RMS Caronia (1947)
RMS Caronia c. 1956, in the Trondheim Fjord
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History | |
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Name |
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Port of registry | |
Ordered | 1946 |
Builder | John Brown & Company, Clydebank |
Yard number | 635 |
Laid down | 13 February 1946 |
Launched | 30 October 1947 by The Princess Elizabeth (Later Queen Elizabeth II) |
Completed | December 1948 |
Maiden voyage | 4 January 1949 |
Out of service | 27 November 1967 |
Identification |
|
Fate | Wrecked in Apra Harbour, Guam , 1974. Subsequently scrapped. |
General characteristics | |
Tonnage |
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Length | 217.90 m (714.90 ft) |
Beam | 27.80 m (91.21 ft) |
Draught | 9.66 m (31.69 ft) |
Installed power | 35,000 shp |
Propulsion | Geared turbines, H.P. double reduction, I.P. and L.P. single reduction, twin propellers |
Speed | 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) |
Capacity | 932 passengers (581 first class, 351 tourist class) |
RMS Caronia was a 34,183 gross register tons (GRT) passenger ship of the Cunard Line (then Cunard White Star Line). Launched on 30 October 1947, she served with Cunard until 1967. She was nicknamed the "Green Goddess" [1] after her light green hull livery. She was one of the first "dual-purpose" ships, built both for 2-class transatlantic crossings and all 1st-class cruising. After leaving Cunard she was briefly Caribia in 1969, after which she was laid up in New York until 1974, when she was sold for scrap. While being towed to Taiwan for scrapping, she was caught in a storm on 12 August. After her tow lines were cut, she repeatedly crashed on the rocky breakwater outside Apra Harbor, Guam and broke into three sections.
History
After World War II, the Cunard White Star Line operated three ships on the Southampton—New York run. The famous RMS Queen Mary and RMS Queen Elizabeth operated a weekly express service between Southampton and New York. The smaller and slower RMS Mauretania served as an auxiliary ship on this route in addition to performing seasonal cruises out of New York City. The company placed an order for a running mate to Mauretania, a ship of similar speed and proportions for the transatlantic run. Ultimately this was not to be the role of the new ship, as Cunard White Star's executives decided that the new ship would be built primarily for cruising.
With this in mind, the new ship – soon to be named Caronia by Princess Elizabeth – received many different features from her Cunard White Star fleetmates. Amenities included an outdoor swimming pool aswell as bathroom / shower facilities in every cabin. However, unlike modern cruise ships, her accommodation was divided into two classes on transatlantic voyages; First and Cabin.
On cruises all accommodation was sold as one class although many staterooms, both on A deck and R deck, were usually allocated to Cabin Class. Even some cabins on B deck were sold on cruises. Both restaurants served the same menu in just one sitting and passengers were allocated to a restaurant dependent upon the locations of their staterooms. On short cruises to the Caribbean and South America, every cabin was offered for occupation and often, as on transatlantic crossings, there would be two sittings for luncheon and dinner.
To distinguish her from Cunard White Star's express liners, the company decided to give her a different colour scheme. Instead of going for the then typical black hull with a white superstructure, Caronia received a unique livery of four different shades of "Cruising Green", making her a highly attractive and instantly recognizable vessel.
Another striking feature of the ship was her large single funnel, one of the largest ever installed aboard a ship. Similar to those of the later United States, this funnel easily caught the wind, making the ship somewhat difficult to handle.[2] Caronia was the largest passenger ship to be built in Scotland after World War 2 until Queen Elizabeth 2 twenty years later.
Clara MacBeth lived full-time on Caronia between 1949 and 1963, a span of 14 years.[3][4]
1949–1959: a ship ahead of her time
The brand-new RMS Caronia commenced her maiden voyage on 4 January 1949 between Southampton and New York.[5] Two more transatlantic crossings followed before the ship embarked on her first cruises from New York to the Caribbean. During her first years she spent most of the year on transatlantic crossings; only during the winter was she engaged in cruising. In 1951 she made her first world cruise. From 1952 onwards she made transatlantic crossings only in August and September, with the rest of the year dedicated to cruising; during one such cruise, she ran aground in Egypt on 12 March 1952 while transiting the Suez Canal.[6] In May 1953 Caronia made what was perhaps her most famous cruise, associated with the coronation ceremony of Queen Elizabeth II (who had christened Caronia six years earlier). The ship was used as a hotel, as most of the accommodation in the United Kingdom was fully booked.
