Royal Mail Ship (sometimes Steam-ship or Steamer), usually seen in its abbreviated form RMS, is the ship prefix used for seagoing vessels that carry mail under contract to the British Royal Mail. The designation dates back to 1840. [1] Any vessel designated as "RMS" has the right both to fly the pennant of the Royal Mail when sailing and to include the Royal Mail "crown" insignia with any identifying device and/or design for the ship. [2] [3] [4]
It was used by many shipping lines, but is often associated in particular with the White Star Line, Cunard Line, [2] [5] Royal Mail Lines, Union-Castle Line, Canadian Pacific Line, Orient Line and the P&OSNC, which held a number of high-profile mail contracts, and traditionally prefixed the names of many of their ships with the initials "RMS".
While some lines in the past, particularly the Royal Mail Lines, called all their ships "RMS", technically a ship would use the prefix only while contracted to carry mail, and would revert at other times to a standard designation such as "SS". [6] [7]
Originally, the British Admiralty operated these ships. [8]
The designation "RMS" has been used since 1840. [9] In 1850 contracts were awarded to private companies. Having the title "RMS" was seen as a mark of quality and a competitive advantage, because the mail had to be on time.
The most valuable route, with the highest volume, was between Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire), in Ireland, and Holyhead in Wales. The City of Dublin Steam Packet Company (CDSPCo) won the contract. They bought RMS St Columba and RMS Llewellyn from the Admiralty to supplement their Prince Arthur. In the CDSPCo contract, in 1860, there was a penalty clause of £1 1s 4d for every minute's delay.
The Canadian Pacific Railway's trans-Pacific Royal Mail contract required the building of the first three of a fleet of steamships: the RMS Empress of China, RMS Empress of India and RMS Empress of Japan which regularly sailed between Vancouver and Asia beginning in 1891. [10] The RMS designation was also used on the ships of the White Star, P&O and Cunard lines of the 19th and 20th centuries.
In recent years the shift to air transport for mail has left only three ships with the right to the prefix or its variations: RMS Segwun, which serves as a passenger vessel in Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada; RMV Scillonian III, which serves the Isles of Scilly; and RMS Queen Mary 2. QM2 was conferred "RMS" by Royal Mail when she entered service in 2004 on the Southampton to New York route as a gesture to Cunard's history. [2]
The Royal Mail continues a form of this tradition on modern day airliners. The UK's flag carrier airline, British Airways, is contracted to carry mail on some of its scheduled long-distance routes. Aircraft operating these routes with the facilities to carry mail are allowed to display the Royal Mail's logo and crest on their fuselage, usually alongside their registration markings.
The less-common designations RMMV for Royal Mail Motor Vessel and RMMS for Royal Mail Motor Ship, were used for a period when RMS was restricted to steam-ships. Motor Vessel and Motor Ship indicated that propulsion was provided by diesel rather than steam.
The RMV Scillonian III carries the designation RMV for Royal Mail Vessel and is the only active RMV.
Service dates are the years with the status of Royal Mail Ship. Those highlighted are still in service with the status of Royal Mail Ship.
