Launched in 1954 as Saxonia and renamed Carmania in 1963, this was
the second Cunarder to bear each of these names. Built by John Brown
& Co., Saxonia made her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Québec and
Montréal on 2 September 1954. In 1957, she moved to the
Southampton-Canada route, and started to be used for cruising.
Saxonia was extensively refitted for this purpose in the winter of
1962-63 and painted green, like other Cunarders used for cruising. It
was during this refitting that she was renamed Carmania.
From 1963 to 1967, Carmania plied a Rotterdam-Southampton-Canada route
and sailed on winter cruises in the Caribbean and on the Mediterranean.
Laid up in 1971 due to a staffing dispute between Cunard and the
National Union of Seamen, Carmania was sold to Sovtorflot in 1973 and
renamed Leonid Sobinov.
Sources: Haws' Merchant Fleets; Bonsor's North Atlantic Seaway.
