The Saxonia class was a class of four ocean liners, originally operated by Cunard Line for transatlantic voyages between the United Kingdom and Canada.
Concept and construction Towards the end of 1951 Cunard Line designed new ships for Canadian service on the Liverpool–Montreal–Halifax route. Cunard ordered four ships: RMS Saxonia, RMS Ivernia, RMS Carinthia, and RMS Sylvania. The Saxonia-class ships were the largest ships to be operated to Canada at the time. The ships were built at Clydebank and they were designed for luxury and speed including carrying passengers and cargo up the St. Lawrence River in summer and in Halifax in the winter, when the St. Lawrence River froze.
Service history +List of Saxonia-class ships completed 1954Out of service 1995Scrapped 1999 completed 1955Out of service 1995Scrapped 2004 completed 1956Out of service 2003Scrapped 2005 completed 1957Out of service 2003Scrapped 2004 Saxonia and Ivernia were extensively rebuilt in 1962–1963 as transatlantic liners /cruise ships. They were renamed Carmania and Franconia respectively.
In the 1970s, Saxonia and Ivernia were later sold to the USSR as cruise ships, while Carinthia and Sylvania continued their careers also as cruise ships for various shipping lines until the early 2000s.
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