The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #25445 Message #2092551
Posted By: Joe Offer
02-Jul-07 - 02:52 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Firing the Mauretania
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Firing the Mauretania
Hi, Barry - I think it's a great idea to post Radriano's background notes and corrected spelling/lyrics in this thread. I always thought that the spelling of the ship's name was with an "i." Apparently, Radriano thought that in his first post, but corrected his spelling by the time he came out with his wonderful Time Ashore Is Over CD. Here's what's said in the Encyclopedia Britannica:
Mauretania: transatlantic passenger liner of the Cunard Line, called the "Grand Old Lady of the Atlantic." It was launched in 1906 and made its maiden voyage in 1907; thereafter, it held the Atlantic Blue Riband for speed until 1929, challenged only by its sister ship, the Lusitania (sunk by a German submarine on May 7, 1915). During World War I the Mauretania worked as a transport and hospital ship. During its long career the ship made 269 double crossings of the Atlantic, exclusive of war work. Its last crossing was made in 1934, and it was broken up in 1935.
A second ocean liner with the name Mauretania was launched in 1938 by the Cunard White Star Line. It made its maiden voyage the following year and, like its predecessor, was noted for its luxury and service. With the outbreak of World War II, the Mauretania became a transport ship but resumed its passenger service in 1947. In the late 1950s the ship's popularity began to wane, and the Mauretania was scrapped in 1965.
Mauritania: officially Islāmic Republic of Mauritania , Arabic Mūrītānīyā , or al-Jumhūrīyah al-Islāmīyah al-Mūrītānīyah , French Mauritanie , or République Islamique de Mauritanie state in northwestern Africa. With an area of 398,000 square miles (1,030,700 square kilometres), it has the shape of an indented rectangle measuring about 930 miles (1,500 kilometres) from north to south and about 680 miles from east to west. It is bordered to the northwest by the Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara), to the northeast by Algeria, to the east and southeast by Mali, and to the southwest by Senegal. Its Atlantic Ocean coastline, to the west, extends for 435 miles from the delta of the Sénégal River northward to the Cap Blanc Peninsula. The capital is Nouakchott.