Tuscania (2) under way | |
History | |
---|---|
United Kingdom | |
Name |
|
Namesake | Tuscania |
Owner |
|
Operator |
|
Port of registry | Glasgow (1922–1939, 1941–1947) |
Route | |
Builder | Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan, Glasgow |
Yard number | 595 |
Launched | 4 October 1921 |
Maiden voyage | 16 September 1922 |
Greece | |
Name |
|
Owner | General Steam Navigation Company of Greece (1939–1941, 1947–1961) |
Port of registry | Andros (1939–1941, 1947–1961) |
Route | |
Fate | Broken up at Onomichi, Hiroshima in 1961 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Ocean liner |
Tonnage | 16,991 GRT |
Length | 575 feet (175 m) |
Beam | 70 feet (21 m) |
Installed power | Steam turbines |
Propulsion | Twin propellers |
Speed | 16 knots |
Capacity | 1,400 passengers |
Crew | 200 |
SS Tuscania was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, and launched on 4 October 1921 for the Anchor Line.
During the First World War, several large liners of Glasgow-based Anchor Line (Henderson Bros) Ltd were lost, including the earlier Tuscania of 1914. Embarking on a replacement programme even before the end of 1918, the replacement Tuscania for the Mediterranean-New York service was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at Govan, Glasgow, as yard number 595. [1] [2] She measured 16,991 gross register tons (GRT) and 10,016 net register tons (NRT), was 552.3 ft (168.3 m) long between perpendiculars by 70.3 ft (21.4 m) beam and had a depth of 38.6 ft (11.8 m). [3] She had six Brown-Curtis steam turbines, also made by Fairfield, driving twin screws via double reduction gearing, giving her a speed of 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph). [2] [3] [4]
The ship was formally named Tuscania when launched on 4 October 1921, in the midst of the post-war economic slump, when many shipowners, Anchor Line included, had asked builders to slow or suspend building work. [4] Tuscania was not completed until almost a year later; she ran sea trials on 8 September 1922 and was registered at Glasgow with Official Number 146307. [2] [5] As completed, she has capacity for 2462 passengers (267 1st class, 377 2nd and 1818 3rd) and a complement of 342 officers and crew. [5]
Earlier plans to deploy Tuscania on the company's Mediterranean-New York service were changed, and she began her career on the Glasgow-Moville-New York route, leaving the Clyde on her maiden voyage on 16 September 1922. [5] [6] She continued on the North Atlantic, with occasional New York-Mediterranean voyages, until May 1926. [7]
In May 1926, Tuscania was chartered to the Cunard Line for its service between London and New York, via Southampton and Le Havre, and repainted in the charterer's colours. [7] She was returned for service with Anchor Line in 1931. She was later employed on their Liverpool-India service and cruising until sold in 1939 to the Goulandris brothers' General Steam Navigation Company of Greece. [8]
Upon arrival in Piraeus on 8 March 1939 the ship was renamed Nea Hellas (Νέα Έλλας, meaning "New Greece") and refitted for service between Piraeus and New York City beginning on 19 May 1939. [8] Service between these two ports was interrupted for the duration of World War II for use as a troopship for Allied soldiers. The ship was renamed New York and placed on a New York to Bremen service in 1955. Due to her age, the ship was retired in 1959 and scrapped in 1961. [9]
SS Heraklion was a roll on/roll off car ferry operating the lines Piraeus – Chania and Piraeus – Heraklion (Irakleio) between 1965 and 1966. The ship capsized and sank on 8 December 1966 in the Aegean Sea, resulting in the death of more than 200 people. Its demise was one of the greatest maritime disasters of Greek history.
RMS Empress of Britain was a transatlantic ocean liner built by Fairfield Shipbuilding at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland in 1955-1956 for Canadian Pacific Steamships (CP). This ship — the third of three CP vessels to be named Empress of Britain — regularly traversed the trans-Atlantic route between Canada and Europe until 1964, completing 123 voyages under the Canadian Pacific flag.
RMS Empress of Japan was an ocean liner built in 1929–1930 by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland for Canadian Pacific Steamships (CP). This ship was the second of two CP vessels to be named Empress of Japan – regularly traversed the trans-Pacific route between the west coast of Canada and the Far East until 1942.
