RMS Caronia
.jpg) The Caronia circa 1956, in the Trondheim fjord
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| Ordered: | 1946 |
| Builder: | John Brown and Company, Clydebank, Scotland |
| Yard number: | 635 |
| Laid down: | 13 February 1946 |
| Launched: | 30 October 1947 by HRH The Princess Elizabeth (Now Queen Elizabeth II) |
| Completed: | December 1948 |
| Maiden voyage: | 4 January 1949 |
| Out of service: | 27 November 1967 |
| Nickname(s): | The Green Goddess |
| Fate: | Wrecked in Apra Harbour, Guam, 1974. Subsequently scrapped. |
| General characteristics | |
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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: | 35,000shp |
| 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" . She is credited as one of the first "dual-purpose" built ships: suited to cruising, but also capable of transatlantic crossings. After leaving Cunard she briefly served as SS 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 subsequently breaking into three sections.
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 an express service, with the smaller and slower RMS Mauretania sailing as the third ship on the route. The company placed an order for a running mate to the Mauretania, a ship of similar speed and proportions for the transatlantic run. Ultimately this was not to be the role of the new ship. Cunard White Star's executives decided that the new ship would be built primarily for cruising.
With cruising in mind, the new ship - soon to be named Caronia by Princess Elizabeth - received many different features from her Cunard White Star fleetmates. An outdoor swimming pool was a new thing, as was having 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 you were allocated to a restaurant dependent upon the location of your stateroom. On short cruises to the Caribbean and South America, every cabin was offered for occupation and often, like on transatlantic crossings, there would be two sittings for Luncheon and Dinner.
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