RMS ''Carinthia'' was an

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of 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). Ca ...

built in 1956 as one of the four ''Saxonia'' class ships. She sailed for

Cunard Line Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Berm ...

from her completion until 1968 when she was sold to Sitmar Line, rebuilt into a full-time

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

and renamed SS ''Fairsea''. She sailed with Sitmar until 1988, when Sitmar was sold to P&O. She was renamed SS ''Fair Princess'' and sailed for Princess Cruises and

P&O Cruises P&O Cruises is a British cruise line based at Carnival House in Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. It was originally a subsidiary of the shipping company P&O and was founded in 1977. Along w ...

until 2000. She was then sold to China Sea Cruises and renamed SS ''China Sea Discovery''. In 2005 or 2006 she was scrapped in

Alang Alang is a census town in Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Because it is home to the Alang Ship Breaking Yard, Alang beaches are considered the world's largest ship graveyard. Demographics As of the 2001 Indian census, Alan ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Concept and construction

Near the end of 1951

designed new ships for Canadian service on the

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

- Halifax route. Cunard originally decided to build just two ships but later on two more were ordered. These ships were the largest ships to be operated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

at the time. The ships were built in

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

and they were designed for luxury and speed including carrying passengers and cargo up the

St Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

in summer and to

Pier 21 Pier 21 was an ocean liner terminal and immigration shed from 1928 to 1971 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Nearly one million immigrants came to Canada through Pier 21, and it is the last surviving seaport immigration facility in Canada. The fac ...

in Halifax in winter when the St. Lawrence froze.

Service history

Cunard Line

RMS ''Carinthia'' started on her maiden voyage to Montreal on 27 June 1956 with 890 passengers and crew on board. After four more voyages, she proved with her running mate that the new Canadian Cunarders were so successful that other ships operating on the route were all scrapped leaving the four ships on the Montreal route. During 1960, the ''Carinthia'' suffered a fire in one of her cabins. In June of that year, some deck hands set up a skiffle group on a public deck; some passengers complained of the noise and the deck hands were fined a day's pay causing the "skiffle strike". The ship's crew went on strike and others came out in support leaving many liners tied up in the

Liverpool docks The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Birkenhead Docks between Birkenhead and Wallasey on the west side of the ...

for several weeks. During 1961 she collided with the . In 1962 her propellers failed during a voyage. During 1964, the crew went on strike again. ''Carinthia'' was still operated from Liverpool to Montreal until the end of 1966, and from Southampton to Montreal and New York until after March 1967 Cunard Line decided to start operating the ''Carinthia'' as a cruise ship during the winter months. She was used on 10 day cruises from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

. During 1968, along with '' RMS Sylvania'', she was sold to Sitmar Line, initially renamed ''Fairland'' and laid up at Southampton for two years.

Sitmar Cruises

Following year-long major refurbishments of both vessels in Italy, ''Fairland'' became ''Fairsea'' and in 1972 commenced cruising from the

United States West Coast The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

, for the re-styled

Sitmar Cruises Sitmar Cruises and its predecessor Sitmar Line were company names derived from the acronym for the Società Italiana Trasporti Marittimi ( en, Italian Maritime Transport Company). SITMAR originally was an Italian shipping line founded by Russian ...

. As the "Fairsea" appeared in the U.S. TV series The Partridge Family in the episode "The Last Howard ", season 4, episode 7, airing 11/2/1973. The family was performing while on a cruise. The episode centered on daughter Laurie and a ship board romance. Following the sale of Sitmar to P&O in 1988, the vessel was transferred to

Princess Cruises Princess Cruises is an American cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. The company is incorporated in Bermuda and its headquarters are in Santa Clarita, California, Santa Clarita, California. As of 2021, it is the List of cruise lines# ...

and used for

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

cruises as the ''Fair Princess''.

Princess Cruises and P&O Holidays

In 1995, ''Fair Princess'' was transferred to the fleet of P&O Holidays (now

P&O Cruises Australia P&O Cruises Australia is a British-American owned cruise line with operational headquarters as part of Carnival Australia, based in Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia. Originally a sister company of P&O Cruises in the United Kingdom, it was ...

) but was immediately chartered to Regency Cruises where she was to sail as their Regent Isle. Regent Isle was advertised for Regency's 1996 season, but due to their September 1995 bankruptcy, she never made a voyage for them. In 1997 the ship commenced voyages for P&O Holidays, replacing the recently retired TSS ''Fairstar''. She remained with P&O Australia for the remainder of the decade.

China Sea Cruises

In 2000, the ship was sold to China Sea Cruises and renamed ''China Sea Discovery''. She operated as a casino cruise ship but was unsuccessful. During 2001 she operated in Taiwan. Finally after many unsuccessful voyages she was moved to Alang, India, to be scrapped. While under scrapping, a fire broke out in the engine room, killing five workers, and injuring another fifteen people. In the end, the ship was scrapped in either 2005 or 2006.

References

External links

Ship History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carinthia (1956) 1955 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Ships of Princess Cruises Ships of the Cunard Line