"The R.M.S. Aquitania, here portrayed in an original oil painting by my niece Becky, plays an important role in our family's history, for it was the ship on which Becky's father and I were evacuated from Hawaii in January 1942 following the attack on Pearl Harbor. ("R.M.S." means "Royal Mail Steamer", a ship authorized to carry British mail between countries).

Built in 1914, Aquitania served as a troopship in 2 world wars and a popular north Atlantic passenger liner in between. During her 36 year career she steamed some 3 million miles and carried 1.2 million passengers, including 475 Trans-Atlantic crossings - a fantastic career. She was a huge ship for her time - 46,000 gross tons, 901 feet long and 97 feet wide. She was finally broken up for scrap in 1950.

With the original ship long gone, Becky used a postcard photo taken in 1914 as a model for the painting, expanding it in her computer to note all of the myriad details of the ships superstructure. Aquitania is here shown transiting the crowded shipping lanes in the Solent - the body of water that separates the Isle of Wight from the English coast. The bow wave tells us she is traveling about 12 knots - 1/2 speed. The smoke from all 4 funnels and the condenser exhaust (2 white plumes at the waterline) tell us that the engineers have all her boilers and engines "on-line", awaiting only the Captain's "full speed ahead" command that will take her to the New World on this, her maiden voyage.

Becky's (exasperating!) perfectionism and attention to detail have resulted in a work for the ages. Aquitania was photographed many times in her career, both in wartime and commercial colors. To the best of my knowledge this is the first time she has ever been captured in oils. So sail on great ship! - through Becky's fine hand for all the years, decades, perhaps centuries to come. . .

Tom McDonald (Becky's Uncle Tom and her biggest fan)
January 28, 2007"

This oil painting is only 98% complete as I need to wait for the oil to dry before I can attempt to put the finer lines, ETC. Photo on the bottom taken by Uncle Tom. Painting is NFS and was gifted to my Uncle. Oil on canvas, 24"x36"