RMS Mauretania, June 24, 1939
The second RMS Mauretania was launched on 28 July 1938 at the Cammell Laird yard in Birkenhead, England, and was completed in May 1939. At the time of her construction, she was the largest ship built in England and was the largest ship ever to navigate the Thames. The original Mauretania was retired in 1935 after winning (and keeping for 20 years) the westbound Blue Riband, an accolade given to the fastest passenger liner with regular service across the Atlantic, in 1909. Later in the summer of 1939 the RMS Mauretania was requisitioned by the government and for three months sat alongside the RMS Queen Elizabeth, RMS Queen Mary, and the French Line’s SS Normandie in New York Harbor. After conversion to a troopship in Sydney, Australia, she served in the Second World war travelling 540,000 miles (870,000 km) and carrying over 340,000 troops. She was converted to a passenger ship in 1947 and was retired in 1965. In the background, from Left to Right can be seen the towers of the Woolworth Building (233 Broadway), the Singer Building (149 Broadway, demolished 1968), the Greenwich Club Residences (88 Greenwich St.), the Bank of New York Building (1 Wall St.), the Manhattan Trust Building (40 Wall St.), 60 Wall Tower (70 Pine St.), and the City Bank-Farmers Trust Building (20 Exchange St.).
