Royal Mail Ship
Royal Mail Ship (sometimes Steam-ship or Steamer), usually seen in its abbreviated form RMS, a designation which dates back to 1840[1], is the ship prefix used for seagoing vessels that carry mail under contract by Royal Mail. Any vessel designated as RMS has the right to both fly the pennant of the Royal Mail when sailing and to include the Royal Mail "crown" logo with any identifying device and/or design for the ship.[2][3][4]
It was used by many shipping lines, but is often associated in particular with the Cunard Line,[2][5] Royal Mail Lines and Union-Castle Line, which held a number of high-profile mail contracts, and which traditionally prefixed the names of many of their ships with the initials "RMS".
While some lines in the past, particularly the Royal Mail Lines, called all their ships RMS, technically a ship would use the prefix only while contracted to carry mail, and would revert at other times to a standard designation such as "SS".[6]
One of the best-known ships to have carried the prefix was RMS Titanic.
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[edit] History
Originally the Admiralty operated these ships.[7]
The designation "RMS" has been used since 1840.[8] In 1850 contracts were awarded to private companies. Having the title "RMS" was seen as a mark of quality and a competitive advantage, because the mail had to be on time.
The most valuable route, with the highest volume, was between Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire), in Ireland, and Holyhead in Wales. The City of Dublin Steam Packet Company (CDSPCo) won the contract. They purchased RMS Saint Columa and RMS Llwywllyn from the Admiralty, to supplement their Prince Arthur.
In the CDSPCo contract, in 1860, there was a penalty clause of £1 1s 4d for every minute's delay.
The Canadian Pacific Railway's trans-Pacific Royal Mail contract required the construction of the first three of a fleet of steamships—the RMS Empress of China, the RMS Empress of India, and the RMS Empress of Britain which regularly sailed between Vancouver and Asia beginning in 1891.[9]
The White Star Line sisters RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic were Royal Mail Ships.
[edit] Modern times
In recent years the shift to air transport for mail has left only four ships with the right to the prefix or its variations; RMS Segwun, which serves as a passenger vessel in Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada, RMS St Helena, which serves the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic,[10], RMV Scillonian III, which serves the Isles of Scilly, and RMS Queen Mary 2. QM2 was conferred "RMS" by Royal Mail when she entered service in 2004 on the Southampton to New York route as a gesture to Cunard's history.[2]
The Royal Mail continues a form of this tradition on modern day airliners. The UK's flag carrier airline, British Airways is contracted to carry mail on some of its scheduled long-distance routes. Aircraft operating these routes with the facilities to carry mail are allowed to display the Royal Mail's logo and crest on their fuselage, usually alongside their registration markings.
[edit] Other designations
The less-common designations RMMV for Royal Mail Motor Vessel and RMMS for Royal Mail Motor Ship, were used for a period when RMS was restricted to steam-ships. Motor Ship indicates that propulsion is provided by diesel rather than steam.
The Scillonian III carries the designation RMV for Royal Mail Vessel.
[edit] List of RMS ships
Those highlighted are still in service with the status of Royal Mail Ship.
| Name | Line | Maiden voyage | Left service | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adriatic | White Star | 1907 | 1934 | broken-up |
| Alcantara | Royal Mail Lines | 1913 | 1916 | sunk (enemy action) |
| Alcantara | Royal Mail Lines | 1926 | 1958 | broken-up |
| Andes | Royal Mail Lines | 1913 | 1929 | Broken-up after becoming Atlantis cruise ship |
| Andes | Royal Mail Lines | 1939 | 1959 | Broken-up after becoming cruise ship |
