Mauretania, Further Reading

Mauretania in this painting is making her maiden departure from Liverpool bound for New York and a few prints are still available.

Mauritania, Maiden Departure and prints are available.

Mauretania in 1907 is a revolutionary ship for her time.

Mauretania is making her maiden departure and on her way to becoming one of the Cunard Line’s most successful ships.

at 20.30 hours on the 16th of November 1907, based upon eye witness accounts.

Mauritania In Print :

A very few copies available of the print are still available, signed numbered print, £187 inc P&P.

Prints are available 

https://www.frickers.co.uk/art/new-marine-print-gallery/

Mauretania was the world’s largest ship until the completion of RMS Olympic in 1911, sister to the ill fated ‘Titanic‘.

Mauretania was built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson on the Tyneside, 1906.

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Mauretania and this painting introduced.

A blaze of electric lights” wrote eye witnesses at a time when electric lighting was still for many people, a novelty.

Mauretania’s cargo included gold bullion for the U.S.A.

In this painting and based upon those eye witness accounts this new ship Mauretania is making her maiden departure from Liverpool at 20.30 hours on the 16th of November 1907.

This painting started life as a commission from a gentleman who wrote “I collect liner paintings, I’d like to have a Gordon Frickers in my collection“.

By telephone we explored possible ideas for a new painting.

We decided I would  paint the Famous Mauretania as a new ship in part because pictures of Mauretania ‘as new’ are rare and in part because as new she is a very revolutionary ship.
From our ensuing discussion I created two ‘concept sketches’

Mauretania, Liverpool
Mauretania, concept sketch 1

I still have my research notes and my copy of ‘Mauretania, Engineering’.

As a part of my diligent research into Mauretania and her story I dived deep into the archives at Liverpool.
In this I was much encouraged by the late editor of ‘Sea Breezes‘, Harry Milsom whom I had the great pleasure of meeting in his office in Liverpool.
Liverpool
Mauretania, concept sketch 2,
My client and I discussed my findings and we chose to shown the Cunard Mauretania based upon this second concept sketch.
We settled for a title upon “Mauretania, Maiden Departure”.

A blaze of electric lights

This is how Mauretania is described at that time when electricity was the ‘coming thing’.
Cunard ship paintings
Mauretania and an electrifying detail.

All the small craft in this painting existed and are known to have been present on that grand occasion and actually did accompany the Cunard giant liner Mauretania to sea on the night of her maiden departure from Liverpool.

My next detail shows the brand new tug with an English ‘royal’ name, ‘Alfred’, and a Liverpool, “ferry cross the Mersey“, the ‘Rose’, the latter crowded with eager spectators.

Cunard ship paintings
Mauretania a detail from the painting.

In this next detail we have Pilot Boat number 3 known to have accompanied the Mauretania.

While the tug Alfred was brand new, this pilot boat, equipped with sails as well as an engine was making one of her last excursions.

A year later she was retired and scrapped.

Cunard ship paintings
Mauretania and her pilot boat, a detail
I’ve only painted Mauretania twice, Maiden Departure the first being for the above mentioned collector, a  gentleman who collects liner paintings and specifically wanted and example of a ‘Gordon Frickers’.
Plymouth paintings
Mauretania and Plymouth Sound

This other painting long since sold shows Mauretania in one of her regular ports of call, and for 25 years my home port, Plymouth, Devon.

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Mauretania an introduction to a great and gallant ship.

Mauretania had a long and successful life and the Mauretania became a favourite among her passengers.
Mauretania was  LOA 240 m, designed speed 24 knots, that is 44 km/h; 28 mph.
Mauretania entered Cunard Line service 16 November 1907 about a year after her sister ship Lusitania.

Mauretania remains one of Cunard’s most successful liners, the RMS Mauretania provided transatlantic service for over 28 years, many of them holding the record for the fastest transatlantic crossing, the coveted Blue Riband.

Mauretania remains the fastest liner in the world for over 22 years, a records still unbroken.

While other ships quickly surpassed the Mauretania in size her speed remains legendary.

