RMS Caronia (1947)

RMS Caronia c. 1956, in the Trondheim Fjord
History
Name	1948–1968: Caronia 1968: Columbia 1968–74: Caribia
Port of registry	1948–1968: Liverpool 1968–1974: Panama
Ordered	1946
Builder	John Brown & Company, Clydebank
Yard number	635
Laid down	13 February 1946
Launched	30 October 1947 by The Princess Elizabeth (Later Queen Elizabeth II)
Completed	December 1948
Maiden voyage	4 January 1949
Out of service	27 November 1967
Identification	UK official number 182453 1948–1968: call sign GYKS
Fate	Wrecked in Apra Harbour, Guam, 1974. Subsequently scrapped.
General characteristics
Tonnage	As built, 34,183 GRT 1956, 34,172 GRT 1965, 34,274 GRT 1968, 25,794 GRT (Panamanian rules)
Length	217.90 m (714.90 ft)
Beam	27.80 m (91.21 ft)
Draught	9.66 m (31.69 ft)
Installed power	35,000 shp
Propulsion	Geared turbines, H.P. double reduction, I.P. and L.P. single reduction, twin propellers
Speed	22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)
Capacity	932 passengers (581 first class, 351 tourist class)

RMS Caronia was a 34,183 gross register tons (GRT) passenger ship of the Cunard Line (then Cunard White Star Line). Launched on 30 October 1947, she served with Cunard until 1967. She was nicknamed the "Green Goddess" ^[1] after her light green hull livery. She was one of the first "dual-purpose" ships, built both for 2-class transatlantic crossings and all 1st-class cruising. After leaving Cunard she was briefly Caribia in 1969, after which she was laid up in New York until 1974, when she was sold for scrap. While being towed to Taiwan for scrapping, she was caught in a storm on 12 August. After her tow lines were cut, she repeatedly crashed on the rocky breakwater outside Apra Harbor, Guam and broke into three sections.