Editing Troopship (section)

==History==
Ships to transport troops were used in antiquity. [[Ancient Rome]] used the [[navis lusoria]], a small vessel powered by rowers and sail, to move soldiers on the Rhine and Danube.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www2.rgzm.de/navis/Musea/Mainz/NavismusEngl.htm |author=Pferdehirt B |title= The Museum of Ancient Shipping |access-date=August 3, 2010}}</ref>

[[File:RMS Queen Mary 20Jun1945 NewYork.jpeg|thumb|Nicknamed the "Grey Ghost", {{RMS|Queen Mary}} holds the all-time record for most troops on one passage, 15,740 on a late July 1943 run from the U.S. to Europe.<ref name=ww2>{{Cite web|url=http://ww2troopships.com/ships/q/queenmary/default.htm|title=Queen Mary – Ship History and Specifications}}</ref>]] 
The modern troopship has as long a history as [[passenger ship]]s 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 liner]]s, and from the start of the 20th century painted them gray and added a degree of armament; their speed, originally intended to minimize passage time for civilian user, proved valuable for outrunning [[submarine]]s and enemy [[cruiser]]s in war. {{HMT|Olympic}} even rammed and sank a [[U-boat]] during one of its wartime crossings. Individual liners capable of exceptionally high speed transited without escorts; smaller or older liners with poorer performance were protected by operating in [[convoy]]s.

Most major naval powers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries provided their domestic shipping lines with subsidies to build fast ocean liners capable of conversions to [[armed merchantman|auxiliary cruisers]] during wartime. The British government, for example, aided both [[Cunard Line|Cunard]] and the [[White Star Line]] in constructing the liners {{RMS|Mauretania|1906|6}}, {{RMS|Aquitania}}, {{RMS|Olympic}} and [[HMHS Britannic|RMS ''Britannic'']]. However, when the vulnerability of these ships to return fire was realized during [[World War I]] most were used instead as troopships or [[hospital ship]]s.

{{RMS|Queen Mary}} and {{RMS|Queen Elizabeth}} were two of the most famous converted liners of [[World War II]]. When they were fully converted, each could carry well over 10,000 troops per trip. ''Queen Mary'' holds the all-time record, with 15,740 troops on a single passage in late July 1943,<ref name=ww2/> transporting a staggering 765,429 military personnel during the war.<ref name=ww2/>