24°42′S 166°15′W / 24.70°S 166.25°W
 Port Kingston in 1905
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name |
|
| Owner | |
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry | |
| Route | 1904: Bristol – Kingston, Jamaica 1911: Sydney – Wellington – San Francisco |
| Builder | Alexander Stephen and Sons, Clydebank |
| Yard number | 403 |
| Launched | 19 April 1904 |
| Acquired | 1911 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Sank 17 August 1930 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage | 7,585 GRT, 4,155 NRT |
| Length | 460 ft (140 m) |
| Beam | 55.5 ft (16.9 m) |
| Draught | 27 ft (8.2 m) |
| Depth | 24.4 ft (7.4 m) |
| Installed power | 1,443 NHP |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 17 knots (31 km/h) |
| Capacity |
|
| Crew | 135 |
RMS Tahiti was a UK Royal Mail Ship, ocean liner and refrigerated cargo ship. She was launched in 1904 in Scotland as RMS Port Kingston for a subsidiary of Elder Dempster Lines. In 1911 the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand bought her and renamed her Tahiti.
In the First World War she was a troop ship. In 1918 an outbreak of Spanish flu resulted in exceptionally high mortality amongst the troops aboard her. After the war she was returned to her owners.
In 1927 Tahiti collided with a ferry in Sydney Harbour, killing 40 ferry passengers. In 1930 Tahiti sank without loss of life in the South Pacific Ocean due to flooding caused by a broken propeller shaft.