Canada: The Story of Us

Cunard's steam ships shrink the world

Halifax businessman Samuel Cunard has a wild idea: a regularly scheduled steam ship going back and forth across the Atlantic, carrying both passengers and the Royal Mail.

He gambles his fortune on a wild idea: a regularly-scheduled steam ship service across the Atlantic

Canada: The Story of Us - Launch of the Britannia

8 years ago
Duration 1:40
Entrepreneur Samuel Cunard bets his fortune on the success of a trans-Atlantic steamship line.

Halifax businessman Samuel Cunard already has experience with steam ships, having turned the Dartmouth-Halifax ferry into a steam powered operation.

Now, he's decided to gamble his fortune on running the first regularly scheduled steam ship service across the Atlantic. If his maiden voyage goes as planned, soon his boats will take mail and passengers from Liverpool to Boston and Halifax.