Construction
''Moldavia'' was built by Caird & Company of Greenock, Scotland for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. Her yard number was 301 and she was launched on 28 March 1903. The completed ship was in length, a beam of and a draught of . Her gross tonnage was 9,500. Coal bunkerage was 2,000 tons and cargo about 3,500 tons. ''Moldavia'' was built for 348 first and 166 saloon class passengers. She was the first of the ten ship P&O M-class.History
The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company operated ''Moldavia'' on the England—Australia route via the Suez Canal. The British Admiralty purchased ''Moldavia'' in 1915 for Royal Navy service during World War I, when she was converted into an Armed merchantman#Armed merchant cruiser, armed merchant cruiser and fitted with 6" guns before she was commissioned as HMS ''Moldavia''. Moldavia served on the Northern patrol as part of the 10th Cruiser Squadron, intercepting and examining merchant vessels in the North Atlantic. Moldavia was later serving as a troopship and was carrying U.S. troops when she was sunk on 23 May 1918 off Beachy Head in the English Channel, by a single torpedo from the German Type UB III submarine . Her sinking resulted in the deaths of 54 U.S. soldiers on board, and 1 further at Western Heights Military Hospital Dover two days later. The vessel was added to the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986, 2017 No 147 and became a designated vessel on 3 March 2017.See also
*References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moldavia 1903 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Maritime incidents in 1918 Ships of P&O (company) Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I Steamships of the United Kingdom World War I passenger ships of the United Kingdom World War I shipwrecks in the English Channel Wreck diving sites in England Protected Wrecks of England