RMS Mauretania ( 1938 ) RMS " Mauretania " was launched on 28 July 1938 at the Cammell Laird yard in Birkenhead , England and was completed in May 1939 . The second " Mauretania " was the first ship built for the newly formed Cunard White Star company following the merger in April 1934 of the Cunard and White Star lines . On the withdrawal of the old ship in 1936 in order to prevent a rival company using the name and to keep it available for the new liner , arrangements were made for the Red Funnel paddle steamer " Queen " to be renamed " Mauretania " in the interim . The new liner had a tonnage of 35 , 739 gross , an overall length of and a beam of and had a exterior design similar to the " Queen Elizabeth " . The vessel was powered by two sets of Parsons single reduction - geared steam turbines giving 42 , 000 shaft horsepower and driving twin propellers . Her service speed was with a maximum speed of 26 knots . Design and construction ( 1937 – 1939 ) . The second " Mauretania " was built by Cammell Laird of Birkenhead and was the largest ship built in England at that time . She was also the first new ship delivered to the combined Cunard White Star Line . " Mauretania " was laid down on 24 May 1937 as Yard Number 1029 . This new medium sized Cunarder was launched on 28 July 1938 by Lady Bates , wife of the Cunard White Star chairman . She was named " Mauretania " to honour the previous record breaking " Mauretania " which had been retired in 1935 . The ship was designed for the London to New York service and was the largest vessel ever to navigate the River Thames and use the Royal Docks . She was also intended to stand in for one of the Cunard Queens when they were undergoing maintenance . " This is a red letter day , not only for me but for Merseyside . The launch of the largest ship that has ever been built in England . I hope that like her namesake she may work her way into the affections of all who have to do with her on both sides of the Atlantic . To the ship and all who serve or sail in her I wish all good fortune . I name you Mauretania . " Words of Lady Bates , the wife of Cunard White Star chairman Sir Percy Bates at the launch ceremony on 28 July 1938 . The new " Mauretania " ' s smart and stylish accommodation marked a further enhancement to the standards of cabins , public rooms and general facilities provided for passengers of all grades by Cunard White Star Line . World War II ( 1939 – 1947 ) . " Mauretania " sailed on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York on 17 June 1939 under the command of Captain A T Brown ( who had delivered the previous Mauretania to the shipbreakers ) , after remaining in New York for a week she returned to Southampton via Cherbourg on Friday , 30 June 1939 . Like " Aquitania " , 25 years before , " Mauretania " was to experience only the briefest period of commercial operation before the outbreak of hostilities halted this work for over six years . Returning from the next voyage , " Mauretania " called at Southampton , Le Havre and finally London where she berthed in the King George V Dock . From August she was switched to the London - New York service for which she was intended . Here she supplemented the " Britannic " and " Georgic " on the London to New York service . On 11 August 1939 she left on her final prewar voyage to New York . On her return she was requisitioned by the Government . " Mauretania " was armed with two guns and some smaller weapons , painted in battle grey , and then despatched to America at the end of December 1939 . For three months the ship lay idle in New York , docked alongside the " Queen Elizabeth " , " Queen Mary " , and the French Line ' s " Normandie " , until it was decided to use her as a troopship . On 20 March 1940 she sailed from New York to Sydney , via Panama , to be converted for her new role . She had an exciting voyage out to Australia via Bilbao , San Francisco and Honolulu , tracked for much of the way by the enemy and having to evade concentrations of U - boats that were known to be lying in wait for her . This conversion work was carried out in April and in May she left Sydney as part of one of the greatest convoys ever mustered for the transport of troops . With her were " Queen Mary " , " Queen Elizabeth " , and " Aquitania " , with 2 , 000 troops , bound for the River Clyde via South Africa . Other notable liners in this great convoy were " Empress of Britain " , " Empress of Canada " , " Empress of Asia " , and " Nieuw Amsterdam " . During the early stages of the war the ship transported Australian troops to Suez , India and