Royal Mail Ship Explained

Royal Mail Ship (sometimes Steam-ship or Steamer), usually seen in its abbreviated form RMS, is the ship prefix used for seagoing vessels that carry mail under contract to the British Royal Mail. The designation dates back to 1840.[1] Any vessel designated as "RMS" has the right both to fly the pennant of the Royal Mail when sailing and to include the Royal Mail "crown" insignia 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 White Star Line, Cunard Line,[2] [5] Royal Mail Lines, Union-Castle Line, Canadian Pacific Line, Orient Line and the P&OSNC, which held a number of high-profile mail contracts, and 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] [7]

History

Originally, the British Admiralty operated these ships.[8]

The designation "RMS" has been used since 1840.[9] 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 bought RMS St Columba and RMS Llewellyn 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 building of the first three of a fleet of steamships: the, and which regularly sailed between Vancouver and Asia beginning in 1891.[10] The RMS designation was also used on the ships of the White Star, P&O and Cunard lines of the 19th and 20th centuries.The most famous liner with the RMS title was the Titanic.

Modern times

In recent years the shift to air transport for mail has left only three ships with the right to the prefix or its variations:, which serves as a passenger vessel in Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada;, which serves the Isles of Scilly; and . 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.

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 Vessel and Motor Ship indicated that propulsion was provided by diesel rather than steam.

The carries the designation RMV for Royal Mail Vessel and is the only active RMV.

List of current Royal Mail Ships

NameLineIn serviceStatus
Isles of Scilly Steamship Company1977 Currently in active service. Officially designated Royal Mail Vessel but has the status of Royal Mail Ship. Currently the only ship still carrying mail for Royal Mail.
Cunard2004 Conferred the status of Royal Mail Ship as a gesture to Cunard's history but does not carry mail.[11] Currently in active service as an ocean liner.
Muskoka Lakes Navigation Co1887 Built as SS Nipissing, then as Segwun 1925, out of service from 1958 to 1981; restored 1972–1981 and returned to service since 1981. The only remaining steam-powered Royal Mail Ship.

List of past Royal Mail Ships

Service dates are the years with the status of Royal Mail Ship. Those highlighted are still in service with the status of Royal Mail Ship.

