RMS ''Aurania'' was a British

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 ...

that was scrapped at

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after 22 years of service (1883-1905).

Construction

''Aurania'' was constructed in 1881 at the J. & G. Thomson & Co. shipyard in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

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for

Cunard Line 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 ...

. She was completed in 1883 and made her first voyage on 23 June 1883 from Liverpool to Queenstown to New York. She was named ''Aurania'' and served from 1883 to 1905. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . The ship was assessed at . She had a Compound engine with 3 inverted cylinders driving a single screw propeller and 3 Masts. The engine was rated at 1500 nhp. She had a steel hull, and eleven watertight compartments of which she could float with two of these flooded. In her career ''Aurania'' was to act as a consort ship to the SS Servia, built 2 years prior. Unlike the ''Servia'', the ''Aurania'' had a more experimental design. Typically, liners would be 10 times longer than they were broad, but ''Aurania'' was only 8 times longer. This enhanced her stability greatly, along with cargo capacity and passenger accommodations. She had a registered length of 470 ft (143.25m), an overall length of 485 ft (147.82m), a breadth of 57 ft (17.4m) and a depth of 37 ft (11.3m). She was powered by 8 boilers, and a 3 cylinder compound steam engine. On sea trials in April 1883, the ship proved a great success with a speed of 18.5 knots being easily obtained, above the satisfactory 16 knots desired. Aurania was registered at

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

on June 16, 1883.

Career

During her maiden voyage on 23 June 1883 she left

for Queenstown and finally for

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, but halfway through the

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her engine failed due to overheating, and a broken connecting rod shot through her engine skylight, causing panic among passengers. The voyage was completed under sail and she arrived in

on 4 July 1883 under sail and tow with disabled engines. She departed New York in August 1883 for the Clyde, running on her low pressure cylinder with a speed of 11 knots. After repairs were completed, she resumed service on April 12, 1884. In September 1885, the White Star Liner ''Republic'' collided with Aurania off Sandy Hook. ''Republic'' was disabled and brought back to New York while ''Aurania'' continued her voyage. In October 1899 ''Aurania'' was used as a Transport Ship during the

Boer war The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

, she returned to civil service on April 14, 1903. In 1903 her sailing route was changed and she sailed from the

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. She served on this route for only three round trips, and resumed the Liverpool-New York run in February 1904.

The Final Days

RMS ''Aurania'' was sold to L. Pittaluga's breakers yard for scrapping in February 1905. The redundant ship arrived at

for breaking March 13, 1905.Peter Newall's Cunard book

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aurania (1882) Ships of the Cunard Line Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of the United Kingdom Ships built on the River Clyde 1882 ships