SS Cambridge (1916)

Last updated

History
Name
  • 1916: Vogtland
  • 1922: Cambridge
Namesake
Owner Federal Steam Navigation Co
OperatorFederal Steam Navigation Co
Port of registry1919: Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg London
RouteBritain – Australia / New Zealand
Builder Joh. C. Tecklenborg, Geestemünde
Yard number271
Launched9 December 1916
Completed1919
In service27 November 1919
Identification
FateSunk by mine, 7 November 1940
General characteristics
Tonnage
  • as built: 11,066  GRT, 6,885  NRT, 15,545  DWT
  • by 1930: 10,846  GRT, 6,678  NRT
  • 1940: 10,855  GRT, 6,687  NRT
Displacement7,933 tons
Length524.5 ft (159.9 m)
Beam65.7 ft (20.0 m)
Draught29 ft 11 in (9.12 m)
Depth37.3 ft (11.4 m)
Installed power1,106 NHP, 3,475 ihp
Propulsion
Speed14 knots (26 km/h)
Capacity418,747 cu ft (11,858 m3) refrigerated cargo
Complement56
Sensors and
processing systems		wireless direction finding

SS Cambridge was a refrigerated steam cargo liner that was built in Germany for the Hamburg America Line. She was launched in 1916 as Vogtland, but after the 1919 Treaty of Versailles the United Kingdom took her as war reparations and sold her to the Federal Steam Navigation Company, who renamed her Cambridge. She operated between Britain and Australasia until 1940, when a German mine sank her off the coast of Australia.

Contents

Building

Joh. C. Tecklenborg built Vogtland in Geestemünde as yard number 271. She was launched on 9 December 1916 but the war delayed her completion. Her sea trials were on 27 November 1919. [1]

Her registered length was 524.5 ft (159.9 m), her beam was 65.7 ft (20.0 m) and her depth was 37.3 ft (11.4 m). [2] As built, her tonnages were 11,066  GRT, 6,885  NRT and 15,545  DWT. [1] Her holds had 418,747 cu ft (11,858 m3) of refrigerated cargo space. [3]

Vogtland had two screws, each driven by a triple expansion engine. Between them her twin engines were rated at 1,106 NHP [2] or 3,475 ihp, giving her a speed of 14 knots (26 km/h). [1] The ship had one funnel and four masts. [4]

Vogtland was built for the Hamburg America Line, [1] but when she was completed the UK Government seized her under Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles. She was given the UK official number 144589 and code letters KFNP. [2]

Federal Steam fleet

Federal Steam lost three cargo ships to enemy action in the First World War. [5] Vogtland was one of five new German ships that the UK government supplied to Federal Steam as reparations. Federal Steam named its ships after English counties or county towns. It renamed the ship Cambridge. [4]

Federal Steam operated a cargo liner service between New Zealand, Australia and the UK, bringing refrigerated produce to the UK and general cargo to Australia and New Zealand. By 1930 Cambridge's tonnages had been slightly revised to 10,846  GRT and 6,678  NRT, and her navigation equipment included wireless direction finding. [2]

In 1934 the call sign GDFR replaced her code letters. In 1940 her tonnages were revised to 10,855  GRT and 6,687  NRT. [6]

Second World War service

In the Second World War Cambridge continued her regular trade between New Zealand, Australia and the UK. She sailed mostly unescorted, with convoy protection only in the North Atlantic. She used both the Cape of Good Hope route via South Africa and the trans-Pacific route via the Panama Canal. [7]

Loss

In August and September 1940 Cambridge was in South Wales. She called at Cardiff, Newport and Swansea. On 9 September 1940 she left Milford Haven with Convoy OB 211. She called at Cape Town on 9–10 October, Adelaide on 2–3 November and Melbourne on 5–7 November. [7] She left Melbourne bound for Sydney and Brisbane. [8]

At 2300 hrs on 7 November 1940 Cambridge was about 2+1⁄2 nautical miles (4.6 km) southeast of Wilsons Promontory when she struck one of the mines that the German auxiliary cruiser Passat laid in the Bass Strait. The mine struck the after part of the ship, flooding her engine room. [8]

