RMS Caronia Timeline

Maiden Voyage Tour
Part 2 - Page 1

RMS Caronia Timeline - Cunard's ‘Green Goddess’

To Main Content… Sleep Text Navigation Bar

Go to… Maiden Voyage Tour Part 2 - Page 2

Inventory

The New RMS Caronia
World's Largest Postwar Liner
Cunard White Star Line

~

Basic Statistics…
Designed by
George McLeod Paterson CBE, BA Cantab., MINA
Chief Naval Architect to the Cunard Steam Ship Co Ltd.
Builders
Messrs: John Brown & Company Ltd., Clydebank
Keel laid
February, 1946
Launched
October 30, 1947 by H.R.H. Princess Elizabeth
Maiden voyage
January 4, 1949, Southampton to New York via Cherbourg
Length overall
715 feet
Breadth moulded
91 feet
Draught moulded
30 feet
Gross tonnage
34,183 tons
Passenger capacity
581 First Class, 351 Cabin Class
Propulsion
twin screw triple expansion impulse reaction turbines
Generating plant
four generators, each consisting of a 1,100-kilowatt 220-volt direct current dynamo driven by steam turbine
Colour scheme
painted in four shades of green with Cunard red and black funnel
Ten decks
Sports, Sun, Promenade, Main, A, Restaurant, B, C, D, E
Public rooms
Thirteen public rooms and two restaurants, all air-conditioned:
Verandah Café,
Observation Lounge,
Cocktail Bar,
Main Lounge,
First Smoking Room,
Writing Room,
Library,
Theatre,
Gymnasium,
Two Garden Lounges,
Aft Cocktail Bar
Cabin Smoking Room
and Cabin Lounge

View Full Statistics List

RMS Caronia heading up the Hudson River on maiden New York arrival
Aerial view of RMS Caronia heading up the
Hudson River on maiden New York arrival
[Photo: Courtesy of Richard I. Weiss]
Caronia Officers…

Captain Donald W. Sorrell, veteran of forty years at sea and thirty years as a deck officer aboard Cunard White Star ships, has been appointed to command the new 34,183-ton luxury liner Caronia which sailed from Southampton on her maiden voyage January 4. 1949

Captain Sorrell, who was born on December 30, 1893, began his seagoing career in January, 1909, when he joined the full rigged sailing ship William Mitchell as an apprentice in Port Talbot, South Wales. In August, 1913, he finished his apprenticeship in sail and passed for Second Mate.

Captain Sorrell then joined the British India Steam Navigation Company as Third Officer, and in September, 1914, sailed from Bombay for Marseilles aboard the Urlana with the 47th Sikh Regiment. This was the first convoy of World War I, and it is an odd coincidence that as Senior First Officer of the Britannic in September, 1939, Captain Sorrell sailed in the first convoy of World War II from the Clyde to Bombay.

He joined the Cunard Line on July 4, 1918, as a Junior Officer on the Pannonia. Before the war, he served on many of the Line's famous ships, including the old Caronia, the Laconia, Antonia, Aquitania, Samaria, Franconia and Berengaria.

NavBar

As Chief Officer of the Georgic, Captain Sorrell took part in the evacuation of Narvik in June, 1940, and was aboard the same ship during the evacuation of St. Nazaire later that month. He was named Staff Captain of the Georgic in 1941 and remained with the ship after she had been bombed at Suez on July 14, 1941, until she had been successfully salvaged and brought home to Belfast.

In March, 1944, Captain Sorrell was appointed Staff Captain of the Aquitania, and from there he went to the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. He has been Captain of the Samaria since February, 1947.

Staff Captain

Staff Captain of the new Caronia is William Butler Tanner, second in command of the World's largest postwar passenger liner. Captain Tanner has been a deck officer aboard Cunard ships for 25 years, excluding war service with the British Navy.

Captain Tanner joined the Cunard Line in November, 1924, as a Junior Officer aboard the Carmania. He has served aboard such famous ships as the old Caronia, Samaria, Antonia and Franconia.

On the outbreak of war in 1939, Captain Tanner went on naval service and during the greater part of hostilities was in command of the Naval Station at Willingdon Island, Cochin, South India. He was released from service in August, 1947, and appointed Chief Officer of the Britannic. From there he went to the Franconia, and was given command of the cargo vessel Samson in January, 1948.

Other appointments are Douglas Horsburgh as Chief Engineer; Ralph H. Newcombe as Chief Purser; and George Baker as Chief Steward.

Chief Engineer

Chief Engineer Horsburgh joined the White Star Line in 1908 as Seventh Engineer of the Runic. He was named Second Engineer of that ship in June, 1918, and Chief Engineer a year later. He served subsequently as Chief Engineer of the Turcoman, Haverford, Corinthic, Megantic and Laurentic. In April, 1931, he was named to the Britannic, and from 1934 until 1947 was Chief Engineer of the Georgic.

Purser

Purser Newcombe became Assistant Purser of the old Mauretania in January, 1928, and thereafter served aboard the Berengaria, Olympic, Antonia, Samaria, Mauretania, Aquitania, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. During the war he served in the Mauretania and two Queens, and was permanently appointed Staff Purser in July, 1946, when the Queen Mary resumed peacetime sailings following reconversion.

Chief Steward

Chief Steward Baker joined the Cunard Line in 1922 and has served aboard many of the Company's ships. He was Chief Steward of the Mauretania when she entered postwar service, and has held the same position in the Aquitania, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary.

Copyright © Caronia II Timeline 2004-2026 All Rights Reserved
Page last updated on Thu, 27 Mar 2025

Nav
Top