RMS Andes (1939)

History
United Kingdom
Name	Andes
Namesake	Andes mountain range
Owner	Royal Mail Lines
Operator	Royal Navy (1939–47)
Port of registry	London
Route	Southampton – Rio de Janeiro – Buenos Aires (1948–59)
Ordered	1937
Builder	Harland and Wolff, Belfast
Yard number	1005
Laid down	17 June 1937
Launched	7 March 1939
Sponsored by	Viscountess Craigavon
Completed	24 September 1939
Maiden voyage	26 September 1939
Out of service	4 May 1971
Identification	UK official number 167337 call sign GQCV
Fate	Scrapped in Ghent, 1971
General characteristics
Class and type	troop ship, ocean liner, cruise ship
Tonnage	26,689 GRT tonnage under deck 17,235 14,787 NRT
Length	643.3 ft (196.1 m) p/p
Beam	83.5 ft (25.5 m)
Draught	29 ft 3 in (8.92 m)
Depth	43.6 ft (13.3 m)
Decks	5
Installed power	5,599 NHP
Propulsion	6 × steam turbines
Speed	From 1939: 24 knots (44 km/h) max; 21 knots (39 km/h) service From 1952: 18 knots (33 km/h) service
Boats & landing craft carried	From 1939: 2 × 30 ft (9.1 m), 8-knot (15 km/h) motor boats 10 × 30 ft (9.1 m) lifeboats 2 × 24 ft (7.3 m) lifeboats From 1960: as above plus 2 × 44 ft (13 m) motor launches
Capacity	1939 only: 607 passengers in 2 classes 1948–59: 528 passengers in 2 classes 1960–71: 470 passengers 5 holds, most parts refrigerated
Troops	4,000
Sensors and processing systems	As built: wireless direction finding echo sounding device gyrocompass Later: radar added in World War II
Armament	As troop ship: 1 × 6-inch (150 mm) gun 1 × 4.5-inch (110 mm) gun 2 × QF 12 pounder guns 4 × twin Bofors 40 mm guns 14 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon depth charges 1 × unrotated projectile AA weapon

RMS Andes was a 26,689 GRT steam turbine Royal Mail Ship, ocean liner, cruise ship, and the flagship of the Royal Mail Lines fleet. She was the second Royal Mail ship to be named after the South American Andes mountain range. The first RMS Andes was an A-class liner launched in 1913. In 1929 that RMS Andes was converted into a cruise ship and renamed Atlantis.

The second Andes was built in Belfast in 1937–39 and completed at the outbreak of the Second World War. The Admiralty almost immediately requisitioned her as a troop ship and had her converted to carry about 4,000 troops. In troop service she broke three speed records for long-distance voyages.

Andes was converted back into a civilian liner in 1947. She entered civilian service in 1948 on RMSP's premier liner route between Southampton, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. For seven years she worked the route full-time, but from 1955 the frequency of her liner voyages decreased and she spent an increasing proportion of her time cruising. In 1959–60 she was converted at Flushing, Netherlands into a full-time cruise ship. She was scrapped at Ghent in 1971.