RMS Corfu

For other uses, see Corfu (disambiguation).

SS Corfu in June 1932
History
Name	RMS Corfu SS Corfu SS Corfu Maru
Owner	P&O 1931-1961
Port of registry	London
Route	London, Bombay, China
Ordered	25 June 1930
Builder	Alexander Stephen and Sons, Glasgow, Scotland
Yard number	534
Laid down	9 September 1930
Launched	20 May 1931
Maiden voyage	16 October 1931
Fate	Scrapped 17 October 1961 by Miyachi Salvage Co Ltd, at Osaka, Japan.
General characteristics
Tonnage	14,293 (GRT)
Length	543ft
Beam	71ft 5in
Draught	29ft 9in
Installed power	Six steam boilers, two turbines
Propulsion	Twin propellers
Speed	18 knots
Capacity	177 First Class 214 Second Class
Notes	Originally proposed name Chefoo

RMS Corfu was a Royal Mail Ship and ocean liner operated by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. Known as one of the 'Far East Sisters', she was launched in 1931 to serve the company's India and Far East Mail Service, along with her sister ship, the RMS Carthage. Both ships were built by Alexander Stephen & Sons Ltd in Glasgow, Scotland and served from 1931 until 1961 when they were scrapped in Japan.

World War II

HMS Corfu at Greenock after a refit, May 1943. Note the wartime camouflage paint, and her second funnel has been removed

In September 1939 Corfu was requisitioned by the British Admiralty and armed with eight 6-inch guns as part of her conversion to an armed merchant cruiser. She served as in this role as HMS Corfu until February 1944, and as a troop transport from then until the end of World War II. On 10 July 1940 she collided with HMS Hermes in the Atlantic Ocean and was damaged and abandoned. She was reboarded later in the day and subsequently taken in tow by HMS Milford and the Dutch tug Donau and reached Freetown, Sierra Leone on 13 July. She was beached on 19 August for repairs to her bow and re-entered service in early 1941. On 7 October 1945 Corfu docked at Southampton carrying the first 1,500 British prisoners of war to return from Japanese camps in the Far East. In 1947 she was returned to her owners. She operated from Tilbury to Sydney as P&O Corfu in the 1950s

Bibliography

• Smith, Andrew (1983). "Question 22/79". Warship International. XX (4): 428–429. ISSN 0043-0374.