SS Tuscania was a luxury liner of the Anchor Line, a subsidiary of the Cunard Line and named after Tuscania, Italy. In 1918 the ship was torpedoed and sunk by the German U-boat UB-77 while transporting American troops to Europe with the loss of 210 lives.
Several ships have borne the name SS Tuscania, all in the Cunard-subsidiary Anchor Line. These include:
SS Athinai was a Greek passenger steamship that was built in England in 1908 and sank in the North Atlantic in 1915. She was built to be a transatlantic ocean liner, but she served also as a troop ship.
RMS Empress of Canada was an ocean liner built in 1920 for the Canadian Pacific Steamships (CP) by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland. This ship—the first of three CP vessels to be named Empress of Canada—regularly traversed the trans-Pacific route between the west coast of Canada and the Asian waters until 1939.
SS Letitia was an ocean liner built in Scotland for service with the Anchor-Donaldson Line. She continued to serve with its successor company Donaldson Atlantic Line. At the start of the Second World War in September 1939, the British Admiralty requisitioned the ship for service and had it converted to serve as an armed merchant cruiser. She was withdrawn from this service in 1941 to become a troop ship.
The Greek Line, formally known as the General Steam Navigation Company of Greece, was a passenger ship line that operated from 1939 to 1975. The Greek Line was owned by the Ormos Shipping Company.
SS Arthur M. Huddell is a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II and is now a museum ship, SS Hellas Liberty, in Greece.
The TSS Maunganui was a passenger vessel built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan for the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand and launched on 24 August 1911.
Anchor Line was a Scottish merchant shipping company that was founded in 1855 and dissolved in 1980.
SS Mohamed Ali El-Kebir, formerly SS Teno, was one of a pair of steam turbine ocean liners built in Scotland in 1922 for the Chilean company CSAV. She and her sister ship Aconcagua ran between Valparaíso and New York via the Panama Canal until 1932, when CSAV was hit by the Great Depression and surrendered the two ships to the Scottish shipbuilder Lithgows to clear a debt.
Andromachi was a 7,056 GRT cargo ship that was built as Empire Favour in 1945 by Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, Dundee for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). She was sold in 1947 and renamed Epsom. Sales in 1950 saw her renamed Tharros and Errington Court. In 1956, she was sold to Liberia and renamed Penelope. A further sale in 1961 saw her renamed Andromachi. She was set afire at Suez in June 1969 during the War of Attrition and was abandoned. The wreck was scrapped in 1976.
SS Nidd was a freight vessel built for the Goole Steam Shipping Company in 1900.
SS Katoomba was a passenger steamship that was built in Ireland 1913, spent most of her career in Australian ownership and was scrapped in Japan in 1959. McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co owned her for more than three decades, including two periods when she was a troopship. In 1946 the Goulandris brothers bought her for their Greek Line and registered her in Panama. In 1949 she was renamed Columbia.
SS Pennland was a transatlantic ocean liner that was launched as Pittsburgh in Ireland in 1920 and renamed Pennland in 1926. She had a succession of UK, German and Dutch owners and operators. In 1940 she was converted into a troopship.
SS Themistocles was a Greek passenger steamship that was built in England in 1907 as Moraitis, renamed Themistocles in 1908, and scrapped in Italy in 1933. She was built to be a transatlantic ocean liner, but she served also as a troop ship.
SS Byron was a transatlantic ocean liner that was built in England in 1914 and scrapped in Italy in 1937. She was launched as Vasilefs Constantinos, named after Constantine I of Greece. In 1919 she was renamed Megali Hellas, the Greek name for the Ancient Greek settlements in Sicily and southern Italy. In 1923 she was renamed Byron, in recognition of the role of Lord Byron (1788–1824) in the Greek War of Independence (1821–29).
SS Macedonia was a steamship that was built in England in 1912, renamed Pincio in 1922 and scrapped in Italy in 1932. She was built as an ocean liner for Greek owners, but within months of being completed she was converted into an armed merchant cruiser for the Royal Hellenic Navy. An Ottoman warship sank her in 1913 in the First Balkan War.