was a Saxonia class ocean liner, built in 1955 by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland for Cunard Line, for their transatlantic passenger service between the UK and Canada. In 1963 she was rebuilt as a cruise ship and renamed RMS Franconia, after the famous pre-war liner RMS Franconia. She continued to sail for Cunard until being withdrawn from service and laid up in 1971. In 1973 she was sold to the Soviet Union's Far Eastern Shipping Company and, renamed SS Fedor Shalyapin, cruised around Australia and the far East. In 1980 she was transferred to the Black Sea Shipping Company fleet, and for a time returned to cruising in the Mediterranean and around Europe. In 1989 she was transferred again, to the Odessa Cruise Company, and continued her career as a cruise ship until 1994. She was then laid up at Illichivsk, a Black Sea port 40 km southwest of Odessa, until 2004 when, as the Salona, she sailed to Alang, India, where she was scrapped. "Saxonia" quartet Near the end of 1951 Cunard Line announced their intention to build two new ships for the Liverpool—Montreal route. Not long afterwards, the plans were extended to build four ships rather than two: , RMS Ivernia, and . They were designed to be the largest ships operated until then by Cunard on their service between the United Kingdom and Canada, while still being able to navigate the St Lawrence River to Montreal. The contracts for building all four ships were awarded to John Brown & Company, in Clydebank. Career was launched at Clydebank on 14 December 1954 by Mrs C D Howe, the wife of the then Canadian Minister of Trade. Completed six months later, she underwent sea trials, and then prepared for her maiden voyage. The original plan had been for her to set off from Liverpool on 26 June 1955, but industrial action forced a change of plan, and instead, she departed from Greenock on 1 July 1955, carrying 900 passengers and crew, on her maiden voyage to Quebec and Montreal. She arrived safely in Montreal on 6 July 1955. For the first year of operation, Saxonia and Ivernia shared the Canada route with the older Cunard ships , and . As the third and fourth Saxonia class ships entered service, however, the older ships were withdrawn, and by mid-1957 the Saxonia sisters were the only Cunard ships