75th Anniversary of the R.M.S. Mauretania (2010)
By Eric K. Longo
Today, July 8, marked 75 years since the last public inspection of the Mauretania. The following lengthy excerpts, quite possibly my last post, is a gift taken from my manuscript Old Lady of the Atlantic. I have posted it here for your enjoyment - all of you. This material is under copyright. Pardon any spelling errors etc. - the unedited book (excerpted below), written for the now defunct Tempus/NPI Group and assigned ISBN-10: 0752438999 & ISBN-13: 978-0752438993, was deliberately scrapped by me in 2007 because of a contract dispute involving permanent rights to use my images without recompense or notice. I know the writing is pretty poor - apologies - I was much younger then and this is unedited and raw. I know some of you have seen some of this before. This work (and another 25,000 words or so), and much more including diagrams, color dazzle schemes, maps and access to all my photographs will appear in a project currently under construction. Oh - "I hope ya enjoy it..."
Farewell to Southampton, Passing Tyneside and the Final Voyage North
At nightfall on Sunday, July 1, 1935, the Mauretania departed Southampton's Western Dock for the last time, beginning the 488-mile journey north to Rosyth, Scotland. Captain A. T. Brown commanded the Mauretania on this final voyage with a skeleton crew and a very few passengers. Her masts had been cut down in the days before to enable her to pass under the Firth of Forth Railway Bridge, another technological wonder which spans the 1-1/2 miles between North and South Queensferry and is situated within sight of the ship-breaking yard. To mark the Mauretania's passing, excursions were run to various points along the East Coast where the ship could be seen for the last time. Her final destination, the Rosyth Naval Base and Dockyard, is located on the southern coast of Scotland in Fife, west of Inverkeithing. Chosen by the Admiralty for the location of a Naval Base in 1903, construction on the base began in 1909 with the engineering firm of Easton, Gibb & Son. The H.M.S. Zealandia, a King Edward VII class battle cruiser, was the first ship repaired in March of 1916 at No. 1 Drydock (the final destination for the Mauretania). Interestingly, the Mauretania underwent her official speed trials just 50 miles from Rosyth in November 1907.
The Daily Mirror had placed a reporter, David Walker, aboard for this voyage up north to relay and record his observations. On July 2, he reported the events of the day before: "On Board the Mauretania, Monday Night - Unobtrusively, as if she wanted to slip away unnoticed, the Mauretania has just left Southampton on her last voyage. In the semi-darkness she looks grey, like a ghost. But this grand old lady was not allowed to leave in silence, for just as she left the dockside a band on shore struck up Auld Long Syne. Across the water the strains of that grand song floated to those of us who were on board. We heard hundreds of voices gradually joining in, notes swelling and increasing in volume. Then, in the ship herself, mens voices took it up - the voices of men who had served in her for ten or twenty years, and had learned to love her as a personal friend. On the quayside when the liner sailed was Sir Arthur Rostron, who commanded the Mauretania for eight years . He would not come with her on this last voyage or even board her to look at her stripped desolation. "I prefer," he said, "to remember her as she was in her best days."
Farewell to Southampton, Passing Tyneside and the Final Voyage North
At nightfall on Sunday, July 1, 1935, the Mauretania departed Southampton's Western Dock for the last time, beginning the 488-mile journey north to Rosyth, Scotland. Captain A. T. Brown commanded the Mauretania on this final voyage with a skeleton crew and a very few passengers. Her masts had been cut down in the days before to enable her to pass under the Firth of Forth Railway Bridge, another technological wonder which spans the 1-1/2 miles between North and South Queensferry and is situated within sight of the ship-breaking yard. To mark the Mauretania's passing, excursions were run to various points along the East Coast where the ship could be seen for the last time. Her final destination, the Rosyth Naval Base and Dockyard, is located on the southern coast of Scotland in Fife, west of Inverkeithing. Chosen by the Admiralty for the location of a Naval Base in 1903, construction on the base began in 1909 with the engineering firm of Easton, Gibb & Son. The H.M.S. Zealandia, a King Edward VII class battle cruiser, was the first ship repaired in March of 1916 at No. 1 Drydock (the final destination for the Mauretania). Interestingly, the Mauretania underwent her official speed trials just 50 miles from Rosyth in November 1907.
