View source for RMS Carinthia (1955)

{{Short description|Ocean liner}}
{{other ships|RMS Carinthia{{!}}RMS ''Carinthia''}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=File:RMS Carinthia (1956).jpg
|Ship caption=Postcard of the RMS ''Carinthia''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship name=*1956–1968: RMS ''Carinthia''
*1968–1971: ''Fairland''
*1971–1988: ''Fairsea''
*1988–2000: ''Fair Princess''
*2000–2005: ''China Sea Discovery''
*2005: ''Sea Discovery''<ref name=Asklander>{{cite web |url=http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/carinthia_1956.htm |title=S/S ''Carinthia'' (1956) |access-date=2008-11-05 |last=Asklander |first=Micke |work=Fakta om Fartyg |language=sv}}</ref>
|Ship owner=*1956–1968: [[Cunard Line]]
*1968–1988: [[Sitmar Cruises]]<ref name=Asklander />
*1988–2000: [[P&O Cruises]]<ref name="Miller 1995">{{cite book |title=Pictorial Encyclopedia of Ocean Liners, 1860–1994 |last=Miller |first=William H |year=1995 |publisher=Dover |location=Mineola |isbn=0-486-28137-X |pages=[https://archive.org/details/pictorialencyclo0000mill/page/24 24] |url=https://archive.org/details/pictorialencyclo0000mill|url-access=registration }}</ref>
*2000–2002: [[Emerald Sea Cruises]]
*2002–2005: [[China Sea Cruises]]<ref name=Asklander />
|Ship operator=*1956–1968: Cunard Line
*1968-1971: laid up
*1971–1988: Sitmar Cruises<ref name=Asklander />
*1988–1995: [[Princess Cruises]]<ref name="Miller 1995" />
*1997–2000: [[P&O Cruises]]<ref name="Plowman">{{cite book |title=The Sitmar Liners: Past and Present |last=Plowman |first=Peter |year=2004 |publisher=Rosenberg |location=Hong Kong |isbn=1-877058-25-4 |pages=226–227, 247–249 }}</ref>
*2000: Emerald Sea Cruises
*2002–2003: China Sea Cruises<ref name=Asklander />
|Ship registry=*1956–1968: [[Liverpool]], {{flag|United Kingdom|civil}}
*1968–2005: [[Monrovia]], {{flag|Liberia|civil}}<ref name=Asklander />
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered=1955{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}}
|Ship builder=[[John Brown and Company]], [[Clydebank]], [[Scotland]]<ref name=Asklander />
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=1955{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}}
|Ship launched=14 December 1955<ref name=Asklander />
|Ship completed=1956<ref name="cc">{{cite web|url=https://www.chriscunard.com/history-fleet/cunard-fleet/1930-1960/carinthia/|title=Carinthia|publisher=Chris' Cunard Page|access-date=11 December 2010}}</ref>
|Ship christened=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship maiden voyage=June 1956<ref name=Asklander />
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=2003<ref name=Asklander />
|Ship fate=Scrapped at [[Alang]], India, 2005<ref name=Asklander />
|Ship identification={{IMO Number|5063629}}<ref name=Asklander />
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=(as built)<ref name=Asklander />
|Ship class=''Saxonia''-class [[ocean liner]]
|Ship tonnage=*{{GRT|21946}}
*{{DWT|8500}}
|Ship length={{convert|185.40|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|24.39|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draught={{convert|8.70|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship ice class=
|Ship power=*4 × John Brown [[steam turbine]]s
*combined {{cvt|18277|kW}}
|Ship propulsion=Two propellers<ref name="Miller 1995" />
|Ship speed=*{{convert|19.5|kn}} service speed<ref name="Miller 1995" />
*{{convert|25|kn|0|abbr=on}} maximum{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}}
|Ship capacity=868 passengers
|Ship crew=461{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}}
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=(after 1970 refit)<ref name=Asklander />
|Ship type=[[Cruise ship]]
|Ship tonnage=*{{GRT|16627}}
*{{DWT|9509}}
|Ship length=
|Ship beam=
|Ship height=
|Ship draught=
|Ship depth=
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship ice class=
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed=
|Ship capacity=884 passengers
|Ship crew=
|Ship notes=Otherwise the same as built
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=(after 1984 refit)<ref name=Asklander />
|Ship class=
|Ship tonnage=
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length=
|Ship beam=
|Ship height=
|Ship draught=
|Ship depth=
|Ship decks=
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|Ship capacity=906 passengers
|Ship crew=
|Ship notes=Otherwise the same as built
}}
|}

'''RMS ''Carinthia''''' was an [[ocean liner]] built in 1956 as one of the four ''Saxonia''-class ships.<ref name="cc"/> She sailed for [[Cunard Line]] from her completion until 1968 when she was sold to [[Sitmar Line]], rebuilt into a full-time [[cruise ship]] and renamed '''SS ''Fairsea'''''. She sailed with Sitmar until 1988, when Sitmar was sold to [[Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company|P&O]]. She was renamed '''SS ''Fair Princess''''' and sailed for Princess Cruises and [[P&O Cruises]] until 2000. She was then sold to [[China Sea Cruises]] and renamed '''SS ''China Sea Discovery'''''. In 2005 or 2006 she was [[Ship breaking|scrapped]] at [[Alang]], India.<ref name=Asklander /><ref name="cc"/>

==Concept and construction==
Near the end of 1951 [[Cunard Line]] designed new ships for Canadian service on the [[Liverpool]]–[[Montreal]]–[[Halifax, Nova Scotia|Halifax]] route. Cunard originally decided to build just two ships but later on two more were ordered. These ships, {{RMS|Saxonia|1954|6}}, {{RMS|Ivernia|1955|6}}, {{RMS|Carinthia|1956|6}} and {{RMS|Sylvania}}, were the largest ships to be operated to Canada at the time. The ships were built at [[Clydebank]] and they were designed for luxury and speed including carrying passengers and cargo up the [[St Lawrence River]] in summer and to [[Pier 21]] in Halifax in winter when the St. Lawrence froze.