Name | Line | In service | Left service | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adriatic | White Star | 1907 | 1934 | Scrapped |
Alaunia | Cunard | 1913 | 1916 | Sunk by mine |
Alaunia | Cunard | 1925 | 1957 | Scrapped |
Alaunia | Cunard | 1960 | 1969 | Sold 1969 to Brocklebank Line and renamed as Malancha, sold again in 1971 to Panama as Humi Nastta and fate unknown |
Albania | Cunard | 1911 | 1930 | Built in 1900 as Consuelo, bought by Cunard 1911 & renamed Albania, sold 1912 & renamed Poleric, scrapped 1930 |
Alcantara | Royal Mail SP Co | 1913 | 1916 | Sunk by enemy action |
Alcantara | Royal Mail SP Co | 1926 | 1958 | Scrapped |
Almanzora | Royal Mail SP Co | 1906 | 1948 | Scrapped |
Amanda | Pickford & Black | — | — | — |
Amazon | Royal Mail SP Co | 1906 | 1916 | Sunk by enemy action |
Andania | Cunard | 1913 | 1918 | Sunk by enemy action |
Andania | Cunard | 1921 | 1940 | Sunk by enemy action |
Andes | Royal Mail SP Co | 1913 | 1929 | Scrapped after finishing career as the cruise ship Atlantis |
Andes | Royal Mail Lines | 1939 | 1959 | Scrapped in 1971 after finishing career as a cruise ship |
Antonia | Cunard | 1921 | 1948 | Scrapped |
Aquitania | Cunard | 1914 | 1950 | Scrapped |
Arabia | Peninsular and Oriental | 1898 | 1916 | Sunk by enemy action |
Aragon | Royal Mail SP Co | 1905 | 1917 | Sunk by enemy action |
Arlanza | Royal Mail SP Co | 1912 | 1938 | Scrapped |
Arundel Castle | Union-Castle | 1921 | 1959 | Scrapped |
Ascania | Cunard | 1923 | 1957 | Scrapped |
Asturias | Royal Mail SP Co | 1925 | 1957 | Scrapped |
Aurania | Cunard | 1881 | 1905 | Scrapped |
Aurania | Cunard | 1916 | 1918 | Sunk by enemy action |
Aurania | Cunard | 1924 | 1961 | Scrapped |
Atlantic | White Star | 1871 | 1873 | Sunk after collision with rocks |
Ausonia | Cunard | 1921 | 1965 | Scrapped |
Avon | Royal Mail SP Co | 1906 and 1919 | 1914 and 1929 | Converted as troopship in 1914, then as armed merchant cruiser 1915 and renamed HMS Avoca, return to owners and renamed Avon in 1919; scrapped 1930 |
Baltic | White Star | 1904 | 1933 | Scrapped |
Ben-my-Chree | IoM Steam Packet | 1845 | 1860 | Wrecked |
Ben-my-Chree | IoM Steam Packet | 1875 | 1906 | Scrapped |
Ben-my-Chree | IoM Steam Packet | 1908 | 1915 | Sunk by enemy action |
Ben-my-Chree | IoM Steam Packet | 1927 | 1965 | Scrapped |
Ben-my-Chree | IoM Steam Packet | 1966 | 1984 | Scrapped |
Ben-my-Chree | IoM Steam Packet | 1998 | 2008 | Currently on active service as RO/PAX vessel |
Berengaria | Cunard | 1913 | 1938 | Scrapped |
Britannia | Cunard | 1840 | 1880 | Sunk |
Britannic | White Star | 1874 | 1903 | Scrapped |
Britannic | White Star | 1915 | 1916 | Sunk by mine |
Britannic | White Star | 1929 | 1960 | Scrapped |
Bulimba | British India Steam Navigation Company | 1886 | 1922 | Built 1881, sold to China in 1882, scrapped in 1933. |
Capetown Castle | Union-Castle | 1937 | 1966 | Scrapped |
Campania | Cunard | 1891 | 1918 | Sank after collision with HMS Glorious |
Carinthia | Cunard | 1925 | 1940 | Sunk by enemy action |
Carinthia | Cunard | 1956 | 1968 | Sold 1968; renamed Fairland; scrapped 2006 |
Carmania | Cunard | 1905 | 1932 | Scrapped |
Carnarvon Castle | Union-Castle | 1926 and 1950 | 1939 and 1963 | Commissioned as HMS Carnarvon Castle from 1939 to 1947. |
Carpathia | Cunard | 1903 | 1918 | Sunk by enemy action |
Caronia | Cunard | 1905 | 1933 | Scrapped |
Caronia | Cunard White Star | 1948 | 1974 | Scrapped |
Celtic | White Star | 1901 | 1933 | Scrapped |
