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Royal Mail Ship (sometimes Steam-ship or Steamer), 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.

It was used by many shipping lines, but is often associated in particular with the White Star Line, Cunard Line, Royal Mail Lines, Union-Castle Line, Canadian Pacific Line, Orient Line and the P&OSNC, which held a number of high-profile mail contracts, and traditionally prefixed the names of many of their ships with the initials "RMS".

While some lines in the past, particularly the Royal Mail Lines, called all their ships "RMS", technically a ship would use the prefix only while contracted to carry mail, and would revert at other times to a standard designation such as "SS".

History

Originally, the British Admiralty operated these ships.

The designation "RMS" has been used since 1840. In 1850 contracts were awarded to private companies. Having the title "RMS" was seen as a mark of quality and a competitive advantage, because the mail had to be on time.

The most valuable route, with the highest volume, was between Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire), in Ireland, and Holyhead in Wales. The City of Dublin Steam Packet Company (CDSPCo) won the contract. They bought RMS St Columba and RMS Llewellyn from the Admiralty to supplement their Prince Arthur. In the CDSPCo contract, in 1860, there was a penalty clause of £1 1s 4d for every minute's delay.

The Canadian Pacific Railway's trans-Pacific Royal Mail contract required the building of the first three of a fleet of steamships: the RMS Empress of China, RMS Empress of India and RMS Empress of Japan which regularly sailed between Vancouver and Asia beginning in 1891. The RMS designation was also used on the ships of the White Star, P&O and Cunard lines of the 19th and 20th centuries. The most famous liner with the RMS title was the Titanic.

Modern times

In recent years the shift to air transport for mail has left only three ships with the right to the prefix or its variations: RMS Segwun, which serves as a passenger vessel in Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada; RMV Scillonian III, which serves the Isles of Scilly; and RMS Queen Mary 2. The "RMS" prefix was granted to QM2 by Royal Mail when she entered service in 2004 on the Southampton to New York route as a gesture to Cunard's history.

The Royal Mail continues a form of this tradition on modern day airliners. The UK's flag carrier airline, British Airways, is contracted to carry mail on some of its scheduled long-distance routes. Aircraft operating these routes with the facilities to carry mail are allowed to display the Royal Mail's logo and crest on their fuselage, usually alongside their registration markings.

Other designations

The less-common designations RMMV for Royal Mail Motor Vessel and RMMS for Royal Mail Motor Ship, were used for a period when RMS was restricted to steam-ships. Motor Vessel and Motor Ship indicated that propulsion was provided by diesel rather than steam.

The RMV Scillonian III carries the designation RMV for Royal Mail Vessel and is the only active RMV.

List of current Royal Mail Ships

List of past Royal Mail Ships

Service dates are the years with the status of Royal Mail Ship. Those highlighted are still in service with the status of Royal Mail Ship.

See also

• Union-Castle Line
• Mail steamer
• Steamboat

Notes

1. The first citation in The Times is from 18 August 1840.
2. ^ Royal Mails employees Courier newspaper page 20 August 2007
3. QM2 Archived 13 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
4. "United Kingdom – Royal Mail". Flags of The World. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
5. Maxtone-Graham, John et al. (2004). Queen Mary 2, p. 184.
6. ^ By Wireless from R.M.S. Empress of Australia. "Royal Gifts Gladden 172 On Lonely Atlantic Island" (Tristan da Cunya)," The New York Times. 24 March 1935; Robinson, Samuel. (1924).
7. Official report of Capt. S. Robinson, R.N.R.,: Commander of the Canadian Pacific S.S. "Empress of Australia", on the Japanese earthquake, the fire and subsequent relief operations.
8. The Admiralty took over the Packet Service from the General Post Office in 1823.
9. The first citation in The Times is from 18 August 1840.
10. Kennedy, John. (1903). The History of Steam Navigation, pp. 147–151.
11. "Royal Mail employee's Courier newspaper". Royal Mail. August 2007.
12. ^ "Empress of Asia Sunk Last 4 Feb.; Canadian Pacific Liner Hit by Five Bombs in Flight From Singapore MOST OF TROOPS ESCAPED 16,909-Ton Ship Abandoned After Four-Day Fires Had Ruined Her Interior," The New York Times. 20 May 1942.
13. 40-year-old Ship Makes Last Trip; Empress of Australia, Luxury Liner and Troop Carrier, on Way to Scrap Heap," The New York Times. 1 May 1952.
14. "British Announce Empress Ship Loss; Admiralty Fixes Death Toll at 45 Out of 643 Aboard Canadian Pacific Liner TORPEDOES FINISH JOB U-Boat Overtakes Burning Ship in Tow and Completes Task Started by Bomber Ship Attacked Three Times Women and Children Calm," The New York Times. 29 October 1940.
15. "Transport News and Notes; Empress of France Will Be Retired," New York Times 27 November 1960.
16. ^ Kennedy, p. 150.
17. "Lady Eden to Launch Ship," New York Times 5 May 1956.
18. ^ "Pacific Air Routes Replace Ship Line; Canadian Company Abandons Pre-War Service of Fleet, Maps Overseas Flights," The New York Times. 10 April 1949.
19. "MV Antrim Princess (1967)". tynebuiltships.co.uk. Retrieved 29 April 2017.

References

• Kennedy, John. (1903). The History of Steam Navigation. Liverpool: C. Birchall, 1903. OCLC 3553860

External links

• RMS Caronia "Green Goddess" Time-Line
• Titanic Archive Archived 9 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine

• Packet trade
• Postal infrastructure
• Postal vehicles
• Ship types
• Ship prefixes