RMS Ausonia, launched in 1921, was one of Cunard's six post-World War I "A-class" ocean liners for the Canadian service.
History
Ausonia was built in Newcastle by Armstrong, Whitworth & Co., launched on 22 March 1921, and completed in June. She made her maiden voyage on 31 August 1921 from Liverpool to Montreal, and the following season went into service on the London-Canada route.
In December 1938, the Ausonia carried about 50 American veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade returning from the Spanish Civil War from Le Havre, France, by way of England and Halifax, Nova Scotia, arriving in New York City on 20 December 1938.
On 29 April 1939, English composer Benjamin Britten and tenor Peter Pears sailed from Southampton for Canada on Ausonia to begin what became a three-year sojourn in North America. Britten described the voyage as at first "bloody boring", though there was later a "terrific gale" and even "ice bumping against the ship". Towards the end of the voyage, they gave a recital for voice and piano.[1]
On 2 September 1939, with British involvement in the Second World War imminent, Ausonia was hurriedly docked at Quebec and repainted grey.