Beautiful vessel.Byline: StephenGuy AS THE Second World War loomed, the 35,750-ton luxury liner Mauretania II sailed on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of on 17 June 1939. She was constructed at Birkenhead's famous Cammell Laird shipyard and, at the time was the largest merchant ship ever built in England. The beautiful vessel was the second Cunard liner to bear the name Mauretania. During the Second World War she served as a troopship. Returning to passenger duties in 1947, Mauretania II was employed mainly on the transatlantic service until 1965 when she was scrapped. On display at Merseyside Maritime Museum The Merseyside Maritime Museum is a museum based in the city of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The city’s seafaring heritage is brought to life within the historic Albert Dock. is a brochure commemorating the 1938 launching ceremony - impressive overhead photographs show the keel taking shape. One is taken from a crane at the bow showing three of the lower decks in the course of construction. ADVERT: Cammell products in a edition of Syren Shipping magazine An intricate mass of timbers served as platforms for the shipyard workers. The other view looks towards the stern on the edge of the River Mersey. A medal commemorating the launch was made from metal recovered from the first Mauretania launched in 1906 and scrapped in 1935. This ship was the sister of the Lusitania sunk by a German U-boat submarine in 1915 with great loss of life. Laird A 1939 advertisement from a popular magazine of the time called Syren and Shipping details Cammell Laird's products including the Mauretania II and the aircraft carrier Ark Royal andS battleship battleship, large, armored warship equipped with the heaviest naval guns. The evolution of the battleship, from the ironclad warship of the mid-19th cent., received great impetus from the Civil War. Prince of Wales Prince of Wales switches places with his double, poor boy Tom Canty. [Am. Lit.: The Prince and the Pauper] See : Doubles among war vessels of every type for British and foreign navies. and Others are passenger and cargo ships, refrigerated tonnage, inter-colonial liners (for travelling to countries in the British Empire), oil tankers, dredgers and tugs. There was also essential marine equipment such as engines and boilers, geared turbines and oil engines. The yard had building slips up to 1,100 ft long, seven graving docks up to 860 ft in length and a 14-acre fitting-out basin. Cranes had 200-ton lifting capacities. Photographs show the Mauretania II being launched and coming down the slipway slip·way n. A sloping surface leading down to the water, on which ships are built or repaired. slipway Noun watched by huge crowds. In August 1939 Mauretania II was switched to the London - New York service and made two Atlantic crossings after war broke out. She was converted into a troopship at Sydney in 1940. During the war she travelled 540,000 miles carrying more than 350,000 troops. With the return of peacetime she sailed mostly on the Southampton - New York route. The arrival of regular transatlantic air travel saw her being used extensively in cruising including a world cruise in 1958. Mauretania II's last sailings were on the New York - Mediterranean service from 1963. She was scrapped at Inverkeithing on the Firth of Forth Noun 1. Firth of Forth - a large firth on the east coast of Scotland and the estuary of the Forth River; location of Edinburgh Scotland - one of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; located on the northern part , Scotland. . Buy the Maritime Tales book (pounds 3.99) at the Merseyside Maritime Museum open seven days a week, admission free, and at bookshops, newsagents and merseyshop.com CAPTION(S): ADVERT: Cammell Laird products in a 1939 edition of Syren and Shipping magazine |
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