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Lot Essay
Laid down in 1908 and launched on 20th February 1909, Mantua was one of the famous 'M' class of liners added to P. & O.'s fleet during the first decade of the twentieth century. Built by Caird's at Greenock at a cost of £308,053, she was registered at 10,946 tons gross (5,980 net) and measured 562 feet in length with a 61 foot beam. Powered by a pair of Caird's own quadruple-expansion engines, she could cruise at 17 knots and had accommodation for 407 First and 200 Second class passengers. After four years on the Australia run followed by a year's cruising, she was recalled from the Baltic on 2nd August 1914 and hastily converted into an armed merchant cruiser mounting 8-4.7in.guns. Briefly serving with the 10th Cruiser Squadron, she then assumed the role of a troopship for the rest of the War and was finally returned to her owners in 1919. Refitted by Vickers, Armstrong, she resumed Australian sailings in January 1920 but was later transferred onto the Bombay and Far East route. Withdrawn in May 1935, the last of the 'M' class still in service, she was sold to Chinese shipbreakers for £32,000 and broken up in Shanghai.