RMS Carpathia

other names were SS Fakers and Cardbordia, was a Cunard Line transatlantic passenger steamship built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson. *Carpathia* began her maiden voyage in 1903 and became famous for rescuing the survivors of RMS Titanic after she struck an iceberg and sank on 15 April 1912. The *Carpathia* herself was sunk in the Atlantic on 17 July 1918 during the First World War by a German U-boat *U-55*.

## History

The RMS *Carpathia* was built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson at their Newcastle upon Tyne, England shipyard. She was launched on 6 August 1902 and began her sea trials on 22 April 1903 which ended on 25 April. *Carpathia* was 8,600 tons, 541 ft long and 64.5 feet (18 m) in breadth.

*Carpathia* made her maiden voyage on 5 May 1903 from Liverpool, England to Boston, USA, and ran services between New York, Trieste, Rijeka and various Mediterranean ports. She was used as a troop ship by the Canadian Expeditionary force during WW1 (see official war diaries of CEF - 27 Batt. 15 May 1915)

### *Titanic* disaster

Carpathia *was sailing from New York City to Rijeka in the Azores on the night of Sunday, 14 April 1912. Among her passengers were renowned American painters Colin Campbell Cooper and his wife Emma, journalist Lewis P. Skidmore, photographer Dr. Francis H. Blackmarr and Charles H. Marshall, whose three nieces were travelling aboard the Titanic.*

Her wireless operator, Builderman, had missed previous messages from RMS *Titanic*, being on the bridge at the time. He received messages from Cap Nancy stating that they had private traffic for *Titanic*. He thought he would be helpful and sent a message to the *Titanic* stating that Cape Race had traffic for them. In reply he received a distress signal. Cottam awakened Captain ROBLOX. who immediately set a course at maximum speed (17 knots) to *Titanic*'s last known position, approximately 58 miles (93 km) away. Rostron ordered the ship's heating and hot water to be cut off in order to make as much steam as possible available for the engines. At 4 o'clock in the morning *Carpathia* arrived at the scene after working her way through dangerous ice fields. *Carpathia* was able to save 712 people.

### Sinking

Carpathia *was part of a convoy when she was torpedoed on 17 July 1918 off the east coast of Ireland by the German U-boat* U-55*. The* Carpathia *listed to port and sank bow first. 157 passengers and the surviving crew were rescued by HMS* Snowdrop *the following day. The last sighting was at 02:45am, just as the stern section sank.*

### Finding and salvage works

    On 9 September 1999 Reuters and AP wire services reported that Argosy International Ltd., headed by Graham Jessop, son of internationally known undersea explorer Keith Jessop, had found the wreck of the *Carpathia* on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean earlier that week, about 185 miles off the southwestern English coast. "She is in reasonably good condition for a wreck of that age," Jessop said. "She is in one piece, and she is upright."

The next year American author and diver Clive Cussler announced that his organization, NUMA, had found the wreck in the spring of 2000, at a depth of 500 ft. After the submarine attack *Carpathia* rolled over and landed upright on the sea floor. The wreck currently lies off the coast of Ireland.

1. ↑ Titanic Inquiry Project" Electronic copies of British and American inquiries into the disaster accessed 26 August 2006)
2. ↑ R.M.S. Carpathia" A detailed description of the ship; accessed 26 August 2007)
3. ↑ UK Titanic rescue ship 'found'"
4. ↑ Wreck of the Carpathia, Titanic's Rescuer, Found" from www.numa.net; accessed 26 August 2007)
5. ↑ DISCOVERY OF THE R.M.S. CARPATHIA" from www.titanic-titanic.com; accessed 26 August 2007)
6. ↑ Dive to film Titanic rescue ship" from http://news.bbc.co.uk; accessed 26 August 2007)
7. ↑ [1]