The yacht as Ianara, in a painting by Luca Papaluca | |
History | |
---|---|
Name |
|
Namesake | 1908: another name for Freyja |
Owner |
|
Operator | 1917: Russian Navy |
Port of registry | |
Builder | A. & J. Inglis, Glasgow |
Yard number | 284 |
Launched | 23 January 1908 |
Completed | May 1908 |
Identification |
|
Fate | scrapped, 1936 |
General characteristics | |
Type | steam yacht |
Tonnage | 1,092 GRT, 516 NRT |
Displacement | 1,450 tons |
Length |
|
Beam | 32.7 ft (10.0 m) |
Draught | 14 ft (4.3 m) |
Depth | 18.7 ft (5.7 m) |
Installed power |
|
Propulsion |
|
Sail plan | two-masted schooner |
Speed |
|
Range |
|
Sensors and processing systems | by 1911: submarine signalling |
TS Vanadis was a steel-hulled steam yacht that was launched in Scotland in 1908. When new, she was said to be one of the largest steam yachts in the World. She was renamed Poryv in 1917, Finlandia in 1919, and Ianara in 1925. She was one of very few steam yachts propelled by direct-drive steam turbines instead of reciprocating engines. In 1910 her high-pressure turbine was replaced with a triple-expansion engine, in order to reduce her excessive coal consumption. She was owned in the United States until 1917, when she became a ship of the Imperial Russian Navy. After the First World War, she passed through a succession of Finnish, French, and United Kingdom owners. She was scrapped in Italy in 1936.
Clinton H Crane, of Tams, Lemoine and Crane in the United States, designed the yacht for the US businessman and harness racing promoter C. K. G. Billings. [1] A. & J. Inglis of Glasgow built her as yard number 284, [2] overseen by George L Watson & Co. [3] She was launched on 23 January 1908, and completed that May. [2] Her lengths were 277 ft 6 in (84.6 m) overall [1] and 249.45 ft (76.03 m) registered. Her beam was 32.7 ft (10.0 m), her depth was 18.7 ft (5.7 m), [4] and her draught was 14 ft (4.3 m). [1] Her tonnages were 1,092 GRT, 516 NRT, [4] and 1,450 tons displacement. [5] Her hull was divided by eight watertight bulkheads, and had a double bottom. [1]
Vanadis had two cabins and two bathrooms for her owners, and eight staterooms and six bathrooms for guests. [1] Quarters for her deck officers and crew were forward; those for her engineer officers and stokers were amidships either side of her engine room; and those for her stewards were extreme aft. [3] Her dining saloon was 22 by 18 feet (6.7 by 5.5 m); she had a drawing room with a fireplace; and also a smoking room. She had forced draught ventilation, with enough power and capacity to change all the air in her interior in ten minutes. When she was built, she was the only steam yacht to have an electric elevator. [1] It served her upper deck, her staterooms, and the storerooms in her hold, enabling it to carry either passengers or luggage. [6]
She had three screws, each driven by a Parsons steam turbine. A high-pressure turbine drove her middle screw. Exhaust steam from the high-pressure turbine drove a pair of low-pressure turbines, which drove her port and starboard screws. As was in the first decade of the 20th century, the propeller shafts ran at the same speed as the turbines, without reduction gearing. The combined power of her three turbines was rated at 455 NHP. [4] In sea trials in Scotland, she achieved 16+1⁄2 knots (31 km/h). [1]
Vanadis carried two motorboats, also built by Inglis. One was for the Billings family to use, and was guaranteed to make 17 knots (31 km/h). The other was a lifeboat, and was guaranteed to make 20 knots (37 km/h). [6] She was only the third turbine-powered steam yacht to join the New York Yacht Club. The others were W. K. Vanderbilt, Jr's Tarantula , and George Jay Gould's Atalanta. [1]
Vanadis was registered in New York. [4] By 1911 her code letters were KWSH, [7] and she was equipped with submarine signalling. [7] By 1913 she was equipped with wireless telegraphy, and her call sign was KYT. [8] By 1916 her call sign had been changed to WEF, but the Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States gave her old call sign in one list, and her new call sign in another. [9]
