Cunard RMS Samaria

When I was nearly 5 years old in early November 1952, accompanied by my mother and younger brother, Samaria brought three quarters of our family to Quebec City from Southampton in the U.K. — and the beginning of our new life in Toronto, Canada...

Likely, our routing in 1952 was: Southampton-Le Havre (or maybe Cherbourg)-Quebec, without a stop in Halifax.

Samaria embarked in the late afternoon, and I recall overhearing, or perhaps being told, that she would be calling in at one of the French channel ports overnight.

Apparently, our passage was very rough (not all that unusual on the North Atlantic in November), and the ship arrived in Quebec — on November 5, 1952 — a day or two behind schedule.  I don't know if Samaria continued to Montreal.

I can still vividly recall as a small boy, leaning on the rail at the stern of the ship. In the bright Fall sunshine Samaria steamed up the wide St. Lawrence in mid-channel, with the foaming wake below, and the small white habitations and dark forests on either shore.

 Almost exactly 40 years later, bound for Montreal from London, I duplicated that segment of the passage exactly. But this time I was at 20 or 30 thousand feet, returning home from a business trip — courtesy of Boeing and Air Canada.  As before, the granite bones of Quebec blazed with red and yellow — in sharp contrast to the narrow, inconsequential strips of cultivation along the banks of the great river below...

A few facts about the Samaria, gleaned from the Internet and included here in unedited form, unchecked for accuracy:

Sailings August 1955-March 1956 for:

Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary, Mauretania, Caronia, Britannic, Ivernia, Saxonia, Parthia, Media, Franconia, Samaria, Scythia, Ascania

Ports of call:

•  Southampton, Cherbourg, Le Havre, Cobh (Queenstown), Halifax, New York;
•  Liverpool, Cobh, Halifax, New York;
•  Southampton, Le Havre, Halifax, Quebec, Montreal; and
•  Liverpool, Greenock, Halifax, Quebec, Montreal

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Cunard's 19,700 ton Samaria was well known between the two world wars on the New York route, taking in Boston as well, and then later in the Canadian trade. Built to replace war losses, Samaria came into service on the Liverpool to Boston service.  Builders of Samaria were Cammell & Laird of Birkenhead.  Samaria joined her sister Scythia making her maiden voyage on the 19th April of 1922, Liverpool-Boston.

She was in a group of liners ordered by Cunard when it was trying to gain an edge over rival, the White Star Line, as North Atlantic services began to develop after the First World War.  

Generally Samaria and her sister ships, Scythia, Laconia, Franconia and Carinthia, were slower than ships of the pre-WWI era.  After the conflict, there was a feeling within the shipping industry that North Atlantic travel would be made at more economical speeds than those in use immediately prior to 1914.  The new liner could accommodate 350 first-class passengers, 350 second-class and 1,600 in third — and 435 crew

She was transferred to the Liverpool-Queenstown-Halifax-Boston service in 1926.  Samaria cruised out of London in 1934 and was taken up for war duties in 1939 and served as such until 1946.  As a troopship during the Second World War, Samaria carried more than 20,000 servicemen and steamed 250,000 miles.  As late as 1948 she was still returning Canadian troops and their families back to Canada.

After the post-war refit Samaria was switched to Southampton for the first time following Cunard's decision to provide a fortnightly service to Canada, with Scythia as her operating partner.  Passenger accommodation changed to 250 1st Class and 650 Tourist class in 1950. Samaria represented Cunard at the Fleet Review, Spithead, on the 15th of June 1953.  Samaria spent only five years on this route.

Samaria's Ship's Bell

By 1956 she was 35 years old and Cunard had her broken up at Inverkeithing, Firth of Forth.

Samaria’s ship’s bell (pictured on the right) is at present held by the Royal Artillery
Officers’ Mess, Canadian Forces Base Halifax, Nova Scotia  — although variously reported as having gone to the army museum in Halifax, NS; her mahogany panelling was bought for an RAF officers’ mess.

The dedication reads: ‘SHIP’S BELL OF R.M.S. ‘SAMARIA’ 1922-1956 PRESENTED TO EASTERN COMMAND OFFICERS MESS HALIFAX, N.S. BY THE CUNARD STEAM-SHIP COMPANY LIMITED APRIL 1956’. [Photo courtesy of Commander C.A.H. Darlington, Royal Canadian Navy (retired), Royal United Services Institute of Nova Scotia http://rusi.ca. © 2015 All rights reserved.]

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Samaria Design Summary

These details are derived from NRP Bonsor, North Atlantic Seaway, 5 vols, David & Charles, 1975-80, Cunard is covered in Volume 1,

Gross Tonnage - 19,730 tons
Dimensions - 600 x 74ft
Number of funnels - 1
Number of masts - 2
Construction - Steel
Propulsion - Twin-screw
Engines - Steam turbines (double-reduction geared), twin screw; 2,528 NHP, by builder
Service speed - 16 knots
Builder - 1922 by Cammell Laird & Co, Birkenhead
Launch date - 23 March 1920
Passenger accommodation - 350 1st class, 350 2nd class, 1,500 3rd class
Demise: Broken up at Inverkeithing, Firth of Forth, 1956. 

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To get a sense of the size of Samaria relative to larger, better known vessels, the specifications for three very well known ships are included below.

Mauretania:

Gross tonnage: 31,938 
Dimensions - 790x 88ft
Number of funnels - 4
Number of masts - 2
Machinery: Steam turbines geared to quadruple screw
Speed: 25 knots
Passenger accommodation - 560 First, 475 Second, 1,300 Third;
Built: Swan, Hunter, and Wigham Richardson Limited, Newcastle, England, 1907
Demise: Scrapped in Rosyth, Scotland, 1935

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Titanic:

Gross tonnage: 46,329
Dimensions - 882 x 92ft
Number of funnels - 4
Number of masts - 2
Draft: 34 feet
Machinery: Steam triple-expansion engines geared to triple screws
Speed: 21+ knots
Passenger accommodation - 900 First, 565 Second, 1,100 Third
Built: Harland and Wolff Limited, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1912
Demise: Struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912 and sank the following morning.

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Costa Concordia:

Gross Tonnage: 114,147
Dimensions - 952 x 116ft
Draft - 26ft
Machinery - 6 × Wärtsilä 12V46C, 102,780 hp (combined)
Propulsion - Diesel-electric; two shafts, Alstom propulsion motors (2 × 21 MW),  twin fixed pitch screws
Speed - 19.6 knots (service), 23 knots (maximum)
Passenger accommodation - 3,780
Crew - 1,100
Built - Fincantieri; Sestri Ponente yard in Genoa; launched in September 2005.
Demise - wrecked off the coast of Isola del Giglio in Italy in January 2012; declared a total loss and later towed to Genoa to be scrapped.

 

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Titanic vs. Symphony of the Seas