The Blue Riband was awarded to the ship that made the fastest transatlantic crossing. Actually, the award consisted of two prizes - one for eastbound crossings and one for westbound. From the year 1933, a trophy was commisioned and donated by Geoffrey Hales. The first ship to carry the Hales Trophy was the Italian liner Rex, although her record had already been broken by the Normandie when the trophy was finished. However, to honour the Rex and her record, it was decided that she would keep the trophy for three months. When the Queen Mary once and for all bested the Normandie's record in 1938, Cunard refused to carry the trophy on board the new champion, because they wanted to keep a reputation of safety - not speed. Thus the trophy was kept by the Hales International Committee until the United States set a new record in 1952.    In this section, we have made a complete list of all the ships that have ever possessed the Blue Riband of the Atlantic. We have chosen to start the list with the first ship that crossed the North Atlantic powered by steam; the Sirius.