uses see cunard disambiguation . british and north american royal mail steam packet company redirects here . for the different royal mail steam packet company later royal mail lines see royal mail steam packet company . cunard line type subsidiary of carnival corporation & plc industry shipping transportation founded 1840 as the british and north american royal mail steam packet company headquarters carnival house southampton united kingdom area served trans atlantic mediterranean northern europe caribbean and world cruises . key people david dingle ceo and richard meadows president parent carnival corporation & plc website cunard.com sir samuel cunard 1st bt . cunard line is an anglo american cruise line based at carnival house at southampton england operated by carnival uk and owned by carnival corporation & plc. 1 it has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the north atlantic celebrating 175 years of operation in 2015 . in 1839 nova scotian samuel cunard was awarded the first british trans atlantic steamship mail contract and the next year formed the british and north american royal mail steam packet company together with robert napier the famous scottish steamship engine designer and builder to operate the line s four pioneer paddle steamers on the liverpool halifax boston route . for most of the next 30 years cunard held the blue riband for the fastest atlantic voyage . however in the 1870s cunard fell behind its rivals the white star line and the inman line . to meet this competition in 1879 the firm was reorganized as cunard steamship company ltd to raise capital . 2 in 1902 white star joined the american owned international mercantile marine co. and the british government provided cunard with substantial loans and a subsidy to build two superliners needed to retain its competitive position . mauretania held the blue riband from 1909 to 1929 . the sinking of her running mate lusitania in 1915 was one of the causes of the united states entering the first world war . in the late 1920s cunard faced new competition when the germans italians and french built large prestige liners . cunard was forced to suspend construction on its own new superliner because of the great depression . in 1934 the british government offered cunard loans to finish queen mary and to build a second ship queen elizabeth on the condition that cunard merged with the then ailing white star line to form cunard white star ltd. cunard owned two thirds of the new company . cunard purchased white star s share in 1947 ; the name reverted to the cunard line in 1950 . 2 upon the end of world war ii cunard regained its position as the largest atlantic passenger line . by the mid 1950s it operated 12 ships to the united states and canada . after 1958 trans atlantic passenger ships became increasingly unprofitable because of the introduction of jet airliners . cunard withdrew from its year round service in 1968 to concentrate on cruising and summer transatlantic voyages for vacationers . the queens were replaced by queen elizabeth 2 qe2 which was designed for the dual role . 3 in 1998 cunard was acquired by the carnival corporation and accounted for 8.7 % of that company s revenue in 2012 . 4 five years later qe2 was replaced on the transatlantic runs by queen mary 2 qm2 . the line also operates queen victoria qv and queen elizabeth qe . at the moment cunard is the only shipping company to operate a scheduled passenger service between europe and north america . contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1840 1850 1.2 new competition 1850 1879 1.3 cunard steamship company ltd 1879 1934 1.4 cunard white star ltd 1934 1949 1.5 trafalgar house years 1971 1998 1.6 carnival from 1998 2 fleet 2.1 1840 1850 2.2 1850 1879 2.3 1879 1934 2.4 1934 1971 2.5 1971 1998 2.6 1998 current 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit early years 1840 1850 edit britannia of 1840 1150 grt the first cunard liner built for the transatlantic service . the british government started operating monthly mail brigs from falmouth cornwall to new york in 1756 . these ships carried few non governmental passengers and no cargo . in 1818 the black ball line opened a regularly scheduled new york liverpool service with clipper ships beginning an era when american sailing packets dominated the north atlantic saloon passenger trade that lasted until the introduction of steamships . 2 a committee of parliament decided in 1836 that to become more competitive the mail packets operated by the post office should be replaced by private shipping companies . the admiralty assumed responsibility for managing the contracts . 5 famed arctic explorer admiral sir william edward parry was appointed as comptroller of steam machinery and packet service in april 1837 . 6 nova scotians led by their young assembly speaker joseph howe lobbied for steam service to halifax . on his arrival in london in may 1838 howe discussed the enterprise with fellow nova scotian samuel cunard 1787 1865 a shipowner who was also visiting london on business . 7 cunard and howe were associates and howe also owed cunard 300 . 8 24 360 in 2015 9 cunard returned to halifax to raise capital and howe continued to lobby the british government . 7 the rebellions of 1837 were ongoing and london realized that the proposed halifax service was also important for the military . 10 that november parry released a tender for north atlantic monthly mail service to halifax beginning in april 1839 using steamships with 300 horsepower . 