Cunard is marking its 175th anniversary this weekend and the Queen Mary, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth will all sail into Southampton together

Southampton will kick off a year of celebrations when world famous shipping line, Cunard marks the start of its 175th anniversary this weekend.

The first major event is on Sunday (May 3) when the Cunard fleet of Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth will sail into Southampton together and depart later that day in formation.

• Look back at The Three Queen's previous trips to Southampton - in pictures >>

After the three ship meeting in Southampton, Queen Victoria will depart on a seven-night “Lusitania Remembered” voyage, Queen Mary 2 will head for New York and Queen Elizabeth will set sail on an eight-night Northern Europe cruise calling at Hamburg and Amsterdam where she will continue the anniversary celebrations.

It was 100 years ago, on May 7, 1915, while en-route from New York to Liverpool, the Cunard flagship Lusitania was torpedoed and sank approximately 14 miles off the old Head of Kinsale in Ireland.

In all, Cunard lost 22 ships during the First World War, including Carpathia which had rescued all of the survivors of Titanic.

The “Lusitania Remembered” cruise by Queen Victoria will commemorate the loss of Lusitania and of Cunard crew and ships in the First World War more generally.

Queen Victoria will call at Cobh, formerly Queenstown, on May 7, 100 years to the day since Lusitania was lost.

A special service ashore will be held, to which all passengers will be invited, in addition to a number of other tributes that will be made that day.

Sailing from and back to Southampton, Queen Victoria will call at St Peter Port (Guernsey), Le Havre, Cobh and Dublin.

Cunard flagship, Queen Mary 2 will recreate history when she sails from Liverpool on July 4, following in the wake of Cunard's first vessel, Britannia which left the city 175 years earlier to the day.

This will also be the first time since January 1968 a Cunard ship has departed from Liverpool for America. The ten-night crossing will call at Halifax and Boston just like Britannia, and will conclude in New York on July 14.

The full voyage begins in Cunard's home port of Southampton on July 2 with guests embarking in Liverpool on July 4 before Queen Mary 2 sets sail across the Atlantic.

When Cunard's first vessel Britannia swung out of Coburg dock in Liverpool on July 4, 1840, one of the world's greatest fleets was born.

Her crossing of the Atlantic in a fortnight marked a revolution in communication in an era when mail and newspaper could take six weeks to reach their destination.

Samuel Cunard himself was on board with his daughter as Britannia set sail across the Atlantic towards Canada and the US.

One passenger summed up her maiden crossing: 'Despite the spartan aspect of the voyage, the saving of time and the reliability of arrival augurs well for steamed-propelled trans-Atlantic vessels.”

The little wooden paddle steamer, capable of speeding at nine knots was soon joined by her sister ships Acadia, Caledonia and Columbia on the Atlantic run.