RMS ''Carmania'' was a

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 ...

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steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

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 ...

. She was launched in 1905 and scrapped in 1932. In

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

she was first an

armed merchant cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

(AMC) and then a

troop ship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

. ''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 John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish Naval architecture, marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and the ''Queen Elizabeth 2 (ship), Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its ...

built her, launching her on 21 February 1905 and completing her that November. ''Carmania'' had three

propellers A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

, each driven by a

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. 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 Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which are ...

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 trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s were in November 1905. On the

nautical measured mile A nautical measured mile is a nautical mile which is marked by two pairs of towers. A mile is measured by sailing on a given bearing and lining up the pairs of towers. The start of the mile is recorded when the first pair of towers line up and t ...

off

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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

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2 December 1905 for her maiden voyage to

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arriving 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 Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

On an eastbound crossing in October 1913 ''Carmania'' answered a

distress signal A distress signal, also known as a distress call, is an internationally recognized means for obtaining help. Distress signals are communicated by transmitting radio signals, displaying a visually observable item or illumination, or making a soun ...

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

, ''Carmania'' was converted into an AMC, armed with eight

QF 4.7 inch Mk V naval gun The QF 4.7 inch Gun Mark V originated as a Caliber (artillery), 45-calibre naval gun designed by the Armstrong Whitworth#Elswick Ordnance Company, Elswick Ordnance Company for export customers and known as the Pattern Y.DiGiulian United Kingdom ...

s. She was commissioned as HMS ''Carmania'', with the

pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

M 55. Commanded by Captain Noel Grant she sailed from Liverpool to Shell Bay in

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. 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. Sinking Cap Trafalgar

After repairs in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, 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 The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

after 1929. By 1930 ''Carmania''s navigational equipment included submarine signalling and wireless

direction finding Direction finding (DF), or radio direction finding (RDF), isin accordance with International Telecommunication Union (ITU)defined as radio location that uses the reception of radio waves to determine the direction in which a radio station ...

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

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is on display aboard the permanently moored at

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References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{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