==Service history==
[[File:CaroniaCarinthia.jpg|thumb|left|''Carinthia'' laid up alongside {{RMS|Caronia|1947|2}}]]

=== Cunard Line ===
RMS ''Carinthia'' started on her maiden voyage to Montreal on 27 June 1956 with 890 passengers and crew on board. After four more voyages, she proved with her running mate {{RMS|Saxonia|1954|6}} that the new Canadian Cunarders were so successful that other ships operating on the route were all scrapped leaving the four ships on the Montreal route.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.thecunarders.co.uk/Carinthia.html| title = Cruise Travel History :) RMS Carinthia 1955}}</ref> During 1960, the ''Carinthia'' suffered a fire in one of her cabins. In June of that year, some deck hands set up a skiffle group on a public deck; some passengers complained of the noise and the deck hands were fined a day's pay causing the "skiffle strike".<ref>Glasgow Herald, July 8, 1960, 'Liners Held up by Skiffle Strike'</ref> The ship's crew went on strike and others came out in support leaving many liners tied up in the [[Port of Liverpool|Liverpool docks]] for several weeks. During 1961 she collided with the {{SS|Tadoussac}}. In 1962 her propellers failed during a voyage. During 1964, the crew went on strike again. ''Carinthia'' was still operated from Liverpool to Montreal until the end of 1966, and from Southampton to Montreal and New York until after March 1967

[[File:"Fairwind" - Southampton, 1969.jpg|thumb|left|''Fairwind'' and ''Fairsea'' laid up at Southampton in August 1969]]
Cunard Line decided to start operating the ''Carinthia'' as a cruise ship during the winter months. She was used on ten-day cruises from [[New York City]] to [[Bermuda]]. During 1968, along with {{RMS|Sylvania||2}}, she was sold to [[Sitmar Line]], initially renamed ''Fairland''<ref name="cc"/> and laid up at Southampton for two years.

=== Sitmar Cruises ===
Following year-long major refurbishments of both vessels in Italy, ''Fairland'' became ''Fairsea'' and in 1972 commenced cruising from the [[United States West Coast]], for the re-styled [[Sitmar Cruises]]. Following the sale of Sitmar to [[Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company|P&O]] in 1988, the vessel was transferred to [[Princess Cruises]] and used for Pacific Ocean cruises as the ''Fair Princess''.<ref name="cc" />

=== Princess Cruises and P&O Holidays ===
[[File:Juneau Princess 1996 109 (Fair Princess).jpg|left|thumb|''Fair Princess'' in Alaska]]
In 1995, ''Fair Princess'' was transferred to the fleet of P&O Holidays (now [[P&O Cruises Australia]]) but was immediately chartered to [[Regency Cruises]] where she was to sail as their ''Regent Isle''. ''Regent Isle'' was advertised for Regency's 1996 season, but due to their September 1995 bankruptcy, she never made a voyage for them. n 1997 the ship commenced voyages for P&O Holidays, replacing the recently retired {{ship|TSS|Fairstar}}. She remained with P&O Australia for the remainder of the decade.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chriscunard.com/history-fleet/cunard-fleet/1930-1960/carinthia/ |title=Carinthia |website=Chris' Cunard Page |access-date=8 October 2024}}</ref>[[File:Passenger Cruise Liner Fair Princess at Darling Harbour (cropped).jpg|thumb|''Fair Princess'' in P&O Holidays livery]]

=== China Sea Cruises ===
[[File:"China Sea Discovery" - Kaohsiung, 2002.jpg|thumb|''China Sea Discovery'' anchored in [[Kaohsiung]]'s harbor on 22 February 2002]]
In 2000, the ship was sold to [[China Sea Cruises]] and renamed ''China Sea Discovery''.<ref name="cc" /> She operated as a [[casino]] cruise ship but was unsuccessful. During 2001 she operated in Taiwan. Finally after many unsuccessful voyages she was moved to Alang, India, to be scrapped. While under scrapping, a fire broke out in the engine room, killing five workers, and injuring another fifteen people.<ref>{{cite web|last=Casey|first=Michael|title=South Asia takes junked ships no one else will|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/13443629|publisher=NBC News|access-date=14 June 2012|date=2006-06-26}}{{dead link|date=August 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> In the end, the ship was scrapped in either 2005 or 2006.<ref name="Asklander" /><ref name="cc" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.thecunarders.co.uk/Carinthia%20History.html Ship History]
*[http://www.greatships.net/carinthia3.html Design and Construction]

{{Saxonia class}}
{{Cunard ships}}
{{Princess Cruises ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carinthia (1956)}}
[[Category:1955 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]]
[[Category:Passenger ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships of Princess Cruises]]
[[Category:Ships of the Cunard Line]]