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RMS ''Rhone'' was a UK Royal Mail Ship owned by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company (RMSP). She was wrecked off the coast of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands on 29 October 1867 in a hurricane, killing 123 people. She is now a popular Caribbean wreck dive site. ==History== RMSP ships carried mail, passengers, horses, and cargo on regular scheduled routes. Its first services had been between Southampton and the Caribbean, but in 1851 it added a new route between Southampton and Rio de Janeiro. This growing trade, and a number of ships lost at sea, created a need for new ships. In June 1863 RMSP ordered ''Rhone'' from the Millwall Iron Works on the Isle of Dogs, London and her sister ship from Caird & Company in Greenock. The pair was initially to work the Rio de Janeiro route. They were similar but not identical. Both were handsome ships, but ''Rhone'' was considered to have slightly finer lines. At this time the Admiralty supervised Royal Mail Ship contracts. During building the Admiralty surveyor criticised ''Rhone''s bulkheads and water tight compartments. Revisions were made, and the ship was completed to the surveyor's satisfaction. ''Rhone'' had an iron hull, was long, had a beam and . She was a sail-steamer, rigged as a two-masted brig. Her compound steam engine developed 500 NHP and gave her a speed of on her sea trials. In her contract the ship cost £25 17s 8d ''per'' ton and her engine cost £24,500. ''Rhone'' was an innovative ship. She had a bronze propeller, which was only the second ever made of this alloy. She had also a surface condenser in order to save and re-use water in her boilers and steam engine. She was the first ship so equipped to visit Brazil, so in port in 1865 the Emperor of Brazil, Pedro II, came aboard and visited her engine room to see it. ''Rhone''s passenger capacity was 253 first class, 30 second class and 30 third class. On 9 October 1865 she left Southampton on her maiden voyage to Brazil. At first she suffered from overheated bearings, but once this was resolved she became a fast and reliable ship. Her next five voyages were also to Brazil. ''Rhone'' proved her worth by weathering several severe storms. One storm in 1866 destroyed her the cutter and two lifeboats on her port side, damaged the cutter and the mail boat on her starboard side, damaged much of her deck furniture, killed two horses and broke one sailor's leg. In January 1867 ''Rhone'' made her final voyage to Brazil, after which RMSP transferred her to the Caribbean route, which at the time was more lucrative and prestigious. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「RMS Rhone」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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