QSMV Dominion Monarch

"Dominion Monarch" at Southampton.
History
United Kingdom
Name	Dominion Monarch (1939–62) Dominion Monarch Maru (1962)
Owner	Shaw, Savill & Albion Line (1939–62) Mitsui (1962)
Port of registry	Southampton
Route	1939 and 1947–55: London – Las Palmas – Cape Town – Fremantle – Melbourne – Sydney – Wellington 1955–61: As above, plus: Wellington – Suva – Papeete – Panama – Curaçao – London
Builder	Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson
Cost	£1,500,000
Yard number	1547
Laid down	14 July 1937
Launched	27 July 1938
Completed	12 January 1939
Maiden voyage	17 February 1939
Out of service	21 April 1962
Identification	UK official number 166828 Call sign and code letters GRGG
Nickname(s)	"D.M." "Dominion Maniac" "The Bucket of Blood"
Fate	arrived 25 November 1962, Osaka, Japan to be scrapped
General characteristics
Type	Ocean liner and refrigerated cargo liner
Tonnage	27,155 GRT tonnage under deck 18,390 15,183 NRT
Length	657.6 ft (200.4 m) p/p
Beam	84.8 ft (25.8 m)
Draught	34 ft 1+1⁄2 in (10.40 m)
Depth	44.4 ft (13.5 m)
Decks	6
Installed power	5,056 NHP or 32,000 bhp
Propulsion	marine diesel engines; four screws
Speed	21.5 knots (39.8 km/h)
Capacity	1939–40: 525 1st class passengers 1940–47: 3,556 troops 1948–62: 508 1st class passengers Holds: 650,000 cubic feet (18,000 m3), taking about 3,600 tons general cargo & 12,800 tons frozen meat or dairy produce
Crew	385 (in civilian service)
Sensors and processing systems	wireless direction finding echo sounding device gyrocompass
Armament	DEMS from September 1939: 1 × BL 6-inch Mk VII naval gun 1 × anti-aircraft gun (type not known) Armament upgraded December 1940
Notes	1939 records: World's most powerful motor liner; Fastest voyage from Britain to Australia via Cape of Good Hope; Largest merchant ship to Australia; Largest merchant ship to New Zealand All time record: Largest passenger and cargo liner with all first-class accommodation

QSMV Dominion Monarch was a UK passenger and refrigerated cargo liner. Her name was a reference to the Dominion of New Zealand. The unusual prefix "QSMV" stood for quadruple-screw motor vessel.

The ship was built in England in 1937–39, and when new she set a number of records for her size and power. She operated between Britain and New Zealand via Australia in civilian service 1938–40 and 1948–62 and was a troop ship 1940–47. She spent half of 1962 in the Port of Seattle as a floating hotel for the Century 21 Exposition and was then scrapped in Japan.