The Liners

The history of passenger ships begins with the move from sail to steam and the formation of major cruise lines P&O and Cunard. Rivalry between Germany and Britain intensified with Germany launching the first superliner, Kaiser Wilhelm Der Grosse in 1897, and Britain answering with Mauretania and Lusitania. Titanic is built and sinks, and events are leading to World War 1.

The passenger-ship history continues, looking at the liners' role as troop ships and immigration transports, and moving on to the era of the great Blue Riband luxury vessels like the Ile de France and Queen Mary.

Intense rivalry between Britain's Queen Mary and France's Normandie liners drove transatlantic speed records faster and faster during the glamour days of the early 1930s. But by WW2, the Queen Mary and her sister ship Queen Elizabeth had been seconded for war duties along with every other British-owned liner.

The final episode tells of the post-Boeing years, when the liners were running half-empty and all seemed doomed to the breaker's yard. Then came the age of the cruise -- and companies like Disney and Royal Caribbean now vie to outdo each other with ever larger and more luxurious floating cities.