The flood disabled the ship's electricity generators, and hence her main wireless transmitter. Her wireless operator used her emergency wireless set to transmit a distress signal. There was no reply. Cambridge's Master, Captain Paddy Angell, ordered his crew to abandon ship. [8]

Three of Cambridge's lifeboats were launched. Her carpenter, J Kinnear, returned to his cabin to retrieve money. He failed to escape, and his crewmates' efforts to rescue him were unsuccessful. Kinnear was the only fatality.[ citation needed ]Cambridge sank, stern-first, in 45 minutes. [8]

The auxiliary minesweeper HMAS Orara rescued the occupants of the three lifeboats and took them to Port Welshpool.[ citation needed ]

Cambridge was one of the first ships to be sunk by enemy action in Australian waters in the Second World War. The next day another of Passat's mines sank City of Rayville off Cape Otway. [9]

Wreck

Cambridge's wreck was found in 1988. It is protected by the Commonwealth of Australia's Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

SS <i>Ceramic</i>

SS Ceramic was an ocean liner built in Belfast for White Star Line in 1912–13 and operated on the Liverpool – Australia route. Ceramic was the largest ship serving the route until P&O introduced RMS Mooltan in 1923.

SS <i>Akaroa</i> (1914) UK steam ocean liner

SS Akaroa was a UK steam ocean liner and refrigerated cargo ship. She was launched in 1914 in Ireland as Euripides for Aberdeen Line. When new, she was the largest ship in the Aberdeen Line fleet.

SS Antenor was a UK steam turbine passenger and refrigerated cargo liner launched in 1924. She was the third of five ships to bear the name.

<i>Kulmerland</i> (ship) German cargo liner and Second World War naval supply ship

Kulmerland was a Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) cargo liner that was launched in 1928. She worked HAPAG's route between Hamburg and the Far East until 1939. In the Second World War she was a supply ship for German auxiliary cruisers in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. In 1942 she became a successful blockade runner to German-occupied Europe. An Allied air raid on German-occupied France in 1943 put her out of action. German forces sank her as a blockship in 1944. She was raised in 1945 after the Liberation of France, and scrapped in 1950.

SS Montrose was a British merchant steamship that was built in 1897 and wrecked in 1914. She was built as a cargo liner for Elder, Dempster & Company. In 1903 the Canadian Pacific Railway bought her and had her converted into a passenger liner.

HMS <i>Port Quebec</i> Cargo ship that served as a minelayer and repair ship in WW2

HMS Port Quebec was a British motor ship that was designed and launched in 1939 to be the refrigerated cargo ship Port Quebec, but completed in 1940 as an auxuiliary minelayer. In 1944 she was converted into an aircraft component repair ship and renamed HMS Deer Sound. In 1947 she was returned to her owner, Port Line, and completed as a cargo ship. She was scrapped in Taiwan in 1968.

SS <i>Polar Chief</i> British merchant steamship

SS Polar Chief was a merchant steamship that was built in England in 1897 and scrapped in Scotland in 1952. In her 55-year career she had previously been called Montcalm, RFA Crenella, Crenella, Rey Alfonso, Anglo-Norse and Empire Chief. Early in the First World War she spent eight months pretending to be the battleship HMS Audacious.

SS <i>Inkosi</i> (1937)

Inkosi was a 6,618 GRT refrigerated cargo liner which was built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd, Newcastle upon Tyne for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). She was hired by the Royal Navy in 1940 for use as an ocean boarding vessel, but was sunk in an air raid before she could be used for this purpose. The ship was salvaged, converted to a cargo ship and passed to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT), who renamed her Empire Chivalry. In 1946 she was sold and renamed Planter. She served until 1958, when she was scrapped.

SS <i>Wahehe</i> (1922) German-built passenger steamship

Wahehe was a 4,690 GRT cargo ship which was built in 1922 as Wadigo by Reiherstieg Schiffswerfte und Maschinenfabrik, Hamburg for Woermann Linie AG. She was converted to a refrigerated cargo liner in about 1934.