The Daily Mirror had placed a reporter, David Walker, aboard for this voyage up north to relay and record his observations. On July 2, he reported the events of the day before: "On Board the Mauretania, Monday Night - Unobtrusively, as if she wanted to slip away unnoticed, the Mauretania has just left Southampton on her last voyage. In the semi-darkness she looks grey, like a ghost. But this grand old lady was not allowed to leave in silence, for just as she left the dockside a band on shore struck up Auld Long Syne. Across the water the strains of that grand song floated to those of us who were on board. We heard hundreds of voices gradually joining in, notes swelling and increasing in volume. Then, in the ship herself, mens voices took it up - the voices of men who had served in her for ten or twenty years, and had learned to love her as a personal friend. On the quayside when the liner sailed was Sir Arthur Rostron, who commanded the Mauretania for eight years . He would not come with her on this last voyage or even board her to look at her stripped desolation. "I prefer," he said, "to remember her as she was in her best days."
Above - The Mauretania departing Southampton for the last time - nightfall, July 1, 1935
(Digital Photo File © 2012 Eric K. Longo)
(Digital Photo File © 2012 Eric K. Longo)
American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt long admired the Mauretania and mourned her passage into history, donating his entire collection to the Smithsonian on July 2 during her final voyage. His personal collection included a large model, over one hundred photographs of the vessel and a brass oil lamp from her "main lobby." Bob Blake, American Head of Cunard, presented the model, crudely repainted white with green antifouling paint while retaining 3 bladed props, to Roosevelt. Once displayed aboard the Queen Mary, this model is now back in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. Roosevelt wrote that he "...found it hard on July 2, 1935 when we read that the MAURETANIA was on her way to the ship-breakers to be turned into shot and shell for the next war..." This is unsubstantiated and almost certainly untrue (see Chapter 10 Aftermath: The Lady in Death for further information regarding the final disposition of her metal).
"The Mauretania could not have had a grander or more suitable farewell", Walker continued, "for, more than any other ship, she has inspired personal affection in all who have known her. It was as well also that she left Southampton under cover of darkness, for she has been stripped of all her glory, and those who knew her as a queen would have been sad to have seen her as a skeleton. Rust is everywhere - piles of rubbish lie in the corners. Going over her is like wandering through a burned-out mansion. She is still flying the old Cunard flag, a golden lion on a red background . In the darkness she might still be England's greatest and fastest ship, and the sirens sounding for her might be England's welcome for yet another record breaker." Even in this dilapidated condition, her mere presence was apparently still formidable.
At 10 P.M. on the evening of Monday, July 2, the Mauretania passed the coast off Scarborough. On Tuesday, July 3, Walker radioed: "Somewhere in the North Sea - All the passengers on board use the First-Class Saloon as it is the only habitable public room left . One half is our dining-room and the other half our lounge. We are proceeding up the East Coast, just within sight of land, at a sedate 15 to 18 knots . Pathetic notes still directing passengers to golf practice nets and tennis courts have caused a slight outbreak of energy. We have unearthed quoits and are manufacturing shuffleboards. Otherwise the ship is as silent and deserted as the grave. I have just received from the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Newcastle the following message for the Mauretania: 'You have done your work well both in commercial and war service, making maritime history. You will pass your birthplace tomorrow, and our last fond message to you is Farewell, Mauretania.' When I showed this to Captain Brown, he was obviously delighted and told me he would send a reply tomorrow which would include a message to all Tyneside."
"The Mauretania could not have had a grander or more suitable farewell", Walker continued, "for, more than any other ship, she has inspired personal affection in all who have known her. It was as well also that she left Southampton under cover of darkness, for she has been stripped of all her glory, and those who knew her as a queen would have been sad to have seen her as a skeleton. Rust is everywhere - piles of rubbish lie in the corners. Going over her is like wandering through a burned-out mansion. She is still flying the old Cunard flag, a golden lion on a red background . In the darkness she might still be England's greatest and fastest ship, and the sirens sounding for her might be England's welcome for yet another record breaker." Even in this dilapidated condition, her mere presence was apparently still formidable.
