Amazing opportunity to own an EXTREMELY RARE piece of both maritime and military history! This embroidered handkerchief was from onboard the RMS California. Few ocean liners have such rich history as she does.

RMS California was built in 1907 by D&W Henderson and Company of Glasgow Scotland as a replacement for the aged “Astoria”. She boasted the most modern amenities at the time, including electric lighting and was one of the first to do so. This alone makes her an important part of seafaring history, however her career is what really makes her stand apart.

California was one of the many steamers that travelled the North Atlantic from Southampton to New York. She did so uneventfully for several years until 1914. In a dense fog she ran aground off of Tory Island with 1000 passengers onboard. The hull was punctured in two places and she took on water, but remained afloat. The passengers were ferried to shore by other vessels and the California was towed back to Glasgow for repairs.

Less than 2 months later, she was returned to service. Almost a year later, the battle for the Atlantic was in full swing and many ships were being sunk by u boats regardless of class because many were laden with munitions from the US for the front in Europe. The California was docked at Pier 64 in New York Harbor on May 13, 1916 and being loaded with munitions and baggage for her return trip to Scotland.

In the early evening hours, a fire broke out in the cargo hold posing a very real threat of destroying much of the harbor with an explosion of the munitions. Fortunately, it was detected quite quickly and due to the quick response of a fireboat, the flames were quickly extinguished and the ship suffered minimal damage. She sailed back to Europe as scheduled.

Her final voyage did what she is remembered most for. It began with her crossing to NY on 1/12/17 and she set sail for home on 1/29/17 with 184 crew and 31 passengers. Once near the European coast, on February 3rd she received news that u boats were active in the area and had just sunk the Housatonic. (This lead to the US severing diplomatic relations with Germany).

Several days later, on 2/17/17 SM U-85, the same sub which sank the Housatonic spotted the California just 30 miles from the coast and cutting through the water at full speed. The Germans fired two torpedos, once of which struck the liner near the #4 hatch and killing 5 instantly. The ship was abandoned hastily, still going full steam and another 36 people drowned in the process. She went down in just under 9 minutes!

Captain John L Henderson remained on the bridge and went down with his ship. The survivors watched in horror as she continued at full steam and in flames as she plunged ahead and under the water. The Captain miraculously escaped once she had foundered and made it to the surface and was later rescued.

Just a few weeks later, the German u boat who had attacked her spotted what they believed to be an unarmed merchant ship. This time however it was a British Q ship in disguise. The crew feigned abandoning ship and when the sub surfaced, they exposed their guns and fired on her at point blank range. The entire German crew perished.

The histories of the world wars are full of stories like these, however few have ever seen so many incidents in their time. Given this AMAZING history and her sad demise, this handkerchief from RMS California is one of very few remaining witnesses to the life of this fascinating liner. Don’t miss this truly once in a lifetime opportunity to own such an incredible piece of maritime history!!!

Please feel free to message me with any questions and I will do my best to respond as soon as possible. Item will be shipped and insured via USPS Priority Mail at no cost to the buyer. Any alternative shipping method will be covered by the buyer. I pride myself in always doing the best I can to work with my customers and I assure satisfaction!