RMS Alaunia (1913)

RMS Alaunia
History
United Kingdom
NameAlaunia
OwnerCunard Line
Operator1914: United Kingdom Royal Navy
Port of registry1913: United Kingdom Liverpool
BuilderScotts S&E, Greenock
Yard number447
Launched9 June 1913
Maiden voyage27 December 1913
Identification
FateMined on 19 October 1916 off Eastbourne, East Sussex
General characteristics
TypeOcean liner
Tonnage13,405 GRT, 8,261 NRT
Length520.3 ft (158.6 m)
Beam64.0 ft (19.5 m)
Depth43.1 ft (13.1 m)
Decks2
Installed power1,324 NHP
Propulsion
Speed15 knots (28 km/h)
Capacity520 Cabin, 1,540 3rd class

RMS Alaunia was a Cunard ocean liner. She was built in 1913 at Greenock and measured 13,405 GRT.[1] She was one of three sister ships Cunard ordered from Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company. Her sisters were RMS Andania, and RMS Aurania. Alaunia was the second of the trio. She and her sisters had only 2nd class and 3rd class accommodation.

The smoking room onboard RMS Alaunia (1)
The writing room onboard RMS Alaunia (1)

Alaunia was launched on 9 June 1913, and began her maiden voyage on 27 December 1913. When World War I began, she was requisitioned as a troopship. HMS Alaunia was the first Cunard ship to carry Canadian troops. She was sent in the Gallipoli campaign by the summer of 1915. Then she worked on carrying troops to Bombay later the same year. She returned to the North Atlantic and carried troops from Canada and the USA in 1916. During a voyage from London to New York, she struck a mine on 19 October 1916 in the English Channel off the Royal Sovereign Lightship of Eastbourne, East Sussex.[2] laid earlier that day by SM UC-16.[3] After attempts to beach the ship and tow her to shore with tugs, her captain realized the ship was lost and finally gave the order to abandon ship. Two crew members were killed in her sinking. Alaunia's wreck lies on its port side in the English Channel at a depth of 36 metres (118 ft).[4]

Cunard revived the name in 1925 when it had a second RMS Alaunia built. She served until 1957.[5]

  1. ^ "Alaunia sunk, passengers and 163 of crew safe". The Christian Science Monitor. 20 October 1916. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
  2. ^ "RMS Aluania".
  3. ^ Spindler. Handelskrieg. Vol. III. pp. 306–7.
  4. ^ "Alaunia". Wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  5. ^ "RMS Alaunia". TheShipsList. Retrieved 14 October 2014.