Cunard’s Royal Navy Association

On 11 January 2025 the Royal Navy’s Flagship aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, and Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, were officially “affiliated” at a special ceremony onboard Queen Mary 2 in Southampton. 

It brought to realisation almost eight years of endeavour to re-forge the links between the two organisations, cementing a 170-year legacy of supporting each other in peace and war

HMS Queen Elizabeth’s current Commanding Officer, Captain Claire Thomson OBE RN signed the memorandum of “affiliation” and exchanged ceremonial plaques with Queen Mary 2’s Captain Aseem Hashmi MNM. Senior Officers and management attended the special event which took place under the auspices of a commissioned painting of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who in fact named both ships.

An excerpt from Captain Hashmi’s speech:

Over the past 170 years the heartbeat of the Cunard Line has been as one with the heartbeat of the Royal Navy when referring to the war record of the company, for Cunard ships have answered the call of Great Britain in every major conflict from Crimea in 1853 to the first Gulf War in 1990. At the outbreak of the First World War there were 25 Cunard ships in service and by the end of the conflict, 20 had been lost through enemy action including the flagship Lusitania. During the Second World War, Cunard liners transported over 1.5 million troops, at times up to 16,000 per Atlantic crossing.  Churchill would later bestow the greatest compliment on Cunard when he remarked the contribution of the two Cunard Queens and Aquitania had shortened the war in Europe by at least a year.

On 4 May 1982, Queen Elizabeth 2 was requisitioned by the Government for service in the Falklands Campaign and so, joined the ranks of the great Cunarders called upon to serve their country with the Royal Navy once again. The Cunard cargo ship, Atlantic Conveyor which was also requisitioned by the Government for war, was hit by enemy Exocet missiles and sank shortly after with the loss of 12; (six Cunard crew including her Captain Ian North and six MOD service personnel), together with the loss of HMS Coventry that fateful day. 

It is difficult to establish the exact number of Cunard personnel who died while serving their country with the Royal Navy. When the Lusitania sank 401 crew perished alone. Many Cunard personnel received the Distinguished Service Order; Distinguished Service Cross, Military Cross, and one was awarded the Victoria Cross.

So just over 170 years after the Cunard Line first joined ranks with the Royal Navy, today the Cunard Line is proud to reforge that historic link by affiliating two great British assets on the highs seas today, The Flagship of the Royal Navy with the Flagship of the Merchant Navy and the Cunard Line and may this affiliation prosper and grow for decades to come with a strong sense of camaraderie, collaboration, cooperation and coordination, enhancing peace and prosperity.

An excerpt from Captain Thomson’s speech:

Today as we formally forge our affiliation, our era of cooperation and collaboration has already started for the past seven and a half years or so. Whilst we the Senior Commanders of both ships have had the privilege and accessibility to engage in exchange visits, the real work now starts in getting our rank-and-file ship’s complement from both ships to engage regularly with each other. I’m confident this will bring mutual benefit and learning opportunities, enhancing our respective operational readiness and more.