CUNARD LINER ‘FRANCONIA’ OF 1923

Built by John Brown & Co.Ltd. at Clydebank in 1923.  Yard No: 492

Official Number: 147216             Signal Letters: G B R Q

Gross Tonnage: 20,341, Nett: 11,145.     Length: 601·3ft, Breadth: 73·7ft.

Owned by the Cunard Steamship Co.Ltd,  registered at Liverpool

Twin screws: 6 Brown-Curtis steam turbines, double-reduction gearing to two shafts. Speed: 16 knots

            The five ships of the Scythia class were the largest vessels ordered under the Cunard Line’s immense building programme after the First World War. The first three, the Scythia, Samaria and Laconia, built between 1920 and 1921, were for the company’s Liverpool to New York service, but the later pair, the Franconia of 1923 and the Carinthia of 1925, were intended for the trans-Atlantic service in summer, but they were specially adapted to go cruising in the winter months. On this account the No.4 hold space was not used for cargo but was enlarged and fitted as a recreation area with swimming pool, racquets court and gymnasium.

            The Franconia was designed by Mr L. Peskett, Cunard’s naval architect and she was launched on 21^st October 1922 by Lady Royden, the wife of the Cunard chairman, Sir Thomas Royden. She left Liverpool on 8^th June 1923 for a three-day ‘shakedown’ cruise and sailed on her maiden voyage to New York on 23^rd June. The new Franconia was almost continuously on the summer Liverpool – New York service and winter cruising until the outbreak of the Second World War.

            The Franconia’s first world cruise left New York on 16^th November 1922 and she passed through the Panama Canal before calling at 24 ports. In December 1926 she ran aground at San Juan, Puerto Rico, in a particularly heavy swell. A charter to the Furness Bermuda Line took place in 1931 and for five months the Franconia operated the New York / Bermuda service in place of the burnt out Bermuda.

            Initially the Franconia had accommodation for 221 in first class, 356 in second class and 1,266 in third class. Between 1930 and 1931 this was reduced and improved to 350 cabin-class, 350 tourist-class and 930 third-class. At the same time the Franconia’s hull was painted white which was seen as a great improvement.

            During 1934 the Franconia made two round voyages from London via Southampton to New York, resuming her Liverpool service and winter cruising in 1935. In 1938 she undertook a world cruise calling at 37 ports and sailing 41,727 miles, which left New York on Christmas Eve, 1937 and arrived back on 12^th June 1938 – a massive 170 days.

            On the outbreak of war in September 1939, the Franconia was immediately converted for trooping and her first duty was to take 1,300 men to Malta. Whilst she was on passage she collided with Royal Mail Lines’ Alcantara, but the damage was fairly slight. She next took 700 Polish troops to Marseille.

            In June 1940 the Franconia, escorted by HMS Vindictive, was employed in evacuating troops from Narvik, following the Norway débâcle. Later she evacuated troops from Brittany and embarked 8,000 at Quiberon Bay. The Franconia was badly damaged by near misses from bombs which severely shook her main engines and their seating. Extensive repairs were required when she got back to the U.K.

            Following the repairs to her engines in August 1940, the Franconia carried 2,935 troops from Gourock around the Cape of Good Hope to Suez, and in November took a further 2,000 to Gibraltar. She then made five voyages around the Cape to Suez or Durban, or to India during 1942. The following year the Franconia made seven round trips to North Africa and in July 1943 she took part in the Sicily operations, landing her troops in Augusta. From December 1943 to early in 1944 she was trooping from the USA to the Mediterranean, making one voyage to Taranto and one to Oran, and finally a trans-Atlantic crossing to Italy.

            On 17^th January 1945 the Franconia left Liverpool under sealed orders for the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus. She became the first British ship for four years to pass through the Strait and all personnel were instructed to wear civilian clothing to appease Turkish neutrality. The Franconia entered the Black Sea to become the floating headquarters for the British delegation at the Yalta conference between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin. The Franconia then returned to Liverpool and a further spell of trooping, principally to Bombay and Karachi.

            The Franconia was released from her war service in June 1948. Since being requisitioned almost nine years earlier, she had steamed 319,784 miles and had carried 189,239 passengers, mainly troops. The old ship was sent to John Brown’s yard at Clydebank for a nine-month refit. Her machinery was overhauled, her hull and super-structure cleaned and repainted and her accommodation was refitted so that she could carry 250 first-class passengers and 600 in tourist class.

            On 22^nd May 1949 the Franconia left the Clyde for drydocking at Liverpool and on 2^nd June sailed for Quebec on her first post-war commercial voyage. A year later, on 12^th June, the Franconia ran aground on Orleans Island, shortly after leaving Quebec for Liverpool. Her 780 passengers were transferred to the Stratheden and the Georgic at Halifax, NS. The Franconia remained aground for five weeks before she was refloated on 16^th July with the aid of six tugs and an icebreaker. She was found to be holed on her starboard side and to have sustained damage, requiring drydocking and heavy repairs. As was the case with the Scythia, the Franconia had too deep a draft to proceed from Quebec to Montreal, and her masts were too tall for her to pass under the Quebec Bridge.

            Following repairs the Franconia continued on the Canadian service, but her UK port was shifted to Southampton. On one voyage she suffered turbine trouble and repairs

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