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Royal Mail Ship (sometimes Steam-ship or Steamer) is usually seen in its abbreviated form RMS, a designation which dates back to 1840.〔The first citation in ''The Times'' is from 18 August 1840〕 It is the ship prefix used for seagoing vessels that carry mail under contract to the British Royal Mail. Any vessel designated as "RMS" has the right both to fly the pennant of the Royal Mail when sailing and to include the Royal Mail "crown" logo with any identifying device and/or design for the ship.〔Royal Mails employees Courier newspaper page 20 August 2007〕〔(QM2 )〕〔(United Kingdom - Royal Mail )〕 It was used by many shipping lines, but is often associated in particular with the White Star Line, Cunard Line,〔〔Maxtone-Graham, John ''et al.'' (2004). ( ''Queen Mary 2,'' p. 184. )〕 Royal Mail Lines and Union-Castle Line, which held a number of high-profile mail contracts, and traditionally prefixed the names of many of their ships with the initials "RMS". While some lines in the past, particularly the Royal Mail Lines, called all their ships "RMS", technically a ship would use the prefix only while contracted to carry mail, and would revert at other times to a standard designation such as "SS".〔By Wireless from R.M.S. ''Empress of Australia.'' ( "Royal Gifts Gladden 172 On Lonely Atlantic Island" (Tristan da Cunya)," ) ''New York Times.'' 24 March 1935; Robinson, Samuel. (1924). (''Official report of Capt. S. Robinson, R.N.R.,: Commander of the Canadian Pacific S.S. "Empress of Australia", on the Japanese earthquake, the fire and subsequent relief operations.'' )〕 ==History== Originally the Admiralty operated these ships.〔The Admiralty took over the Packet Service from the General Post Office in 1823.〕 The designation "RMS" has been used since 1840.〔The first citation in the ''Times'' is from 18 August 1840〕 In 1850 contracts were awarded to private companies. Having the title "RMS" was seen as a mark of quality and a competitive advantage, because the mail had to be on time. The most valuable route, with the highest volume, was between Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire), in Ireland, and Holyhead in Wales. The City of Dublin Steam Packet Company (CDSPCo) won the contract. They bought RMS ''St Columa'' and RMS ''Llwywllyn'' from the Admiralty to supplement their ''Prince Arthur''. In the CDSPCo contract, in 1860, there was a penalty clause of £1 1s 4d for every minute's delay. The Canadian Pacific Railway's trans-Pacific Royal Mail contract required the building of the first three of a fleet of steamships: the , and which regularly sailed between Vancouver and Asia beginning in 1891.〔Kennedy, John. (1903). ( ''The History of Steam Navigation,'' pp. 147- ) 151.〕 The RMS designation was also used on the ships White Star Line, P&O and the Cunard lines of the 19th and 20th century. 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「Royal Mail Ship」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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