.png) RMSEtruria withSSSkirmisher | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Etruria |
| Namesake | Etruria |
| Owner | Cunard SS Co |
| Operator | Cunard SS Co |
| Port of registry | Liverpool |
| Route | Liverpool – Queenstown – New York |
| Ordered | 19 July 1883 |
| Builder | John Elder & Co,Glasgow |
| Yard number | 286 |
| Launched | 20 September 1884 |
| Completed | 10 March 1885 |
| Maiden voyage | 25 April 1885 |
| Out of service | August 1908 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Scrapped inPreston in 1910 |
| Notes | One of the last steamships to be fitted with auxiliary sails |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage | 1884: 7,129 GRT, 3,258 NRT |
| Length | 501.6 ft (152.9 m) |
| Beam | 57.2 ft (17.4 m) |
| Depth | 38.2 ft (11.6 m) |
| Decks | 5 |
| Installed power | 1,559NHP |
| Propulsion | 3-cylindercompound engine |
| Sail plan | Barque[1] orbarquentine |
| Speed | 19.5knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph) |
| Capacity |
|
RMSEtruria was a transatlanticocean liner built byJohn Elder & Co ofGlasgow, Scotland in 1884 forCunard Line.Etruria and her sister shipUmbria were the last two Cunarders that were fitted with auxiliary sails.[2] Both ships were among the fastest and largest liners then in service.Etruria was completed on 10 March 1885,[3] twelve weeks afterUmbria, and entered service on the Liverpool – New York route.
Etruria had two largefunnels that gave the outward impression of great power. She had three large steelmasts that werebarque-rigged. Another innovation was that she was equipped withrefrigeration machinery, but it was the single-screw propulsion that would bring the most publicity later in her career.
The ship epitomized the luxuries ofVictorian style. The public rooms in First Class were full of ornately carved furniture and heavy velvet curtains hung in all the rooms, and they were cluttered withbric-a-brac that period fashion dictated. These rooms, and the First Class cabins, were situated on thePromenade, Upper, Saloon and Main Decks. There was also a Music Room, Smoke Room for gentlemen, and separate dining rooms for First and Second Class passengers. By the standard of the day, Second Class accommodation was moderate, but spacious and comfortable. RMSEtruria's accommodation consisted of 550 First Class, and 800 Second Class passengers. However late in 1892 this changed to 500 First Class, 160 Second Class, and 800 Third Class (Steerage) passengers.
CunardregisteredEtruria atLiverpool. Her United Kingdomofficial number was 91187 and hercode letters were JTPM.[4]
Just asEtruria was to start her regular service to New York fromLiverpool at the beginning of 1885, a crisis involving Russia's threat to invadeAfghanistan was coming to a head. This delayedEtruria's maiden voyage across the North Atlantic. On 26 March theAdmiraltycharteredEtruria andUmbria. With the dispute reaching a settlement,Etruria was released from Admiralty service within a few days, but her sister ship was retained for six months.
On 25 April 1885Etruria finally made her maiden voyage under the command of Captain McMicken.[2] She made the Atlantic crossing calling at Queenstown (nowCobh). On her second crossing, westbound from Liverpool to New York, she won theBlue Riband (see the table below) and flew thepennant for Cunard.
On 20 September 1885, she was outward bound from New York and inLower New York Bay, at anchor due to dense fog. The 4,276-ton cargo shipCanada, owned by the National Steamship Company ofLimerick, collided withEtruria, on herstarboard side.Canada scraped alongsideEtruria, ripping away a portion of herrigging, but there were no casualties.[2] Both ships continued on their voyages.
In November 1895Winston Churchill, then 20 years old and a lieutenant in the4th Hussars, secured a few weeks' leave to visitCuba, in order to observe theCuban War of Independence against Spain. He traveled via Liverpool and New York onEtruria, reaching New York harbor on 9 November. Three days later he traveled on to Cuba. Churchill returned to Britain on 21 December 1895, again aboardEtruria.[5]
On 8 August 1896Etruria sank the floating steam elevator[clarification needed]Ceres (
United States) in a collision inNew York Bay.[6]
On 10 December 1897Etruria rescued the crew of the steamshipMilfield which was foundering in heavy seas about 140 miles west ofFastnet Rock.[7]
On 6 January 1900,Etruria left Liverpool, and one week later she arrived in New York. On the 13th engineers were inspecting the ship, and on examination of thepropeller shaft, they found cracks that were not there when the ship left Liverpool. Her sister ship had suffered a failure of her propeller shaft at sea in 1893, and to avoid the same fateEtruria was confined to her pier until a replacement shaft was shipped over from Britain. After the new shaft was fitted in New York, she departed on 17 February for the homeward bound service. In 1900Etruria remained on the North Atlantic service whileUmbria was requisitioned to carry troops to and from South Africa during theBoer War. By July 1900 both sisters were back on the North Atlantic service.
