Question about Corinthia

In my grandparents house I found an old steamer trunk that had a few Cunard White Star stickers on it. One had a drawing of the Queen Mary (1) and the ship name was the Corinthia. I couldn't make out the date or the port of embarcation. Does anyone know the dates that the Corinthia sailed? Thank you

Jenny

Depends which year,

perhaps this was it:

Carinthia II

1925 - 1940

Gross Tonnage - 20,277 tons

Dimensions - 183.08 x 22.49m (600.7 x 73.8ft)

Number of funnels - 1

Number of masts - 2

Construction - Steel

Propulsion - Twin screw

Engines - Steam turbines, double reduction

Service speed - 16 knots

Builder - Vickers Ltd, Barrow

Launch date - 24 February 1925

Passenger accommodation - 240 1st class, 460 2nd class, 950 3rd class

The Carinthia was designed primarily for cruising and was built by Vickers Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness. Although Cunard had originally intended to launch the ship as the Servia, they abandoned this idea before it's launch. The Carinthia was launched on 24 February 1925 and made its maiden voyage, from Liverpool to New York, on 22 August. The ship made it's first cruise, from New York, during the Winter that year and returned to Liverpool in March 1926. It generally followed this pattern of voyages throughout it's career. There were occasional cruises from Southampton to the Fjords and the North Cape, however.

On 3 September 1939, when war was declared, the Carinthia left New York for Liverpool and was immediately requisitioned as an Armed Merchant Cruiser on arrival. During the coming months the ship under went extensive conversion work. Most of the ship's furniture was removed, the cabins converted in to messdecks and the ship was armed with several light artillery weapons. After undergoing trials off Liverpool it sailed to Portsmouth, to embark supplies, and then on to Greenock to join the Northern Patrol, during January 1940. It made several patrols in the area south of Iceland and then returned to Birkenhead, in March, to be re-fitted.

Next the Carinthia sailed south to join a Naval patrol off the coast of Portugal. It called at Gibraltar on 3 June to take on stores and then left to rejoin the patrol. At 2.00PM on 6 June the ship was struck by a torpedo, fired from German submarine U46. Several crew were killed by the explosion and both the engine room and two of the holds were flooded very rapidly. Despite the fact that there was little chance of saving the ship the crew fired distress signals and the deck gunners fired on, what they believed to be, the submarine's periscope. At around 2.30PM a second torpedo was fired, fortunately missing the ship. By 7.00AM the following day the ship was under tow. Eventually the ship had to abandoned and left to sink as it continued to take on water. At 9.40PM 7 June the Carinthia sank at a position 55/12N by 9/12W.

OR THIS:

Carinthia III - 1956 - 1988

Gross Tonnage - 21,947 tons

Dimensions - 173.72 x 24.47m (570 x 80.3ft)

Number of funnels - 1

Number of masts - 1

Construction - Steel

Propulsion - Twin screw

Engines - Steam turbines, double reduction

Service speed - 21 knots

Builder - John Brown & Co., Glasgow

Launch date - 14 December 1955

Passenger accommodation - 154 first class, 714 tourist class

After the Second World War the vessels that Cunard had been using on the Canadian route were becoming outdated. In 1951 it was decided to build a completely new class of ships to serve the Liverpool to Montreal route. Despite financial problems Cunard persisted and completed all four vessels - the Saxonia, Ivernia, Carinthia and Sylvania. All of the new ships were built by John Brown & Co., Glasgow. The Carinthia was completed late in 1955 and then, after being fitted out, made its maiden voyage, from Liverpool to Quebec and Montreal, on 27 June 1956.

During the coming years the number of passengers crossing the Atlantic by sea remained static, but the number of those travelling by air grew steadily. Once the four sisters were in service Cunard provided six sailings a month to Canada. In April 1959 the Carinthia buckled one of its propellers on the ice in the St. Lawrence River. Then in June there were two fires on board which, although easily extinguished, were obviously the work of an arsonist. Strikes in July meant that Cunard was compelled to cancel a voyage and assist the passengers in making alternative arrangements.

In November 1960 the Carinthia was chartered by the Canadian Government to undertake trooping voyages. These continued until mid-December and then the ship returned to the Liverpool to New York route.

On arrival in Liverpool for its annual overhaul the ship's problems continued as the shipyard engineers went on strike. It was over four months before it sailed to Montreal. On 30 August 1961 the Carinthia collided with the Tadoussac, a Canadian ship, in the St. Lawrence River during heavy fog. Fortunately both ships only suffered slight damage. Losses suffered by the company meant that a rescheduling of services left only the Carinthia on the Liverpool-Montreal route. By October 1967 it was announced that the Carinthia, along with several other Cunard vessels, was to be withdrawn from service. By December it was laid up in Southampton and on 1 February 1968 it was sold to the Italian Sitmar Line.

The ship was renamed Fairland, but little else was changed. In January 1970 it sailed from Italy for refurbishment. It was now registered in Liberia and could carry 925 passengers. It was completely rebuilt and now had a large theatre, five nightclubs, three swimming pools and 11 passenger decks. It was soon based in North America.

hope this helps!

Thank you for your reply. The handwriting on the sticker had faded so I couln't read the date.

Jenny

I'd be willing to bet that your luggage sticker dates from between 1934 and 1940 - as Cunard and White Star merged in 1934 forming Cunard-White Star Limited.

By the time Carinthia (II) came along, Cunard no longer referred to themselves as Cunard-White Star on luggage tags and advertising.