Cedric | White Star | 1903 | 1932 | Scrapped |
Columba | David MacBrayne | 1879 | 1936 | Scrapped |
Columba | David MacBrayne | 1964 | 1968 | Owned by the Secretary of State for Scotland, chartered to David MacBrayne. Renamed MV Columba in 1968. Currently in active service as Hebridean Princess. |
Doric | White Star | 1923 | 1935 | Scrapped after collision with the Formigny |
Douglas | IoM Steam Packet | 1858 | 1862 | Sold to Cunard, Wilson and Co. Later scrapped |
Douglas | IoM Steam Packet | 1864 | 1888 | Scrapped |
Douglas | IoM Steam Packet | 1901 | 1923 | Sunk after collision with Artemisia |
Dunottar Castle | Union-Castle | 1890 | 1915 | Sunk during bad weather |
Durham Castle | Union-Castle | 1904 | 1940 | Sunk by mine |
Ebro | Royal Mail SP Co | 1914 | 1954 | Scrapped after becoming NT Serpa Pinto |
Ellan Vannin | Castletown Steam Navigation Company | 1854 | 1858 | Sold to the Government of Sardinia, renamed Archimedes |
Ellan Vannin | IoM Steam Packet | 1883 | 1909 | Sunk during bad weather in the River Mersey, December, 1909 |
Empress of Asia [11] | Canadian Pacific | 1913 | 1942 [11] | Sunk by enemy action |
Empress of Australia [6] | Canadian Pacific | 1922 | 1952 [12] | Scrapped |
Empress of Australia | Canadian Pacific | 1953 | 1956 | Scrapped |
Empress of Britain | Canadian Pacific | 1906 | 1930 | Scrapped |
Empress of Britain | Canadian Pacific | 1931 | 1940 [13] | Sunk by enemy action |
Empress of Britain | Canadian Pacific | 1956 | 1965 | Scrapped |
Empress of Canada | Canadian Pacific | 1922 | 1943 | Sunk by enemy action |
Empress of Canada | Canadian Pacific | 1929 | 1953 | Scrapped |
Empress of Canada [14] | Canadian Pacific | 1961 | 2003 | Scrapped |
Empress of China [15] | Canadian Pacific | 1891 | 1912 | Scrapped |
Empress of England [16] | Canadian Pacific | 1957 | 1970 | Scrapped |
Empress of France | Canadian Pacific | 1914 | 1931 | Scrapped |
Empress of India [15] | Canadian Pacific | 1891 | 1919 | Scrapped |
Empress of India | Canadian Pacific | 1908 | 1928 | Scrapped |
Empress of Ireland | Canadian Pacific | 1906 | 1914 | Sunk after collision with SS Storstad |
Empress of Japan | Canadian Pacific | 1930 | 1966 | Scrapped after fire |
Empress of Russia [17] | Canadian Pacific | 1913 | 1945 [17] | Scrapped after fire |
Empress of Scotland | Canadian Pacific | 1906 | 1930 | Scrapped |
Empress of Scotland | Canadian Pacific | 1930 | 1966 | Scrapped after fire |
Empress Queen | IoM Steam Packet | 1897 | 1916 | Foundered on the Ring Rocks off Bembridge, Isle of Wight, February, 1916 |
Etruria | Cunard | 1885 | 1909 | Scrapped |
Fenella | IoM Steam Packet | 1881 | 1929 | Scrapped |
Fenella | IoM Steam Packet | 1937 | 1940 | Sunk by enemy action at the Dunkirk evacuation. |
Fenella | IoM Steam Packet | 1951 | 1973 | Sold 1973 and renamed Vasso M. Sank off Damietta, 2 February 1977 |
Franconia | Cunard | 1922 | 1956 | Scrapped |
Franconia | Cunard | 1963 | 1971 | See Ivernia. |
Germanic | White Star | 1875 | 1950 | Scrapped |
Georgic | White Star | 1933 | 1954 | Scrapped |
Homeric | White Star | 1922 | 1935 | Scrapped |
Ivernia | Cunard | 1955 | 1971 | Renamed RMS Franconia 1963, sold 1973 and renamed Feodor Shalyapin; scrapped 2004 |
Kenya Castle | Union-Castle | 1951 | 1967 | Sold to Chandris of Greece and renamed Amerikanis; used until 1996 and sold after 2000 and scrapped 2001 |
King Orry | IoM Steam Packet | 1842 | 1858 | Sold 1858 |
King Orry | IoM Steam Packet | 1871 | 1912 | Scrapped |
