Lusitania was built as part of Cunard's first super liners of the twentieth century in 1907. At 790 foot long, she was the longest, largest, fastest and possibly most luxurious ship to sail the Atlantic during this period. Her maiden voyage arrived in New York on September 1907 with a crew of over 800 and over 2,200 passengers on board. She was awarded the 'Blue Riband' for crossing between Queenstown and Sandy Hook in 4 days, 19 hours and 52 minutes with an average speed of 23.99 knots. Lusitania was purpose built to become a troopship or armed merchant cruiser in times of war but was still in commercial service at the outbreak of the First World War. She was torpedoed off the Irish Coast by a German U-Boat on 7 May 1915, loosing 1,198 lives. AMDigital Reference: B/CUN/8/1907.2/2/11.