At 10 P.M. on the evening of Monday, July 2, the Mauretania passed the coast off Scarborough. On Tuesday, July 3, Walker radioed: "Somewhere in the North Sea - All the passengers on board use the First-Class Saloon as it is the only habitable public room left . One half is our dining-room and the other half our lounge. We are proceeding up the East Coast, just within sight of land, at a sedate 15 to 18 knots . Pathetic notes still directing passengers to golf practice nets and tennis courts have caused a slight outbreak of energy. We have unearthed quoits and are manufacturing shuffleboards. Otherwise the ship is as silent and deserted as the grave. I have just received from the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Newcastle the following message for the Mauretania: 'You have done your work well both in commercial and war service, making maritime history. You will pass your birthplace tomorrow, and our last fond message to you is Farewell, Mauretania.' When I showed this to Captain Brown, he was obviously delighted and told me he would send a reply tomorrow which would include a message to all Tyneside."
Above - The Mauretania passing Scarborough - 10 pm, July 2, 1935
(Digital Photo File © 2012 Eric K. Longo)
(Digital Photo File © 2012 Eric K. Longo)
Among the passengers on this final voyage was a couple that had spent their honeymoon on the maiden voyage in November of 1907; they had returned now some 28 years later to pay their personal respects to the liner. Walker reported: "It was from the Tyne that she came triumphantly to answer Germany's North Atlantic challenge nearly 30 years ago. In brilliant sunshine aeroplanes zoomed around her like flies, and as we gradually left smaller boats behind, we could just hear the sounds of hundreds of voices singing Auld Lang Syne. All the way north ships of every kind - even sailing vessels - have saluted the old lady." At 10 A.M. the following morning, July 3, the Mauretania stopped for a short time at Tyneside, the place of her birth. With horns blaring, she fired rockets from her bridge in a last gesture. She then signaled a final, simple and poignant message to the town and men who built her so many years before, "Goodbye, Tyneside. This is my last radio. Closing down forever, Mauretania."
Above - The Mauretania bidding farewell to the town that built her - 10 am, July 3, 1935
(Digital Photo File © 2012 Eric K. Longo)
(Digital Photo File © 2012 Eric K. Longo)
Arrival at Rosyth, No. 1 Drydock and the Public Inspection
On Wednesday, July 4, Walker broadcast: "Here we are in the Firth at last. The Mauretania's last journey is nearly over. Darkness is falling and clouds hang low over the Pentlands. After this message has been sent the small wireless cabin on the top deck will be dismantled and the batteries removed. The Mauretania has received and sent her last message. Some time after midnight the gallant old lady will steal silently up the Forth. She might have gone up in daylight and received a final ovation, but she has chosen to glide up unnoticed under cover of darkness, and dawn will find her docking at Rosyth. At 5 A.M. the last words will be written in her log and her story will come to an end." Renowned maritime artist Charles Pears, R.O. I., appointed official war artist to the Admiralty in World War One by Lord Beaverbrook and later first president of the Society of Naval Artists, captured this event in oil (although he altered the weather completely - she arrived in a mournful, cloudy half-gale). He produced a magnificent painting of brilliant morning light on water, and perhaps the most famous image of her on canvas, The Mauretania Arriving at Rosyth July 4th, 1935. This image was used on menus during Queen Mary's (1936) first voyages, including her July 4th menus (the first anniversary of Mauretania's arrival at Rosyth). This large canvas originally hung aboard Queen Mary at the aft end of the Tourist Class Smoking Room, above an electric fireplace and opposite an extraordinary magnetized animated map of the North Atlantic, which registered the ship's progress across the ocean as the voyage continued. The painting is still aboard Queen Mary; it now hangs in the Promenade Deck Gallery (among the "new" areas created during the 1968-71 conversion).
