SS Ultonia

Ultonia photographed at sea in 1898 or 1900
History
United Kingdom
Name	Ultonia
Namesake	Latin name for Ulster
Owner	Cunard Line
Builder	C S Swan & Hunter, Wallsend on Tyne
Launched	4 June 1898
Fate	Sunk on 27 June 1917
General characteristics
Tonnage	8,845  GRT
Length	500 ft (152 m)
Beam	57.4 ft (17 m)
Draught	33.9 ft (10 m)
Capacity	675

SS Ultonia was a British passenger-cargo vessel built in 1898 in Wallsend-on-Tyne by C. S. Swan & Hunter. It was sunk by a German torpedo in 1917.

History

Ultonia was launched on 4 June 1898, measuring 500 feet (150 m) by 57.4 feet (17.5 m) by 33.9 feet (10.3 m), and assessed at 8,845  gross register tons  (GRT) with engines by Sir C. Furness, Westgarth & Co, Middlesbrough. Originally designed for cargo and cattle, it was fitted with third-class accommodation for 675 passengers in 1899, sailing on its first passenger voyage on 28 February from Liverpool to Queenstown to Boston.

Departing Boston on one of these voyages on 5 August 1899, Ultonia hit a ledge just outside the main channel of Boston Harbor at Nantasket Roads, which was the typical route at the time. This area is now called the Ultonia Ledge, located one and a half miles (2.4 km) southeast of Boston Light, and is as shallow as 21 feet (6.4 m) at mean lower low water according to modern nautical charts. This event spurred the alteration of ships' courses in the area to avoid the ledge, the dredging of Nantasket Roads to a depth of 35 feet (11 m) to be safe for large steamships, and also the later dredging of the wider northern approach via President Roads, which is the now the main channel for large ships entering or exiting Boston Harbor. ^[1]

In 1902, the ship was refitted to accommodate 120 second-class passengers, and 2,100 third-class passengers, increasing its tonnage to 10,402 gross. In 1915, it was refitted to carry up to 2,000 horses. ^[2]

On 27 March 1917, Ultonia collided with the British collier Don Benito in the Atlantic Ocean ( 49°35′N6°44′W / 49.583°N 6.733°W / 49.583; -6.733 ). Don Benito sank. ^[3]

Sinking

During World War I, Ultonia was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 190 miles (310 km) from Fastnet, Ireland, on 27 June 1917 by the Imperial German Navy submarine U-53 under Captain Hans Rose. One life was lost in the attack. ^[4]

See also

• List of the largest ships hit by U-boats in World War I
• List of shipwrecks in June 1917
• William Thomas Turner

References

1. "Ultonia Ledge, Thieves Ledge and the Dredging of Nantasket Roads".
2. Bonsor, N.R.P. (1975). North Atlantic Seaway. Arco Publishing Company; Revised edition. p. 155. ISBN   0668036796.
3. "SS Don Benito (+1917)". Wrecksite. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
4. Gibson, R.H. (22 November 2002). The German Submarine War 1914-1918. Periscope Publishing Ltd. p. 186. ISBN   1904381081.

48°25′00″N11°23′00″W / 48.4167°N 11.3833°W / 48.4167; -11.3833