HMS Mantua

HMS Mantua was a 20th-century ocean liner and armed merchant cruiser. Launched in 1909 as a passenger ship, Mantua was outfitted as an armed merchant cruiser in 1914 and served with the Royal Navy during World War I.[1] On a voyage to Freetown in 1918, the passengers and crew of Mantua inadvertently spread the 1918 flu pandemic to Africa.[2][3][4]

HMS Mantua under way
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameMantua
OwnerPeninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company
BuilderCaird & Company
Yard number316
Launched10 February 1909
Completed15 April 1909
In service1914
Out of service1920
Refit1914
FateScrapped in 1935
General characteristics
TypeArmed merchant cruiser
Tonnage10,885 grt
Length540 feet (165 metres)
Beam61.3 feet
Depth24.6 feet
Propulsion2 x 4 cylinder screws 2 sails
Speed18 knots (33 km/h)
Crew364
Armament8 x 4.7 inch (120 mm) guns 2x 6 pounder (57 mm) guns

History

Mantua was launched as a commercial merchant liner in 1909 for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O)[5] as part of the ten ship M-class.[6] In her civilian career, the ship was used to transport passengers and mail to India and China. Following the outbreak of the First World War, Mantua was commissioned into the Royal Navy in August 1914 as HMS Mantua. She was attached to the 10th Cruiser Squadron and was tasked with patrolling the waters between Britain and Iceland. In October 1916 she was transferred into the 9th Cruiser Squadron. During one of her patrols in the North Sea, the ship reportedly hit a submerged object, an occurrence that has led to some sources suspecting that Mantua caused the loss of the German merchant submarine Bremen, an event for which Mantua did not take credit.[7] In 1918 Mantua sailed to Freetown, Sierra Leone, arriving on 15 August. As some of her passengers and crew were ill with influenza, HMS Mantua is considered one of the first ships to have spread the ongoing pandemic to the African continent.[2][3]

Postwar service

While six of her classmates were lost during the war,[6] the Mantua returned to civilian service in 1920, again filling the role of a passenger ship. Mantua was scrapped in Shanghai in 1935.[8]

References
  1. "HMS Mantua, armed merchant cruiser – British warships of World War 1". www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  2. Barry, John M. (2005). The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History. Penguin. p. 182. ISBN 9780143036494.
  3. Goldsmith, Connie (1 August 2010). Influenza. Twenty-First Century Books. ISBN 9780761363767.
  4. Crosby, Alfred W. (21 July 2003). America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521541756.
  5. "Screw Steamer MANTUA built by Caird & Company in 1909 for Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company, Greenock, Passenger / Cargo". www.clydeships.co.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  6. Watson, Brian. "Introduction to the P&O 'M Class' Passenger ships". Benjidog Historical Research Resources. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  8. The National Archives. "The Discovery Service". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2018.

Bibliography
  • Osborne, Richard; Spong, Harry & Grover, Tom (2007). Armed Merchant Cruisers 1878–1945. Windsor, UK: World Warship Society. ISBN 978-0-9543310-8-5.
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