On Wednesday, July 4, Walker broadcast: "Here we are in the Firth at last. The Mauretania's last journey is nearly over. Darkness is falling and clouds hang low over the Pentlands. After this message has been sent the small wireless cabin on the top deck will be dismantled and the batteries removed. The Mauretania has received and sent her last message. Some time after midnight the gallant old lady will steal silently up the Forth. She might have gone up in daylight and received a final ovation, but she has chosen to glide up unnoticed under cover of darkness, and dawn will find her docking at Rosyth. At 5 A.M. the last words will be written in her log and her story will come to an end." Renowned maritime artist Charles Pears, R.O. I., appointed official war artist to the Admiralty in World War One by Lord Beaverbrook and later first president of the Society of Naval Artists, captured this event in oil (although he altered the weather completely - she arrived in a mournful, cloudy half-gale). He produced a magnificent painting of brilliant morning light on water, and perhaps the most famous image of her on canvas, The Mauretania Arriving at Rosyth July 4th, 1935. This image was used on menus during Queen Mary's (1936) first voyages, including her July 4th menus (the first anniversary of Mauretania's arrival at Rosyth). This large canvas originally hung aboard Queen Mary at the aft end of the Tourist Class Smoking Room, above an electric fireplace and opposite an extraordinary magnetized animated map of the North Atlantic, which registered the ship's progress across the ocean as the voyage continued. The painting is still aboard Queen Mary; it now hangs in the Promenade Deck Gallery (among the "new" areas created during the 1968-71 conversion).
Above - Having just passed beneath the Firth of Forth railway Bridge (designed by T. Arrol of the Great Gantry), the Mauretania prepares to make her final turn under Pilot Captain Whince - about 5:30 am, July 4, 1935
(Digital Photo File © 2012 Eric K. Longo)
(Digital Photo File © 2012 Eric K. Longo)
Pilot Captain Whince was the Mauretania's pilot for this last distance when she made her final starboard turn towards the Entrance Lock of the Metal Industries Rosyth Dockyard. At about 6 A.M. in the Lock to the Main Basin (between Lock and Selkirk Road) under dreary leaden skies and with a half-gale blowing, a solitary piper played the lament Flowers of the Forest, composed for the Scots killed at the Battle of Flodden Field and traditionally played at funerals. There had been another tribute at sea the day before - on her way up to Rosyth she was hailed by a small outward-bound tramp ship "...goodbye old lady, it's a damn shame." Mauretania crossed Great Michael Road, entered he basin and then was finally eased into the Main Basin and then No. 1 Drydock. Soon after mooring on July 4, the 22-foot Blue Riband which proudly proclaimed the years she first held and finally lost the record '1907-1929' was lowered, having been flown on her voyage up the coast. Fuel oil, one of the difficulties encountered by ship-breakers, had to be reduced to a minimum in vessels arriving at the yards. So well did the engineering staff of Mauretania carry out their instructions that she arrived at Rosyth with only fifteen tons of fuel in her bunkers, sufficient to power her electric lighting system for a matter of hours. When her great engines were silenced for the last time it was said in the yards that a "...final shudder..." shook the liner throughout.
David Walker commented poignantly on the final docking: "The Mauretania went to her grave today. A piper's lament was her funeral march. Kilted, the solitary piper played as the liner edged her way to the dockside at Rosyth where she will be broken up. As the notes died away across the Firth of Forth, the engines that were the pride of Britain's craftsmen stopped forever. For a week, the 'corpse' will be in the dockyard basin . People will inspect it. It will be Britain's final homage to the Grand Old Lady of the Atlantic." The Mauretania was indeed opened to the public one last public inspection. On the following Sunday, July 8, opposite Zealandia Road, a mile long queue of approximately 20,000 people stretched into the summer sunshine. Each waited hours to pay one shilling and climb a single gangplank at No. 1 Drydock and board the once magnificent liner, now disappointingly stripped of almost all traces of her previous splendour. Metal Industries collected approximately £1000 in all and donated about £400 to local charities. The German battleship Bayern, deliberately sunk during the scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow on June 21, 1919, and recently refloated by the Alloa Shipbreaking Company, was also open to the public in No. 2 Drydock.
David Walker commented poignantly on the final docking: "The Mauretania went to her grave today. A piper's lament was her funeral march. Kilted, the solitary piper played as the liner edged her way to the dockside at Rosyth where she will be broken up. As the notes died away across the Firth of Forth, the engines that were the pride of Britain's craftsmen stopped forever. For a week, the 'corpse' will be in the dockyard basin . People will inspect it. It will be Britain's final homage to the Grand Old Lady of the Atlantic." The Mauretania was indeed opened to the public one last public inspection. On the following Sunday, July 8, opposite Zealandia Road, a mile long queue of approximately 20,000 people stretched into the summer sunshine. Each waited hours to pay one shilling and climb a single gangplank at No. 1 Drydock and board the once magnificent liner, now disappointingly stripped of almost all traces of her previous splendour. Metal Industries collected approximately £1000 in all and donated about £400 to local charities. The German battleship Bayern, deliberately sunk during the scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow on June 21, 1919, and recently refloated by the Alloa Shipbreaking Company, was also open to the public in No. 2 Drydock.
