SS Delphic (1897)
{{Short description|Ocean liner of the White Star Line}}
{{other ships|SS Delphic}}
{{use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = SS Delphic.png | Ship caption = SS Delphic }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship name = SS Delphic | Ship country = United Kingdom | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}} | Ship owner = 25px White Star Line | Ship operator = | Ship registry = | Ship route = | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Harland and Wolff, Belfast | Ship original cost = | Ship yard number = 309 | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = 5 January 1897 | Ship completed = 15 May 1897 | Ship christened = | Ship acquired = | Ship maiden voyage = 17 June 1897 | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = 16 August 1917 | Ship identification = | Ship fate = Torpedoed and sunk, 16 August 1917 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = | Ship type = Ocean liner | Ship tonnage = {{GRT|8273}} | Ship displacement = | Ship length = {{convert|475.11|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|55.3|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} | Ship power = 3,000 ihp | Ship propulsion = Two triple expansion steam engines | Ship speed = {{convert|11|kn |
| Ship capacity = 1,000 passengers
| Ship crew =
| Ship notes =
}}
|}
SS Delphic was an ocean liner of the White Star Line, built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast and completed on 15 May 1897.{{cite book|last1=McCluskie|first1=Tom|title=The Rise and Fall of Harland and Wolff|date=2013|publisher=The History Press|location=Stroud|isbn=9780752488615|page=124}} She was assigned to the New Zealand route. 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.
World War I did not disturb her service until March 1917, when she was requisitioned to serve in the war effort. It was during a crossing to South America, the following May, that the ship was torpedoed by the German submarine {{SMU|UC-72||2}}. Five people were killed, but the ship sank slowly enough that the rest of the crew could be evacuated, before the ship was sunk by additional torpedoes.
History
In 1884, White Star Line inaugurated its service to New Zealand in order to diversify its activities. It did not go into the business alone as the service was joint with Shaw, Savill & Albion Line which had a good knowledge of the region while its partner brought significant financial resources. Thus, the service was launched with three ships of the White Star, the Coptic, the Ionic and the Doric, and two ships of the Shaw, Savill & Albion, the Arawa and the Tainui.{{harvsp|Anderson|1964|pp=71–72}} This service quickly turned out to be very promising. Thus, in 1893, White Star brought a new ship to the fleet, the Gothic; it was the largest ship on this route, and its first-class facilities offered comfort on the same level as that of the ships on the prestigious transatlantic route.{{harvsp|de Kerbrech|2009|p=58}}
In 1897, a slightly smaller version of the Gothic (although at a higher tonnage) was ordered to join the route, captained by James ‘John’ Breen who had previously worked as Chief Officer on the ‘’Gothic’’: ‘ the Delphic. Slower, she was intended for the transport of a thousand migrants as well as goods.{{harvsp|de Kerbrech|2009|p=64}} The ship, built by the Harland and Wolff shipyards, was launched on 5 January 1897.[http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.titanic-titanic.com%2Fdelphic_1.shtml Delphic(I) titanic-titanic.com] Upon her delivery in May 1897 to White Star Line, it was decided to give Delphic{{'}}s machinery a run in with several voyages on the Atlantic, as such her maiden voyage began on 17 June between Liverpool and New York, she made two round trips across the Atlantic before entering service on her intended route between London and Wellington on 3 October 1897.
Her career on this new route was uneventful for nearly twenty years, with the exception of the very beginning of the 20th century. She was requisitioned on 31 March 1900 to transport 1,200 soldiers from London to Cape Town as part of the Second Boer War, after which she continued her service on the route to New Zealand. On 4 April 1901, she was again employed for this purpose, this time from Queenstown.{{harvsp|Haws|1990|p=50}}
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, she remained on her commercial service. On 16 February 1917, Delphic narrowly avoided being torpedoed by {{SMU|U-60||2}} off the south coast of Ireland; the torpedo was fired, but just missed the ship. In March 1917, she was taken over under the Liner Requisition Scheme. On 16 August 1917, Delphic was torpedoed and sunk by the Imperial German Navy submarine {{SMU|UC-72||2}} {{convert|135|mi}} from Bishop Rock, Isles of Scilly ({{coord|48|30|N|9|10|W}}), during a coal transport voyage from Cardiff, Wales, to Montevideo, Uruguay. Five people were killed in the sinking.{{cite web |url=http://uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/1596.html |title=Delphic |publisher=Uboat.net |accessdate=28 December 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://www.naval-history.net/WW1LossesBrMS1917.htm |title= British Merchant Ships Lost to Enemy Action Part 2 of 3 - January–August 1917 in date order |publisher=Naval History |accessdate=24 January 2013}}{{harvsp|Eaton|Haas|1989|p=192}}
Characteristics
At 144.8 m in length and 16.9 m in width, Delphic was built as a smaller and slower version of the earlier liner Gothic which also served the New Zealand route, but more space was given over to passenger accommodation rather than cargo, and this gave Delphic a capacity for 1,000 steerage passengers.{{harvsp|Anderson|1964|p=94}} She sported a classic silhouette for ships of the time, with four masts (unlike the Gothic{{'}}s, the Delphic{{'}}s forward mast could carry sails) surrounding a funnel in the colors of the White Star Line: brown ocher with black cuff.{{harvsp|Haws|1990|p=49}}
Powered by triple expansion machines that powered a propeller, she sailed at a speed of 11 to 12 knots, slower than her fellow ships. This speed therefore made her suitable for transporting a less affluent clientele, made up of emigrants.
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book|last=Anderson|first=Roy Claude|title=White Star|location=Prescot|publisher=T. Stephenson & Sons Ltd|year=1964|oclc=3134809}}
- {{cite book |last=de Kerbrech |first=Richard |year=2009 |title=Ships of the White Star Line |place=Shepperton |publisher=Ian Allan Publishing |isbn=978-0-7110-3366-5 }}
- {{cite book |last1=Eaton |first1=John |last2=Haas |first2=Charles |year=1989 |title=Falling Star, Misadventures of White Star Line Ships |publisher=Patrick Stephens Ltd |isbn=1-85260-084-5 }}
- {{cite book|last=Haws|first=Duncan|title=White Star Line|series=Merchant Fleets|volume=17|location=Hereford|publisher=TCL Publications|year=1990|isbn=0-946378-16-9|oclc=50214776}}
{{White Star Line ships}}
{{August 1917 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delphic (1897), SS}}
Category:Ships built by Harland and Wolff
Category:Ships of the White Star Line
Category:Ships built in Belfast
Category:Maritime incidents in 1917