Triple expansion steam engine, single screw propeller
Speed
8 knots (15km/h)
SS Pontic was a tender and baggage vessel of the White Star Line built by Harland & Wolff at Belfast in 1894. Originally deployed to support White Star's trans-Atlantic liners at Liverpool, she entered service as a small harbour tender in April 1894. After 25 years with White Star she was sold in 1919, continued in tender duties under private ownership, and in 1925 was converted into a collier. She was broken up for scrap on the River Clyde in 1930.[1]
Pontic was laid down and built at Harland & Wolff's Belfast yard (yard number 283) and launched on 3 February 1894; she was completed and delivered on 13 April 1894.[2] Her length was 150 ft 5 in (45.85 m), with a beam of 26 ft 1 in (7.95 m) and a depth of 11 feet & 1 inch (3.38 m). Her registered tonnage is commonly given as approximately 394–395 GRT.[3]
She was fitted with a single-screw triple-expansion steam engine built by Harland & Wolff with cylinder diameters of 13 inch, 21 inch and 34 inch and a 24 inch stroke; the engine developed roughly 62–64 bhp and gave a service speed of about 8 knots.[4] Her deck arrangement comprised two cargo hatches (the aft hatch served a larger aft hold), and contemporary photographs show two dorade-type vents beside her single funnel.[5]
Service History
Pontic entered service at Liverpool serving as a harbour tender and baggage vessel for White Star's larger liners, transferring baggage, stores and small numbers of passengers and crew between the quays and the liners anchored or berthed offshore.[6]
On 3 May 1902 Pontic was involved in a collision in the Manchester Ship Canal while carrying coal; she struck the Welsh steamer Shahristan and sustained significant damage (contemporary press reports record the incident and subsequent inquiries).[7]
On 9 October 1919 Pontic was sold by the White Star Line to Rea Towing Co Ltd of Liverpool and continued in harbour and towing/tender duties under her new owner.[8] On 23 January 1925 she changed hands again, being sold to Beardmore Steam Ship Co Ltd and placed under the management of Beardmore Donaldson Coal Trimmers Ltd; under this ownership she was repurposed as a collier and sand-carrier, operating from Liverpool and on the Clyde trade routes.[9]
Fate
After more than three decades of service, Pontic was sold for scrap and broken up at a ship-breakers on the Clyde in 1930.[10]
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United Kingdom
Liverpool, England
