RMS ''Alaunia'' was a

Cunard The Cunard Line ( ) is a British shipping and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been r ...

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

. She was built in 1913 at Greenock and measured . She was one of three

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

s Cunard ordered from

Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Limited, often referred to simply as Scotts, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Greenock on the River Clyde. In its time in Greenock, Scotts built over 1,250 ships. History John Scott f ...

. Her sisters were , and . ''Alaunia'' was the second of the trio. She and her sisters had only 2nd class and 3rd class accommodation. ''Alaunia'' was launched on 9 June 1913, and began her maiden voyage on 27 December 1913. When World War I began in 1914, she was requisitioned as a troopship. HMS ''Alaunia'' was the first Cunard ship to carry Canadian troops. Then she worked on carrying troops of the

Home Counties Division The Home Counties Division was an infantry Division (military), division of the Territorial Force, part of the British Army, that was raised in 1908. As the name suggests, the division recruited in the Home Counties, particularly Kent, Middlesex, ...

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

in October. She was sent to the Gallipoli campaign by the summer of 1915. She returned to the North Atlantic and carried troops from Canada and the USA in 1916. During a voyage from London to New York, she struck a

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun M ...

on 19 October 1916 in the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

off the Royal Sovereign Lightship off

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

. laid earlier that day by . After attempts to beach the ship and tow her to shore with

tugs A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, such ...

, her

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

realized the ship was lost and finally gave the order to abandon ship. Two crew members were killed in her sinking. ''Alaunia''s wreck lies on its port side in the English Channel at a depth of . Cunard revived the name in 1925 when it had a second built. She served until 1957.

References

Ships of the Cunard Line Passenger ships of the United Kingdom 1913 ships Troop ships of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in 1916 Ships sunk by mines Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I World War I shipwrecks in the English Channel {{Merchantship-stub