Carpathia (1903)

Owner:
Cunard Line
Liverpool, England

Builder:
Swan, Hunter &
Wigham Richardson Ltd.
Newcastle-on-Tyne, England
Ordered:
N/A
Keel Laid:
September 10, 1901
Year Built:
1903
Launched:
August 6, 1902
Sister Ships:
Saxonia, Ivernia
Maiden Voyage:
May 5, 1903
Fate:
Sunk July 17, 1918 by U-55 (torpedo).

Location: North Atlantic 225 miles WSW of Land's End, England.
(49.12N - 10.33W)

Five crewmen killed, 218 crew and 157 passengers picked up by HMS Snowdrop.
(Roll of Honour)


Dimensions, machinery and performance

Length:
558'
Engines:
2 x 4 cylinder quadruple expansion (b)
Beam:
64' 5"
Boilers:
N/A
Draft:
41 (depth)
Shafts:
2
Gross Tons:
13,555
HP:
N/A
Displacement:
N/A
Speed:
14 knots
Crew:
N/A
Funnels:
1
Passengers:
1,704 (a)
Masts:
4

Construction notes:
(a):
2,550 after 1905.
(b):
Engines by Wallsend Slipway Co.


Captains:
From
To
Name
Jan. 18, 1912
1913
Arthur Henry Rostron (later Sir Arthur Henry Rostron K.B.E., R.D., R.N.R.)
1916
July 17, 1918
William Prothero


History:
  
May 5, 1903:
Maiden voyage Liverpool - Queenstown - Boston.
Used on the transatlantic service her entire career.
Her first voyage was from Liverpool - Queenstown - Boston after which she was
transferred to Liverpool - Queenstown - New York service during the summer and
Trieste - Fiume - New York in the winter months.

Apr. 15, 1912:
Rescued 705 survivors from the Titanic.
(Carpathia departed New York on Apr. 11 bound for Trieste when she received the signal
from the Titanic. Capt. Rostron raced Carpathia through ice fields at speeds of up to 17 knots to reach the scene of the disaster. They arrived at the Cunard Pier at New York on Apr. 18)
Notes:
The Carpathia School in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada is named after the RMS Carpathia.
The school opened in 1953.
In Sept. 1999 the wreck of the Carpathia was located by the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA). (Story)


Page revised Aug. 7, 2007