Billings stipulated in his contract with Inglis that Vanadis must have a top speed of at least 15+1⁄2 knots (29 km/h). Early turbine steamers had direct drive turbines, without reduction gearing. As a result, they consumed more fuel than comparable yachts with reciprocating steam engines. [10] Billings wanted Vanadis to be able to steam from New York to Southampton at 13 knots (24 km/h), or Marseille at 11 knots (20 km/h), without stopping for bunkers. [1] In his contract he therefore stipulated that at 13 knots, she must not consume more than 26 tons of coal in 24 hours. [10] However, after she was delivered to the US, her coal consumption at 13 knots was at least 34 tons of coal in 24 hours. [11]
In 1909 Crane, her designer, ran a series of sea trials on Vanadis off Glen Cove, New York and Provincetown, Massachusetts. He identified three options: lengthen the yacht to enlarge her bunkers; remove all three turbines and replace them with two reciprocating engines; or remove the high-pressure turbine and replace it with one reciprocating engine. [12]
The third option was a form of what was called "combination machinery". This system had been pioneered in 1908 by William Denny and Brothers in the refrigerated cargo ship Otaki, and by Harland & Wolff in the ocean liner Laurentic. However, the Otaki and Laurentic each had two reciprocating engines driving the port and starboard screws, and one turbine driving the middle screw. Crane's proposal was the opposite: one reciprocating engine driving the centre screw, and producing enough exhaust steam to drive two low-pressure turbines.
By April 1909, the third option had been chosen. [13] The Staten Island Shipbuilding Company in New York removed the high-pressure turbine, replaced it with a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine, and completed the conversion in January 1910. [12] Crane had the steam supply arranged so that the engines could be run in four combinations. The reciprocating engine could be run alone, with the turbines out of action. The turbines could be run with steam direct from the boilers, and the reciprocating engine out of action. All three engines could be run on steam direct from the boilers. Or the turbines could be run on exhaust steam from the reciprocating engine. [14]
The conversion reduced the combined power of Vanadis' engines to 432 NHP, [7] and reduced her top speed to 151⁄2 knots. However, when Crane tested her on 14–15 July 1910, on a 24-hour run at 13 knots from Provincetown to New London, Connecticut, her coal consumption was now only 23.47 tons in 24 hours. [15]
On 13 June 1915, Vanadis accidentally rammed Eastern Steamship Lines' 4,779 GRT passenger ship Bunker Hill in dense fog off Eaton's Neck in Long Island Sound. Bunker Hill was on her scheduled run from New York to Boston, carrying about 250 passengers and 130 crew. Vanadis had sailed from Glen Cove, where the Billings had a home, and was carrying Mr and Mrs Billings, and Mrs Billings' father, Andrew MacLeish. Both ships were going slowly due to the fog. At about 19:15 hrs Vanadis sighted Bunker Hill ahead, and immediately reversed her engines, but too late to overcome her momentum and prevent a collision. [16] [17]
The yacht hit the passenger steamer's port side. Her bowsprit went through the ceiling of Bunker Hill's dining saloon, where about 70 passengers were dining. It pierced the deck above, wrecking about 20 passenger cabins. Most of the passengers who had booked cabins had not yet retired to them, and thus escaped injury. One passenger was in his cabin, and was severely injured. He was rescued from his cabin, but died at about 20:15 hrs. One member of Bunker Hill's crew was injured and fell overboard. Four other passengers were injured. One of these had chest injuries and a broken leg, and was hospitalized. Passengers reported that Vanadis fell back, and then thrust into Bunker Hill a second time. [16] [17]
The passenger ship lowered two lifeboats. The crew of one of these rescued the injured crewman who had fallen overboard. Both of his legs were broken; he had a head injury; and he had been in the water for about ten minutes. He was taken aboard Vanadis, and put in Mr Billings' cabin, but died about an hour later. The yacht lost her bowsprit and much of her rigging; her bow was crumpled; and her foredeck was littered with débris from the passenger ship. However, neither ship was damaged below the waterline, and both remained afloat. Bunker Hill returned to New York, and Vanadis returned to Glen Cove. [16] [17]