NameLineIn serviceLeft serviceStatus
1907 1934 Scrapped
1913 1916 Sunk by mine
Alaunia 1925 1957 Scrapped
Alaunia 1960 1969 Sold 1969 to Brocklebank Line and renamed as Malancha, sold again in 1971 to Panama as Humi Nastta and fate unknown
1911 1930 Built in 1900 as Consuelo, bought by Cunard 1911 & renamed Albania, sold 1912 & renamed Poleric, scrapped 1930
1913 1916 Sunk by enemy action
1926 1958 Scrapped
1906 1948 Scrapped
— — —
1906 1916 Sunk by enemy action
1913 1918 Sunk by enemy action
1921 1940 Sunk by enemy action
Andes 1913 1929 Scrapped after finishing career as the cruise ship Atlantis
1939 1959 Scrapped in 1971 after finishing career as a cruise ship
1921 1948 Scrapped
1914 1950 Scrapped
1898 1916 Sunk by enemy action
1905 1917 Sunk by enemy action
1912 1938 Scrapped
1921 1959 Scrapped
1923 1957 Scrapped
1925 1957 Scrapped
1881 1905 Scrapped
1916 1918 Sunk by enemy action
1924 1961 Scrapped
1871 1873 Sunk after collision with rocks
1921 1965 Scrapped
1906 and 1919 1914 and 1929 Converted as troopship in 1914, then as armed merchant cruiser 1915 and renamed HMS Avoca, return to owners and renamed Avon in 1919; scrapped 1930
1904 1933 Scrapped
1845 1860 Wrecked
1875 1906 Scrapped
1908 1915 Sunk by enemy action
1927 1965 Scrapped
1966 1984 Scrapped
1998 2008 Currently on active service as RO/PAX vessel
1913 1938 Scrapped
1840 1880 Sunk
1874 1903 Scrapped
1915 1916 Sunk by mine
1929 1960 Scrapped
1886 1922 Built 1881, sold to China in 1882, scrapped in 1933.
1937 1966 Scrapped
1891 1918 Sank after collision with
1925 1940 Sunk by enemy action
1956 1968 Sold 1968; renamed Fairland; scrapped 2006
1905 1932 Scrapped
1926 and 1950 1939 and 1963 Commissioned as HMS Carnarvon Castle from 1939 to 1947.
1903 1918 Sunk by enemy action
1905 1933 Scrapped
1948 1974 Scrapped
1901 1933 Scrapped
1903 1932 Scrapped
1879 1936 Scrapped
1964 1968 Owned by the Secretary of State for Scotland, chartered to David MacBrayne. Renamed MV Columba in 1968. Currently in active service as .
1923 1935 Scrapped after collision with the
1858 1862 Sold to Cunard, Wilson and Co. Later scrapped
1864 1888 Scrapped
1901 1923 Sunk after collision with
1890 1915 Sunk during bad weather
1904 1940 Sunk by mine
1914 1954 Scrapped after becoming NT Serpa Pinto
1854 1858 Sold to the Government of Sardinia, renamed Archimedes
1883 1909 Sunk during bad weather in the River Mersey, December, 1909
[12] 1913 1942 Sunk by enemy action
Canadian Pacific1922 1952[13] Scrapped
1953 1956 Scrapped
1906 1930 Scrapped
1931 1940[14] Sunk by enemy action
1956 1965 Scrapped
1922 1943 Sunk by enemy action
1929 1953 Scrapped
[15] 1961 2003 Scrapped
[16] 1891 1912 Scrapped
[17] 1957 1970 Scrapped
1914 1931 Scrapped
1891 1919 Scrapped
1908 1928 Scrapped
1906 1914 Sunk after collision with SS Storstad
1930 1966 Scrapped after fire
[18] 1913 1945 Scrapped after fire
19061930 Scrapped
1930 1966 Scrapped after fire
1897 1916 Foundered on the Ring Rocks off Bembridge, Isle of Wight, February, 1916
1885 1909 Scrapped
1881 1929 Scrapped
1937 1940 Sunk by enemy action at the Dunkirk evacuation.
1951 1973 Sold 1973 and renamed Vasso M. Sank off Damietta, 2 February 1977
1922 1956 Scrapped
Franconia 1963 1971 See Ivernia.
1875 1950 Scrapped
1933 1954 Scrapped
1922 1935 Scrapped
1955 1971 Renamed RMS Franconia 1963, sold 1973 and renamed Feodor Shalyapin; scrapped 2004
1951 1967 Sold to Chandris of Greece and renamed Amerikanis; used until 1996 and sold after 2000 and scrapped 2001
1842 1858 Sold 1858
1871 1912 Scrapped
1913 1940 Sunk by enemy action at the Dunkirk evacuation
1946 1975 Scrapped
1990 1998 Sold 1998
Cassar Co. Ltd. 1929 1941 Wrecked
1912 1917 Sunk by enemy action
1922 1942 Sunk by enemy action
Lady Drake 1928 1942 Sunk by enemy action
1928 1942 Sunk by enemy action
1928 1939 Acquired as hospital ship and later as troop ship by Royal Canadian Navy; returned to CN 1946; retired by CN 1952 and sold to Egypt as Gumhuryat Misr for Khedivial Mail Line, renamed Alwadi in 1960; broken up in Egypt 1968
Lady Rodney 1929 1953 Sold to Khedivial Mail Line and renamed Mecca, then to United Arab Maritime Company in 1961; scuttled in Egypt 1967
Lady Somers 1929 1940 Acquired by RN 1940 and sunk in Atlantic Ocean about 400km (200miles) east of Ponta Delgada, Azores 1941
1930 1971 Scrapped
1976 2005 Sold 2005
1920 1940 Sunk by enemy action
1896 1918 Sunk by enemy action
1914 1918 Sunk by enemy action
1893 1909 Scrapped after fire
1907 1915 Sunk after being torpedoed by SM U-20
1922 1940 Scrapped
1923 1954 Scrapped
