following heavy losses during the first world war, the cunard line embarked on an ambitious building programme. they decided to build "intermediate", 19,000-tonne ships, rather than the massive liners they had previously employed. the "scythia" was the first ship in this new fleet, and construction began in 1919. the "scythia" was built for the services between liverpool and queenstown in the british isles to new york and boston, in the united states. a luxury liner designed to appeal to american tourists, in the mid-1920s, she began sailing from new york city to the mediterranean.