RMS Caronia (II)

RMS Caronia (II) -- Official Cunard Line Card

Built: 1949, John Brown & Co., Clydebank, Glasgow Yard No: 635 Funnels: One Masts: One Tonnage: 34,183 GRT Dimensions: 217.9 x 27.8 m / 715 x 91.5 ft. Engines: Geared Turbines by builders. Propulsion/HP: Twin Screw;  35,000 SHP; 22 knots Hull: Steel, 5 decks, fcsle & bridge – 594 ft., promenade – 495 ft. Cargo: 69,450 cu ft Passengers: 581 – 1st Class, 351 – Cabin Class Crew: 600

A dual purpose design for the North Atlantic and world cruising. The Caronia (II) carried six 45 ft launches for shore excursion passengers.

The Caronia (II) was launched on October 30, 1947 by Princess Elizabeth and completed in December 1948. She made her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York on January 4, 1949. She was also used for seasonal world cruises. In 1956 her tonnage was changed to 34,172 GRT and her passenger accommodation was changed to: 500 – 1st Class, 330 – Tourist Class. In October 1965 work began on modernizing her passenger accommodations. This work lasted until December, at which time her tonnage was changed again to 34,272 GRT. In 1968 a plan to sell the ship to the Yugoslavian company Domus-Turist, which wanted to use the ship as a floating hotel, at Dubrovnik or some other Yugoslav port, fell through. In May 1968 she was sold to the Universal Line, SA, Panama. She was handed over to the new owners on July 26, 1968 and renamed Columbia. At the end of the year, she went in for a refit at Piraeus and upon completion was renamed Caribia. Her tonnage also changed to 25,794 GRT as she was used for cruising. On March 11, 1969 one man was killed in an explosion in the engine room during a West Indies cruise. The ship subsequently drifted for a day, unmanoeuverable, until she could be brought into St. Thomas. Upon her arrival at New York on March 25th, she was laid up. She stayed this way until January 1974 when she was sold to Taiwan breakers. On April 27, 1974 she left New York for Kaohsiung in tow of the German tug Hamburg. On August 12, 1974 the Hamburg had to put into Guam in very heavy weather for repairs to one of her generators. The storm forced the tug and the Caribia towards the harbor. At the entrance to Apra harbor the liner struck the breakwater, heeled over and broke into three sections, the bow section blocking the harbor entrance for some time.

RMS Caronia (II) -- Abstract of Log Card -- Southampton to New York -- August 19, 1961 thru August 26, 1961

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