Caronia ran aground at
1959-1967: Competition catches up
1959 saw Caronia making regular transatlantic crossings for the last time. Competition from the jet airliner meant there weren't enough passengers for her in the North Atlantic trade. From here her transatlantic crossings were
By the early 1960s other shipping companies were catching up with Cunard and building their own purpose-built cruiseships, which in addition to being better equipped than Caronia were better suited for cruising than she had ever been. To keep up with her newer competitors, Cunard decided that in November 1965 Caronia would be drydocked for ten weeks,
1968–1974: final years
In early 1968 Caronia was sold to Star Shipping,[11][12] a company owned by US and Panamian interests. Renamed Columbia, she sailed to Greece for refitting. Cunard had allowed Caronia to fall behind her maintenance schedule, and her engines needed a major overhaul. Replacement parts were ordered from a Greek company rather than from the original manufacturer. While she was being rebuilt Andrew Konstaninidis took control of Columbia, buying out the other owners of Star Line and renaming her Caribia. Her refitting was completed and she was given a new all-white colour scheme. She was registered in Panama, with her tonnage reduced to 25,794 GRT under Panamanian rules (which saved dock dues). In February 1969 Caribia embarked on her first cruise from New York to the Caribbean. The voyage was hindered by a malfunction in her waste system. Things turned for the worse on her second cruise, when an explosion in the engine room resulted in the death of one crew member and the severe scalding of another. In addition the ship lost all electrical power for twenty hours before repairs allowed her to return to port. The incident undermined public confidence in the vessel. Caribia limped back to New York, never to make a commercial voyage again.[12]
Plans to revive Caribia were considered for the next five years,
Being a hazard to local shipping, the wreck was swiftly cut up. However, before that could take place, it was discovered that the Caribia had come to rest beside the wreck of a Korean War-era landing craft. The landing craft was loaded with tons of munitions, including 22 mm, 40 mm, 5-inch, and 8-inch shells. This required the careful removal of all of these materials over five months before removal of Caribia could continue. Her removal was all the more urgent because Caribia's hulk blocked Apra harbor's entrance. As Apra is the only deep-water harbor on Guam, this made resupply of many vital commodities (e.g., petroleum products) impossible or difficult. No commercial or military vessels could leave or enter the harbor until a significant portion of the stern had been removed. By January 1975, most of Cariba's stern had been removed, restoring access to and from the harbor. Afterwards, scrapping continued onto her bow section. What was left of the wreck had been removed by late 1975. Her life ended just 25 years after she was commissioned. Despite being probably the most forward-looking ship of her time, Caronia was in active service for 19 years.[14]
References
- ^ Stevens, Peter; P. Stevens (May 2020). "Green Goddess - What's in a Name?". UK. p. 1. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ Stevens, Peter; Alex Bulloch (April 2004). "Yokohama Accident Cause". UK. p. 3. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Caronia". Archived from the original on 6 April 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
- ^ "Cunard Liner Aground". The Times. No. 52259. London. 13 March 1952. col E, p. 3.
- ^ "Picture Gallery". The Times. No. 53546. London. 1 June 1956. col C, p. 10.
- ^ "The Caronia Sails Again". The Times. No. 53547. London. 2 June 1956. col G, p. 6.
- ^ a b Ljungström, Henrik. "Caronia". The Great Ocean Liners. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
- ^ Stevens, Peter (January 2004). "The Sterling Cruise". UK. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
- ^ "Cunard Ships from 1931". Chris' Cunard Page. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
- ^ a b "Caribia - A Sad Ending > Page 2". RMS Caronia Timeline. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
- ^ "Caribia - A Sad Ending > Page 3". RMS Caronia Timeline. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
- ^ a b "RMS Caronia Timeline: Caribia - A Sad Ending - Page 6". www.caronia2.info. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
- ^ "Caribia - A Sad Ending > Page 4". RMS Caronia Timeline. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
Further reading
- Miller, William H.; Hawley, Brian (2011). RMS Caronia: Cunard's Green Goddess. Classic Liners series. Stroud, Gloucestershire: ISBN 9780752457918.
External links
- RMS Caronia Timeline (dedicated Caronia Website)
- Caronia Main Page on Bytenet
- Caronia (II) on Chris' Cunard Page
Further reading
- Miller, William; Brian Hawley (2010). RMS Caronia: Cunard's Green Goddess. UK: The History Press. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-7524-5791-8.
- Sample Pages from RMS Caronia Cunard's Green Goddess by Bill Miller and Brian Hawley