The RMS Franconia was an ocean liner operated by the Cunard Line. She was launched on 23 July 1910 at the Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson shipyard in Newcastle upon Tyne. After several years service primarily in the North Atlantic, she was taken into service as a troop transport in early 1915. On 4 October 1916, while heading for Salonika, she was torpedoed and sunk by the German U-boat UB-47 195 miles east of Malta. She had no troops onboard but 12 of the 314 crew were lost.