RMS Corfu

RMS Corfu was a Royal Mail Ship and ocean liner operated by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. Known as one of the 'Far East Sisters', she was launched in 1931 to serve the company's India and Far East Mail Service, along with her sister ship, the RMS Carthage. Both ships were built by Alexander Stephen & Sons Ltd in Glasgow, Scotland and served from 1931 until 1961 when they were scrapped in Japan.[1][2]

For other uses, see Corfu (disambiguation).

SS Corfu in June 1932
History
Name
  • RMS Corfu
  • SS Corfu
  • SS Corfu Maru
OwnerP&O 1931-1961
Port of registryLondon United Kingdom
RouteLondon, Bombay, China
Ordered25 June 1930
Builder
Yard number534
Laid down9 September 1930
Launched20 May 1931
Maiden voyage16 October 1931
FateScrapped 17 October 1961 by Miyachi Salvage Co Ltd, at Osaka, Japan.
General characteristics
Tonnage14,293 (GRT)
Length543ft
Beam71ft 5in
Draught29ft 9in
Installed powerSix steam boilers, two turbines
PropulsionTwin propellers
Speed18 knots
Capacity
  • 177 First Class
  • 214 Second Class
NotesOriginally proposed name Chefoo

World War II
HMS Corfu at Greenock after a refit, May 1943. Note the wartime camouflage paint, and her second funnel has been removed

In September 1939 Corfu was requisitioned by the British Admiralty and armed with eight 6-inch guns as part of her conversion to an armed merchant cruiser. She served as in this role as HMS Corfu until February 1944, and as a troop transport from then until the end of World War II. On 10 July 1940 she collided with HMS Hermes in the Atlantic Ocean and was damaged and abandoned. She was reboarded later in the day and subsequently taken in tow by HMS Milford and the Dutch tug Donau and reached Freetown, Sierra Leone on 13 July. She was beached on 19 August for repairs to her bow and re-entered service in early 1941.[3] On 7 October 1945 Corfu docked at Southampton carrying the first 1,500 British prisoners of war to return from Japanese camps in the Far East. In 1947 she was returned to her owners. She operated from Tilbury to Sydney as P&O Corfu in the 1950s

References
  1. http://www.poships.co.uk/thefareastpair.html
  2. "RMS Corfu". Clydeships. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  3. "Naval Events, July 1940, Part 1 of 2, Monday 1st- Sunday 14th". Naval History. Retrieved 23 November 2011.

Bibliography
  • Smith, Andrew (1983). "Question 22/79". Warship International. XX (4): 428–429. ISSN 0043-0374.
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