1920 1940 Scrapped
1955 1982 Scrapped
1923 1950 Scrapped
1962 1984 Scrapped
1978 1987 Sold 1987
1906 1935 Scrapped
1939 1965 Scrapped
19111917 Sunk by enemy action
1832 1841 Sold 1841
1878 1883 Sunk in the Formby Channel, after being struck by the SS Rita
1903 1909 Scrapped
1919 1938 Scrapped
1830 1851 Scrapped
1860 1883 Converted to screw propulsion and renamed Ellan Vannin, sank 1909 in River Mersey
1882 1915 Scrapped
1905 1948 Scrapped
1950 1980 Scrapped
1984 1986 Sold 1986 and renamed Al Fahad; wrecked off Jeddah, June 2004
1853 1880 Scrapped
1885 1929 Recommissioned in 1915; returned to service in 1919; Scrapped by Smith & Company in Port Glasgow, 1929
1934 1940 Sunk by enemy action
1946 1962 Scrapped in 1981
1972 1995 Scrapped in 2008
1923 1953 Scrapped
1925 1943 Burnt out by enemy action
1912 1940 Sunk by enemy action
1926 1942 Sunk by enemy action
1871 1896 Scrapped
1899 1914 Scrapped
1911 1935 Scrapped
1911 1917 Torpedoed by south of Western Approaches
1924 1940 Sunk by the off Norway
1886 1905 Wrecked off Garden Island, Fremantle
1886 1912 Sold to Cie de Nav. Sud-Atlantique, renamed SS Divona; last owned by Union Industrielle Et Maritime (U.I.M) and scuttled in 1942 off Bizerta, Tunisia, raised and scrapped in 1946
1920 1927 ex-, 1920 renamed Ormuz, 1927 sold to North German Lloyd, renamed .
1902 1916 Lost RMS status in 1916–1917 while serving as a troopship. Laid up in 1921. Sold in 1922 and became the exhibition ship SS British Trade. Repossessed by Orient Line later the same year and reverted to Orontes (although not with the status of RMS). Scrapped in 1926.
1889 1906 Served as a troop ship between 1899 and 1903 as a troopship during the Second Boer War. Scrapped.
1889 1906 Scrapped.
1926 and 1948 1939 and 1957 Served as troop ship HMTS Otranto during World War II. Sold to the British Iron & Steel Corporation as scrap and broken up at Faslane.
1912 1939 Scrapped
1959 1980 Scrapped
1855 1872 Scrapped
1884 1899 Sank off Douglas after a collision with SS Monarch 16 September 1899
1929 1964 Scrapped
1904 1911 Sold to Union Steamship Co of NZ; renamed ; sank 1930
1888 1915 Scrapped
1947 1968 Launched in 1940 and served as a troop ship until 1946. Scrapped after arson fire.
1936 and 1947 1940 and 1967 Served as a troop ship from 1940 to 1946. Decommissioned in 1967; currently restaurant/hotel/museum in Long Beach, California
1834 1845 Sold 1845; eventually reported lost off the Falkland Islands
1888 1915 Scrapped
1881 1890 Wrecked
1904 1936 Scrapped
1911 1940 Sunk by enemy action
1903 1909 Sunk after collision with another ship
1910 1917 Sunk by enemy action
1865 1867 Wrecked
1838 1849 Sank
1898 1947 Scrapped
1920 1956 Scrapped
1900 1925 Scrapped
1954 1999 In 1962 renamed Carmania; in 1973 sold & renamed Leonid Sobinov, scrapped 1999
1977 1990 Ex-Northland Prince. Lost RMS status in 1990 and renamed St Helena Island. Renamed Avalon in 1990 and Indooceanique in 1993. Scrapped in 1996.
HM Government19902018Last ocean-crossing ship in regular mail-carrying service. Used as headquarters for the Extreme E racing series.
1926 1955 Scrapped
1955 1977 Sold and eventually sank after owner abandoned her in 2004
1861 1904 Wrecked
1874 1899 Scrapped
1921 1958 Scrapped
1881 1901 Scrapped
1902 1909 Wrecked
1863 1875 Sold 1875
1876 1904 Scrapped
1910 1918 Sunk by enemy action
1920 1945 Scrapped 1948
1948 1978 Scrapped 1978
2006 2011 Built 1991, acquired 2006, sold 2011.
1965 1978 Sold to Cost Armatori of Italy with Good Hope Castle and renamed Paola C; scrapped in China 1984
1931 1961 RMS status removed in 1954 and renamed SS Strathaird. Scrapped.
1931 1962 RMS status removed in 1954 and renamed SS Strathnaver. Scrapped.
1957 2004 Sold 1968 & renamed Fairwind; scrapped 2004
1911 1930 Hull holed by broken propeller; sank
White Star (not OSNC) 1853 1853 Ran aground
1895 1915 Sunk by enemy action
1912 1912 Sunk after collision with iceberg
1961 2000 Sold 1966 to Safmarine and renamed "SA Vaal"; left Royal Mail service 1969; scrapped 2003
1841 1865 Scrapped
1846 1886 Sold 1866
1886 1888 Sold 1888
1891 1934 Sold 1934
1936 1939 Sunk by enemy action
1947 1974 Scrapped 1975
1986 1990 Sold and left Royal Mail service 1990; scrapped 2007[19]
1911 1932 Scrapped
1884 1910 Scrapped
1927 1942 Sunk by enemy action
1907 1957 Scrapped
1961 1977 Lost status when EAR&H was dissolved; still in service as "MV Victoria"
1904 1929 World's first steam turbine ocean liner; scrapped 1929
1905 1954 Scrapped in 1954
1922 1943 Sunk by enemy action
1960 1998 Scrapped

