RMS Aurania (1916)

For other ships with the same name, see RMS Aurania.

RMS Aurania was an ocean liner owned by the Cunard Line. She was built in 1916 at Wallsend and measured 13,936 gross register tons. She spent her entire career operating as a troopship in the First World War and was wrecked in 1918 while under tow following damage from a torpedo attack.

The HMT Aurania (2) underway
History
United Kingdom
Name	Aurania
Owner	Cunard Line
Operator	Cunard Line
Port of registry	Liverpool
Route	Liverpool – New York
Builder	Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend-on-Tyne
Yard number	965
Launched	16 July 1916
Completed	19 March 1917
Acquired	19 March 1917
Maiden voyage	28 March 1917
In service	28 March 1917
Out of service	4 February 1918
Homeport	Liverpool
Identification	UK official number 137542
Fate	Sunk by torpedo, 4 February 1918
General characteristics
Type	Ocean liner
Tonnage	13,936 GRT
Length	520.5 ft (158.6 m)
Beam	63.5 ft (19.4 m)
Installed power	7,500 hp (5.6 MW)
Propulsion	2 × steam engines 2 × propellers
Speed	15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)

Construction

The Aurania was the last of three ships planned to serve between Canada and Europe. Her sister ships were the Andania and Alaunia. Although ordered in December 1913, her construction was delayed by more pressing government contracts during the First World War, she was not launched until 16 July 1916, after which she was fitted out as a troopship and completed in March 1917.^[1]

Service

Aurania made her maiden voyage from the Tyne to New York on 28 March 1917 and on her return sailed to Liverpool. The ship remained on hire to the British Government for the remainder of her career and was used exclusively on the North Atlantic, primarily moving troops and supplies. By February 1918, Aurania had completed seven transatlantic crossings.^[2]

Loss

On 3 February 1918, Aurania left Liverpool and was routed around the coast of Northern Ireland, bound for New York. As with many large troopships, she sailed unescorted and relied on her speed to evade potential threats. On the following morning, she was some 15 miles north-west of Inistrahull, off the coast of County Donegal, when she was hit by a torpedo from German submarine UB-67. Nine crew members were killed in the explosion, and the ship lost propulsion after the inflow of water doused her boilers.^[2] A trawler took the ship in tow but she became stranded near Tobermory on the Isle of Mull, Scotland. Rough seas soon broke Aurania up and she was declared a total loss.