Few realize that Cunard, as we know it today, had its beginnings in other than England. Samuel Cunard of Halifax, Nova Scotia, had the idea in 1839 of using his small, 1,154-ton paddle-wheel steamer "Britannia" to carry the royal Mail across the ocean. The Cunards were not of British descent, but rather German, their name having been anglicized from KINDERS by Samuel Cunard's grandfather when he settled in Philadelphia, PA. However, the Cunards were Tory sympathizers, and during the American Revolution, they abandoned Philadelphia in favor of Halifax, where Abraham Cunard was born. Samuel, his son, was born in 1787. After completing his schooling, Samuel went to work in the engineering shop of the Halifax Dockyard. Abraham and Samuel ventured out on their own and formed A. Cunard & Son, a costal shipping company. They had one small ship, the "White Oak," which plied the St. Lawrence River between Halifax and Quebec. The company prospered and extended its routes to bo! th Bermuda and Boston. By 1820, when the senior Cunard retired, their fleet numbered 40, and the foundation of the Cunard empire was well established. On 4th July, 1840, Cunard's "Britannia" set off from Liverpool bound for Halifax and then Boston, making the start of the first regularly scheduled transatlantic steam service. "Britannia" carried 4 foot long canvas bags in her holds filled with Royal Mail. Her sister ships, "Acadia," "Caledonia" and "Columbia" followed later, ensuring fortnightly departures (monthly during winter) from Liverpool to North America. In 1848, Cunard moved to England with his family in order to better oversee his successful operations. More important, he realized that the company's sail-assisted, paddle-wheel coastal steamers were ill-fitted to the rough North Atlantic, and he set about building more seaworthy vessels. In 1852, he introduced his first iron-hylled, screw-driven vessels, the "Andes" and the "Alps," to his fleet. They were the first to have limited quarters for emigrants. Four years later, the "Persia, the largest ship in the world at that time, was built and put on the run. In 1867, the "Russia" entered service, her large screw propelling her across the Atlantic at an unheard-of 13 knots. With so many advances in technology, transatlantic speed records were broken with the introduction of each new ship. But during the company's initial 35 years of service, Cunard boasted that it had "lost not a passenger's life or a piece of mail." From the start, Cunard concentrated on safety and r! eliability. Commenting on the caliber of the Cunard officers and their training, Mark Twain said: "The Cunard people would not take Noah himself until they had worked him up through all the lower grades and tried him ten years." Passenger amenities were also important, such as fresh milk, which was obtained daily from supply ships called "seagoing cows." Cunard had to overcome the public's centuries-old disdain for sea-travel. The "Servia, built in 1881, was the first Cunard ship to be fitted with electricity. "Umbria," the largest and fastest liner of her time, sailed in 1884,; she was the first liner to have mechanical refrigeration. With the turn of the century, other new technologies were developed. "Campania" became the first of the company's vessels to be equipped with a Marconi wireless and operator. Steam turbines ushered in an entirely new era in steam propulsion. The year 1907 saw the dawn of the modern era for Cunard with the launching of the "Lusitania " and the "Mauretania." For 22 years "Mauretania" held the "Blue Ribbon," indicative of the transatlantic speed record. These two sister ships were the largest and fastest afloat. While Cunard's ships were setting speed records, their competitor's White Star Line's "Titanic" and "Olympic set new standards for luxury, and were even bigger than the Cunard ships. The competition between these two companies and their ships were both tragic and ironic. Cunard's "Lusitania" was torpedoed and sunk during WWI. As bad as this blow was to Cunard, White Star's ships met an even more drastic fate. "Titanic," built in Ireland, struck an iceberg and sank on her first voyage, and her sister ship, "Britannic," the third ship of the class, was also sunk during the war, having never made a commercial cruise. The financial blow was one from which White Star never recovered, and in 1934, the company merged with its former competitor, Cunard. During the First World War, "Aquitania," the largest of Cunard's ships, and other luxurious express liners carried more than one million troops and ten million tons of cargo before signing of the Armistice. "Carmania," convert! ed into an armed merchant cruiser in the service of the Crown, made headlines by sinking the German liner "Cap Trafalgar." In all, Cunard lost 22 ships during the war. Other notable Cunard ships through the years included the "Umbria," "Etruria," "Lucania,"" Caronia," a captured German liner "Imperator" which was renamed the "Berengaria," and more recently, the "Queen Mary," and "Queen Elizabeth." Samuel Cunard was made a baronet for services in the Cunard lines rendered to Great Britain in the Crimean War. -- Excerpts, "British Heritage" magazine, Aug-Sept. 1990