Royal Mail Ship
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Royal Mail Ship (sometimes Steam-ship, Steamer), usually seen in its abbreviated form RMS, is the ship prefix used for seagoing vessels that carry mail under contract by Royal Mail. They have the right to fly the pennant of the Royal Mail when sailing.[1][2][3]
The designation has been used since 1840.[4] It was used by a many shipping lines, but is often associated in particular with the Cunard line[5][6] and Royal Mail Lines, which held a number of high-profile mail contract business, and which traditionally prefixed the titles of all their ships with the initials "RMS". The Canadian Pacific Railway's trans-Pacific Royal Mail contract required the construction of the first three of a fleet of steamships—the RMS Empress of China, the RMS Empress of India, and the RMS Empress of Britain which regularly sailed between Vancouver and Asia beginning in 1891.[7]
While some lines, 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".[8]
Originally the Admiralty operated these ships.[9] In 1850 contracts were awarded to private companies. 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 and purchased RMS Saint Columa and RMS Llwywllyn from the Admiralty.
Having the title "RMS" was seen as a mark of quality and a competitive advantage, because the mail had to be on time. In the 1860 CDSPCo contract there was a penalty clause of £1 1s 4d for every minute's delay. The White Star Line RMS Titanic was a Royal Mail Ship.
In recent years the shift to air transport for mail has left only two ships with the right to the prefix; RMS St Helena, which serves the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic,[10] and RMS Queen Mary 2. QM2 was conferred "RMS" by Royal Mail when she entered service in 2004 on the Southampton to New York route as a gesture to Cunard's history.[11]
Royal Mail aircraft marking.The Royal Mail continues a form of this tradition on modern day airliners. The UK's flag carrier airline, British Airways is contracted to carry mail on some of its scheduled long-distance routes. Aircraft operating these routes with the facilities to carry mail are allowed to display the Royal Mail's logo and crest on their fuselage, usually alongside their registration markings.
The less common designations RMMV, for Royal Mail Motor Vessel, and RMMS, for Royal Mail Motor Ship, were used for a period when RMS was restricted to steam-ships. Motor Ship indicates that propulsion is provided by diesel rather than steam. The designation TS as in TSMV before the name of the vessel would indicate that it was driven by twin screws. The TS designation was also used for the Turbine Ship - "TS Bremen".
MV stands for MOTOR VESSEL
..
Hope informed you well
