faced real uncertainty over her future by the mid 1970's.

She survived by extending her cruise program, embarking on the first of many world cruises in 1975. The Falklands War saw her pressed into service as a troop carrier and although never risked in the war zone like the Canberra, she proved an invaluable asset to the British forces. In 1986 Cunard paid $162 million for a complete refit of her engines and once again she returned to the Atlantic. Further refits followed in 1994 and 1996.

Today the QE2 still crosses the Atlantic and, together with the Queen Mary 2, forms the centrepiece of Carnival's luxury cruise brand. However, Cunard have recently announced their intention to build a new liner - the Queen Victoria - due to be delivered in 2007. New doubts have now been voiced about the long-term viability of this famous liner.

The date is 2 May 1969. We join QE2 on her maiden voyage from Southampton. Bands play and streamers fly as she leaves Ocean Terminal. As the ship enters Cherbourg, Captain Warwick is seen on the bridge. The scene then shifts to New York. Extraordinary scenes greet her arrival - the last gala reception ever seen in Manhattan harbour.

We close with varied scenes of another departure from Southampton. The great ships is turned by the tugs as passengers line the decks.