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'RMS ''Etruria'''
RMS ''Etruria''
Career	British Red Ensign
'Nationality'	British
'Owner:'	British & North American Royal Mail Packet Company (Cunard Line)
'Ordered:'	1883
'Builder:'	Messrs John Elder & Co., Glasgow
'Launched:'	March, 1885
'Maiden voyage:'	April 25, 1885
'Fate:'	Scrapped
General characteristics
'Tonnage:'	7,718 gross tons
'Length:'	158.2 m (519 ft)
'Beam:'	17.43 m (57.2 ft)
'Propulsion:'	9 double-ended boilers 6, three-crank compound engines turning single screw
'Speed:'	19 knots (35 km/h)
'Complement:'	1885-1892: 550 First Class, 800 Second Class 1892-1909: 500 First Class, 160 Second Class, 800 Third Class

'RMS ''Etruria''' and her sister ship RMS ''Umbria'' were the last two Cunarders that were fitted with auxiliary Sails. RMS Etruria was built by John Elder & Co of Glasgow, Scotland in 1884. The ''Etruria'' and her sister ''Umbria'', by the standards of the time, were record breakers. They were the largest liners then in service, and they plied the Liverpool to New York Service. RMS ''Etruria'' was completed and launched in March 1885, twelve weeks later than her sister ''Umbria''.
The ''Etruria'' had many distinguishing features that included two enormous funnels which gave the outward impression of huge power. She also had three large steel masts which when fully rigged had an extensive spread of canvas. Another innovation on ''Etruria'' was that she was equipped with refrigeration machinery, but it was the single screw propulsion that would bring the most publicity later in her career.
The ship epitomized the luxuries of Victorian style. The public rooms in the 1st class were full of ornately carved furniture and heavy velvet curtains hung in all the rooms, and they were cluttered with bric-a-brac that period fashion dictated. These rooms, and the First Class cabins, were situated on the Promenade, Upper, Saloon and Main Decks. There was also a Music Room, Smoke Room for gentleman, and separate dining rooms for First and Second Class passengers. By the standard of the day, Second Class accommodation was moderate, but spacious and comfortable. RMS ''Etruria's'' accommodation compromised of 550 First Class, and 800 Second Class passengers. However late in 1892 this changed to 500 First Class, 160 Second Class, and 800 Third Class (Steerage) passengers.

Contents

Service on the Atlantic

Winston Churchill

A year to forget

More bad luck

The end of ''Etruria's'' Career

The Blue Riband

External links

Service on the Atlantic

RMS ''Etruria'' was to start her regular service to New York from Liverpool, but the clouds of crises were looming, and by the New Year of 1885 a crises involving Russia's threat to invade Afghanistan was coming to a head. This was to bring ''Etruria's'' North Atlantic service to a halt temporarily, before she had even made her maiden voyage. On the March 26, ''Etruria'', and her sister RMS ''Umbria'', found themselves charted to the Admiralty. With the dispute reaching a settlement, ''Etruria'' was released from Admiralty service within a few days, although her sister was retained for six months.
On the April 25, 1885, ''Etruria'' finally made her maiden voyage under the command of Captain McMicken. She made the Atlantic crossing calling at Queenstown (Cobh). On her very next crossing, westbound (Liverpool to New York), she won the prestigious Blue Riband (see the table below) and proudly flew the pennant for Cunard.
Later in the year the ''Etruria'' was involved in a collision. On September 20, 1885, she was outward bound from New York and in Lower New York Bay, at anchor due to dense fog. The 4,276 ton cargo ship ''Canada'', owned by the National Steamship Company of Limerick collided with the ''Etruria'', on her starboard side. The ''Canada'' scraped alongside ''Etruria'', ripping away a portion of her rigging, but fortunately there were no casualties. Both ships continued on there voyages.

Winston Churchill

In November 1895, 20 year old Winston Churchill, a lieutenant in the 4th Hussars, snatched a few weeks' leave from his regiment to visit Cuba, with the aim of observing the Cuban Revolutionary War against Spain.
Getting there involved travelling by way of New York via Liverpool and Queenstown on the ''Etruria''. Thus, on November 9, Winston Churchill arrived in New York harbour aboard the ''Etruria'', and first set foot in his mother's homeland and the city where she had been born and brought up. Three days later he travelled on to Cuba. Churchill returned to Britain early in 1896 travelling again on the ''Etruria''.
On January 6, 1900, ''Etruria'' left Liverpool, and one week later she arrived in New York. On the 13th engineers were inspecting the ship, and on examination of the propeller shaft, they found cracks that were not there when the ship left Liverpool. Her sister ship had suffered a failure of her propeller shaft at sea in 1893, and do avoid the same fate the ''Etruria'' was confined to her pier until a replacement shaft was shipped over from Britain. After this was done, and the new shaft had been fitted in New York, she departed on February 17 for the homeward bound service. In 1900 the ''Etruria'' remained on the North Atlantic service while her sister was requisitioned to carry troops to and from South Africa during the Boar War. By July of 1900 both the sisters were back on the North Atlantic service.

