SS Zealandic in 1923 | |
History | |
---|---|
United Kingdom | |
Name |
|
Owner |
|
Port of registry | Liverpool, United Kingdom |
Route | Liverpool to Wellington |
Builder | Harland and Wolff, Belfast |
Yard number | 421 |
Launched | 29 June 1911 |
Christened | 29 June 1911 |
Completed | 12 October 1911 |
Maiden voyage | 30 October 1911 |
Fate | Struck a sunken wreck off Cromer on 3 June 1941 and then torpedoed by E-boat. |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Twin-screw ocean liner |
Tonnage | 8,090 gross register tons (GRT) |
Length | 477.5 ft (145.5 m) |
Beam | 63.1 ft (19.2 m) |
Height | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
Decks | 4 |
Installed power | 995 n.h.p. |
Propulsion | 2 x four cylinder quadruple expansion |
Speed | 13 knots (24 km/h) |
Notes | Carrying capacity: 100 First Class, 800 Steerage Class and 45 Second Class |
SS Zealandic was a British ocean liner initially operated by White Star Line. She was used both as a passenger liner and a cargo ship as well as serving during both world wars.
As "Fleet tender C" she was used as a decoy for the British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes. She was sunk en route to the dock where she was to be converted back to cargo use.
Zealandic was constructed by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, launched on 29 June 1911, and made her maiden voyage on 30 October 1911, from Liverpool to Wellington, New Zealand. She was used in joint service with the Shaw Savill and Albion Line for the Liverpool to Wellington route. During one such voyage on 22 January 1913, Zealandic departed Wellington with a then record cargo of exported wool, while also being chartered as an immigrant carrier by the Australian government. [1]
On 2 July 1915 she had a close encounter with German submarine U-39 which pursued her; the ship's speed enabled her to escape. [1] She remained in White Star Line service on the route until 1917 when, due to the First World War, she was commandeered by the Royal Navy for the transportation of troops. On 15 June 1919, she was released from military service and returned to the White Star Line.
The ship was awarded £6,350 following the successful rescue of the disabled sailing vessel Garthsnaid in 1923. Zealandic towed Garthsnaid to safety between Cape Howe and Melbourne. [1]
The Aberdeen Line purchased Zealandic in 1926 and subsequently renamed her Mamilius. The ship was later transferred back to Shaw Savill and Albion in 1932, and renamed Mamari. [2] When White Star line merged with Cunard in 1934 she served on Shaw, Savill & Albion's Australian route, bearing the name Mamari III.
The ship was sold in September 1939 to the Admiralty for military service during the Second World War, and was refitted to be disguised as the British carrier HMS Hermes. [1] In this form she carried the name "Fleet Tender C". On 4 June 1941, while on course for Chatham Docks in Kent to be converted back to a cargo vessel, she was attacked by German aircraft off the English coast near Cromer, Norfolk. While trying to evade the attack she struck a submerged wreck (the Ahamo at 53-22N, 0-59E which had struck a mine on 8 April that year) and ran aground. She was intended to be salvaged and refloated; however, before this was possible the beached ship was torpedoed by German E-boats. The crew were taken off by the rescue tug Sabine and landed at Grimsby. [3]
The White Star Line was a British shipping line. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping companies in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between the British Empire and the United States. While many other shipping lines focused primarily on speed, White Star branded their services by focusing more on providing comfortable passages for both upper class travellers and immigrants.
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 Southern Cross was an ocean liner built in 1955 by Harland & Wolff, Belfast, Northern Ireland for the United Kingdom-based Shaw, Savill & Albion Line for Europe—Australia service. In 1975 she was rebuilt as a cruise ship and subsequently sailed under the names Calypso, Azure Seas and OceanBreeze until 2003 when she was sold for scrap to Ahmed Muztaba Steel Industries, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
P. Henderson & Company, also known as Paddy Henderson, was a ship owning and management company based in Glasgow, Scotland and operating to Burma and New Zealand. Patrick Henderson started business in Glasgow as a merchant at the age of 25 in 1834. He had three brothers. Two were merchants working for an agent in the Italian port of Leghorn; the third, George, was a sea captain with his own ship.
