Cunard's Royal Mail Ship Lusitania Real Photo Postcard
The S.S. Lusitania, launched in 1906 by the Cunard Line, was a monumental achievement in early 20th-century maritime engineering and luxury. Built by John Brown and Company in Clydebank, Scotland, she was designed to be one of the fastest and largest ocean liners in the world, regularly holding the Blue Riband for the fastest transatlantic crossing between Europe and North America. Her opulent interiors and advanced steam turbine engines symbolized the pinnacle of an era dedicated to grand transatlantic travel and naval innovation.
Operating primarily on the Liverpool to New York route, the Lusitania represented an important link in global transport during a period of intense migration and burgeoning international trade. Her career, however, was tragically cut short on May 7, 1915, when she was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland during World War I. The sinking, resulting in the loss of nearly 1,200 lives, including many Americans, was a significant event that deeply impacted public opinion and contributed to the United States' eventual entry into the war, cementing the Lusitania's place in world history beyond her initial role as a luxury liner.
Operating primarily on the Liverpool to New York route, the Lusitania represented an important link in global transport during a period of intense migration and burgeoning international trade. Her career, however, was tragically cut short on May 7, 1915, when she was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland during World War I. The sinking, resulting in the loss of nearly 1,200 lives, including many Americans, was a significant event that deeply impacted public opinion and contributed to the United States' eventual entry into the war, cementing the Lusitania's place in world history beyond her initial role as a luxury liner.
