View source for RMS Moldavia

{{short description| British ship sunk in 1918 off Beachy Head, now a dive site }}
{{EngvarB|date=January 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{coord|50|23.13|N|0|28.72|W|display=title}} 
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=RMS Moldavia.jpg
|Ship caption=RMS ''Moldavia''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=[[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]
|Ship name=RMS ''Moldavia''
|Ship owner=[[Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company|P&O Steam Navigation Co]]
|Ship operator=
|Ship registry={{flagicon|United Kingdom|civil}}
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder= [[Caird & Company]], [[Greenock]], Scotland
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=301
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=28 March 1903
|Ship completed=
|Ship christened=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship maiden voyage=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship identification=
|Ship fate=Purchased by the Admiralty in 1915 and converted into an [[Armed merchantman#Armed merchant cruiser|armed merchant cruiser]].
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=[[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]
|Ship flag=
|Ship name= HMS ''Moldavia'' 
|Ship namesake=
|Ship registry=
|Ship acquired=1915
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=Torpedoed and sunk 23 May 1918
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class= P&O M-class passenger liner
|Ship tonnage= 9,500 tons
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length={{convert|520|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam={{convert|58.3|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship height=
|Ship draught={{convert|24.8|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship power=2 [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple expansion steam engines]]
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed={{convert|18.5|kn|km/h}}
|Ship capacity=*348 first class passengers
*166 saloon class passengers
|Ship crew=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''RMS ''Moldavia''''' was a British passenger steamship of the early 20th century. She served as the [[Royal Navy]] [[armed merchant cruiser]] '''HMS ''Moldavia''''' during [[World War I]] until sunk by an [[Imperial German Navy]] [[submarine]] in 1918.

==Construction==
''Moldavia'' was built by [[Caird & Company]] of [[Greenock]], Scotland for the [[Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company]]. Her yard number was 301 and she was launched on 28 March 1903. The completed ship was {{convert|520|ft|m|abbr=on}} in length, a beam of {{convert|58.3|ft|m|abbr=on}} and a draught of {{convert|24.8|ft|m|abbr=on}}. Her gross tonnage was 9,500.<ref name="shipping">{{cite web| title = SS Moldavia| publisher = Shipping Times| url = http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=15332| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040907045459/http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=15332| url-status = usurped| archive-date = 7 September 2004| access-date =20 July 2009 }}</ref> Coal bunkerage was 2,000 tons and cargo about 3,500 tons. ''Moldavia'' was built for 348 first and 166 saloon class passengers.<ref>{{cite book| last = Fletcher| first = R.A. 
| title = The Building of Steel Ships page 293| work = Steam-ships
| publisher = [[Sidgwick & Jackson]] | year = 1910| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rvQOAAAAYAAJ&q=Caird+%26+Company+-+Moldavia&pg=PA293| access-date =20 July 2009 }}</ref> She was the first of the ten ship P&O M-class.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Watson |first=Brian |title=P&O 'M Class' Passenger ships |url=https://www.benjidog.co.uk/MClass/ |access-date=28 July 2023 |website=Benjidog Historical Research Resources}}</ref>

==History==
The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company<ref name="shipping"/> operated ''Moldavia'' on the [[England]]—[[Australia]] route via the [[Suez Canal]].

The [[British Admiralty]] purchased ''Moldavia'' in 1915 for [[Royal Navy]] service during [[World War I]], when she was converted into an [[Armed merchantman#Armed merchant cruiser|armed merchant cruiser]] and fitted with 6" guns before she was commissioned as '''HMS ''Moldavia'''''.

Moldavia served  on the Northern patrol as part of the 10th Cruiser Squadron, intercepting and examining merchant vessels in the North Atlantic.

Moldavia was later serving as a [[troopship]] and was carrying U.S. troops when she was sunk on 23 May 1918 off [[Beachy Head]] in the [[English Channel]], by a single [[torpedo]] from the [[German Type UB III submarine]] {{SMU|UB-57}}.<ref name="shipping" /><ref>{{cite web| title =Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company / P&O Line| work =The Fleets| publisher =The Ships List| url =http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/pando.html| access-date =20 July 2009| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090501085401/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/pando.html| archive-date =1 May 2009| df =dmy-all}}</ref> Her sinking resulted in the deaths of 54 U.S. soldiers on board, and 1 further at Western Heights Military Hospital Dover two days later.

The vessel was added to the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986, 2017 No 147 and became a designated vessel on 3 March 2017.

==See also==
*{{annotated link|58th Infantry Regiment (United States)}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{May 1918 shipwrecks}}
{{Recreational dive sites|wresit}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moldavia}}
[[Category:1903 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1918]]
[[Category:Ships of P&O (company)]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War I passenger ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War I shipwrecks in the English Channel]]
[[Category:Wreck diving sites in England]]
[[Category:Protected wrecks of England]]