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 Minnewaska was a 21,716-ton ocean liner in the service of the Atlantic Transport Line and the Red Star Line from 1923–1933
SS Megantic was a British transatlantic ocean liner that was built in Ireland and launched in 1908. She was one of a pair of sister ships that were ordered in 1907 by Dominion Line but completed for White Star Line.
SS Gothic was a passenger-cargo liner launched in December 1947, though not completed until a year later. She became the most famous of the quartet when she was designated a royal yacht from 1952 to 1954.
SS Ionic was a steam-powered ocean liner built in 1902 by Harland and Wolff in Belfast for the White Star Line. She was the second White Star Liner to be named Ionic and served on the United Kingdom – New Zealand route. Her sister ships were SS Athenic and SS Corinthic.
Fleet tenders were British merchant ships fitted with a wooden superstructure to resemble battleships or aircraft carriers during the Second World War. They were built to fool German reconnaissance planes, and known as fleet tenders to conceal their purpose.
The Athenic-class ocean liners were a trio of ocean liners built by Harland & Wolff shipyard for the White Star Line in the early 20th century, designed for the profitable London to New Zealand service. The class consisted of three ships: SS Athenic, SS Corinthic, and SS Ionic. Each was constructed with the intention of serving the passenger and cargo route between London and Liverpool to Wellington and Auckland. These ships were dual-purpose, equipped to carry both passengers and cargo, including refrigerated goods such as meat.
Shaw, Savill & Albion Line was the shipping line of P Henderson & Company, a British shipping management that operated trans-British, Australian and New Zealand cargo and passenger routes when P Henderson's Albion Line merged with Shaw Savill Line in 1882, lasting till 1970 when Elder Dempster Lines chartered P Henderson fleets in 1947 till 1965 when Ocean Group plc acquired Elder, Dempster, till the Suez crisis when the last 3 Henderson ships were transferred to Elder, Dempster and the Henderson label phased out.
RMS Empress of England was an ocean liner built in 1956-1957 by Vickers-Armstrongs, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom for the Canadian Pacific Steamships. The ship was launched in 1956; and she undertook her maiden voyage in 1957 and was a near identical sister ship to Empress of Britain.
SS Doric was a British ocean liner operated by White Star Line. She was put into service in 1883. Built by the Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast, she was the sister ship of the Ionic which was put into service a few months earlier. Although the original purpose of the construction of the two ships was not known with certainty, both began their careers chartered by the New Zealand Shipping Company which operated them on the route from London to Wellington.
At least two ships have been named SS Zealandic:
SS Corinthic was a British passenger ship, built in 1902 by Harland & Wolff and launched for the British shipping companies White Star Line and Shaw, Savill & Albion Line. She was the second of the Athenic-class ocean liners built for passenger and cargo service between Britain and New Zealand. Her sister ships were SS Athenic (1902) and SS Ionic (1903).
SS Delphic was an ocean liner of the White Star Line, built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast and completed on 15 May 1897. She worked the New Zealand trade. She was a fairly slow ship primarily intended for transporting emigrants and goods to New Zealand. Despite this, she made her first crossings on the New York route before joining the route to New Zealand. For twenty years, her service on this route was uneventful, with the exception of troop transport missions during the Second Boer War.
SS Ionic was a cargo liner initially in service with White Star Line from 1883 until 1900. She was used on the company's joint route to New Zealand with the Shaw, Savill & Albion Line. She was sold to the Aberdeen Line in 1900 and renamed SS Sophocles, and was withdrawn for service in 1906 and scrapped in 1908.
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.
QSMV Dominion Monarch was a UK passenger and refrigerated cargo liner. Her name was a reference to the Dominion of New Zealand. The unusual prefix "QSMV" stood for quadruple-screw motor vessel.
citing sources: Haws' Merchant Fleets; Anderson's White Star; de Kerbrech's; The Shaw Savill Line; Moss and Hume's Shipbuilders to the World.