Built in 1907 for the Cunard Company by Messrs. John Brown & Co., of Clyde Bank, she had been constructed under Admiralty Survey, and in accordance with Admiralty requirements, and was classed 100 A1. at Lloyds. Built throughout of steel, she had a cellular double bottom, with a floor at every frame, the depth of this on the centre line being 60 inches, and 72 inches where it supported the turbine machinery. This double bottom extended up the ship’s side to a height of eight feet above the keel. All her decks were steel plated throughout, and the transverse strength of the ship was largely dependent on the 12 transverse water-tight bulkheads which had been purposely strengthened and stiffened to enable her to stand the necessary pressure in the event of accident. Inside her hull was a second “skin,” running the whole length of her vital parts, so that she was virtually a ship within a ship. Her length all over was 785 feet. She was 88 feet in breadth, and nearly 60 feet in depth, with a gross tonnage of over 30,000 tons, and a load draft of 36 feet. Including the hold she had nine decks, with accommodation for 523 first class, 295 second class, and 1,300 third class passengers, together with a crew of about 800. She had turbine engines of 63,220 horse power, four for ahead and two for astern motion, and her speed in 1914 was from 24½ to 25 knots. Her four great funnels rose to a height of 154 feet above the keel, and the diameter of each being not less than 24 feet. Her masts were 210 feet high, while the navigating bridge stood 110 feet above the keel. At a moderate estimate, the cost of running her to New York and back, including wages, victualling and fuel, was in 1914 about £30,000, and she was operated, under the terms of the agreement with the Admiralty, by a crew of which at least three-quarters had to be British subjects. She was provided with boat accommodation for 2,605 persons, the number of persons on board during her last voyage being 1,959. She carried 48 lifeboats, 22 of which were ordinary boats hanging from davits, with a total carrying capacity of 1,323. The remaining 26 were collapsible boats, with a total carrying capacity of 1,282. In addition, the ship was provided with 2,325 life jackets and 35 lifebuoys, all of these being conveniently distributed on board. [Illustration: THE “ALAUNIA” AS AN EMERGENCY HOSPITAL SHIP]