In July 1915 the Coroner of New York City, Patrick Riordan, summoned Billings to testify at the inquest of the crewman who died aboard Vanadis. [18] That September, Billings sold the yacht via yacht brokers Cox and Stevens to the financier Morton F. Plant. [19]
In February 1917 it was reported that Plant had transferred Vanadis to the United Kingdom registry, and Russian interests wanted to buy her. The United States Shipping Board asked Plant not to sell her, but had no power to stop him. [20] Her new owners renamed her Poryv, and she joined the Russian Arctic flotilla. [2] That September there was a false report that a bunker explosion had sunk her in the North Atlantic on her way to Archangel. [21]
By 1919 the Finnish nobleman Hjalmar Linder had acquired the yacht, renamed her Finlandia, and registered her in Helsinki. [22] Linder died in Marseille in 1921. By 1922 the French yachtswoman Virginie Hériot had acquired Finlandia and registered her in Le Havre. Her code letters were OXWA, and the combined power of her engines was now rated at 386 NHP. [23]
By 1925 Lieutenant Commander Montague Grahame-White, RNVR, acquired the yacht and renamed her Ianara. [24] In 1926 he registered her in Cowes. [25] Her UK official number was 128189 and her code letters were KVPC. By 1930 her call sign was GKYL, [26] and by 1934 this had superseded her code letters.
By 1936 an Italian company called Balla & Vervleot SA had acquired Ianara for scrap. They registered her in Genoa, but by May 1936 she was recorded that she was in the process of being broken up. [27]
A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships came into practical usage during the early 19th century; however, there were exceptions that came before. Steamships usually use the prefix designations of "PS" for paddle steamer or "SS" for screw steamer. As paddle steamers became less common, "SS" is incorrectly assumed by many to stand for "steamship". Ships powered by internal combustion engines use a prefix such as "MV" for motor vessel, so it is not correct to use "SS" for most modern vessels.
HMCS Tuna was a steam yacht that was converted into a Royal Canadian Navy torpedo boat. She was the first turbine-powered steam yacht ever built. She was built in London, England in 1902 as Tarantula for Colonel Harry McCalmont. He died soon after she was completed, and in 1903 William Kissam Vanderbilt II acquired her. In 1914 JKL "Jack" Ross bought her and transferred her to the Minister of Naval Service for Canada, who had her converted into a torpedo boat. She served in the First World War until 1917, when she became irreparably unfit for service. She was sold for scrap in 1918, and her hulk survived in Halifax, Nova Scotia until the 1930s.
SS Justicia was a British troop ship that was launched in Ireland in 1914 and sunk off County Donegal in 1918. She was designed and launched as the transatlantic liner Statendam, a new flagship for the Holland America Line (NASM), but the outbreak of First World War delayed her completion. In 1915 NASM agreed to let the United Kingdom acquire her and have her completed as a troop ship.
USS Aroostook was a steamship that was built as the coastal cargo liner Bunker Hill. She was launched in 1907 by Rose Fitzgerald, who in 1914 became Rose Kennedy. In 1911 Bunker Hill was refitted as a passenger ship. She ran between Boston and New York until 1917, when the United States Navy commissioned her as USS Aroostook, and converted her into a minelayer. In 1918 she took part in laying the North Sea Mine Barrage.
RMS Victorian was the world's first turbine-powered ocean liner. She was designed as a transatlantic liner and mail ship for Allan Line and launched in 1904.
SS Rochambeau was a French transatlantic ocean liner of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT). She was launched in 1911 and was the first French ship to be powered by a combination of reciprocating steam engines and steam turbines.