King Orry | IoM Steam Packet | 1913 | 1940 | Sunk by enemy action at the Dunkirk evacuation |
King Orry | IoM Steam Packet | 1946 | 1975 | Scrapped |
King Orry | IoM Steam Packet | 1990 | 1998 | Sold 1998 |
Knight of Malta | Cassar Co. Ltd. | 1929 | 1941 | Wrecked |
Laconia | Cunard | 1912 | 1917 | Sunk by enemy action |
Laconia | Cunard | 1922 | 1942 | Sunk by enemy action |
Lady Drake | Canadian National | 1928 | 1942 | Sunk by enemy action |
Lady Hawkins | Canadian National | 1928 | 1942 | Sunk by enemy action |
Lady Nelson | Canadian National | 1928 | 1939 | Acquired as hospital ship and later as troop ship by Royal Canadian Navy; returned to CN 1946; retired by CN 1952 and sold to Egypt as Gumhuryat Misr for Khedivial Mail Line, renamed Alwadi in 1960; broken up in Egypt 1968 |
Lady Rodney | Canadian National | 1929 | 1953 | Sold to Khedivial Mail Line and renamed Mecca, then to United Arab Maritime Company in 1961; scuttled in Egypt 1967 |
Lady Somers | Canadian National | 1929 | 1940 | Acquired by RN 1940 and sunk in Atlantic Ocean about 400 kilometres (250 mi) east of Ponta Delgada, Azores 1941 |
Lady of Mann | IoM Steam Packet | 1930 | 1971 | Scrapped |
Lady of Mann | IoM Steam Packet | 1976 | 2005 | Sold 2005 |
Lancastria | Cunard | 1920 | 1940 | Sunk by enemy action |
Leinster | City of Dublin SP | 1896 | 1918 | Sunk by enemy action |
Llandovery Castle | Union-Castle | 1914 | 1918 | Sunk by enemy action |
Lucania | Cunard | 1893 | 1909 | Scrapped after fire |
Lusitania | Cunard | 1907 | 1915 | Sunk after being torpedoed by SM U-20 |
Majestic | White Star | 1922 | 1940 | Scrapped |
Maloja | Peninsular and Oriental | 1923 | 1954 | Scrapped |
Manxman | IoM Steam Packet | 1920 | 1940 | Scrapped |
Manxman | IoM Steam Packet | 1955 | 1982 | Scrapped |
Manx Maid | IoM Steam Packet | 1923 | 1950 | Scrapped |
Manx Maid | IoM Steam Packet | 1962 | 1984 | Scrapped |
Manx Viking | IoM Steam Packet | 1978 | 1987 | Sold 1987 |
Mauretania | Cunard White Star | 1906 | 1935 | Scrapped |
Mauretania | Cunard White Star | 1939 | 1965 | Scrapped |
Medina | Peninsular and Oriental | 1911 | 1917 | Sunk by enemy action |
Mona | IoM Steam Packet | 1832 | 1841 | Sold 1841 |
Mona | IoM Steam Packet | 1878 | 1883 | Sunk in the Formby Channel, after being struck by the SS Rita |
Mona | IoM Steam Packet | 1903 | 1909 | Scrapped |
Mona | IoM Steam Packet | 1919 | 1938 | Scrapped |
Mona's Isle | IoM Steam Packet | 1830 | 1851 | Scrapped |
Mona's Isle | IoM Steam Packet | 1860 | 1883 | Converted to screw propulsion and renamed Ellan Vannin, sank 1909 in River Mersey |
Mona's Isle | IoM Steam Packet | 1882 | 1915 | Scrapped |
Mona's Isle | IoM Steam Packet | 1905 | 1948 | Scrapped |
Mona's Isle | IoM Steam Packet | 1950 | 1980 | Scrapped |
Mona's Isle | IoM Steam Packet | 1984 | 1986 | Sold 1986 and renamed Al Fahad; wrecked off Jeddah, June 2004 |
Mona's Queen | IoM Steam Packet | 1853 | 1880 | Scrapped |
Mona's Queen | IoM Steam Packet | 1885 | 1929 | Recommissioned in 1915; returned to service in 1919; Scrapped by Smith & Company in Port Glasgow, 1929 |
Mona's Queen | IoM Steam Packet | 1934 | 1940 | Sunk by enemy action |
Mona's Queen | IoM Steam Packet | 1946 | 1962 | Scrapped in 1981 |
Mona's Queen | IoM Steam Packet | 1972 | 1995 | Scrapped in 2008 |
Mooltan | Peninsular and Oriental | 1923 | 1953 | Scrapped |
Newfoundland | Johnston Warren Lines | 1925 | 1943 | Burnt out by enemy action |
Niagara | Union Steamship Co of NZ | 1912 | 1940 | Sunk by enemy action |