Empire Engineer was a 5,358 GRT refrigerated cargo ship that was built in 1921 as Canadian Commander by Canadian Vickers Ltd, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She was sold to an Italian firm in 1932 and renamed Giaocchino Lauro. She was seized by the United Kingdom in 1940, passed to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and renamed Empire Engineer. She served until 4 February 1941 when she was torpedoed and sunk by U-123.

MV <i>Aorangi</i> (1924) New Zealand transpacific ocean liner

MV Aorangi was a transpacific ocean liner and refrigerated cargo ship. She was launched in 1924 in Scotland and scrapped in 1953. Her regular route was between Sydney and Vancouver via Auckland, Suva and Honolulu.

SS <i>Themistocles</i> (1911)

SS Themistocles was a UK steam ocean liner and refrigerated cargo ship. She was launched in 1910 in Ireland and scrapped in 1947 in Scotland. She was built for Aberdeen Line, White Star Line managed her for a few years, and she spent the latter part of her career with Shaw, Savill & Albion Line.

SS Binnendijk was a Holland America Line (NASM) cargo steamship. She was one of NASM's "B" class ships: the company's first cargo ships to be powered by steam turbines. Binnendijk was built in South Holland in 1921, and sunk by a mine in the English Channel in 1939. She was the first ship that NASM lost in the Second World War. Her wreck off the coast of Dorset, England is now a wreck diving site, nicknamed "The Benny".

SS Hertford was a refrigerated cargo steamship that was launched in Germany in 1917, seized by the United Kingdom in 1920 as World War I reparations, and sunk by a U-boat in 1942 with the loss of four members of her crew.

SS <i>Karsik</i> (1938)

SS Karsik was a German-built cargo steamship. Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau (Deschimag) built her as Soneck for Deutsche Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft "Hansa" in 1938.

SS Ruahine was a UK-built ocean liner and refrigerated cargo ship. She was launched in 1909 in Scotland for the New Zealand Shipping Company, who operated her in scheduled service between Britain and New Zealand. She survived both World wars.

SS Tokomaru was a British steam cargo ship built in 1893 as Westmeath by C. S. Swan & Hunter of Wallsend for a Sunderland shipowner. The steamer was sold the following year to Shaw, Savill and Albion Steamship Company, renamed Tokomaru, and converted to a refrigerated ship for their New Zealand and Australian routes. In January 1915 the ship was torpedoed and sank off Le Havre, France.

MV <i>Waimarama</i>

MV Waimarama was a UK refrigerated cargo liner. She was built in Northern Ireland for Shaw, Savill & Albion Line and launched in 1938. She carried perishable foods, particularly meat, from New Zealand to the United Kingdom.

SS Santa Fé was a German refrigerated cargo steamship. She is now a Black Sea shipwreck and part of her cargo is of interest to marine archaeologists.

SS Huntingdon was a refrigerated steam cargo liner that was built in Germany in 1920 as Münsterland. The United Kingdom took her as war reparations and sold her to the Federal Steam Navigation Company, who renamed her Huntingdon. She operated between Britain and Australasia until 1941, when an Italian submarine sank her in the Atlantic Ocean.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Vogtland". Tecklenborg-Werft Schiffsdatenbank (in German). Historisches Museum Bremerhaven. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Steamers and Motorships". Lloyd's Register (PDF). Vol. II. London: Lloyd's Register. 1930.
  3. ↑ "List of vessels fitted with refrigerating appliances". Lloyd's Register (PDF). Vol. I. London: Lloyd's Register. 1930.
  4. 1 2 Waters 1939, p. 83.
  5. ↑ Waters 1939, p. 73.
  6. ↑ "Steamers and Motorships". Lloyd's Register (PDF). Vol. I. London: Lloyd's Register. 1940.
  7. 1 2 Hague, Arnold. "Ship Movements". Port Arrivals / Departures. Don Kindell, Convoyweb. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Gill 1957, p. 270.
  9. ↑ "SS Cambridge Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number S101". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria.
  10. ↑ Lettens, Jan; Allen, Tony (10 May 2019). "SS Cambridge (+1940)". Wrecksite.

Bibliography

39°9′32″S146°29′25″E / 39.15889°S 146.49028°E / -39.15889; 146.49028

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.