browseMauretania
Unknown (Photographer)
Text for Side Gallery exhibition at Swan Hunter’s shipyard, Wallsend, 1986:
Financed by a government whose international status was threatened on the one hand by German dominance of the Atlantic, on the other by American purchasing of British shipping lines, the Mauretania provided work for over 8000 Tynesiders. Launched in 1906 she held the Blue Riband - an international symbol of sea power - for a record 25 years. With her sistership the Lusitania, she became the largest ship in the world. This exhibition discusses the issues behind the Mauretania’s origination and, through a remarkable collection of photographs discovered at Swan Hunter’s shipyard, details the construction of what was known as ‘the floating palace’. The liner’s success at preserving national pride depended largely upon technology developed on Tyneside and resources of craftsmanship accumulated in the yards. The show is in part a celebration of these traditions.
The Mauretania was built at Swan Hunter’s Yard where this exhibition opens.