RMS Carmania (1905)

RMS ''Carmania'' was a Cunard Line transatlantic steam turbine ocean liner. She was launched in 1905 and scrapped in 1932. In World War I she was first an armed merchant cruiser (AMC) and then a troop ship.

''Carmania'' was the sister ship of , although the two ships had different machinery. When new, the pair were the largest ships in the Cunard fleet.

Building

Leonard Peskett designed ''Carmania''. John Brown & Company built her, launching her on 21 February 1905 and completing her that November.

''Carmania'' had three propellers, each driven by a Parsons steam turbine. A high-pressure turbine drove her centre shaft. Exhaust steam from the centre turbine powered a pair of low-pressure turbines that drove her port and starboard shafts.

''Caronia'', which was launched the year before, had twin propellers which were driven by quadruple-expansion engines. The essentially identical ships with the two different sets of engines was an opportunity to compare operations and clarify the advantages and disadvantages of turbine engines.

''Carmania''s sea trials were in November 1905. On the nautical measured mile off Skelmorlie she achieved .

Another feature that differentiated the two liners was that ''Carmania'' had two tall forward deck ventilator cowls, which were absent on ''Caronia''.

As built, ''Carmania'' had berths for 2,650 passengers: 300 first class, 350 second class, 1,000 third class and 1,000 steerage class. Her holds included refrigerated cargo space.

Service

''Carmania'' left Liverpool on 2 December 1905 for her maiden voyage to New York arriving on 10 December. She completed the voyage in 7 days, 9 hours and 31 minutes, averaging over the route.

''Carmania'' plied between Liverpool and New York from 1905 to 1910. In the spring of 1906 she took H. G. Wells to North America for the first time. He noted her size in a book about his travels, "This ''Carmania'' isn't the largest ship nor the finest, nor is to be the last. Greater ships are to follow and greater. The scale of size, the scale of power, the speed and dimensions of things about us alter remorselessly—to some limit we cannot at present descry".

Ernest Shackleton returned to Liverpool from New York after his US lecture tour, travelling first class on ''Carmania'', from 18–28 May 1910.

In June 1910 in Liverpool ''Carmania'' suffered a major fire in her passenger accommodation. Her structure and machinery were undamaged, and repairs were completed by 4 October.

On an eastbound crossing in October 1913 ''Carmania'' answered a distress signal from to pick up survivors in a storm, which resulted in many awards for gallantry being presented to various members of her crew and Captain James Clayton Barr.

In August 1914, after the outbreak of World War I, ''Carmania'' was converted into an AMC, armed with eight QF 4.7 inch Mk V naval guns. She was commissioned as HMS ''Carmania'', with the pennant number M 55.

Commanded by Captain Noel Grant she sailed from Liverpool to Shell Bay in Bermuda. On 14 September 1914 she engaged and sank the German merchant cruiser in the Battle of Trindade. At the time ''Cap Trafalgar''s appearance had been altered to resemble ''Carmania''. ''Carmania'' suffered extensive damage and several casualties to her crew.

After repairs in Gibraltar, she patrolled the coast of Portugal and the Atlantic islands for the next two years. In 1916 she assisted in the Gallipoli campaign. From July 1916 she was a troop ship. After the war she took Canadian troops home from Europe.

By 1919 she had returned to passenger liner service. In 1923 Cunard had her refitted as a cabin class ship, with her total accommodation reduced from 2,650 berths to 1,440. ''Caronia'' was similarly refitted, and the two sisters kept busy until the shipping slump caused by the Great Depression after 1929. By 1930 ''Carmania''s navigational equipment included submarine signalling and wireless direction finding.

Fate

Toward the end of 1931 Cunard listed both ''Carmania'' and ''Caronia'' for sale. In 1932 Hughes Bolckow & Co. bought her for scrap. She arrived at Blyth on 22 April to be broken up.

''Carmania''s bell is on display aboard the permanently moored at Victoria Embankment, London.

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Carmania
1905 ships
World War I Auxiliary cruisers of the Royal Navy
Ocean liners of the United Kingdom
Ships built on the River Clyde
Ships of the Cunard Line
Steamships of the United Kingdom
Troop ships of the United Kingdom
World War I cruisers of the United Kingdom
World War I passenger ships of the United Kingdom