His liners, of dimensions always increasing, served not only America but Australia as well, from 1883, and then South Africa.
The Oceanic launched in 1899, was soon followed by a vaster ship still, the Celtic (1901), which was, in fact, put in service after the death of his owner. The Republic (1903), le Cedric (1903), le Baltic (1904), l'Adriatic (1907), le Megantic, et le Laurentic came then while being at it. The escalation of the gigantic size was only beginning !

Acquired in 1900 by Morgan Combine, the O.S.N.C. (still called W.S.L.) became part of the International Mercantile Marine Company. Its owner, the American financier J. Pierpont MORGAN, had built a vast empire on steel and by 1893 had taken an interest in trade on the Atlantic. In addition to the W.S.L., he had bought Leyland and then the Atlantic Transport Line and had concluded a cooperation agreement with the two major German companies, Hamburg-Amerika and Norddeutscher Lloyd.

American capital and the high technical quality of the large Irish shipyards, the only suppliers of the W.S.L., allowed the new company to decide immediately on the construction of two giant ships, the Olympic and its twin with tragic destiny, the Titanic. The flag and crews remained British.

The great old days of the regular shuttle to the Atlantic was about to begin. The Olympic, launched in 1911, was hailed by the press as the “miracle ship of the universe” that it was not far from deserving of. A year later, the Titanic sailed, and as everyone knows, sank after hitting an iceberg.

Among the survivors was Joseph Bruce ISMAY, general manager of W.S.L. and son of the founder. He never recovered from the consequences of the disaster and resigned within a year before retiring from public life.

But the bad luck would continue to plague the W.S.L.. After the Britannic disappeared in 1916, a series of financial disasters struck the company. It was too much for his American sponsor... As early as 1927, J. P. MORGAN decided to give up his shareholdings and the company thus recovered its British nationality.

Among other projects, it was forced to forego the acquisition of a magnificent 60,000-tonne steamer that should have included nothing less than three funnels and twenty-four diesel engines, each operating a generator and four propellers coupled.
The great crisis of the thirties was to bring the last blow to the wreck of the W.S.L. which was already sinking. The potential market narrowed considerably, passengers became scarcer, and by 1933 it had only four ships serving New York. There was only one left to rally Canada. It was the end... Yielding to the urging of the British government, the W.S.L. then merged with Cunard.

The new shipping company resulting from this merger was officially established on 1 January 1934 as Cunard White Star Line Ltd. It was immediately decided to dispose of most of the former W.S.L.’s vessels. The realized capital was going to allow the owners of the new company to focus their efforts on the launch of ships of a new type. They were the Queen Mary, inaugurated in 1936, and the Queen Elizabeth, which was almost to coincide with the centennial of Cunard.

Britain’s entry into the war cancelled the Queen Elizabeth’s maiden voyage and it was not until 1947 that Cunard’s dream was realized. For the first time ever, two 80,000-tonne passenger ships served the weekly transatlantic service between Southampton and New York. The profits made in the early post-war period enabled the company to repay in full the loans granted to it by the state for the construction of the two giants.

But the 1950s, when, as we know, air transport dominated the Atlantic, were to mark the end of the golden age of the great liners. One by one, the Cunard ships were withdrawn from service. There remains today the Queen Elizabeth 2, which, having entered service in 1969, was one of the greatest steamers of its time behind France (1961) then world champion !

In 1971 Cunard itself was bought by a financial company, Trafalgar House, which gave it new life. Its activity today is mainly focused on the transport of goods, and its liners serve mainly for cruises. The Queen Elizabeth 2 and the Queen Mary 2 (now the world’s largest liner) now provide transatlantic service, maintaining the old Cunard tradition.

W.S.L.'s logo	Offices in London	Offices	In Liverpool	advertising poster

Sources :

• Drowings of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth by Colin ASHFORD.