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...

 Carinthia was first laid down in Barrow-in-Furness

Barrow-in-Furness

Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...

 in 1924 with the yard number Hull 586. Originally she had the name Servia but was renamed at the time of her launching on 24 February 1925. She made her maiden voyage on 22 August, 1925 from Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 to New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. At her launch she was the largest of the five post First World War intermediate size liners.

Features

RMS Carinthia was noted for her comfortable accommodation in 3rd class. The dining room provided small tables for travelling parties of family and friends, an innovation at the time. There was also a smoking room and small library and a shop for the third class passengers needs. The first class restaurant was called the Adams room and had silver lamps on each table. The ship was also well equipped for sport with an arena that covered 5000 square feet (464.5 m²) over two decks and included a swimming pool, gymnasium, racket courts and shower and bath rooms for massage treatments. On the “A” deck there was the 1st class smoke room which had been modelled after the house of El Greco

El Greco

El Greco was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El Greco" was a nickname, a reference to his ethnic Greek origin, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος .El Greco was born on Crete, which was at...

, the Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 painter, the room also contained an American bar. The first class lounge was furnished and decorated to represent the period of King William of Orange

William III of England

William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...

. On the boat deck there were thirty lifeboats and two motor launches.

Service

The Carinthia plied the Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 on the Liverpool-Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

-New York route. She was also used for cruising. In 1931 her passenger accommodation was altered. Instead of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Classes, she now had Cabin Class, Tourist Class and 3rd Class. During 1933 she made a world cruise calling at 40 ports including Tristan da Cunha

Tristan da Cunha

Tristan da Cunha is a remote volcanic group of islands in the south Atlantic Ocean and the main island of that group. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying from the nearest land, South Africa, and from South America...

, (known as the remotest island on the planet) covering 40000 miles (64,373.6 km). In 1933 RMS Carinthia received an SOS

SOS

SOS is the commonly used description for the international Morse code distress signal...

 from the Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

n steamer Andromeda which had struck an unknown submerged object. The incident had happened eighty miles from Ushant

Ushant

Ushant is an island at the south-western end of the English Channel which marks the north-westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and is in the traditional region of Bro-Leon. Administratively, Ushant is a commune in the Finistère department...

 in the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

 but Carinthia had been too far away to make a rescue and the ship sank. The crew of the steamer were rescued by the steamship Hartside.

In 1934 she was transferred to the London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 – Le Havre

Le Havre

Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...

 – Southampton

Southampton

Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

 – New York route. From 1935 until 1939 she was reverted to New York and used for Winter cruising. Her hull was painted white with a green boot-topping for the cruising duties. In August 1939 she was converted into an armed merchant cruiser, retaining the name Carinthia. She was accepted into service on 30 December 1939. At 13.13 hours on 6 June, 1940 the Carinthia, on a northern patrol

Northern Patrol

The Northern Patrol was a Royal Navy operation of the First World War operating around Scotland and the North Sea.The Patrol existed to form part of the British "distant" blockade of Germany...

, was torpedoed off the Irish Coast

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 west of Galway Bay

Galway Bay

Galway Bay is a large bay on the west coast of Ireland, between County Galway in the province of Connacht to the north and the Burren in County Clare in the province of Munster to the south. Galway city is located on the northeast side of the bay. It is about long and from to in breadth...

, in coordinates 53° 13’ N - 10° 40’ W by the German submarine

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

 U-46. The badly damaged ship remained afloat for 36 hours before she sank during the evening of 7 June. Two officers and two ratings lost their lives in the sinking.