| Aquitania | Cunard | 1914 | 1950 | broken-up |
| Arabia | Peninsular and Oriental | 1898 | 1916 | sunk (enemy action) |
| Arlanza | Royal Mail Lines | 1912 | 1938 | broken-up |
| Atlantic | White Star | 1871 | 1873 | sunk (collision with rocks) |
| Baltic | White Star | 1904 | 1933 | broken-up |
| Ben-my-Chree | Isle of Man Steam Packet | 1927 | 1965 | broken-up |
| Berengaria | Cunard | 1913 | 1938 | broken-up |
| Britannia | Cunard | 1840 | 1880 | sunk (military target practice) |
| Britannic | White Star | 1915 | 1916 | sunk (enemy action) |
| Britannic | White Star | 1929 | 1960 | broken-up |
| Carpathia | Cunard | 1903 | 1918 | sunk (enemy action) |
| Caronia | Cunard White Star | 1949 | 1974 | broken-up |
| Celtic | White Star | 1901 | 1933 | broken-up |
| Cedric | White Star | 1903 | 1932 | broken-up |
| Dunottar Castle | Union Castle | 1890 | 1915 | sunk (bad weather, failure to close scuttles) |
| Ebro | Royal Mail Lines | 1914 | 1954 | Broken-up after becoming N/T Serpa Pinto |
| Empress of Asia[11] | Canadian Pacific | 1913 | 1942[11] | sunk (enemy action) |
| Empress of Australia[6] | Canadian Pacific | 1922 | 1952[12] | broken-up |
| Empress of Australia | Canadian Pacific | 1953 | 1956 | broken-up |
| Empress of Britain | Canadian Pacific | 1906 | 1930 | broken-up |
| Empress of Britain | Canadian Pacific | 1931 | 1940[13] | sunk (enemy action) |
| Empress of Britain | Canadian Pacific | 1956 | 1965 | broken-up |
| Empress of Canada | Canadian Pacific | 1922 | 1943[14] | sunk (enemy action) |
| Empress of Canada | Canadian Pacific | 1929 | 1953 | broken-up |
| Empress of Canada[15] | Canadian Pacific | 1961 | . | broken-up |
| Empress of China[16] | Canadian Pacific | 1891 | 1912 | broken-up |
| Empress of England[17] | Canadian Pacific | 1957 | 1970 | broken-up |
| Empress of France | Canadian Pacific | 1914 | 1931 | broken-up |
| Empress of India[16] | Canadian Pacific | 1891 | 1919 | broken-up |
| Empress of India | Canadian Pacific | 1908 | 1928 | broken-up |
| Empress of Ireland | Canadian Pacific | 1906 | 1914 | Sunk (collision with another ship) |
| Empress of Japan[16] | Canadian Pacific | 1891 | 1926[18] | broken-up |
| Empress of Japan | Canadian Pacific | 1930 | 1966 | Caught fire and scrapped |
| Empress of Russia[14] | Canadian Pacific | 1913 | 1945[14] | caught fire and scrapped |
| Empress of Scotland | Canadian Pacific | 1906 | 1930 | broken-up |
| Empress of Scotland | Canadian Pacific | 1930 | 1966 | Caught fire and scrapped |
| Etruria | Cunard | 1885 | 1909 | broken-up |
| Fenella | Isle of Man Steam Packet | 1937 | 1940 | sunk (enemy action) at Dunkirk, 1940. |
| Georgic | White Star | 1933 | 1954 | broken-up |
| Homeric | White Star | 1922 | 1935 | broken-up |
| King Orry | Isle of Man Steam Packet | 1911 | 1940 | sunk (enemy action) at Dunkirk, 1940. |
| Laconia | Cunard | 1912 | 1917 | sunk (enemy action) |
| Laconia | Cunard | 1922 | 1942 | sunk (enemy action) |
| Lady of Mann | Isle of Man Steam Packet | 1930 | 1971 | broken-up |
| Leinster | City of Dublin Steam Packet | 1896 | 1918 | sunk (enemy action) |
| Lucania | Cunard | 1893 | 1909 | broken-up |
| Lusitania | Cunard | 1907 | 1915 | sunk (enemy action) |
| Majestic | White Star | 1922 | 1940 | broken-up |
| Maloja | Peninsular and Oriental | 1923 | 1954 | broken-up |
| Mauretania | Cunard White Star | 1906 | 1935 | broken-up |
| Mauretania | Cunard White Star | 1939 | 1965 | broken-up |
| Medina | Peninsular and Oriental | 1911 | 1917 | sunk (enemy action) |
| Mona's Queen | Isle of Man Steam Packet | 1885 | 1929 | Requisitioned by the Admiralty 1915, returned 1919. |
| Mona's Queen | Isle of Man Steam Packet | 1934 | 1940 | sunk (enemy action) |
| Mona's Queen | Isle of Man Steam Packet | 1946 | 1962 | Broken-up 1981. |
| Mooltan | Peninsular and Oriental | 1923 | 1953 | broken-up |
| Niagara | Union Steamship | 1912 | 1940 | sunk (enemy action) |
| Oceanic | White Star | 1871 | 1896 | broken-up |
| Oceanic | White Star | 1899 | 1914 | broken-up |