Above - The final public inspection - July 8, 1935
(Photograph © 2012 Daily Mirror)
(Photograph © 2012 Daily Mirror)
Passing into History
The magnificent ship that was the Mauretania was gone by the autumn of 1936. The fond memories of travel aboard her have receded into the last century and are today gingerly held by only a precious few. All of the various items saved from the scrapping of this vessel, the fittings and fixtures from the auctions both past and present, the paneling, woodwork and numerous teak souvenirs; all represent the respect and sentiment reserved for this vessel. That these furnishings and souvenirs were produced, purchased and preserved in such quantity by so many is testament to the pride held for one of the fastest liners to ever cross the Atlantic. They allude to the greater human story of the many who built and served in her over her 27-year career and the souls she carried. From the upper Officers to the "Black Gang", the traveling dignitaries and wounded wartime troops, the honeymoon couples, illicit lovers and sheer volumes of steerage passengers embarking on new lives who represented the bulk of her passengers, this vessel touched all who knew her in a personal way. As Franklin Delano Roosevelt commented in 1935, "Every ship has a soul, but the Mauretania had a soul you could talk to."
It might also be said the Mauretania, along with her short lived sister Lusitania, best represent the first generation of truly great ocean liners of the twentieth century. These vessels embodied the combined expression of many new technologies of the Industrial Revolution, culminating in a sublime synthesis of engineering and artistic achievements that rendered them vast, breathing and moving works of handmade socio-industrial art the likes of which will not be seen again. - Old Lady of the Atlantic, 2004-2007 by Eric Longo with research assistance from Rob Kamps.
The magnificent ship that was the Mauretania was gone by the autumn of 1936. The fond memories of travel aboard her have receded into the last century and are today gingerly held by only a precious few. All of the various items saved from the scrapping of this vessel, the fittings and fixtures from the auctions both past and present, the paneling, woodwork and numerous teak souvenirs; all represent the respect and sentiment reserved for this vessel. That these furnishings and souvenirs were produced, purchased and preserved in such quantity by so many is testament to the pride held for one of the fastest liners to ever cross the Atlantic. They allude to the greater human story of the many who built and served in her over her 27-year career and the souls she carried. From the upper Officers to the "Black Gang", the traveling dignitaries and wounded wartime troops, the honeymoon couples, illicit lovers and sheer volumes of steerage passengers embarking on new lives who represented the bulk of her passengers, this vessel touched all who knew her in a personal way. As Franklin Delano Roosevelt commented in 1935, "Every ship has a soul, but the Mauretania had a soul you could talk to."
It might also be said the Mauretania, along with her short lived sister Lusitania, best represent the first generation of truly great ocean liners of the twentieth century. These vessels embodied the combined expression of many new technologies of the Industrial Revolution, culminating in a sublime synthesis of engineering and artistic achievements that rendered them vast, breathing and moving works of handmade socio-industrial art the likes of which will not be seen again. - Old Lady of the Atlantic, 2004-2007 by Eric Longo with research assistance from Rob Kamps.
Acknowledgments and Credits below - as they will not be published as written I decided to put them here so they appear as they should have at least once:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
The 1940 Metal Industries Report and W.S.S. Demolition Photographs:
Mr. Max Wilkinson, B. Sc, then manager of Metal Industries, prepared The Demolition of the Mauretania, the detailed report that served as the basis for part of the original version of this work. It was originally read to the Manchester Association of Engineers on March 15th, 1940.
Many thanks to Mr. Jimmy Poole of the World Ship Society of the U.K. (http//:worldshipsociety.org) for granting use of many rare photographs of the demolition of the Mauretania as published in Metal Industries - Demolition at Rosyth and Charleston by Dr. Ian Buxton (1992).
