Lancastria
1940
(Albatros ALK-123)
- Type: Passenger
- Displacement: 16,243 tons
- Dimensions: 578 x 70 x 31 ft.
- Machinery: Steam turbines, twin screws = 16.5 knots
- Passengers: 1846 (235 first class, 355 second class, 1256 third class)
- Crew: 300
- Builder: William Beardmore & Co, Limited, Glasgow, Scotland, 1922
- Service: Built as Tyrrhenia for the Anchor Line's Glasgow-New York service. Maiden voyage 15 Jun 1922 Glasgow-Quebec-Montreal. Transferred to Cunard and renamed Lancastria, 1924. London-Le Havre-Southampton-New York service. Hard hit during the 1930s, she avoided layup by running bargain cruises out of New York and British ports, sporting a white hull. Attended the Silver Jubilee fleet review for King George V off Spithead in May 1935. Requisitioned as a troopship, Sep 1939. While helping to evacuate troops and refugees from France, she was attacked by German bombers at St. Nazaire, 17 Jun 1940 and sank within 20 minutes; over 3,000 perished. The tragedy was considered so demoralizing that details were withheld by the British government until after V-E Day in 1945.
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