SS Metagama
{{Short description|Cabin class transatlantic liner}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2022}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= Metagama 1927.jpg |Ship caption= Metagama in the St. Lawrence River in 1927 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country= United Kingdom |Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|UKGBI|civil}} |Ship name= Metagama |Ship namesake= Metagama, Ontario |Ship owner= Canadian Pacific Railway Co |Ship operator= Canadian Pacific Steamship Co |Ship registry= London |Ship route= *1915: Liverpool – St John, NB |Ship ordered= |Ship builder= Barclay, Curle & Co |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= 511 |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= 19 November 1914 |Ship completed= March 1915 |Ship acquired= |Ship maiden voyage= 27th March 1915 |Ship refit= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship identification= *UK official number 134791
|Ship fate= Scrapped 1934 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type= Ocean liner |Ship class= |Ship tonnage= {{GRT|12420}}, {{NRT|7484}} |Ship length= {{cvt|500.4|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship beam= {{cvt|64.2|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= |Ship depth= {{cvt|37.9|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship decks= 2 |Ship ice class= |Ship power= 1,492 NHP |Ship propulsion= *2 × quadruple expansion engines
|Ship speed= {{convert|16|kn|km/h}} |Ship capacity= *Passengers: 520 first class, 1,200 cabin class
|Ship crew= |Ship sensors= *as built: submarine signalling
|Ship notes= sister ship: Missanabie }} |
SS Metagama was a transatlantic ocean liner that was launched in 1914 and scrapped in 1934. The Canadian Pacific Railway Co owned her and the Canadian Pacific Steamship Co operated her. She was a pioneering example of a "cabin class" passenger ship.
Building
Before the First World War, Canadian Pacific ordered a pair of liners from Barclay, Curle & Co on the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland.{{cite web |url= https://www.clydeships.co.uk/view.php?year_built=&builder=&ref=1646 |title=Missanabie |work=Scottish Built Ships |publisher=Caledonian Maritime Research Trust |access-date=10 July 2022}}{{cite web |url= https://www.clydeships.co.uk/view.php?year_built=&builder=&ref=1647 |title=Metagama |work=Scottish Built Ships |publisher=Caledonian Maritime Research Trust |access-date=10 July 2022}} Canadian Pacific planned the pair to pioneer a new concept in passenger accommodation, in which there was no first class or second class but instead a single "cabin class".{{sfn|Wilson|1956|p=36}}
Barclay, Curle built Missanabie and Metagama as yard numbers 510 and 511. Missanabie was launched on 22 June 1914 and Metagama on 19 November. Metagama was completed in March 1915. Her registered length was {{cvt|500.4|ft|abbr=on}}, her beam was {{cvt|64.2|ft|abbr=on}} and her depth was {{cvt|37.9|ft|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1917, II|loc=MES–MEU}} Her holds had {{convert|46070|cuft|0}} of refrigerated space for perishable cargo.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1917, I}} Her tonnages were {{GRT|12420}} and {{NRT|7484}}.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1917, II|loc=MES–MEU}}
Metagama had twin screws, each driven by a four-cylinder quadruple expansion engine. Between them her twin engines were rated at 1,492 NHP{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1917, II|loc=MES–MEU}} and gave her a speed of {{convert|16|kn|km/h}}.{{sfn|Harnack|1930|p=344}}
Canadian Pacific registered Metagama at London. Her UK official number was 134791 and her code letters were JKDF.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1917, II|loc=MES–MEU}}
Career
Missanabie served in the First World War as troop ships. A U-boat sank her in 1918 with the loss of 45 lives.
