HMS Otranto was an armed merchant cruiser requisitioned by the British Admiralty when World War I began in 1914. Built before the war for the UK–Australia run as SS Otranto, she was primarily used in the war to search for German commerce raiders. She played small roles in the Battle of Coronel in November 1914 when the German East Asia Squadron destroyed the British squadron searching for it and in the Battle of the Falkland Islands the following month when a British squadron annihilated the Germans in turn.
The Oa is a rocky peninsula in the southwest of the island of Islay, in Argyll, Scotland. It is an RSPB nature reserve.
SS Vaderland was an ocean liner launched in July 1900 for the Red Star Line service between Antwerp and New York. During her passenger career, the ship initially sailed under British registry, but was re-registered in Antwerp in 1903. Vaderland was a sister ship to Zeeland and a near sister ship to Kroonland and Finland.
SS Transylvania was a British passenger liner of the Anchor Line, a subsidiary of the Cunard Line and a sister ship to SS Tuscania. She was torpedoed and sunk on 4 May 1917 by the German U-boat SM U-63 at 44°15′N8°30′E while carrying Allied troops to Egypt and sank with a loss of 412 lives.
SS Caserta was an Italian ocean liner named for the city of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. She was previously known as SS Maritzburg and SS Mendoza, and was later renamed SS Venezuela. Launched in 1904 as Maritzburg for the Bucknall Line, the ship was sold to Lloyd Italiano in 1905 and renamed Mendoza. Renamed Caserta in 1914, she was placed under the Navigazione Generale Italiana banner in 1918. During World War I she was employed as a troopship carrying United States troops to France as part of the United States Navy Cruiser and Transport Force. In 1923, she was renamed Venezuela and transferred to La Veloce for South American service, but reverted to NGI control in 1924. She was scrapped in 1928.
RMS Moldavia was a British passenger steamship of the early 20th century. She served as the Royal Navy armed merchant cruiser HMS Moldavia during World War I until sunk by an Imperial German Navy submarine in 1918.
The Mediterranean U-boat Campaign in the Mediterranean Sea was fought by Austria-Hungary and German Empire against the Allies during World War I. It was characterised by the ability of the Central Powers to raid with near impunity during the first years of the war, causing substantial shipping losses, until the introduction of the convoy system allowed the Allies to drastically cut their losses from 1917 on.
RMS Andania was a Cunard ocean liner built by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Greenock. She was launched on 22 March 1913 and was completed on 13 July 1913.
SM UB-14 was a German Type UB I submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The submarine was also known by the Austro-Hungarian Navy designation of SM U-26.
SS Merion was an ocean liner built in 1902 for the American Line, a subsidiary line of the International Mercantile Marine (IMM). She also sailed for the Red Star Line and the Dominion Line—both subsidiary lines of IMM—during her passenger career. After the outbreak of World War I she was bought by the British Admiralty and converted to serve as a decoy resembling the Royal Navy battlecruiser HMS Tiger. In May 1915, while posing as Tiger in the Aegean Sea, Merion was sunk by the German submarine SM UB-8.
The 100th Aero Squadron was an Air Service, United States Army squadron during World War I. Ordered to serve on the Western Front, it boarded the SS Tuscania on 23 January 1918. The ship was torpedoed on 5 February and most of the survivors were rescued.
Sidney Brooks (1872–1937) was a British writer and critic. He was a frequent contributor to the Saturday Review and was in England writing reviews from late 1895 to January 1896, when he left to visit Chicago. In America, his critical reviews and writings were sold to publications such as Harper's Magazine.
Gerstner Field is a former World War I military airfield, located 11.1 miles (17.9 km) southeast of Lake Charles, Louisiana. It operated as a training field for the Air Service, United States Army between 1917 until 1919. The airfield was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established in 1917 after the United States entry into World War I.
SM UB-53 was a German Type UB III submarine or U-boat in the Imperial German Navy during World War I. She was commissioned into the Pola Flotilla of the German Imperial Navy on 21 August 1917 as SM UB-53.
Events from the year 1918 in Scotland.
The 213th Aero Squadron was a United States Army Air Service unit that fought on the Western Front during World War I.
HMS Kashmir was a British cargo liner built during World War I for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O)'s Far Eastern routes. She served in that capacity until late 1916 when she was requisitioned for service as a troopship. She collided with the troopship HMS Otranto in 1918 which subsequently ran aground on the Isle of Islay with great loss of life. The ship was returned to the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company after the war and remained in service until 1932.
SS Tuscania was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, and launched on 4 October 1921 for the Anchor Line.
HMS Mounsey was a Yarrow M-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy. Built by the Scottish shipbuilder Yarrow in 1914–1915, Mounsey served in the Grand Fleet during the First World War, and took part in the Battle of Jutland. The following year she saw combat against German submarines, and in 1918 she helped rescue crew and passengers aboard the damaged troopship Otranto. She was sold for scrap in 1921.
HMS Pigeon was an Admiralty M-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during the First World War. The M class were an improvement on the previous L-class destroyer, capable of higher speed. Launched on 3 March 1916 by Hawthorn Leslie on the River Tyne, the vessel served as part of the Grand Fleet. Pigeon was mainly involved in escorting convoys. After an unsuccessful sortie in October 1917 against German cruisers, the destroyer moved to anti-submarine warfare. In this arena, Pigeon had some success in 1918, rescuing the survivors from the sinking troopship Tuscania in February and assisting in the destruction of the German U-boat UB-124 in July. After the Armistice, the destroyer was redeployed to serve as part of the Nore Local Defence flotilla until being decommissioned and sold to be broken up on 9 May 1921.
United Kingdom