Other Sources Consulted:
The Cunard Turbine-driven Quadruple-Screw Atlantic Liner Mauretania (originally published in 1907, reprinted by PSL, 1987)
Ocean Liners of the Past - Lusitania and Mauretania (originally published as Special Edition Shipbuilder Vol. 2 in 1907, reprinted by PSL, 1970)
Mauretania: Landfalls and Departures of Twenty-Five Years by Humfrey Jordan (originally published in 1936, reprinted by PSL, 1988)
Mauretania: The Ship and her Record by Gerald Aylmer (originally published in 1934, reissued by Tempus Publishing in 2000 with an additional chapter by Janette McCutcheon containing many scarce illustrations)
In Great Waters by Captain S. G. S. McNeil, R.D., R.N.R. (retd.) (published in 1932 by Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc.)
The Only Way to Cross by John Maxtone-Graham (originally published in 1972, reprinted by PSL, 1983)
The Daily Mirror (2-4 July 1935)
The Lusitania Disaster by Thomas A. Bailey and Paul. B. Ryan (published in 1975 by The Free Press)
The Blue Riband of the Atlantic by Tom Hughes (originally published in 1973, reprinted by PSL 1977)
Mauretania History Comes Alive in Bristol by Gavin Murphy at http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/item/1491/ (published in 2001 by Encyclopedia Titanica (www.encyclopedia-titanica.org)).
Individual contributors, Museums, Organizations and Establishments (special thanks are due to these people who helped directly or indirectly with this work, and in no order):
John Maxtone-Graham - author/collector
William Miller - author/collector
Eric Sauder - author/researcher/collector
Richard Faber - dealer/collector
David Hutchings - author/researcher
Jim Kalafus - researcher/collector
Mike Poirer -researcher/collector
Mark Chirnside - author/researcher
Ken Marschall - illustrator/researcher/collector
Brian Hawley - dealer/collector
Adam Gratwick - collector
Bill Sauder - maritime researcher
Simon Mills - collector/researcher/photography (private)
Arthur and Claire Blundell - dealers
Kyle Johnstone - maritime collector/photographer
Brian Ticehurst - Titanic researcher/author/photography
John Langley - President, The Cunard Steamship Society
Ian Whitehead - Keeper of Maritime History, Discovery Museum
Sharon Muxley - Curatorial Assistant, Discovery Museum
Lisa Brown - previous Curatorial Assistant, Discovery Museum
Dan Albert - Curator of Transport, Science Museum
Lisa Ferrer - Picture Researcher, Science Museum
Charlotte Stead - Merseyside Maritime Museum
The Irish National Seabed Survey - Lusitania sonar scan
Ann Runeckles - Pinewood Studios
Roy Sorge - "First Officer" and Chief Historian on board the QM
Kenneth Schultz - dealer (deceased)
Ambassador Jim Malcom - photographer
Pam Massey - photographer
Stephen O'Leary - photographer
Bill Cotter - photography
Richard Mewes - photography
James Eric Mewes - photographer
James Newton Mewes - photographer
Michael Robson - son of Florence Oxley Robson
Florence Oxley Robson - eyewitness (deceased)
Melvin Studdy - witness
Bill McLaughlin - Canal Zone historian
Theresa Cheltham - dealer
Ian Britton - photography
Jim Baumann - model maker
Messrs. Jean Frèrejean and Wil Lem of Maastricht - scanning (Netherlands)
Messrs. Hans Poel of Brunssum and William van Os of Ressen - image editing (Netherlands)
And, everyone else I may have omitted.
All images watermarked "EKL" have been re-exposed, restored and discretely marked from the original prints in my collection - these digital files are thus my sole property and may not be reproduced in any media without my explicit permission. All other images are the sole property of those named as the lender and may not be reproduced in any fashion. All materials copyright (c) 2006, 2007, 2010
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
The 1940 Metal Industries Report and W.S.S. Demolition Photographs:
Mr. Max Wilkinson, B. Sc, then manager of Metal Industries, prepared The Demolition of the Mauretania, the detailed report that served as the basis for part of the original version of this work. It was originally read to the Manchester Association of Engineers on March 15th, 1940.
Many thanks to Mr. Jimmy Poole of the World Ship Society of the U.K. (http//:worldshipsociety.org) for granting use of many rare photographs of the demolition of the Mauretania as published in Metal Industries - Demolition at Rosyth and Charleston by Dr. Ian Buxton (1992).
