The RMS

Royal Mail Ship

Royal Mail Ship , usually seen in its abbreviated form RMS, a designation which dates back to 1840, is the ship prefix used for seagoing vessels that carry mail under contract by Royal Mail...

 Carmania (I) was a British ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett

Leonard Peskett

Leonard Peskett, OBE was the Cunard Line's Senior Naval Architect and Designer and the designer of sister ships RMS Mauretania and RMS Lusitania, as well as their 'half-sister,' RMS Aquitania, and the RMS Carmania....

 and built by John Brown & Company

John Brown & Company

John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a pre-eminent Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm, responsible for building many notable and world-famous ships, such as the , the , the , the , the , and the...

 for the Cunard Line

Cunard Line

Cunard Line is a British-American owned shipping company based at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operated by Carnival UK. It has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic for over a century...

. In World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 the Carmania was converted to an armed merchant cruiser.

History

When launched, the Carmania and her sister ship, the Caronia, were the largest ships in the Cunard fleet and two of the fastest in the world, since they had been designed to compete with the Germans for the Blue Riband

Blue Riband

The Blue Riband is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. Under the unwritten rules, the record is based on average speed...

. The Carmania had steam turbines, and the Caronia had quadruple-expansion engines. Another feature that differentiated the two liners was that Carmania had two tall forward deck ventilator cowls while they were absent on Caronia. The Carmania traveled the New York-Liverpool route from 1905 to 1910, suffering one major fire in June 1910. In October 1913, while eastward bound, she responded to a distress call from the to pick up survivors in a storm, resulting in many awards for gallantry being presented to various members of her crew and Captain James Clayton Barr

James Clayton Barr

James Clayton Barr, CB was a Commodore of the Cunard line.-Biography:He was the Captain of the RMS Carmania from 1905 to at least 1913. In October of 1913, while eastward bound, Barr responded to a distress call from the SS Volturno to pick up survivors. By 1916 he was Captain of the RMS...

.

Following the outbreak of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the Carmania was converted into an armed merchant cruiser, equipped with eight 4.7 inch guns

QF 4.7 inch Mk V naval gun

The QF 4.7 inch Gun Mark V originated as a 120-mm 45 calibres long naval gun produced for export by the Elswick Ordnance Company in the 1890s and used by various countries.-United Kingdom service:...

, and put under the command of Captain Noel Grant. She sailed from Liverpool to Shell Bay in Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

. She subsequently engaged and sank the German merchant cruiser SMS Cap Trafalgar

SMS Cap Trafalgar

SMS Cap Trafalgar was a German auxiliary cruiser during World War I. The ship holds the dubious distinction of being the first armed merchant cruiser to have been sunk by a ship of the same class, having been destroyed in a furious action in the South Atlantic in September 1914 soon after the...

 during the Battle of Trindade

Battle of Trindade

The Battle of Trindade was a single-ship action fought during the First World War on 14 September 1914 off the coast of the Brazilian island of Trindade between the Imperial German Navy and the British Royal Navy.-Battle:...

 The ship suffered extensive damage herself and several casualties to her crew. Ironically, the two ships had been disguised as each other. After repairs in Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

 she patrolled the coast of Portugal and the Atlantic islands for the next two years. In 1916 she was summoned to assist in the Gallipoli

Gallipoli

The Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkish Thrace , the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek "Καλλίπολις" , meaning "Beautiful City"...

 campaign. From May 1916 she was used as a troop ship. After the War she transported Canadian troops back from Europe.

In early 1920, she returned to passenger liner service, being refitted in 1923. In 1932, she was sold to Hughes Bolckow & Co., and scrapped at Blyth

Blyth, Northumberland

Blyth is a town and civil parish in southeast Northumberland, England. It lies on the coast, to the south of the River Blyth and is approximately 21 kilometres  northeast of Newcastle upon Tyne...

.

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