Several notable Cunard Line ships have been lost throughout history, the most famous being the RMS Lusitania, which was torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1915, leading to 1,198 deaths and significantly influencing the U.S. entry into WWI. During WWII, the RMS Lancastria was sunk by German aircraft in 1940 off the coast of France; it remains the deadliest maritime disaster in UK history, with an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 lives lost. Another significant loss was the RMS Laconia, sunk by a submarine in 1942. In the post-war era, the original RMS Queen Elizabeth met a mysterious end in 1972; while being converted into a floating university in Hong Kong harbor, it caught fire and capsized, eventually being scrapped where it lay. Unlike these tragic losses, Cunard's modern fleet in 2026—including the Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth, and the new Queen Anne—operates with the highest standards of safety, continuing the legacy of the "Queens" without the wartime vulnerabilities of their predecessors.