| Olympic | White Star | 1911 | 1935 | broken-up |
| Peel Castle | Isle of Man Steam Packet | 1912 | 1939 | broken-up |
| Pendennis Castle | Union-Castle | 1959 | 1980 | broken-up |
| Queen Elizabeth | Cunard White Star | 1940 | 1968 | Caught fire and scrapped; destroyed by arson |
| Queen Elizabeth 2 | Cunard | 1969 | 2008 | Currently laid up |
| Queen Mary | Cunard White Star | 1936 | 1967 | retired, museum ship, hotel |
| Queen Mary 2 | Cunard | 2004 | Changed registry and lost the status, still in service as mail ship | |
| Royal Adelaide | City of Dublin Steam Packet | 1838 | 1849 | sunk |
| St Helena | HM Government | 1990 | In service | |
| Scillonian | Isles of Scilly Steamship Company | 1926 | 1955 | broken-up |
| Scillonian | Isles of Scilly Steamship Company | 1955 | 1977 | sunk (abandoned by owner) |
| Scillonian III | Isles of Scilly Steamship Company | 1977 | In service | |
| Scythia | Cunard | 1921 | 1958 | broken-up |
| Segwun | Muskoka Steamships | 1887 | Restored and returned to service. RMS designation by Canada Post. | |
| Servia | Cunard | 1881 | 1901 | broken-up |
| Snaefell | Isle of Man Steam Packet | 1910 | 1918 | sunk (enemy action) |
| Tayleur | White Star (not OSNC) | 1853 | 1853 | ran aground |
| Titanic | White Star | 1912 | 1912 | sunk (collision with iceberg) |
| Trent | Royal Mail Steam Packet | 1841 | 1865 | broken-up |
| Tynwald | Isle of Man Steam Packet | 1936 | 1939 | Taken over by the Admiralty as HMS Tynwald. Sunk (enemy action) |
| Umbria | Cunard | 1884 | 1910 | broken-up |
| Viceroy of India | Peninsular and Oriental | 1927 | 1942 | sunk (enemy action) |
| Victoria | East African Railways & Harbours | 1961 | 1977 | Lost status when EARHC was dissolved. In service as MV Victoria |
| Windsor Castle | Union-Castle | 1960 | 1998 | broken-up |
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ The first citation in the Times is from 18 August 1840
- ^ a b c Royal Mails employees Courier newspaper page 20 August 2007
- ^ QM2
- ^ United Kingdom - Royal Mail
- ^ Maxtone-Graham, John et al. (2004). Queen Mary 2, p. 184.
- ^ a b By Wireless from R.M.S. Empress of Australia. "Royal Gifts Gladden 172 On Lonely Atlantic Island" (Tristan da Cunya)," New York Times. 24 March 1935; Robinson, Samuel. (1924). Official report of Capt. S. Robinson, R.N.R.,: Commander of the Canadian Pacific S.S. "Empress of Australia", on the Japanese earthquake, the fire and subsequent relief operations.
- ^ The Admiralty took over the Packet Service from the General Post Office in 1823.
- ^ The first citation in the Times is from 18 August 1840
- ^ Kennedy, John. (1903). The History of Steam Navigation, pp. 147- 151.
- ^ Neilan, Terence P. "Q and A," New York Times. 29 October 1989.
- ^ a b "Empress of Asia Sunk Last 4 Feb.; Canadian Pacific Liner Hit by Five Bombs in Flight From Singapore MOST OF TROOPS ESCAPED 16,909-Ton Ship Abandoned After Four-Day Fires Had Ruined Her Interior," New York Times. 20 May 1942.
- ^ 40-year-old Ship Makes Last Trip; Empress of Australia, Luxury Liner and Troop Carrier, on Way to Scrap Heap," New York Times. 1 May 1952.
- ^ "British Announce Empress Ship Loss; Admiralty Fixes Death Toll at 45 Out of 643 Aboard Canadian Pacific Liner TORPEDOES FINISH JOB U-Boat Overtakes Burning Ship in Tow and Completes Task Started by Bomber Ship Attacked Three Times Women and Children Calm," New York Times. 29 October 1940.
- ^ a b c "Pacific Air Routes Replace Ship Line; Canadian Company Abandons Pre-War Service of Fleet, Maps Overseas Flights," New York Times. 10 April 1949.
- ^ "Transport News and Notes; Empress of France Will Be Retired," New York Times. 27 November 1960.
- ^ a b c Kennedy, p. 150.
- ^ "Lady Eden to Launch Ship," New York Times. 5 May 1956.
- ^ Kirsten Weisenburger, Kirsten and Marc Dinsdale. "First Class Warrior Empress," Pacific Rim Online Magazine (Vancouver, British Columbia). 1998.
[edit] References
- Kennedy, John. (1903). The History of Steam Navigation. Liverpool: C. Birchall, 1903. OCLC 3553860