Nova Scotia | Johnston Warren Lines | 1926 | 1942 | Sunk by enemy action |
Oceanic | White Star | 1871 | 1896 | Scrapped |
Oceanic | White Star | 1899 | 1914 | Scrapped |
Olympic | White Star | 1911 | 1935 | Scrapped |
Orama | Orient Line | 1911 | 1917 | Torpedoed by SM U-62 south of Western Approaches |
Orama | Orient Line | 1924 | 1940 | Sunk by the German cruiser Admiral Hipper off Norway |
Orizaba | Orient Line | 1886 | 1905 | Wrecked off Garden Island, Fremantle |
Ormuz | Orient Line | 1886 | 1912 | Sold to Cie de Nav. Sud-Atlantique, renamed SS Divona; last owned by Union Industrielle Et Maritime (U.I.M) and scuttled in 1942 off Bizerta, Tunisia, raised and scrapped in 1946 |
Ormuz | Orient Line | 1920 | 1927 | ex-Zeppelin, 1920 renamed Ormuz, 1927 sold to North German Lloyd, renamed Dresden. |
Orontes | Orient Line | 1902 | 1916 | Lost RMS status in 1916–1917 while serving as a troopship. Laid up in 1921. Sold in 1922 and became the exhibition ship SS British Trade. Repossessed by Orient Line later the same year and reverted to Orontes (although not with the status of RMS). Scrapped in 1926. |
Orotava | Orient Line | 1889 | 1906 | Served as a troop ship between 1899 and 1903 as a troopship during the Second Boer War. Scrapped. |
Oruba | Orient Line | 1889 | 1906 | Scrapped. |
Otranto | Orient Line | 1926 and 1948 | 1939 and 1957 | Served as troop ship HMTS Otranto during World War II. Sold to the British Iron & Steel Corporation as scrap and broken up at Faslane. |
Peel Castle | IoM Steam Packet | 1912 | 1939 | Scrapped |
Pendennis Castle | Union-Castle | 1959 | 1980 | Scrapped |
Persia | Cunard | 1855 | 1872 | Scrapped |
Peveril | IoM Steam Packet | 1884 | 1899 | Sank off Douglas after a collision with SS Monarch 16 September 1899 |
Peveril | IoM Steam Packet | 1929 | 1964 | Scrapped |
Port Kingston | Imperial Direct West Mail Co | 1904 | 1911 | Sold to Union Steamship Co of NZ; renamed Tahiti; sank 1930 |
Prince of Wales | IoM Steam Packet | 1888 | 1915 | Scrapped |
Queen Elizabeth | Cunard White Star | 1947 | 1968 | Launched in 1940 and served as a troop ship until 1946. Scrapped after arson fire. |
Queen Mary | Cunard White Star | 1936 and 1947 | 1940 and 1967 | Served as a troop ship from 1940 to 1946. Decommissioned in 1967; currently restaurant/hotel/museum in Long Beach, California |
Queen Mary 2 | Cunard | 2004 | Conferred the status of Royal Mail Ship as a gesture to Cunard's history but does not carry mail. [18] Currently in active service as an ocean liner. | |
Queen of the Isle | IoM Steam Packet | 1834 | 1845 | Sold 1845; eventually reported lost off the Falkland Islands |
Queen Victoria | IoM Steam Packet | 1888 | 1915 | Scrapped |
Quetta | British-India SN Co | 1881 | 1890 | Wrecked |
Ramsey Town | IoM Steam Packet | 1904 | 1936 | Scrapped |
Remuera | New Zealand Shipping Co | 1911 | 1940 | Sunk by enemy action |
Republic | Oceanic Steam Navigation d/b/a White Star Line | 1903 | 1909 | Sunk after collision with another ship |
Rotorua | New Zealand Shipping Co | 1910 | 1917 | Sunk by enemy action |
Rhone | Royal Mail SP Co | 1865 | 1867 | Wrecked |
Royal Adelaide | City of Dublin SP | 1838 | 1849 | Sank |
Rushen Castle | IoM Steam Packet | 1898 | 1947 | Scrapped |
Samaria | Cunard | 1920 | 1956 | Scrapped |
Saxonia | Cunard | 1900 | 1925 | Scrapped |
Saxonia | Cunard | 1954 | 1999 | In 1962 renamed Carmania; in 1973 sold & renamed Leonid Sobinov, scrapped 1999 |
