RMS Laconia was a Cunard ocean liner, built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson as a successor of the 1911–1917 Laconia. The new ship was launched on 9 April 1921, and made her maiden voyage on 25 May 1922 from Southampton to New York City. At the outbreak of the Second World War she was converted into an armed merchant cruiser, and later a troopship. She was sunk in the South Atlantic Ocean on 12 September 1942 by torpedoes. Like her predecessor, sunk during the First World War, this Laconia was also destroyed by a German submarine. Some estimates of the death toll have suggested that over 1,658 people were killed when the Laconia sank. The U-boat commander Werner Hartenstein then staged a dramatic effort to rescue the passengers and the crew of Laconia, which involved additional German U-boats and became known as the Laconia incident.
RMS Laconia
Crest of RMS Laconia with Royal Mail "crown" logo
1930 cruise schedule
An early postcard depicting the lounge, the garden lounge, the dining salon, and the smoking room on the Laconia
Cunard Line is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been registered in Hamilton, Bermuda.
Sir Samuel Cunard, 1st Bt
Britannia of 1840 (1150 GRT), the first Cunard liner built for the transatlantic service
Europa of 1848 (1850 GRT). This is one of the earliest known photos of an Atlantic steamship.
Cunard Line, from New York to Liverpool, from 1875