Albania (ship, 1900)
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The RMS Albania (I) was a passenger ship put into service in 1900 under the name Consuelo , which from 1911 belonged to the British shipping company Cunard Line , for which it opened its new passenger and freight service between Great Britain and Canada . However, since she did not meet Cunard's expectations in the long term, she was sold on to another shipping company in 1912 . The ship remained in service until 1929 and was scrapped in 1930.
history
The 6,025 GRT steel steamship was built for Thomas Wilson & Sons (Wilson Line) from Kingston upon Hull . It was launched on February 3, 1900 under the name Consuelo at the Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson shipyard in the northern English city of Wallsend . The 140.65 meter long and 15.88 meter wide Consuelo was a twin screw steamer with a single chimney and four masts . She was powered by six-cylinder steam turbines from T. Richardson & Sons of Hartlepool , which allowed a speed of eleven knots (20.4 km / h). The Consuelo could only carry 13 first class passengers. On August 5, 1900, she left Hull on her maiden voyage to New York . On March 1, 1908, she left Hull for her last trip for the Wilson Line to Boston and New York.
In 1909 the Consuelo was sold to the Thomson Line and renamed Cairnrona . From now on, 50 second class passengers and 800 third class passengers could be carried. The volume was increased from 6,025 GRT to 7,640 GRT. In January 1910 she drove for the first time for the Thomson Line from London to Saint John , where she arrived on January 25, 1910. In April 1910 broke at Beachy Head off the coast of East Sussex fire so that 700 passengers in a coal bunker, the cargo steamer Kanawha of Furness, Withy & Co. transferred had. The fire was extinguished while returning to London. On April 16, 1910, the Cairnrona ran again to Québec and Montreal. On April 8, 1911, she ran for the last time in Saint John to London.
In 1911 the Thomson Line became the Cairn-Thomson Line, which from then on only operated in freight traffic and no longer carried passengers. The Cunard Line then bought three ships from the Thomson fleet. The Consuelo or Cairnrona became the Albania (I), the Tortona (7,907 BRT, 1909) became the Ausonia (I) and the Gerona (9,111 BRT, 1911) became the Ascania (I). All three steamers were planned for the new Cunard route London - Southampton - Quebec - Montreal . The ship was loaded in London, the passengers came on board in Southampton and after crossing the Atlantic, first Québec and then Montreal were headed for. In this way, Cunard benefited from a contract between the governments of Canada and France, under which goods from France were discounted when they were shipped into Canada via a British port.
On May 2, 1911, the Albania was the first of the three ships to set out on her first voyage for Cunard. The Ausonia followed on May 16 and the Ascania on May 23. The Albania was the first ship of the Cunard Line to enter the Saint Lawrence River , which became a common practice from then on. When the St. Lawrence River could not be crossed during the winter months because of the ice deposits, Portland (US state Maine ) became the port of call for the ships.
Just six months after purchasing the Albania , Cunard decided that it did not meet the shipping company's standards. She sailed for the last time under the Cunard flag in Southampton on October 17, 1911 and was launched after the voyage was completed. On June 12, 1912, she was bought by Bank Line , London, for £ 20,000 . Under the name Poleric , the ship was in service until 1929 and was scrapped in 1930.
Web links
- Ship Descriptions - C / Ca to Ch Ship description in The Ships List (as Cairnrona , above)
- Cunard Heritage: Luxury Cruising Since 1840: Cunard Cruise Line - Cunard website with data on Cunard ships ( Memento from January 2, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- The RMS Albania (I) on a website about Cunard ships (page 6)