Franconia

Franconia was launched on 21 October 1922 at John Brown's shipyard in Clydebank, Glasgow. She was the second Cunard vessel to bear this name; a German U-boat off Malta sank her namesake in 1916. At 20,341 tons and 623 feet long, she had a crew of 414 and was powered by geared steam turbine engines which drove twin screws.

She had one funnel and two masts. Her accommodation was for 221 first-class passengers, 356 second-class and 1266 third-class. She made her maiden voyage on 23rd June 1923, sailing from Liverpool to New York. For the next ten years she sailed this route during the summer months and spent the winter cruising from New York to the Caribbean.

In 1933 she was painted white for a world cruise, after which she sailed from London-Southampton to New York, returning to Liverpool in 1935. She made one more world cruise in 1938, before being refitted as a troopship as the storm clouds gathered over Europe. During World War II, she took part in the evacuations of Norway & France and the invasion of Sicily.

She carried almost 150,000 troops and escaped unharmed when attacked by German bombers off Brittany in June 1940. She served as the headquarters ship for the Allied Conference at Yalta in the Crimea for negotiations between Stalin, Churchill & Roosevelt in February 1945.

Between 1945 and 1948, the Franconia was used to return Canadian servicemen and their families from Europe and was finally released from Government service and underwent an overhaul and refit, revising her accommodation to 253 first-class and 6oo tourist-class passengers, making her first sailing in June 1949 from Liverpool to Quebec. She also resumed her winter cruising and spent the summer of 1956 cruising out of New York. She made her final transatlantic voyage from Liverpool-New York-Liverpool after which she was sold off and was broken up at Inverkeithing in December 1956.

Information supplied with thanks, by C. Wallace in 2003.