A year to forget

In 1901 the ''Etruria'', along with her sister ship, was fitted with a wireless, putting her right in the forefront of this new technology. On the February 22, 1902, ''Etruria'' left New York and was due to arrive in Queenstown on March 1. On the February 26 she radioed the ''Umbria'' to pass on messages to one of her passengers. However, that evening her propeller shaft fractured leaving her drifting helplessly. She tried with no success to radio the ''Umbria'' again to report her predicament. In the days before the ''Titanic'' disaster, radio operators did not man their sets 24 hours a day. Eventually she managed to attract the attention of the Leyland ship ''William Cliff'', by firing distress rockets. The ''William Cliff'' stood along side in an hour and stayed with her during the night whilst attempts were made to repair her. ''Etruria ''then made sail and the ''William Cliff'' took her in tow; the ships headed for Horta, in the Azores, which were 500 miles to the south-east of her stricken position.
She arrived in the Azores on Sunday, March 9, and on the 15th her passengers and mail were transferred on to SS ''Elbe'', which had been chartered for the task on the 10th. It was summer 1902 before the ''Etruria'' was repaired and back in service, but in October, after a particularly rough Atlantic crossing, her propeller shaft again showed serious cracks and she was taken out of service and waited in New York for yet another new shaft to be sent over and installed. It was the November 1 before she set sail for home again, 1902 had been a very bad year for the ship.

More bad luck

1903 did not start to well for the ''Etruria'' either. On the February 28 she was leaving New York and ran aground on sand and mud in the entrance to Gedney Channel. Fortunately, after she was refloated later the same day there was no damage found and she set of on her voyage to Liverpool.
Later in the year, on the October 10, the ''Etruria'' was only four hours out of New York when at 2:30pm the ship was struck by a freak wave. The wave was reported to be at least 50 feet high, and stuck the ship on the port side. The wave carried away part of the fore bridge and smashed the guardrail stanchions. A number of First Class passengers were sitting in deck chairs close to the bridge, and they caught the full force of the water. One passenger, a Canadian, was fatally injured, and several other passengers were hurt, but luckily there were no more fatalities.
Once again an accident aboard ''Etruria'' resulted in death in January of 1907. Two of ''Etruria's'' sailors were trying to secure the lashings of the starboard anchor in a very rough weather, during a westbound crossing. Unfortunately both men were killed.

The end of ''Etruria's'' Career

The two 23 year old sisters were now getting to the point where technical progress had well and truly overtaken them. The RMS ''Lusitania'' and ''Mauretania'' were off the drawing board, were slowly taking shape, and were due to enter service in late 1907.
On Wednesday the August 26, 1908, RMS ''Etruria'' was moving astern from her pier in Liverpool to anchor opposite the Princes' Landing Stage, where her passengers would embark. Unfortunately a hopper crossing the Mersey came too close to the ''Etruria'' and was violently rammed by her. ''Etruria's'' rudder and propeller were thrust deep into the hopper, almost severing it in two. However, being impaled on the ''Etruria's'' propeller prevented the hopper from sinking. Both vessels drifted helplessly in the Mersey, and the hopper was violently crushed against the landing stage. This not only spelt the end for the hopper but finished the career of the ''Etruria'' as well. Her propeller, rudder and steering gear was seriously damaged, and it put paid to any idea of her sailing to New York. ''Etruria's'' passengers were put up in hotels and then caught the ''Umbria'' later in the Week. As for the ''Etruria'', she was taken into dock where temporary repairs were made.
She would not cross the Atlantic again, and after spending time laid up at Birkenhead, she was finally sold for scrap for the sum of £16,750 in October 1909. On the October 10, 1910, the Mersey tug ''Black Cock'' took the ''Etruria'' in tow to her final destination of Preston, Lancashire, were she was broken up.

Prices of passage aboard RMS ''Etruria'', May 1895
From Pier 40, North River, foot of Clarkson Street, City of New York
Every Saturday, New York-Queenstown-Liverpool
1st Class	1st Class	1st Class	1st Class Return	1st Class Return	1st Class Return	2nd Class Cabin	2nd Class Cabin	2nd Class Cabin Return	2nd Class Cabin Return	Under 1 Year old
$75	$90	$175	$125	$150	$315	$40	$45	$75	$85	Free outward

The Blue Riband

Records of RMS ''Umbria'' & RMS ''Etruria''
The Blue Riband of the North Atlantic
Westbound
Steamer	Date	Line	From	To	Nautical Miles	Days/Hours/Minutes	Knots
''RMS Etruria''	1885 (16/8- 22/8)	Cunard	Queenstown	Sandy Hook	2801	6/5/31	18.73
''RMS Umbria''	1887 (29/5-4/6)	Cunard	Queenstown	Sandy Hook	2848	6/4/12	19.22
''RMS Etruria''	1888 (27/5-2/6)	Cunard	Queenstown	Sandy Hook	2854	6/1/55	19.56
Eastbound
Steamer	Date	Line	From	To	Nautical Miles	Days/Hours/Minutes	Knots
''Etruria''	1885 (1/8-7/8)	Cunard	Sandy Hook	Queenstown	2822	6/9/0	18.44
''Etruria''	1888 (7/7-14/7)	Cunard	Sandy Hook	Queenstown	2981	6/4/50	19.36

External links

★ Cunard Heritage site

★ MaritimeQuest RMS Etruria Photo Gallery