The Mauretania was built by Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson at Wallsend-on-Tyne and launched in 1906. Prior to completion, the owners of the Mauretania, the Cunard Line, agreed with the Admiralty that the ship was to be available to the country in times of war as an armed merchant cruiser. This inboard profile plan was made for the Admiralty, partly to show where the guns would be positioned. Mauretania was commissioned as a troophip and hospital ship during World War I and was withdrawn from passenger service in 1934.