Other Sources Consulted:
The Cunard Turbine-driven Quadruple-Screw Atlantic Liner Mauretania (originally published in 1907, reprinted by PSL, 1987)
Ocean Liners of the Past - Lusitania and Mauretania (originally published as Special Edition Shipbuilder Vol. 2 in 1907, reprinted by PSL, 1970)
Mauretania: Landfalls and Departures of Twenty-Five Years by Humfrey Jordan (originally published in 1936, reprinted by PSL, 1988)
Mauretania: The Ship and her Record by Gerald Aylmer (originally published in 1934, reissued by Tempus Publishing in 2000 with an additional chapter by Janette McCutcheon containing many scarce illustrations)
In Great Waters by Captain S. G. S. McNeil, R.D., R.N.R. (retd.) (published in 1932 by Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc.)
The Only Way to Cross by John Maxtone-Graham (originally published in 1972, reprinted by PSL, 1983)
The Daily Mirror (2-4 July 1935)
The Lusitania Disaster by Thomas A. Bailey and Paul. B. Ryan (published in 1975 by The Free Press)
The Blue Riband of the Atlantic by Tom Hughes (originally published in 1973, reprinted by PSL 1977)
Mauretania History Comes Alive in Bristol by Gavin Murphy at http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/item/1491/ (published in 2001 by Encyclopedia Titanica (www.encyclopedia-titanica.org)).
Individual contributors, Museums, Organizations and Establishments (special thanks are due to these people who helped directly or indirectly with this work, and in no order):
John Maxtone-Graham - author/collector
William Miller - author/collector
Eric Sauder - author/researcher/collector
Richard Faber - dealer/collector
David Hutchings - author/researcher
Jim Kalafus - researcher/collector
Mike Poirer -researcher/collector
Mark Chirnside - author/researcher
Ken Marschall - illustrator/researcher/collector
Brian Hawley - dealer/collector
Adam Gratwick - collector
Bill Sauder - maritime researcher
Simon Mills - collector/researcher/photography (private)
Arthur and Claire Blundell - dealers
Kyle Johnstone - maritime collector/photographer
Brian Ticehurst - Titanic researcher/author/photography
John Langley - President, The Cunard Steamship Society
Ian Whitehead - Keeper of Maritime History, Discovery Museum
Sharon Muxley - Curatorial Assistant, Discovery Museum
Lisa Brown - previous Curatorial Assistant, Discovery Museum
Dan Albert - Curator of Transport, Science Museum
Lisa Ferrer - Picture Researcher, Science Museum
Charlotte Stead - Merseyside Maritime Museum
The Irish National Seabed Survey - Lusitania sonar scan
Ann Runeckles - Pinewood Studios
Roy Sorge - "First Officer" and Chief Historian on board the QM
Kenneth Schultz - dealer (deceased)
Ambassador Jim Malcom - photographer
Pam Massey - photographer
Stephen O'Leary - photographer
Bill Cotter - photography
Richard Mewes - photography
James Eric Mewes - photographer
James Newton Mewes - photographer
Michael Robson - son of Florence Oxley Robson
Florence Oxley Robson - eyewitness (deceased)
Melvin Studdy - witness
Bill McLaughlin - Canal Zone historian
Theresa Cheltham - dealer
Ian Britton - photography
Jim Baumann - model maker
Messrs. Jean Frèrejean and Wil Lem of Maastricht - scanning (Netherlands)
Messrs. Hans Poel of Brunssum and William van Os of Ressen - image editing (Netherlands)
And, everyone else I may have omitted.
All images watermarked "EKL" have been re-exposed, restored and discretely marked from the original prints in my collection - these digital files are thus my sole property and may not be reproduced in any media without my explicit permission. All other images are the sole property of those named as the lender and may not be reproduced in any fashion. All materials copyright (c) 2006, 2007, 2010
All of the contents on this webpage (both text and photographs) are provided by Eric K. Longo.
All of the contents on this website are protected by copyright. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2008, 2012, 2018 Joseph B. Rayder.
All of the contents on this website are protected by copyright. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2008, 2012, 2018 Joseph B. Rayder.