Furness Bermuda Line
The Furness Bermuda Line was a British shipping company.
history
The Furness Bermuda Line was founded in 1919 as a subsidiary of the shipping company Furness, Withy & Co. after they won a contract to set up a postal service between New York and Bermuda. She continued a service that had been maintained by the Quebec Steamship Company since 1873. The postal service grew until the Second World War, after which two generously furnished passenger steamers, the Monarch of Bermuda and Queen of Bermuda were ordered from Vickers Armstrongs . Both ships were used on three-week cruises from New York to Bermuda and enjoyed on this route an excellent reputation, which in the nickname "the millionaires ships" (Engl. The Millionaire ships reflected).
When the Second World War broke out in 1939, both luxury steamers were drafted for military service. The Monarch of Bermuda served as a troop transport, while the Queen of Bermuda was initially used as an armed trade cruiser and only later as a troop transport. The Monarch of Bermuda burned down during the war and, after being repaired, served as an emigrant ship New Australia and later as a liner passenger ship Arkadia .
The Queen of Bermuda was reintegrated into pre-war service in 1947 and modernized in 1961. In 1966 the operation of the now no longer lucrative Furness Bermuda Line was terminated and the remaining ship was sold for demolition in Faslane .
literature
- Miller, William: British Ocean Liners . A twilight era, 1960-85. Patrick Stephens Limited, Wellingborough 1986, ISBN 0-85059-766-8 .