This was posted on the LinersList by John Emery, Cedar Hill, Texas. The chat is usually about modern cruise ships but I thought you might like to read some details of a liner from 'our' era. (with John's agreement) For those who are more interested in the passenger ships of the past. Some ships are happy ships throughout their careers; others have no end of difficulties, and are very unhappy. One of the latter was the Cunard Line steamer Ultonia. On November 12, 1898, the new Cunard steamer Ultonia arrived in Boston on her maiden voyage. Primarily designed for cattle and cargo, the Ultonia could also carry considerable numbers of passengers. She was 513 feet long with a 57 foot beam, and she had twin screws, registering 10,402 tons. In June, 1905, the Ultonia faced her first major mutiny on a voyage between New York and Fiume. The firemen balked at being switched from a four hour watch to a six hour watch and struck. Faced with this situation, her Captain ordered some of his Austrian crewmen to replace the striking firemen. Having none of it, the Austrians attempted to beat up the British officers. Resorting to their pistols, the officers and put the Austrians in irons, and ordered the rest of the crew into the engine rooms at gun point, there to act as firemen and stokers. In 1911, the Chief Officer of the Ultonia and the Second Officer of the Austrian ship Laura participated in a wireless chess match that lasted two hours. Even though the two ships never sighted each other, the match continued. The Ultonia´s Chief Officer won. In a scene eerily reminiscent of the recently lamented Titanic, the Ultonia under the command of Captain Prothero struck ice on her first trip of the 1912 season, from Southampton to Montreal. She struggled into Halifax having lost one screw in the prevailing "phenomenal ice conditions," which existed that year. Her 1,200 passengers disembarked at Halifax for transit to their ultimate destinations in Canada and the US. She had departed Southampton on April 28, and arrived at Halifax May 6. She departed Halifax for Montreal on May 8. In 1915, the Ultonia had a tie-in with the loss of the Lusitania. Her commander, Captain Malin, became ill, and the only available master was Captain W. T. Turner, late of the Lusitania. At this time, the Ultonia was still fully a Cunard ship, not being chartered to the Admiralty. By this time, though, the Ultonia had become something of a joke in shipping circles, being described as "...the slowest vessel in the Cunard service in the Atlantic trade, and has the record (sic) of taking twenty-three days from Gibralter to New York." Embarrasingly, the Ultonia closed out 1915 stuck in the mud at St Nazaire. Four tugs released her from her position of shame. 1916 saw the Ultonia a victim of yet another mutiny among her crew. This unhappy ship had a mixed crew of Spaniards, Bengalese, West Indians, Maltese, Irish, and Americans. In this instance, the Spanish firemen decided after the ship had sailed from Erie Basin to Boston, but before leaving New York Harbor, that it was time for them to be paid off. Captain Turner, still in command (what a demotion after commanding the Lusitania), anchored in the vicinity of Liberty Island and summoned assistance. The New York police refused to do anything about what Turner described as a "mutiny," but he sent his purser ashore to the British consulate to get replacements for the Spanish being put ashore. Most of the replacement crew, mostly Arabs and West Indians, were from the recently sunk Industry, so the crewmen were pleased to be at sea again so soon. No doubt, Turner was pleased to see the backs of the troublesome Spanish, who had also caused trouble recently in St Nazaire in knife fights with locals, which resulted in 12 of the Spanish crewmen in durance vile, and three in the hospital. On June 27, 1917, the unhappy life of the Ultonia was brought to an end by a German submarine 190 miles Southwest of Fastnet. Lightly armed for defensive purposes, her armament was of no use against the torpedo that gave no notice of its approach. One man was killed. A sea change from late 20th-early 21st Centuries.