RMS Magdalena
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | Magdalena |
Namesake | Magdalena River in Colombia |
Owner | Royal Mail Lines |
Port of registry | London |
Route | England – South America |
Ordered | 1946 |
Builder | Harland and Wolff, Belfast |
Launched | 11 May 1948 |
Completed | 18 February 1949 |
Maiden voyage | 9 March 1949 |
Out of service | 25 April 1949 |
Identification |
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Fate | Ran aground 24 April 1949; later sunk |
General characteristics | |
Type | Passenger & refrigerated cargo liner |
Tonnage |
|
Length | |
Beam | 73 ft 3 in (22.33 m) |
Draught | 28 ft 9 in (8.76 m) (SLL) |
Installed power | 18,000 shp (13,000 kW) |
Propulsion | 2 × steam turbines, double reduction geared to drive twin screws |
Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h) |
Capacity |
|
Crew | 251 |
Magdalena was a 17,547 GRT passenger and refrigerated cargo ocean liner that Harland and Wolff built in Belfast in 1948 for Royal Mail Lines (RML). Launched on 11 May 1948, she was the third-largest ship being built in a UK shipyard at that time.
Built as a replacement for a ship lost during the Second World War, she was to serve on route between England and the east coast of South America. She was wrecked on her maiden voyage in 1949, the sixth ship built by Harland and Wolff to suffer this fate. The insurance payout of £2,295,000 was the largest made at the time for a marine casualty in the United Kingdom. Due to changing trading conditions RML decided not to build a replacement vessel.