Lot Essay
On the basis that every successful passenger liner needed a comparable running mate, the Cunard Line ordered a pair of matching ships in 1904 for their Liverpool to New York supplementary service (i.e. summer months only). Named "Caronia" and "Carmania", the two liners were built by John Brown's on the Clyde; each was registered at 19,594 tons and they measured 678 feet in length with a 72 foot beam. With extensive accommodation for 300 first, 350 second and 900 third class passengers plus 1,100 steerage, they carried crews of 700 and were designed to steam at 18 knots.
"Caronia" was laid down first, launched in July 1904 and completed in February 1905. Entering service immediately, she soon established herself as reliable and operated without incident until August 1914 when she was requisitioned as an Armed Merchant Cruiser and allotted wartime duties. After two years she was put to work as a troop transport but returned to peacetime sailings in January 1919. Extensively refitted and converted to oil feul in 1924, she was finally withdrawn from service in 1931 and broken up in Japan in 1933.
By comparison, "Carmania" had a much more eventful life which began with a serious fire whilst docked at Liverpool in June 1912 and which was followed by her playing the leading role in the dramatic mid-Atlantic rescue of the survivors from the blazing liner "Volturno" in October 1913. Also requisitioned as an Armed Merchant Cruiser in August 1914, only a month later - whilst on patrol in the South Atlantic - she engaged and sank the armed German liner "Cap Trafalgar" in a fierce action off the Brazilian island of Trinidad. This celebrated fight - the only instace of an armed merchant cruiser sinking a similar vessel in a straight gun duel - made Carmania's reputation overnight and thereafter, she retained the air of a celebrity until the end of her days. Badly damaged in the battle, she limped into port for major repairs and was eventually returned to peacetime duty in December 1918. Refitted like her sister in 1924, she too was laid up in 1931 - another victim to the economic slump - and was scrapped the next year.
"Caronia" was laid down first, launched in July 1904 and completed in February 1905. Entering service immediately, she soon established herself as reliable and operated without incident until August 1914 when she was requisitioned as an Armed Merchant Cruiser and allotted wartime duties. After two years she was put to work as a troop transport but returned to peacetime sailings in January 1919. Extensively refitted and converted to oil feul in 1924, she was finally withdrawn from service in 1931 and broken up in Japan in 1933.
By comparison, "Carmania" had a much more eventful life which began with a serious fire whilst docked at Liverpool in June 1912 and which was followed by her playing the leading role in the dramatic mid-Atlantic rescue of the survivors from the blazing liner "Volturno" in October 1913. Also requisitioned as an Armed Merchant Cruiser in August 1914, only a month later - whilst on patrol in the South Atlantic - she engaged and sank the armed German liner "Cap Trafalgar" in a fierce action off the Brazilian island of Trinidad. This celebrated fight - the only instace of an armed merchant cruiser sinking a similar vessel in a straight gun duel - made Carmania's reputation overnight and thereafter, she retained the air of a celebrity until the end of her days. Badly damaged in the battle, she limped into port for major repairs and was eventually returned to peacetime duty in December 1918. Refitted like her sister in 1924, she too was laid up in 1931 - another victim to the economic slump - and was scrapped the next year.