RMS Andes was a 26,689 GRT steam turbine Royal Mail Ship, ocean liner, cruise ship, and the flagship of the Royal Mail Lines fleet. She was the second Royal Mail ship to be named after the South American Andes mountain range. The first RMS Andes was an A-class liner launched in 1913. In 1929 that RMS Andes was converted into a cruise ship and renamed Atlantis.
The German liner Cap Arcona, launched in 1927, outperformed RMSP's Asturias and Alcantara
Asturias on a poster in about 1930
The French liner Pasteur, launched in 1938, was to have competed with Andes. Instead in 1941 the two sailed together as troop ships in convoys WS 7 and TC 11.
HMS Revenge escorted two convoys that included Andes: TC 2 from Canada to Scotland in December 1939 and WS 7 from Scotland to Sierra Leone in March and April 1941
Royal Mail Ship, usually seen in its abbreviated form RMS, is the ship prefix used for seagoing vessels that carry mail under contract to the British Royal Mail. The designation dates back to 1840. Any vessel designated as "RMS" has the right both to fly the pennant of the Royal Mail when sailing and to include the Royal Mail "crown" insignia with any identifying device and/or design for the ship.
RMS "Crown" as displayed by the Cunard liner Laconia
Royal Mail steamship routes
RMS Prince Arthur
Royal Mail aircraft-marking; on a British Airways Airbus A320-232 G-EUUI