See also

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. The first citation in The Times is from 18 August 1840.
  2. Royal Mails employees Courier newspaper page 20 August 2007
  3. http://www.nqsouthern.com/digitalpublication/digitalpublications/index.cfm?dpid=89&section_id=673 QM2
  4. Web site: United Kingdom – Royal Mail. Flags of The World. 19 December 2017.
  5. Maxtone-Graham, John et al. (2004). Queen Mary 2, p. 184.
  6. By Wireless from R.M.S. Empress of Australia. "Royal Gifts Gladden 172 On Lonely Atlantic Island" (Tristan da Cunya)," The New York Times. 24 March 1935; Robinson, Samuel. (1924).
  7. https://www.amazon.com/Official-report-Capt-Robinson-R-N-R/dp/B0008BKF9C 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.
  8. The Admiralty took over the Packet Service from the General Post Office in 1823.
  9. The first citation in The Times is from 18 August 1840.
  10. Kennedy, John. (1903). The History of Steam Navigation, pp. 147–151.
  11. News: Royal Mail employee's Courier newspaper . Royal Mail. August 2007.
  12. https://www.nytimes.com/1942/05/20/archives/empress-of-asia-sunk-last-feb-5-canadian-pacific-liner-hit-by-five.html?sq=empress%2520of%2520asia&scp=1&st=cse "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,"
  13. https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=FA0615FA385F177B93C3A9178ED85F468585F9 40-year-old Ship Makes Last Trip; Empress of Australia, Luxury Liner and Troop Carrier, on Way to Scrap Heap,"
  14. https://www.nytimes.com/1940/10/29/archives/british-announce-empress-ship-loss-admiralty-fixes-death-toll-at-45.html?sq=empress%2520of%2520britain%2520torpedo&scp=1&st=cse "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,"
  15. https://www.nytimes.com/1960/11/27/archives/transport-news-and-notes-empress-of-france-will-be-retired-thruway.html?sq=empress%2520of%2520france%2520ship&scp=5&st=cse "Transport News and Notes; Empress of France Will Be Retired,"
  16. Kennedy, p. 150.
  17. https://www.nytimes.com/1956/05/05/archives/lady-eden-to-launch-ship.html?sq=empress%2520of%2520england%2520ship&scp=37&st=cse "Lady Eden to Launch Ship,"
  18. https://www.nytimes.com/1949/04/10/archives/pacific-air-routes-replace-ship-line-canadian-company-abandons.html?sq=empress%2520of%2520russia%2520ship&scp=5&st=cse "Pacific Air Routes Replace Ship Line; Canadian Company Abandons Pre-War Service of Fleet, Maps Overseas Flights,"
  19. Web site: MV Antrim Princess (1967). tynebuiltships.co.uk. 29 April 2017.

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