View source for RMS Caronia (1904)

{{Short description|Cunard line transatlantic steam ocean liner}}
{{other ships|Caronia (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=June 2008}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= RMS Caronia 1905.jpg
|Ship caption= ''Caronia'' under way
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}}
|Ship name= *1904: ''Caronia''
*1932: ''Taiseiyo Maru''
|Ship namesake= *1904: Caro Brown
*1932: Japanese for "Atlantic Ship"
|Ship nickname= "pretty sister of Carmania"
|Ship owner= [[Cunard Line]] 
|Ship operator= 1914–15: {{flagicon|United Kingdom|naval}} [[Royal Navy]]
|Ship registry= *1904: [[Port of Liverpool|Liverpool]]
*1932: [[Port of Osaka|Osaka]]
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[John Brown & Company|John Brown & Co]], [[Clydebank]]
|Ship laid down=
|Ship yard number= 362
|Ship launched= 13 July 1904
|Ship completed= February 1905
|Ship acquired=
|Ship maiden voyage= 25 February 1905
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship identification= *UK [[official number]]: 120826
*[[Code letters]] HBTQ
*{{ICS|Hotel}}{{ICS|Bravo}}{{ICS|Tango}}{{ICS|Quebec}}
*by 1913: [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] MRA
*1914–15: [[pennant number]]: M 53
|Ship renamed=
|Ship motto=
|Ship fate= Scrapped 1933 in [[Port of Osaka|Osaka]]
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type= [[Ocean liner]]
|Ship tonnage= *1904:
*{{GRT|19594}}, {{NRT|10213}}
*1909:
*{{GRT|19687}}, {{NRT|10306}}
*after 1924 refit:
*{{GRT|19782}}, {{NRT|9752}}
|Ship length= *{{cvt|650.0|ft|abbr=on}} [[Length between perpendiculars|registered length]]
*{{cvt|678|ft|abbr=on}} [[Length overall|o/a]]
|Ship beam= {{cvt|72.2|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught= {{convert|33|ft|3|in|2|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth= {{cvt|40.2|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship power= *3,363 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]]
*22,000 [[Horsepower#Indicated horsepower|IHP]]
|Ship propulsion= *2 × [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|quadruple-expansion engines]]
*2 × [[Propeller|screws]]
|Ship speed= {{convert|18|kn|km/h|lk=in}}
|Ship range=
|Ship capacity=*1,550 passengers:{{clarify|before or after 1924 refit?|date=December 2020}}
*300 first class
*350 second class
*900 third class
*cargo: {{convert|46280|cuft|0}} [[Reefer ship|refrigerated]]
|Ship crew=
|Ship sensors= *by 1930:
*[[Submarine signals|submarine signalling]]
*wireless [[direction finding]]
|Ship armament= *(as [[Armed merchantman#Armed merchant cruisers|AMC]]):
*8 × [[QF 4.7 inch Mk V naval gun]]s
|Ship notes= [[sister ship]]: {{RMS|Carmania|1905|6}}
}}
|}

'''RMS ''Caronia''''' was a [[Cunard Line]] [[Transatlantic crossing|transatlantic]] [[Steamship|steam]] [[ocean liner]]. She was launched in 1904 and scrapped in 1932. In [[World War I]] she was first an [[Armed merchantman#Armed merchant cruisers|armed merchant cruiser]] (AMC) and then a [[Troopship|troop ship]].

{{RMS|Carmania|1905|6}} was launched in 1905 as her [[sister ship]], although the two had different machinery. When new, the pair were the largest ships in the Cunard fleet.<ref name=Ljungström>{{cite web|url=http://thegreatoceanliners.com/articles/carmania-i/|last=Ljungström|first=Henrik|title=Carmania (I)|work=The Great Ocean Liners|date=23 March 2018|access-date=23 December 2020}}</ref>

==Building==
[[John Brown & Company]] of [[Clydebank]] launched ''Caronia'' on 13 July 1904<ref name=SBS>{{cite web|url=http://clydeships.co.uk/view.php?year_built=&builder=&ref=3240&vessel=CARONIA|title=Caronia|work=Scottish Built Ships|publisher=Caledonian Maritime Research Trust|access-date=23 December 2020}}</ref> and completed her in February 1905.<ref name=LR>{{cite book|url=https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/30/30b0219.pdf|year=1930|title=Lloyd's Register|chapter=Steamers & Motorships|place=London|publisher=Lloyd's Register|via=Plimsoll Ship Data|access-date=23 December 2020}}</ref> She was the only ship in the Cunard fleet to be named after an American, being named after Caro Brown, granddaughter of Cunard's [[New York City|New York]] agent.<ref name=wills>{{harvnb|Wills|2010|p=141}}</ref>