St Helena | HM Government | 1977 | 1990 | Ex-Northland Prince. Lost RMS status in 1990 and renamed St Helena Island. Renamed Avalon in 1990 and Indooceanique in 1993. Scrapped in 1996. |
St Helena | HM Government | 1990 | 2018 | Last ocean-crossing ship in regular mail-carrying service. Used as headquarters for the Extreme E racing series. |
Scillonian | Isles of Scilly SC | 1926 | 1955 | Scrapped |
Scillonian | Isles of Scilly SC | 1955 | 1977 | Sold and eventually sank after owner abandoned her in 2004 |
Scillonian III | Isles of Scilly SC | 1977 | Currently in active service. Officially designated Royal Mail Vessel but has the status of Royal Mail Ship. Currently the only ship still carrying mail for Royal Mail. | |
Scotia | Cunard | 1861 | 1904 | Wrecked |
Scythia I | Cunard | 1874 | 1899 | Scrapped |
Scythia II | Cunard | 1921 | 1958 | Scrapped |
Segwun | Muskoka Lakes Navigation Co | 1887 | Built as SS Nipissing, then as Segwun 1925, out of service from 1958 to 1981; restored 1972–1981 and returned to service since 1981. The only remaining steam-powered Royal Mail Ship. | |
Servia | Cunard | 1881 | 1901 | Scrapped |
Slavonia | British-India SN Co | 1902 | 1909 | Wrecked |
Snaefell | IoM Steam Packet | 1863 | 1875 | Sold 1875 |
Snaefell | IoM Steam Packet | 1876 | 1904 | Scrapped |
Snaefell | IoM Steam Packet | 1910 | 1918 | Sunk by enemy action |
Snaefell | IoM Steam Packet | 1920 | 1945 | Scrapped 1948 |
Snaefell | IoM Steam Packet | 1948 | 1978 | Scrapped 1978 |
Snaefell | IoM Steam Packet | 2006 | 2011 | Built 1991, acquired 2006, sold 2011. |
Southampton Castle | Union-Castle | 1965 | 1978 | Sold to Cost Armatori of Italy with Good Hope Castle and renamed Paola C; scrapped in China 1984 |
Strathaird | Peninsular and Oriental | 1931 | 1961 | RMS status removed in 1954 and renamed SS Strathaird. Scrapped. |
Strathnaver | Peninsular and Oriental | 1931 | 1962 | RMS status removed in 1954 and renamed SS Strathnaver. Scrapped. |
Sylvania | Cunard | 1957 | 2004 | Sold 1968 & renamed Fairwind; scrapped 2004 |
Tahiti | Union Steamship Co of NZ | 1911 | 1930 | Hull holed by broken propeller; sank |
Tayleur | White Star (not OSNC) | 1853 | 1853 | Ran aground |
The Ramsey | IoM Steam Packet | 1895 | 1915 | Sunk by enemy action |
Titanic | White Star | 1912 | 1912 | Sunk after collision with iceberg |
Transvaal Castle | Union-Castle | 1961 | 2000 | Sold 1966 to Safmarine and renamed "SA Vaal"; left Royal Mail service 1969; scrapped 2003 |
Trent | Royal Mail SP | 1841 | 1865 | Scrapped |
Tynwald | IoM Steam Packet | 1846 | 1886 | Sold 1866 |
Tynwald | IoM Steam Packet | 1886 | 1888 | Sold 1888 |
Tynwald | IoM Steam Packet | 1891 | 1934 | Sold 1934 |
Tynwald | IoM Steam Packet | 1936 | 1939 | Sunk by enemy action |
Tynwald | IoM Steam Packet | 1947 | 1974 | Scrapped 1975 |
Tynwald | IoM Steam Packet | 1986 | 1990 | Sold and left Royal Mail service 1990; scrapped 2007 [19] |
Tyrconnel | IoM Steam Packet | 1911 | 1932 | Scrapped |
Umbria | Cunard | 1884 | 1910 | Scrapped |
Viceroy of India | Peninsular and Oriental | 1927 | 1942 | Sunk by enemy action |
Victoria | IoM Steam Packet | 1907 | 1957 | Scrapped |
Victoria | East African Railways & Harbours | 1961 | 1977 | Lost status when EAR&H was dissolved; still in service as "MV Victoria" |
Victorian | Allan Line | 1904 | 1929 | World's first steam turbine ocean liner; scrapped 1929 |
Viking | IoM Steam Packet | 1905 | 1954 | Scrapped in 1954 |
Windsor Castle | Union-Castle | 1922 | 1943 | Sunk by enemy action |