Singapore but later she mainly served in the North Atlantic . Like " Aquitania " , she amassed over over the course of her war duties , first crossing of the Indian Ocean , then working the Atlantic with American and Canadian troops and finally serving in the Pacific . One of her wartime voyages , of duration , took her right around the world , taking 82 days to complete . During this epic voyage she established a speed record for the crossing time from Fremantle , Australia to Durban , South Africa . The distance was covered in 8 days and 19 hours at an average speed of . Another wartime troop transport voyage began in New York on 10 May 1943 and ended in Bombay on 24 June 1943 , with calls en route at Trinidad , Rio de Janeiro , Cape Town and Diego Suarez . On 8 January 1944 she was involved in a minor collision with the American tanker " Hat Creek " in New York harbour . After the war ' s end , " Mauretania " made several further voyages for the Government repatriating troops . This mainly took the ship to Canada and Singapore . " Mauretania " took the first dedicated sailing of English war brides and their children being patriated to Canada to join their husbands , landing at Pier 21 at Halifax in February 1946 . During the Second World War she travelled and carried over 340 , 000 troops . The Mauretania was not designed to be an exceptionally fast ship and during her war duty her engines had received little attention for six long years of service as a troopship , she achieved a turn of speed in 1945 making the passage from Bombay to the UK via the Cape at an average speed of . On 2 September 1946 she returned to Liverpool , was released from Government service and immediately went into Gladstone Dock to be reconditioned by Cammell Laird & Co . for return to Cunard White Star service . Post - war ( 1947 – 1962 ) . After a complete overhaul and refurbishment of the interior , " Mauretania " made her first post - war Atlantic crossing to New York , departing on 26 April 1947 . After using Liverpool as her home port for the first two voyages she was thereafter based at Southampton . Here she acted as the relief ship for " Queen Mary " and " Queen Elizabeth " , standing in on the transatlantic service when one of them was undergoing maintenance . By this time the London to New York service had been discontinued as " Georgic " , with which she had operated the service was in no fit state to resume passenger duties , while the other partner , " Britannic " , had been transferred to a new Liverpool to New York service . Later that year she began to be used as a cruise ship during the winter months to the West Indies and the Caribbean . These so - called ' dollar earning cruises ' assisted the shattered British economy . For the next ten years she served on the Southampton to New York route during the summer months and operated on cruises from New York during the winter months . When " Mauretania " was taken in for her annual overhaul at Liverpool in December 1957 the opportunity was taken to fit air conditioning throughout the ship . Cruising and retirement ( 1962 – 1965 ) . By 1962 , however , she was facing competition from much more modern ships and was beginning to lose money for Cunard Line . In October 1962 the ship was painted pale green , like " Caronia " ( the famed Green Goddess ) , and the passenger accommodation was adjusted to accommodate 406 First class , 364 Cabin class and 357 Tourist class passengers . On 28 March 1963 she began a new Mediterranean service calling at New York , Cannes , Genoa and Naples . This , however , was a failure and by 1964 she was mainly employed cruising from New York to the West Indies . " Mauretania " ’ s final voyage was a Mediterranean cruise which left New York on 15 September 1965 . It was announced that on her return to Southampton , " Mauretania " would be withdrawn from service and sold . She arrived at Southampton on 10 October 1965 and had already been sold to the British Iron & Steel Corporation . Leaving Southampton on 20 November for her final voyage , she arrived at Ward ' s shipbreaking yard in Inverkeithing , Fife in Scotland . She was commanded by Capt . John Treasure Jones who had been Master since 1962 and would later be the last captain of the RMS Queen Mary . He navigated the mud straits of the Forth without tugs , and made the final berthing through the shallows above the mud banks on the midnight high tide . It is rumoured that on the way to Fife that she sailed up the River Douglas in Lancashire by mistake and became grounded in the mud banks , but this is an unlikely myth .