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Built at the Swan Hunter Yard in Wallsend, Mauretania is arguably the most famous ship ever built on the Tyne admired both for her luxury and her speed. But she also played an important role in World War One as both a troop and hospital ship.

She was built with the help of a government grant because it was intended she would be used as an armed auxiliary cruiser. Instead she was used to transport troops during the Gallipoli campaign and then was refitted as a hospital ship to bring many of the wounded back home from that ill-fated campaign.

In 1916, Mauretania transported Canadian troops, and after the United States entered the war, she carried over 30,000 American troops across the Atlantic. After the war ended, she took many American and Canadian soldiers home before returning once again to her role as a luxury liner.

Location: Swan Hunter Yard, Wallsend, Tyne and Wear NE28
Image: The launch of Mauretania, courtesy of Beamish Museum