I have always been fascinated by the sea and ships, probably because my dad served during the war on board various ships. Firstly running food aid from New York to Murmansk (the infamous Russian convoys) and later to South Africa bringing home POWs to be reunited with their families. The picture is of my dad in New York on his 16th birthday and this site is dedicated to him.

I first wrote this as my final thesis at Wolverhampton College of Art in 1972, and I'd like to thank Ruth Wood for her patient support while I struggled to get it finished. Since then it has sat on my bookshelves as I vowed to do something more with it, and now here it is. The internet is an ideal medium for making available the results of my research and hard work, whether it has merit is up to the visitor. It helped to get me an honours degree anyway.

This Log, History, Story whatever is meant to give a chronological impression of the 100 years that made the Blue Riband the most coveted trophy afloat. Beginning in 1862 I have covered every holder up until 1962 when the era of ocean going liners came to an end and have ignored attempts made by specialised craft since that time.

I have concentrated on the days of the ocean greyhounds with tall, raked funnels; gigantic floating hotels; tragedies; ships that didn't quite make it and the ones which proved themselves as superior in battle with firepower as with speed.

During this period, certain names stand out: Mauretania, the grand old ship which battled backwards and forwards across the Atlantic for over 23 years and never had her Blue Riband title taken away; the "unsinkable" Titanic; the Kronprinz Wilhelm's wartime dash into Hampton Roads, all worthy of a thesis of their own.

I hope you enjoy this site, which is not yet complete. As you can see there are some areas where I have drawn a blank for a picture or have only a small amount of technical detail. If you can help with information about the ships or have any pictures that you may allow me to use please let me know. Thanks.

You can contact me, Colin Clifford, at:
Baden House, Westbourne Road, Walsall WS4 2JD UK
Or directly at: info@theblueriband.com

Dedicated to Arthur Cyril Clifford

Click the picture above to read an account of a typical voyage across the North Atlantic from New York to Southampton.

A history of the Blue Riband of the North Atlantic from 1862 to 1962. Officially known as the Hales Trophy, the Blue Riband was awarded to the fastest ship across the Atlantic.

Blue riband, north atlantic, ocean liners, steamship, hales trophy, titanic, mauretania, new york, liverpool, cunard, white star, liner, southampton, queen mary, queen elizabeth, cruiser