Mauretania’s steam turbines sent power to four large propellers so this ship was fast.

She was soon found herself smaller than her later contemporaries however this ship could out-run any merchant ship and she held the coveted ‘Blue Ribband of the Atlantic’ until the German SS Bremen surpassed the Mauretania in 1929.

Mauretania at the time of her launching was the world’s largest ship being marginally longer and heavier than her ill fated sister RMS Lusitania.

That is until the completion for the rival company, the White Star Line of RMS Olympic in 1911, sister to the ill fated ‘Titanic‘.

Less obvious is Mauretania and her one year older sister RMS Lusitania were advanced ships for many reasons including setting a new higher standard of sea going luxury.
Further, the Cunard Line encouraged by The Admiralty gambled and fitted Lusitania and Mauretania with what were by far the largest versions to date of a revolutionary [in more than one sense] engines, the Parson’s Steam Turbine.
Parson developed his marine engines using the 100 foot long Turbinia.
This vessel is currently located at the Discovery Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England , while her original powerplant is located in the Science Museum of London.
As things turned out, from the day Mauretania made her maiden departure, such was her success that the earlier steam reciprocating engines were made obsolete.
The Admiralty also had the twins fitted for possible conversion as AMC’s, fast Armed Merchant Cruisers.
During World War 1 passenger voyages soon proved uneconomic so Mauretania was laid up later to become a troop ship complete with a full Dazzle camouflage courtesy of a Royal Navy department headed by the distinguished painter Norman Wilkinson who’s clever innovation  Dazzle camouflage was.
There is a story of a WW1 guard boat challenging the Mauretania with “what ship are you?” and getting the reply “how many four funnel ocean liners do you think there are?”

Mauretania and her last years.

A successful post war career followed with the ship eventually being painted white and used as a cruise ship.

Into the 1930’s and the Mauretania was showing her age.

In May 1935 the now old lady was honourably retired and made a final voyage past her Tyneside shipyard bound for a breakers yard in Rosyth.

Many of the furnishings found on board have been saved so can still be seen to this day.

RMS Mauretania provided a fast transatlantic service for over 28 years including her  holding the record for the fastest transatlantic crossing, the coveted ‘Blue Riband’, for a still unbroken record of 22 years.

Mauretania was built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson on the Tyneside, designed by Leonard Peskett for the British Cunard Line.
Mauretania was launched on the afternoon of 20 September 1906.

As was Cunard’s custom at that time, the ship’s name was taken from Mauretania, an ancient Roman province on the North West coast of Africa and not to be confused with modern Mauritania.

This ship was so successful, so popular, so esteemed and loved that Cunard Line went on to give her name to a subsequent grand liner but that is another story…

About Mauretania‘ sister.

Both ships carried a usual crew of approximately 802 and their usual route was Southampton to Cobh called Queen’s Town at that time, thence from southern Ireland on to New York City.
They sometimes called at Liverpool and at Plymouth.
Mauretania’s sister Lusitania made 202 crossing before she sunk was without warning, 

torpedoed by U 20 off the Old Head of Kinsale, Southern Ireland.

Lusitania was officially a non-military ship which the Germans and pro German  Americans dispute to this day.

Beyond dispute are 128 American citizens among the dead.

The sinking caused a storm of protest in the United States and certainly caused a shift of public opinion in the United States against Germany.

A celebrity guest

during the 1990’s, I sailed on the Cunard Line ‘Queen Elizabeth 2’ as a celebrity guest, giving a talk and demonstrating marine painting.

Onboard I saw QE 2  had a beautiful restaurant named after Mauretania which included a large very detailed model of the famous old lady. I wonder what happened to that splendid model?

I never ate in that restaurant. I had to dine as a celebrity guest in the ‘Queen’s Grill’, the poshest restaurant on the ship, happy days.

More pertinent, I still have a very few prints of ‘Mauretania Maiden Departure’ available in part because I never found who was responsible for the QE 2’s onboard shops.

A pity as those shops sometimes sold out for example during QE2’s first call at Japan.

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