Windsor Castle | Union-Castle | 1960 | 1998 | Scrapped |
Cunard is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Bermuda.
A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships came into practical usage during the early 1800s; however, there were exceptions that came before. Steamships usually use the prefix designations of "PS" for paddle steamer or "SS" for screw steamer. As paddle steamers became less common, "SS" is assumed by many to stand for "steamship". Ships powered by internal combustion engines use a prefix such as "MV" for motor vessel, so it is not correct to use "SS" for most modern vessels.
An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes. Only one ocean liner remains in service today.
RMS Empress of Russia was a steam turbine ocean liner built in 1912–13 by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland for Canadian Pacific steamships (CP). She regularly worked the trans-Pacific route between Canada and the Far East.
RMS Aquitania was an ocean liner of the Cunard Line in service from 1914 to 1950. She was designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland. She was launched on 21 April 1913 and sailed on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York on 30 May 1914. Aquitania was the third in Cunard Line's grand trio of express liners, preceded by RMS Mauretania and RMS Lusitania, and was the last surviving four-funnelled ocean liner. Shortly after Aquitania entered service, World War I broke out, during which she was first converted into an auxiliary cruiser before being used as a troop transport and a hospital ship, notably as part of the Dardanelles Campaign.
RMMV Oceanic was the planned name of an unfinished ocean liner that was partially built by Harland and Wolff for the White Star Line. It would have been the third ship bearing the name Oceanic, after the one of 1870 and the one of 1899. It was envisaged in 1926, with the idea of modernizing the transatlantic service of the company. With the arrival of Lord Kylsant at the head of the company, the planned size of the project increased, until it became that of a large ship destined to be the first to exceed the symbolic limit of 1,000 feet (305 m) in length and 30 knots in speed.
RMS Caronia was a Cunard Line transatlantic steam ocean liner. She was launched in 1904 and scrapped in 1932. In World War I she was first an armed merchant cruiser (AMC) and then a troop ship.
CP Ships was a large Canadian shipping company established in the 19th century. From the late 1880s until after World War II, the company was Canada's largest operator of Atlantic and Pacific steamships. Many immigrants travelled on CP ships from Europe to Canada. The sinking of the steamship RMS Empress of Ireland just before World War I was the largest maritime disaster in Canadian history. The company provided Canadian Merchant Navy vessels in World Wars I and II. Twelve vessels were lost due to enemy action in World War II, including the RMS Empress of Britain, which was the largest ship ever sunk by a German U-boat.
RMS Empress of Britain was a transatlantic ocean liner built by Fairfield Shipbuilding at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland in 1955-1956 for Canadian Pacific Steamships (CP). This ship — the third of three CP vessels to be named Empress of Britain — regularly traversed the trans-Atlantic route between Canada and Europe until 1964, completing 123 voyages under the Canadian Pacific flag.
