RMS CARPATIA

239

RMS Carpathia was a Cunard Line transatlantic passenger steamship built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson in their shipyard in Wallsend, England.The Carpathia made her maiden voyage in 1903 from Liverpool to Boston and continued on this route before being transferred to Mediterranean service in 1904. In April 1912, she became famous for rescuing survivors of the rival White Star Line's RMS Titanic after it struck an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean. The Carpathia navigated the ice fields to arrive two hours after the Titanic had sunk, and was referred to by some fans as Titanic's Hero after the crew rescued 705 survivors from the ship's lifeboats. The Carpathia was sunk during World War I on 17 July 1918 after being torpedoed three times by the German submarine U-55 off the southern Irish coast, with a loss of five crew members. The name of the ship comes from the mountain range of the Carpathians in Central Europe.[2]

Captain Arthur

56

Sir Arthur Henry Rostron, KBE, RD (14 May 1869 – 4 November 1940) was a British merchant seaman and a seagoing officer for the Cunard Line.[1] He is best known as the captain of the ocean liner RMS Carpathia, when it rescued the survivors from the RMS Titanic after the ship sank in 1912 in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean.[1]Rostron won wide praise for his energetic efforts to reach the Titanic before she sank, and his efficient preparations for and conduct of the rescue of the survivors. He was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal by the United States Congress, and in 1926, he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He rose to become the Commodore of the Cunard fleet and retired in 1931.[2]