Cameronia (ship, 1921)
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The RMS Cameronia (II) was a 1921 passenger ship of the British shipping company Anchor Line , which was used in the transatlantic passenger traffic from Great Britain to the United States . During the Second World War it served as an Allied troop transport . The scrapping took place in 1958 in Wales .
Commissioning and early years
The 168.73 m long and 21.45 meters wide steam ship Cameronia was on March 7, 1919 the shipyard William Beardmore and Company in Glasgow set for the British shipping company Anchor Line in Kiel, in the Empire of 1911 Cunard Line had been taken . It was launched on December 23, 1919, but was not completed until September 1920 due to a strike. She had to be towed to Cherbourg , where the work could be completed.
The Cameronia was the sister ship of the Lancastria (16,243 GRT) put into service in 1922 and built at the same shipyard. She was also the second ship on the Anchor Line to bear this name. It had two masts , a chimney and two propellers . On board the ship there was space for 265 passengers in the first, 370 in the second and 1,100 in the third class. After completion, the Cameronia could sail on May 11, 1921 on her maiden voyage from Glasgow via Liverpool to New York . Until 1924 she made numerous trips in association with the Cunard Line. In October 1925 she took on the crew of the CG 128 , a cutter of the US Coast Guard . In November of the same year she collided on the Clyde with the Norwegian steamer Hauk .
In January 1926, the Cameronia had to abort a crossing off the Irish coast because her rudder failed and she was forced to return to Glasgow for repairs. In August 1926 she escaped a collision in thick fog with the Samaria of the Cunard Line by a hair's breadth . In 1929 the passenger accommodations were converted to 290 passengers in the cabin class, 431 in the tourist class and 698 in the third class. In December 1932, an influenza epidemic raged on board which affected 400 passengers.
From December 1934 to October 1935, the Cameronia was launched in Glasgow. Until April 1936 she was used as a troop transport to the Far East and carried more than 16,000 people in this function. In the same year she was renovated and on July 10, 1936 she resumed passenger traffic from Glasgow to New York. On May 20, 1937, she took part in the Coronation Fleet Review at Spithead in honor of the coronation of King George VI. part.
Second World War
After her departure from Glasgow on September 5, 1939, the Cameronia was the first ship in World War II to call at New York after the outbreak of hostilities. When she arrived in New York on October 16, 1939, she had several dozen survivors of the Athenia on board. She completed eleven Atlantic crossings without any escort until she was requested as a troop transport in December 1940 . In January 1941 she carried 3,000 men over the Cape of Good Hope to Suez and then commuted mainly between Alexandria and Greece .
In 1942 the Cameronia was used for training purposes for the landing of the Allies in French North Africa , Operation Torch and then also for the actual operation. On December 22, 1942, she was hit by an air torpedo and recorded 17 deaths, but was still able to enter the Algerian port of Annaba . She drove to Gibraltar and then to the Clyde for repairs.
In 1943, the ship was back in action and was used to bring the Canadian Tank Division (Canadian tank division) from Malta to Sicily . The Cameronia was the largest troop carrier to land in Normandy in June 1944 . In August 1945, the Cameronia was retired after carrying 163,789 soldiers and traveling 321,323 miles.
Late years
After the end of the war, the Cameronia was launched because it was not assumed that the old and worn ship would still be used. In July 1948, she was converted at the Barclay, Curle and Company shipyard in Elderslie for use as an Australian emigrant ship with a capacity of 1266 passengers.
On November 1, 1948, the Cameronia ran for the first of a total of eleven voyages from Great Britain to Australia. On January 21, 1953, the more than 30-year-old ship was sold to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and renamed the Empire Clyde . In March the ship was finally scrapped in Newport (Wales).
Web links
- Summary ship data in The Ships List (upper third)
- Technical and historical data in the Clydebuilt Ships Database (with photo)
- Extract from the Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF; 144 kB)