''Caronia'' was propelled by [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|quadruple-expansion engines]]. ''Carmania'' had [[Steam turbine#Marine propulsion|steam turbines]], and proved to be the more economical of the two.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chriscunard.com/history-fleet/cunard-fleet/1900-1930/caronia/|last=Frame|first=Chris|title=Caronia|work=Chris' Cunard Page}}</ref>

Her holds included {{convert|46280|cuft|0}} [[Reefer ship|refrigerated cargo]] space.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/30/30a0629.pdf|year=1930|title=Lloyd's Register|chapter=List of Vessels Fitted with Refrigerating Appliances|place=London|publisher=Lloyd's Register|via=Plimsoll Ship Data|access-date=23 December 2020}}</ref>

==Service==
''Caronia'' left [[Port of Liverpool|Liverpool]] on her maiden voyage to New York on 25 February 1905. A successful 1906 cruise from New York to the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] led to ''Caronia'' frequently being used for cruising.

On 14 April 1912 ''Caronia'' transmitted the first ice warning at 09:00 to RMS ''[[Titanic]]'' reporting "bergs, growlers and field ice".

In 1914 Cunard briefly placed ''Caronia'' on its [[Port of Boston|Boston]] service. At the start of the [[World War I|First World War]] the [[Admiralty (United Kingdom)|Admiralty]] requisitioned her to be an armed merchant cruiser. She was stationed off New York on [[contraband]] patrol.<ref name=wills/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m2I2AQAAMAAJ&dq=%22british+cruiser+Caronia%22&pg=RA5-PA167|title=Boot and Shoe Recorder|publisher=Chilton Company|language=en|quote=British Cruiser Caronia Ordering the Principe di Udine to Stop in Mid Ocean; Photographed from Deck of the Udine|page=[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Boot_and_Shoe_Recorder/m2I2AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22british+cruiser+Caronia%22&pg=RA5-PA167&printsec=frontcover 167]|date=5 September 1914|article=Shoe and Leather Men from Europe}}</ref> She was a troop ship from 1916 until after the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918]]. Her last duties were to repatriate Canadian troops in 1919.<ref name=wills/> She returned to the Liverpool – New York run after the war.

In 1920 ''Caronia'' was converted to burn oil instead of coal.

After returning to service, she sailed on a number of different routes, including:
* Liverpool – New York / Boston
* [[Port of London|London]] – New York
* Liverpool - Mediterranean cruise stopping at Gibraltar, Algiers, Monaco, Genoa and Naples (Dec 1921 - approx Mar 1922)
* [[Port of Hamburg|Hamburg]] – New York (1922)
* Liverpool – [[Port of Quebec|Quebec]] (1924)
* New York – [[Havana]]

==Fate==
In 1931 Cunard laid up ''Caronia'', and then sold her for £20,000 to [[Hughes Bolckow]] & Co for scrap. In 1932 Hughes Bolckow sold her to Kobe Kaiun KK for £39,000, who renamed her ''Taiseiyo Maru'' ("The Atlantic Ship"). Kobe Kaiun had her towed to [[Port of Osaka|Osaka]], where demolition work started on 28 March 1933.<ref name=SBS/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.titanicinquiry.org/ships/caronia.php|title=Caronia|work=Titanic Inquiry Project|access-date=23 December 2020}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|last=Bonsor|first=NRP|title=North Atlantic Seaway}}{{clarify|reason=Which volume?|date=December 2020}}
* {{cite book|last=Haws|first=Duncan|year=1979|title=Merchant ships in Profile 2|series=Merchant Fleets|place=Cambridge|publisher=Patrick Stephens Ltd|isbn=0-85059-324-7}}
* {{cite book|last1=Osborne|first1=Richard|last2=Spong|first2=Harry|last3=Grover|first3=Tom|year=2007|title=Armed Merchant Cruisers 1878–1945|place=Windsor|publisher=World Warship Society|isbn=978-0-9543310-8-5|name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite book|last=Wills|first=Elspeth|year=2010|title=The Fleet 1840–2010|place=London|publisher=Cunard|isbn=978-0-9542451-8-4}}
* {{cite book|last=Wilson|first=RM|year=1956|title=The Big Ships|place=London|publisher=[[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell & Co]]}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Caronia (ship, 1905)}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.naval-history.net/OWShips-WW1-08-HMS_Caronia.htm|editor1=Maikel Noordeloos|editor2=Old Weather Transcriber|editor3=Veldhoven|title=HMS CARONIA – August 1914 to December 1915, Irish waters (11th Cruiser Squadron), West Atlantic, North America & West Indies Station|work=Royal Navy Log Books of the World War 1 Era|publisher=Naval History.Net}}
* {{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oN8DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA509|title=Caronia|date=May 1905|work=Popular Mechanics}}

{{Cunard ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caronia (1905)}}
[[Category:1904 ships]]
[[Category:World War I Auxiliary cruisers of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Ocean liners of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:RMS Titanic]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]]
[[Category:Ships of the Cunard Line]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Troop ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War I cruisers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War I passenger ships of the United Kingdom]]