Royal Mail Steamship Tahiti
RMS Port Kingston in 1905; she was renamed Tahiti in 1911
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | RMS Tahiti |
| Owner: | Union Steamship Company of New Zealand |
| Port of registry: |
 New Zealand
|
| Route: | Sydney to San Francisco via Wellington |
| Builder: | Alexander Stephen and Sons, Clydebank |
| Yard number: | 403 |
| Launched: | 1904 |
| Christened: | Originally RMS Port Kingston |
| Acquired: | 1911 |
| Maiden voyage: | 11 December 1911 |
| Fate: | Sank 17 August 1930 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage: | 7,585 gross |
| Length: | 460 ft (140 m) |
| Beam: | 55 ft (17 m) |
| Depth: | 27 ft (8.2 m) |
| Installed power: | Two steam triple expansion engines, 1443 nhp |
| Propulsion: | Two propellers |
| Speed: | 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) |
| Capacity: | 515 passengers (as built) |
| Crew: | 135 |
Coordinates: 24°42′S 166°15′W / 24.70°S 166.25°W
RMS Tahiti was a 7,585 ton ocean liner operated by the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand. Built in 1904 on Clydebank by the shipbuilders Alexander Stephen and Sons, she was named RMS Port Kingston until 1911. Taken up as a troop ship during World War I; she was subjected to an outbreak of Spanish influenza in 1918 with exceptionally high mortality amongst the troops on board. After being returned to her owners, in 1927 she was in collision with a ferry in Sydney Harbour; known as the Greycliffe disaster, it resulted in the deaths of 40 ferry passengers. Tahiti finally sank in the South Pacific Ocean due to flooding caused by a broken propeller shaft in 1930.
Originally named RMS Port Kingston, she was built by Alexander Stephen and Sons of Govan on the River Clyde. She had been ordered by the Imperial Direct West Mail Company of Bristol, who were a subsidiary of Elder Dempster Shipping Limited. She was intended for the Bristol to Kingston, Jamaica route, which she was able to cover in ten and a half days. She had accommodation for 277 first class, 97-second and 141 third class passengers on four decks and had a crew of 135. Besides carrying mail, she had a hold for a cargo of fruit. Port Kingston survived the 1907 Kingston earthquake and although beached, was successfully refloated. She was laid-up in 1910.
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