SS Calgaric was a steam ocean liner that was completed in 1917, assumes service in 1918 and scrapped in 1934. She was built for the Pacific SN Co Line as Orca. In 1923 she was transferred to the Royal Mail Line. In 1927 she was transferred to White Star Line and renamed Calgaric.
White Ladye was a steel-hulled steam yacht. She was launched in Scotland in 1891 as Ladye Mabel, and renamed White Ladye by 1893. By 1919 she had been converted into a steam fishing trawler, and renamed La Champagne. She was built for Francis Baring, 5th Baron Ashburton. By 1893 she belonged to the actress Lillie Langtry. From 1893 the US businessman Ogden Goelet regularly chartered her. By 1900 John Lawson Johnston, the creator of Bovril, owned her. By 1902 William Cresswell Gray, of shipbuilders William Gray & Company, owned her. By 1919 Jérome Malandain of Fécamp owned her, and was using her as a trawler. She was laid up from 1926, and scrapped in Belgium in 1935.
SS Copenhagen was a North Sea passenger ferry that was built in Scotland in 1907. She was the Great Eastern Railway (GER)'s first turbine steamship. In 1916 she was requisitioned as an ambulance ship. A U-boat sank her in 1917 with the loss of six lives.
SS Westernland was a transatlantic ocean liner that was launched as Regina in Scotland in 1917, renamed Westernland in 1929 and was scrapped in 1947. She began her career as a troop ship repatriating US troops after the Armistice of 11 November 1918. In the Second World War, Westernland served as a troop ship, repair ship and destroyer depot ship.
SS Otaki was a New Zealand Shipping Company refrigerated cargo steamship that was built in Scotland in 1908 and sunk by a German merchant raider in 1917.
SS Infanta Isabel de Borbon was a steam ocean liner and mail ship launched in 1912 in Scotland and operated by the Compañía Transatlántica Española (CTE). She and her sister ship Reina Victoria-Eugenia represented a significant modernisation of CTE's fleet of ageing and obsolescent ships.
SS Reina Victoria-Eugenia was a steam ocean liner and mail ship launched in 1912 in England and operated by the Compañía Transatlántica Española (CTE). She and her sister ship Infanta Isabel de Borbon represented a significant modernisation of CTE's fleet of ageing and obsolescent ships.
SS Demosthenes was a UK steam ocean liner and refrigerated cargo ship. She was launched in 1911 in Ireland for Aberdeen Line and scrapped in 1931 in England. In the First World War she was an Allied troop ship.
SS Mexique was a French transatlantic ocean liner of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT). She was launched in 1914 as Île de Cuba but when she was completed in 1915 she was renamed Lafayette.
RMS Orama was a British steam ocean liner and Royal Mail Ship. She was launched in 1911 for the Orient Steam Navigation Company. When new, she was the largest liner sailing between Great Britain and Australia.
SS Melita was one of a pair of transatlantic steam ocean liners that were built in the United Kingdom, launched in 1917 and operated by Canadian Pacific until 1935. Her sister ship was Minnedosa.
SS Vespasian was a steel-hulled cargo steamship that was built in Sunderland in 1887 as Eastern Prince, renamed Vespasian in 1908 and scrapped in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1914. In 1908 the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company converted her to steam turbine propulsion. She is notable as the first ship in the World whose turbines drove her propeller by reduction gearing instead of direct drive.
SS Flandre was a French transatlantic ocean liner of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. (CGT). She was launched in 1913 and sunk in 1940. Her peacetime route was between France and ports in the Caribbean.
Emerald was a steam yacht that was launched in Glasgow in 1902 for the shipbuilder, shipowner, and politician Sir Christopher Furness. She was an early example of a yacht powered by steam turbines. By 1909 she had been modified, with a triple-expansion engine replacing one of her turbines. In 1912 Christopher Furness died. James Burns, 3rd Baron Inverclyde acquired the yacht and renamed her Beryl. In 1913 she was gutted by fire. She was sold and converted into a coal hulk, and survived as such until at least 1917.
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