File:Hastings County Archives HC02231 (39149751354).jpg entertaining troops on deck aboard Metagama in 1915]]
Metagama remained in civilian passenger service, although her passengers often included troops. Her first regular route was between Liverpool and St John, New Brunswick. She sometimes served Glasgow, and from 1927 her route was between Antwerp and Montreal.{{cite web |url= https://greatships.net/metagama |title=Metagama |work=Great Ships |publisher=Jeff Newman |via=Mark Baber |access-date=10 July 2022}}
The Metagama played a significant role in the 20th century migration of people from the Outer Hebrides to Canada. On Saturday 21 April 1923, she sailed from Stornoway with 300 young Lewis emigrants on board, all but 20 of them young men, with an average age of 22.{{Cite web |title=Emigration on the SS Metagama {{!}} Hebridean Connections |url=https://www.hebrideanconnections.com/historical-events/27104 |access-date=2023-07-04 |website=www.hebrideanconnections.com}} This was one of the first waves of mass emigration from the islands, and had a profound effect on the island culture and history.
Metagama was involved in two collisions. The first was on 26 May 1923, when she collided with Hogarth Line's cargo steamship Baron Vernon in the River Clyde.{{cite web |url= https://perdurabo10.tripod.com/ships/id244.html |last=Donahue |first=James |title=Remembering the Metagama |work=Great And Lost Ships Of The World |access-date=10 July 2022}}
In June 1924 Metagama was westbound to Montreal when the Italian steamship Clara Camus collided with her about seven miles off Cape Race, Newfoundland. Clara Camus{{'}} bow made a hole {{convert|15|by|3|ft|0}} in the Matagama{{'}}s port side. Metagama launched a lifeboat crewed by three crewmen to inspect the damage, but in the fog the boat drifted away from the ship and disappeared. The United States Coast Guard Cutter {{USCGC|Tampa|WPG-48|2}} later found the boat, but its three occupants were missing. Metagama was towed into port and her 695 passengers were transferred to another CP liner, Montreal, on which they completed their journey to Montreal.
File:Cabin Class Lounge on the 'Metagama' (1915) RMG G10988.tiff
By 1924 Metagama{{'}}s navigation equipment included wireless direction finding.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1924|loc=MER–MET}} By 1930 her wireless telegraph call sign was GMLQ.{{sfn|Mercantile Navy List 1930|p=363}}
The Great Depression that began in 1929 led to a global slump in merchant shipping. From 1931 Metagama was laid up at Southend-on-Sea in England.{{sfn|Emmons|1972|p=40}} On 13 April 1934 she arrived at Bo'ness on the Firth of Forth, where P&W MacLellan scrapped her.
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |last=Emmons |first=Frederick |year=1972 |title=The Atlantic Liners 1925–70 |place=New York |publisher=Bonanza Books |isbn=978-0517209837}}
- {{cite book |last=Harnack |first=Edwin P |origyear=1903 |year=1930 |title=All About Ships & Shipping |place=London |publisher=Faber and Faber |edition=4th}}
- {{cite book |year=1917 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=I–Sailing Vessels, Owners, &c. |chapter=Lists of vessels fitted with refrigerating appliances |at=Part I.—List of vessels having a capacity of 80,000 cubic feet and over, and including all vessels holding Lloyd's R.M.C. |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Internet Archive |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1916SV/page/n333/mode/1up |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1917, I}} }}
- {{cite book |year=1917 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II–Steamers |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Internet Archive |url= https://ia-petabox.archive.org/details/HECROS1918ST/page/n670/mode/1up |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1917, II}} }}
- {{cite book |year=1924 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II–Steamers and Motorships |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Internet Archive |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1925ST/page/n771/mode/1up |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1924}} }}
- {{cite book |year=1930 |title=Mercantile Navy List |via=Crew List Index Project |url= https://www.crewlist.org.uk/data/viewimages?name=Metagama&year=1930&submit=Enter |ref={{harvid|Mercantile Navy List 1930}} }}
- {{cite book |last=Wilson |first=RM |year=1956 |title=The Big Ships |place=London |publisher=Cassell & Co}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Metagama}}
Category:Maritime incidents in 1923
Category:Maritime incidents in 1924
Category:Passenger ships of the United Kingdom
Category:Ships built in Glasgow