HMS Mantua was a 20th-century ocean liner and armed merchant cruiser. Launched in 1909 as a passenger ship, Mantua was outfitted as an armed merchant cruiser in 1914 and served with the Royal Navy during World War I.[1] On a voyage to Freetown in 1918, the passengers and crew of Mantua inadvertently spread the 1918 flu pandemic to Africa.[2]
History
Mantua was launched as a commercial merchant liner in 1909 for P&O[3] as part of the ten ship M-class.[4] In her civilian career, the ship was used to transport passengers and mail to India and China. Following the outbreak of the First World War, Mantua was commissioned into the Royal Navy in August 1914 as HMS Mantua. She was attached to the 10th Cruiser Squadron