RMS Samaria
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The RMS Samaria (II) was a 1922 posed in service Transatlantic - passenger ship of the British shipping company Cunard Line , the passenger and mail service between the United Kingdom and the United States was used. She was one of the largest British passenger ships built right after the First World War . She remained in service until 1955.
The ship
After the end of the First World War , the Cunard Line began an extensive building program for its fleet, as it had lost many of its ships in the war. Medium-sized ships of the line, around 19,000 GRT in size, were to be built, rather than the oversized ocean liners that the shipping company previously operated. Ship names were assigned that had already appeared in the Cunard fleet.
One of these new ships was the 19,602 GRT steamer Samaria, built of steel . The ship was 190.20 meters long and 22.46 meters wide and had a chimney, two masts and two screws . The service speed was 16 knots (29.6 km / h). The passenger accommodations were designed for 350 passengers in the first, 350 in the second and 1,500 in the third class. The Samaria had two sister ships , the RMS Laconia (II) (19,680 GRT), which was built by Swan Hunter , and the RMS Scythia (II) (19,730 GRT), which was built by Vickers Ltd. originated.
period of service
On November 27, 1920, the Samaria was launched at the Cammell, Laird & Company shipyard in the English port city of Birkenhead . On April 19, 1922, she ran from Liverpool on her maiden voyage via Queenstown to New York . On November 2, 1922, the ship ran for its first crossing from Liverpool via Queenstown to Boston and New York. The steamer was also used extensively for cruises and circumnavigated the world in 1923 and 1924. In the spring of 1928 the Samaria was used for winter cruises outside New York and the following summer for cruises from Ireland to Lourdes and Fátima . In the 1930s, London was the departure port for cruises.
In April 1929, the passenger accommodation was divided into cabin, tourist and third class. In the same year there was almost a collision with the Anchor Line's Cameronia in the fog . On August 26, 1939, the ship left for the last voyage before the outbreak of World War II . In the following four months, the ship remained in Cunard's regular service and sailed without an escort .
On December 16, 1939, the Samaria ran out of Liverpool for New York, but had to return to port after colliding with the RMS Aquitania , which was in the same convoy . In 1940 the Samaria was chartered by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and used from then on as a troop transport and as an evacuation ship. On January 6, 1941, she left Liverpool as a troop transport to Suez (Egypt). At the end of 1944, she carried troops in the Mediterranean . In March 1945 she drove to the Ukrainian port city of Odessa and brought 1,000 former prisoners of war ashore, who had been liberated by the Soviet armed forces.
In September 1948, the steamer set out on its first crossing from Cuxhaven via Le Havre to Quebec . The ship stayed on this route until it began commuting between London and Quebec in April 1950. In the fall of 1950 the passenger capacities were changed again. From now on, the premises were intended for 250 passengers in first class and 650 in tourist class. On June 14, 1951, the Samaria steamed for the first voyage from Liverpool to Quebec and then to Southampton, and on July 12, 1951, it set off for the first time from Southampton via Le Havre to Quebec.
The last of these crossings began on November 23, 1955. In December 1955 the ship was laid up and in January 1956 it was scrapped in Inverkeithing (Scotland).