10 the great western steamship company which had opened its pioneer bristol new york service earlier that year bid 45 000 for a monthly bristol halifax new york service using three ships of 450 horsepower . while british american the other pioneer transatlantic steamship company did not submit a tender 11 the st. george steam packet company owner of sirius bid 45 000 for a monthly cork halifax service 12 and 65 000 for a monthly cork halifax new york service . the admiralty rejected both tenders because neither bid offered to begin services early enough . 13 cunard who was back in halifax unfortunately did not know of the tender until after the deadline . 11 he returned to london and started negotiations with admiral parry who was cunard s good friend from when parry was a young officer stationed in halifax 20 years earlier . cunard offered parry a fortnightly service beginning in may 1840 . while cunard did not then own a steamship he had been an investor in an earlier steamship venture royal william and owned coal mines in nova scotia . 7 cunard s major backer was robert napier who was the royal navy s supplier of steam engines . 11 he also had the strong backing of nova scotian political leaders at the time when london needed to rebuild support in british north america after the rebellion . 10 europa of 1848 1850 grt . this is one of the earliest known photos of an atlantic steamship over great western s protests 14 in may 1839 parry accepted cunard s tender of 55 000 for a three ship liverpool halifax service with an extension to boston and a supplementary service to montreal . 7 the annual subsidy was later raised 81 000 to add a fourth ship 15 and departures from liverpool were to be monthly during the winter and fortnightly for the rest of the year . 2 parliament investigated great western s complaints and upheld the admiralty s decision . 13 napier and cunard recruited other investors including businessmen james donaldson sir george burns and david maciver . in may 1840 just before the first ship was ready they formed the british and north american royal mail steam packet company with initial capital of 270 000 later increased to 300 000 . 24 428 873 in 2015 9 cunard supplied 55 000 . 7 burns supervised ship construction mciver was responsible for day to day operations and cunard was the first among equals in the management structure . when maciver died in 1845 his younger brother charles assumed his responsibilities for the next 35 years . 11 for more detail of the first investors in the cunard line and also the early life of charles maciver see liverpool nautical research society s second merseyside maritime history pp. 33 37 1991 . in may 1840 the coastal paddle steamer unicorn made the company s first voyage to halifax 16 to begin the supplementary service to montreal . two months later the first of the four ocean going steamers of the britannia class departed liverpool . by coincidence the steamer s departure had patriotic significance on both sides of the atlantic she was named the britannia and sailed on july 4 . 17 even on her maiden voyage however her performance indicated that the new era she heralded would be much more beneficial for britain than the us . at a time when the typical packet ship might take several weeks to cross the atlantic the britannia reached halifax in 12 days and 10 hours averaging 8.5 knots 15.7 km h before proceeding to boston . such relatively brisk crossings quickly became the norm for the cunard line during 1840 41 mean liverpool halifax times for the quartet were 13 days 6 hours to halifax and 11 days 4 hours homeward . two larger ships were quickly ordered one to replace the columbia which sank at seal island nova scotia in 1843 without loss of life . by 1845 steamship lines led by cunard carried more saloon passengers than the sailing packets . 2 three years later the british government increased the annual subsidy to 156 000 so that cunard could double its frequency . 15 four additional wooden paddlers were ordered and alternate sailings were direct to new york instead of the halifax boston route . the sailing packet lines were now reduced to the immigrant trade . 2 from the beginning cunard s ships used the line s distinctive red funnel with two or three narrow black bands and black top . it appears that robert napier was responsible for this feature . his shipyard in glasgow used this combination previously in 1830 on thomas assheton smith s private steam yacht menai . the renovation of her model by glasgow museum of transport revealed that she had vermilion funnels with black bands and black top . 18 cunard s reputation for safety was one of the significant factors in the firm s early success . 3 both the first two transatlantic lines failed after major accidents . british and american collapsed after the president foundered in a gale and great western after great britain stranded because of a navigation error . 2 cunard s orders to his masters were your ship is loaded take her ; speed is nothing follow your own road deliver her safe bring her back safe safety is all that is required . 3 in particular charles maciver s constant inspections were responsible for the firm s safety discipline . 11 new competition 1850 1879 edit cunard line from new york to liverpool from 1875 in 1850 the american collins line and the british inman line started new atlantic steamship services . the american government supplied collins with a large annual subsidy to operate four wooden paddlers that were superior to cunard s best 15 as they demonstrated with three blue riband winning voyages between 1850 and 1854 . 17 meanwhile inman showed that iron hulled screw propelled steamers of modest speed could be profitable without subsidy . inman also became the first steamship line to carry steerage passengers . both of the newcomers suffered major disasters in 1854 . 2 17 the next year cunard put pressure on collins by commissioning its first iron hulled