SS Jolly George
{{Short description|Cargo vessel}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2021}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= File:The Soviet Union 1970 CPA 3964 stamp (Harry Pollitt and Freighter 'Jolly George').jpg |Ship caption= A Soviet stamp depicting a dramatised version of Harry Pollitt's agitation against the loading of the SS Jolly George }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag=60px |Ship name=SS Jolly George |Ship operator=*Cia Maritima, Barcelona (1894-1898)
|Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Wood, Skinner & Co., Bill Quay, Newcastle-on-Tyne |Ship yard number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=30 August 1894 |Ship completed=November 1894 |Ship renamed=* Balboa (1894-1920)
|Ship acquired= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship fate=Broken up for scrap at La Spezia, 1951 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= Cargo vessel |Ship tonnage= 1,336 GRT |Ship displacement= |Ship length={{convert|238.8|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|33.2|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught={{convert|12|ft|6|in|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= |Ship draft= |Ship ice class= |Ship sail plan= |Ship propulsion=*154nhp
|Ship speed={{convert|9.5|kn|abbr=on}} |Ship capacity= |Ship crew= |Ship notes= }} |
SS Jolly George was a cargo vessel operated by Entente Steamship Co Ltd (AKA the Walford Line) during the period 1916-1923. She was originally launched as the Balboa in 1894, and renamed Jolly George in 1920. The ship was subsequently known as Sebat in Turkish service. The ship played a prominent role in carrying arms to Poland during the Polish-Soviet war.
History
The ship was ordered from Wood, Skinner & Co. by the Cia Maritima company of Barcelona, Spain, and was built in Bill Quay on the Tyne. She was equipped with a 154 nominal horsepower engine supplied by North-Eastern Marine Engineering Co Ltd, Sunderland, and was launched as Balboa in 1894. In 1916 she was obtained by the Entente Shipping company (Leopold Walford Ltd), which later became known as the Walford line, and renamed Jolly George in 1920 .{{cite web |last1=Robinson |first1=George |last2=Waller |first2=David |title=Balboa |url=http://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/B-Ships/balboa1894.html |website=Tyne Built Ships: A history of A history of Tyne shipbuilders and the ships that they built |publisher=Shipping and Ship Building Research Trust |access-date=18 October 2021}} Her new name matched those of other ships operated by the Walford Line, including Jolly Angela, Jolly Bruce, Jolly Inez, and Jolly John.{{cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Joanna |title=Mystery of a 'jolly' vessel in harbour |url=https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/features/lookingback/17808450.mystery-jolly-vessel-harbour/ |access-date=18 October 2021 |work=Dorset Echo |date=1 August 2019}}
In May 1920, whilst loading in the East India Docks of the port of London, the ship was the subject of an industrial dispute related to her cargo of weapons that were bound for Poland, then involved in the Polish-Soviet war against Soviet Russia. Stevedores involved in the loading of the ship noticed that she was being loaded with crates containing 18-pound artillery guns and ammunition which were marked "O.H.M.S. Munitions For Poland". Partly due to agitation by future communist party leader and one-time national organiser of the "Hands Off Russia" campaign Harry Pollitt,{{cite book |last1=White |first1=Stephen |title=Britain and the Bolshevik Revolution |date=17 June 1979 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |isbn=9781349042999 |pages=41–42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CSuuCwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Jolly+George%22+%22Bevin%22+%22Pollitt%22&pg=PA41 |access-date=18 October 2021}} a deputation regarding the matter was sent by the dockers to Ernest Bevin, at the time a senior official in the docker's union. Bevin responded that the dockers would have union support if they refused to load or coal the ship. The ship's owners at the time, the Walford Line, were forced to acquiesce and the Jolly George sailed on 15 May 1920 without the offending weaponry.{{cite book |last1=Ramsay |first1=James Ullman |title=Anglo-Soviet Relations, 1917-1921, Volume 3 The Anglo-Soviet Accord |date=12 March 2019 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=9780691656076 |pages=51–54 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=81iYDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Jolly+George%22+%22OHMS%22&pg=PA51 |access-date=18 October 2021}}
In 1923 the ship was sold by the Walford line to the Turkish Barzilay & Benjamin line which renamed her Sebat. She continued in Turkish service until 1951 when she was sent to be scrapped. She arrived for scrapping at La Spezia, Italy on 27 July 1951, after more than 50 years of service.