The City of Dublin Steam Packet Company was a shipping line established in 1823. It served cross-channel routes between Britain and Ireland for over a century. For 70 of those years it transported the mail. It was 'wound-up' by a select committee of the House of Lords in 1922 and finally liquidated in 1930.
RMS Empress of Japan, also known as the "Queen of the Pacific", was an ocean liner built in 1890–1891 by Naval Construction & Armaments Co, Barrow-in-Furness, England for Canadian Pacific Steamships (CP). This ship – the first of two CP vessels to be named Empress of Japan – regularly traversed the trans-Pacific route between the west coast of Canada and the Far East until 1922. During the First World War she served as armed merchant cruiser, becoming HMS Empress of Japan for the period that she was a commissioned ship of the Royal Navy.
SS Abyssinia was a British mail liner built in 1870, and originally operated by the Cunard Line on the Liverpool–New York route. She later served the Guion Line on the same route and the Canadian Pacific Line in the Pacific. In December 1891, Abyssinia was destroyed mid-Atlantic without loss of life by a fire that started in her cargo of cotton, further highlighting the danger in carrying both cotton and passengers on the same ship.
The Collins Line was the common name for the American shipping company started by Israel Collins and then built up by his son Edward Knight Collins, formally called the New York and Liverpool United States Mail Steamship Company. Under Edward Collins' guidance, the company grew to be a serious competitor on the transatlantic routes to the British Cunard shipping company.
The Pacific Steam Navigation Company was a British commercial shipping company that operated along the Pacific coast of South America, and was the first to use steam ships for commercial traffic in the Pacific Ocean.
RMS Sylvania was an ocean liner built in 1957 by John Brown & Co (Clydebank), in Glasgow, for the United Kingdom-based shipping company Cunard Line. She was the last Cunard Line vessel built specifically for transatlantic crossings. The ship was later heavily rebuilt as a cruise ship, and sailed under the names SS Fairwind, SS Sitmar Fairwind, SS Dawn Princess and SS Albatros before being scrapped in 2004. She was renamed SS Genoa for her last voyage.
RMS Empress of Scotland, originally SS Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, was an ocean liner built in 1905–1906 by Vulcan AG shipyard in Stettin for the Hamburg America Line. The ship regularly sailed between Hamburg and New York City until the outbreak of war in Europe in 1914. At the end of hostilities, re-flagged as USS Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, she transported American troops from Europe to the United States. For a brief time Cunard sailed the re-flagged ship between Liverpool and New York.
City of Paris was a British passenger liner operated by the Inman Line that established that a ship driven by a screw could match the speed of the paddlers on the Atlantic crossing. Built by Tod and Macgregor, she served the Inman Line until 1884 when she was converted to a cargo ship.
The Great Western Steam Ship Company operated the first regular transatlantic steamer service from 1838 until 1846. Related to the Great Western Railway, it was expected to achieve the position that was ultimately secured by the Cunard Line. The firm's first ship, Great Western was capable of record Blue Riband crossings as late as 1843 and was the model for Cunard's Britannia and her three sisters. The company's second steamer, the Great Britain was an outstanding technical achievement of the age. The company collapsed because it failed to secure a mail contract and Great Britain appeared to be a total loss after running aground. The company might have had a more successful outcome had it built sister ships for Great Western instead of investing in the too advanced Great Britain.
The Britannia class was the Cunard Line's initial fleet of wooden paddlers that established the first year round scheduled Atlantic steamship service in 1840. By 1845, steamships carried half of the transatlantic saloon passengers and Cunard dominated this trade. While the units of the Britannia class were solid performers, they were not superior to many of the other steamers being placed on the Atlantic at that time. What made the Britannia class successful is that it was the first homogeneous class of transatlantic steamships to provide a frequent and uniform service. Britannia, Acadia and Caledonia entered service in 1840 and Columbia in 1841 enabling Cunard to provide the dependable schedule of sailings required under his mail contracts with the Admiralty. It was these mail contracts that enabled Cunard to survive when all of his early competitors failed.
RMS Queen Mary 2 is a British transatlantic ocean liner. She has served as the flagship of Cunard Line since succeeding Queen Elizabeth 2 in 2004. As of 2023, Queen Mary 2 is the only ocean liner in service.