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Franconia and her sister ship Laconia were
built for Cunard to replace the aging Saxonia and
Ivernia on the Liverpool - Boston run. They were
also intended to provide cover for Lusitania and
Mauretania on the Liverpool - New York run.
Franconia’s maiden voyage from Liverpool -
Queenstown and New York began February 25th 1911. In March
of that year, she embarked on a Mediterranean cruise
calling at Gibraltar, Algiers, Naples and Alexandria. The
success of that venture led to Cunard operating her on one
such cruise each year. By 1915, the British Admiralty had
requisitioned Franconia to transport troops to the
Dardanelle's campaign in the Mediterranean. The following
conversion to a troopship gave her the capacity to carry
over 2,700 servicemen.
Franconia served as a troopship for nearly two
years without incident. On October 4th 1916,
Franconia’s luck changed when one torpedo
fired from the German submarine UB-47 slammed into her
side. The extensive damage caused by the explosion gave her
crew no time to try and save their ship. Fortunately,
Franconia was not carrying any troops at the time
and most of the crew had abandoned ship before she went
down. As she sank in the Mediterranean approximately 195
miles east of Malta, 12 of her crew were lost and 302
rescued. Her sister ship Laconia departed New York
February 17th 1917 bound for England carrying 73
passengers, 216 crew, food, cotton and war supplies. Eight
days later, the German submarine U-50 succeeded in hitting
her with two torpedoes as she approached the coast of
Ireland. Laconia sank soon after with the loss of 13
lives.
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