Troopship - History

History

Ships to transport troops were already used in Antiquity. Thus Ancient Rome used the navis lusoria, a small vessel powered by rowers and sail, to move soldiers on the Rhine and Danube.

The modern troopship has as long a history as passenger ships do, as most maritime nations enlisted their support in military operations (either by leasing the vessels or by impressing them into service) when their normal naval forces were deemed insufficient for the task. In the 19th century, navies frequently chartered civilian ocean liners, and from the start of the 20th century painted them gray and armed them; their speed, originally intended to minimize travel time, would prove valuable for outrunning submarines and enemy surface cruisers. HMT Olympic even managed to turn the tables, and rammed and sank a U-boat during one of its wartime crossings. Smaller or older liners with poorer performance were protected by operating in convoys. Olympic's sister ship RMS Titanic would have also been a troopship, had it never struck the iceberg which caused it to sink.

Most major naval powers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries provided subsidies toward ensuring that they would have troopships available during times of war. The British government provided subsidies to both Cunard and the White Star Line toward the construction of liners RMS Mauretania, RMS Aquitania, RMS Olympic, RMS Britannic. When the vulnerability of these ships to return fire was realized most were used instead as troopship or hospital ships.

The RMS Queen Mary and the RMS Queen Elizabeth were two of the most famous converted liners of World War II. When they were fully converted, each of them could carry well over 10,000 troops per trip.