What is the name of the unofficial accolade given to passenger liners crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest speed?
Blue Riband Blue Riband The Blue Riband () is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. Traditionally, the record is based on average speed rather than passage time because ships follow different routes. Also, eastbound and westbound speed records are reckoned separately, as the more difficult westbound record voyage, against the Gulf Stream and the prevailing weather systems, typically results in lower average speeds. Of the 35 Atlantic liners to hold the Blue Riband,
Virgin Atlantic Challenge Trophy between Atlantic passenger shipping companies and their express liners to achieve the fastest average speed on a commercial crossing. The contest was unofficial, involving no set rules or tangible award, and was undertaken for the prestige the accolade brought. In 1935 British businessman Harold Hales created the Hales Trophy as a means of regularizing the contest, though the trophy's actual history is chequered. It passed to the owners of several express liners, though not to Cunard, owner of the record-breaking "Queen Mary", and was won in 1952 by the American Lines liner "United States". Thereafter the competition lapsed, and "United