In 1901Etruria and her running mate were equipped forwireless telegraphy. On 22 February 1902,Etruria left New York and was due to arrive in Queenstown on 1 March. On 26 February she radioedUmbria to pass on messages to one of her passengers. However, that evening herpropeller shaft fractured, leaving her drifting. She tried without success to radioUmbria again to report her predicament. In that era, wireless sets on many ships were not manned 24 hours a day. Eventually she attracted the attention of theLeyland Line shipWilliam Cliff by firingdistress rockets.William Cliff stood alongside in an hour and stayed with her during the night while attempts were made to repair her.Etruria then made sail andWilliam Cliff took her in tow; the ships headed forHorta, in theAzores, which were 500 miles to the south-east of her stricken position.[2]
She arrived in the Azores on Sunday, 9 March, and on the 15th her passengers and mail were transferred onto the steamshipElbe, which had been chartered for the task on the 10th. It was summer 1902 beforeEtruria was repaired and back in service, but in October, after a particularly rough Atlantic crossing, her propeller shaft again showed serious cracks and she was taken out of service and waited in New York for yet another new shaft to be sent over and installed. It was 1 November before she set sail for home again; 1902 had been a very bad year for the ship.
On 28 February 1903,Etruria was leaving New York when she ran aground on sand and mud in the entrance to Gedney Channel. After she was refloated later the same day there was no damage found and she set off on her voyage to Liverpool.
On 10 October 1903,Etruria was only four hours out of New York when at 2:30 pm the ship was struck by arogue wave. The wave was reported to be at least 50 feet (15 meters) high, and struck the ship on the port side. The wave carried away part of the fore bridge and smashed the guardrail stanchions. A number of first-class passengers were sitting in deck chairs close to the bridge, and they caught the full force of the water. One passenger, a Canadian, was fatally injured, and several other passengers were hurt.[2]
In January 1907 two ofEtruria's crew were killed as they tried to secure the lashings of the starboard anchor in very rough weather, during a westbound crossing.
The two 23-year-old vessels were now reaching the point where technical progress had overtaken them.RMS Lusitania andRMS Mauretania were under construction, and due to enter service in late 1907.
On Wednesday 26 August 1908, RMSEtruria was moving astern from her pier in Liverpool to anchor opposite the Princes' Landing Stage, where her passengers would embark. Ahopper barge crossing theMersey came too close toEtruria and was violently rammed by her.Etruria's rudder and propeller were thrust deep into the hopper, almost severing it in two. However, being impaled onEtruria's propeller prevented the hopper from sinking. Both vessels drifted helplessly in the Mersey for some time, and finished the career ofEtruria. Her propeller,rudder and steering gear were seriously damaged, forcing the cancellation of her sailing to New York.[2]Etruria's passengers were put up in hotels and then caughtUmbria later in the week.Etruria was taken into dock, where temporary repairs were made. The hopper was repaired, sold off in 1938 and wrecked 1952.[8]
She did not cross the Atlantic again and, after spending time laid up atBirkenhead, she was finally sold for £16,750 in October 1909.[2] On 11 April 1910, the MerseytugBlack Cock towedEtruria to her final destination ofPreston, Lancashire, where she was scrapped.[2] Her sale for scrap was announced in mid November 1909.[9] In January 1911 it was reported that over the past two yearsThos. W. Ward alone had broken up five Cunarders:Lucania,Etruria,Aleppo,Saragosssa andCherbourg and had five P & O boats in their yards during 1910.[10]
Etruria is the ocean liner in the opening sequences ofThomas Edison's produced,Edwin S. Porter directed,1904 filmThe European Rest Cure.[11]
| Prices of passage aboardEtruria, May 1895 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From Pier 40, North River, foot of Clarkson Street, City of New York | ||||||||||
| Every Saturday, New York – Queenstown – Liverpool | ||||||||||
| 1st Class | 1st Class | 1st Class | 1st Class Return | 1st Class Return | 1st Class Return | 2nd Class Cabin | 2nd Class Cabin | 2nd Class Cabin Return | 2nd Class Cabin Return | Under 1 Year old |
| $75 | $90 | $175 | $125 | $150 | $315 | $40 | $45 | $75 | $85 | Free outward |
| Records of RMSUmbria & RMSEtruria | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Blue Riband of the North Atlantic | |||||||
| Westbound | |||||||
| Steamship | Date | Line | From | To | Nautical Miles | Days/Hours/Minutes | Knots |
| RMSEtruria | 1885 (16/8- 22/8) | Cunard | Queenstown | Sandy Hook | 2801 | 6/5/31 | 18.73 |
| RMS Umbria | 1887 (29/5-4/6) | Cunard | Queenstown | Sandy Hook | 2848 | 6/4/12 | 19.22 |
| RMSEtruria | 1888 (27/5-2/6) | Cunard | Queenstown | Sandy Hook | 2854 | 6/1/55 | 19.56 |
| Eastbound | |||||||
| Steamship | Date | Line | From | To | Nautical Miles | Days/Hours/Minute | Knots |
| Etruria | 1885 (1/8-7/8) | Cunard | Sandy Hook | Queenstown | 2822 | 6/9/0 | 18.44 |
| Etruria | 1888 (7/7-14/7) | Cunard | Sandy Hook | Queenstown | 2981 | 6/4/50 | 19.36 |
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Blue Riband (Eastbound record) 1885–1889 | Succeeded by |
| Blue Riband (Westbound record) 1885–1887 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Blue Riband (Westbound record) 1888–89 | Succeeded by |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1903 | |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1907 | |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1908 | |
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