RMS Carpathia

The RMS Carpathia was a Cunard Line transatlantic passenger steamship built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson. The Carpathia began its maiden voyage in 1903 and became famous for rescuing the survivors of the RMS Titanic after it sank on April 15th, 1912.

History

The RMS Carpathia was built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson at their Newcastle, United Kingdom shipyard. The ship was launched on August 6th, 1902 and began its sea trials on April 22nd, 1903 which ended on April 25th. The ship was 8,600 tons, 541 feet long (164 m) and 64.5 feet (18 m) at its breadth.

The Carpathia began its maiden voyage on May 5th, 1903 from Liverpool to Boston, USA. The ship ran service between New York, Trieste and various Mediterranean ports.

Titanic disaster

The Carpathia was sailing from New York City when Captain Arthur Henry Rostron received distress signals from the RMS Titanic. Captain Rostron immediately set a course at full speed towards the Titanic's last known position more than 60 miles away. At 4 o'clock in the morning, the Carpathia arrived at the scene after working her way through dangerous ice fields and was able to save 706These numbers were taken from the final report by the U.S. Senate Inquiry. people.

Aftermath

For his rescue work, Captain Rostron was awarded a silver cup and gold medal by survivors, the presentation made by Molly Brown. He was later a guest of President Taft at the White House and was presented with a Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor the United States Congress could confer upon him.

Carpathia was part of a convoy when it was torpedoed July 17, 1918 off the east coast of Ireland by German submarine U-55 ^*. 157 passengers and the surviving crew were rescued by the HMS Snowdrop the following day. American author and diver Clive Cussler found the wreck in 1999.

The actual owner of the vessel is Premier Exhibitions Inc. (formerly RMS Titanic Inc., publicly traded under PXHB) who plans to undertake a recovery operation to the RMS CARPATHIA to recover objects. The same company owns the salvor-in-possession rights of the RMS Titanic whose artifacts are shown with great success in worldwide exhibitions.

Note

Reference

Eaton, John P. and Haas, Charles A. Titanic: Triumph and Tragedy (2nd ed.). W.W. Norton & Company, 1995

External links

Maritimequest RMS Carpathia Photo Gallery

The Carpathia (joint venture for the recovery of the Carpathia)