RMS Sylvania

Fairwind and Fairsea laid up at Southampton in August 1969.
History
Name	1957–1968: Sylvania 1968–1988: Fairwind 1988: Sitmar Fairwind 1988–1993: Dawn Princess 1993–2003: Albatros 2003–2004: Genoa
Owner	1957–1968: Cunard Line 1968–1988: Sitmar Line 1988–1993: P&O Group 1993–2003: V-Ships 2003–2004: Alang scrapyard[1][2]
Operator	1957–1968: Cunard Line 1968–1970: laid up 1970–1988: Sitmar Line 1988–1993: Princess Cruises 1993–2003: Phoenix Reisen 2003–2004: Alang scrapyard[1]
Port of registry	1957–1968: Liverpool,  United Kingdom 1968–1993: Monrovia,  Liberia 1993–2003: Nassau,  Bahamas 2003–2004: unknown[1]
Builder	John Brown & Company, Clydebank, Scotland
Yard number	700[1]
Launched	22 November 1956[1]
Acquired	June 1957[1]
Maiden voyage	5 June 1957[1]
In service	5 June 1957[1]
Out of service	December 2003[1]
Identification	IMO number: 5347245[1]
Fate	Scrapped at Alang, India, 2004
General characteristics (as built)[1]
Class and type	Saxonia class ocean liner
Tonnage	21,989 GRT 8,500 DWT
Length	185.40 m (608 ft 3 in)
Beam	24.49 m (80 ft 4 in)
Draught	8.90 m (29 ft 2 in)
Installed power	4 × John Brown steam turbines, combined 18277 kW
Propulsion	Two propellers[3]
Speed	21 kn (39 km/h; 24 mph) service speed[3]
Capacity	878 passengers (154 first class, 724 tourist class)[4]
General characteristics (after 1971 refit)[1]
Type	Cruise ship
Tonnage	24,724 GRT[5]
Decks	11[5]
Capacity	925 passengers[3]
Crew	330[5]

RMS Sylvania was an

The construction of the new ships, eventually referred to as the Saxonia class after the first ship, was awarded to the John Brown & Company shipyard at Clydebank in Glasgow, Scotland. The first ship, RMS Saxonia was delivered in 1954, with RMS Ivernia following in 1955, RMS Carinthia in 1956, and finally Sylvania in 1957.^[6] As was the tradition for Cunard Line vessels, all ships were named after Latin names of provinces of the Roman and Holy Roman Empires.

Sylvania was rebuilt once during her service with Cunard Line, in 1965 when she was rebuilt into a more cruise-friendly configuration by the addition of

At some point of her career, Sylvania's hull was re-painted white.[2]

During the 1970–71 refit the ship's external appearance was radically altered, with the forward superstructure rebuilt to a sleek, streamlined form, the funnel rebuilt to a more modern, slightly conical form with a smoke deflector fin on top, and the cargo cranes eliminated. In keeping with the then-current

In 1988 Sitmar Fairwind received the new Sitmar livery with an entirely white superstructure, a dark blue funnel with Sitmar's new Swan logo, and three wave-like ribands painted on her hull. Alongside Fairstar she was the only ship to receive the short-lived new Sitmar livery.^[8][9]

After moved to Princess Cruises and renamed Dawn Princess, the ship received the all-white Princess livery, with only the top of her funnel painted dark blue, and Princess' wave logo attached to the funnel. In Phoenix Reisen service her funnel was painted turquoise with a black top, with Phoenix's seagull-and-sun logo attached. Additionally a turquoise decorative stripe was painted on her hull.

Interior design

Sylvania, like her sisters, was originally built with a general arrangement of three cargo holds located both aft and forward of the superstructure, the passenger spaces located between them, with tourist class dominating the passenger spaces. Despite the dominance of the tourist class, her interiors were built to the elegant standards maintained by

The public spaces were also altered radically in the 1970–71 refit, with three swimming pools added to the rear decks,[2] and the accommodations brought up to the high standards expected by the North American cruise passengers.^[7] After the refit her facilities included a theatre, five lounges and three restaurants.^[3]

Service history

1957–1968: Sylvania

Sylvania started on her maiden voyage from

When the North Atlantic passenger operation became unprofitable in the early sixties, Sylvania was used on more and more cruises.[10] In early 1965 she received a refit to make her accommodations more cruise-friendly (though this was not as extensive as the refits given to her sisters Saxonia and Ivernia).^[2][6] In November 1966 her transatlantic service was altered back to the Liverpool—Montreal route.^[3]

In June 1967, she was on a regular run from Montreal to Southampton via Le Havre when she ran aground on a sand bank between Lac St. Pierre and Trois-Rivières, Quebec. After nearly 24 hours trying to shift her with ocean-going tugboats, Cunard offered the 400 or so passengers the option of flying to the UK or continuing their voyage on the CP liner Empress of England, which had sailed from Montreal at noon the following day. Those passengers who opted to take Empress of England were transferred late in the afternoon on the deck of a ferry from Trois-Rivières, arriving aboard Empress of England via the utility entrance for the kitchen.^[11]

Between 24 February 1967 and 10 May 1967, Sylvania carried

As Dawn Princess the ship continued cruises mainly aimed at the North American market. At the time Princess Cruises were investing heavily on new tonnage, and the popular Dawn Princess was sold in early 1993 to V-Ships, a subsidiary of Vlasov Group, who had been the owners of Sitmar.^[1][2][7]

1993–2004: Albatros

Dawn Princess was renamed Albatros after the sale to V-Ships and she was chartered to

On 22 May 1995 Albatros suffered an engine room fire while on a cruise on the Red Sea. Her passengers were evacuated in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. After passengers were evacuated, the ship sailed to Livorno, Italy for provisional repairs. She received full repairs at Lloyd Werft, Bremerhaven in June, returning to service on 30 June 1995.^[1]

On 16 May 1997 Albatros, carrying 800 people, hit

In November 2003 Albatros suffered severe machinery problems, hence Phoenix Reisen decided to terminate her charter contract, while V-Ships concluded that the price of repairing the 46-year-old ship would be too high. As a result, she was sold to the scrapyard at Alang, India in December 2003. The ship was renamed Genoa, and on 1 January 2004 she arrived at Alang, where she was beached and subsequently broken up.^[1][7][14] As a replacement vessel, Crown was quickly chartered in January 2004, and given the name Albatros.^[1]

References