SS Tuscania (1921)
{{Short description|Passenger ship}}
{{Redirect|SS New York (1921)|other ships of the same name|List of ships named New York}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2020}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = SS Tuscania (2).jpg | Ship caption = Tuscania (2) under way }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship name = *Tuscania (1922–1939)
| Ship namesake = *Tuscania | Ship owner = *Anchor Line (1922–1939)
| Ship operator = *Anchor Line (1922–1939, 1941–1947)
| Ship registry = Glasgow (1922–1939, 1941–1947) | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}} {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|government}} United Kingdom | Ship route = *Glasgow–New York (1922–1939)
| Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan, Glasgow | Ship original cost = | Ship yard number = 595 | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = 4 October 1921 | Ship completed = | Ship christened = | Ship maiden voyage = 16 September 1922 | Ship in service = | Ship identification = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = title | Ship name = *Nea Hellas (1939–1955)
| Ship owner = General Steam Navigation Company of Greece (1939–1941, 1947–1961) | Ship registry = Andros (1939–1941, 1947–1961) | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Greece|civil}} Greece | Ship route = *Piraeus–New York (1939–1955)
| Ship identification = | Ship fate = Broken up at Onomichi, Hiroshima in 1961 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship type = Ocean liner | Ship tonnage = 16,991 GRT | Ship displacement = | Ship length = {{convert|575|ft}} | Ship beam = {{convert|70|ft}} | Ship height = | Ship draught = | Ship draft = | Ship depth = | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship ice class = | Ship sail plan = | Ship power = Steam turbines | Ship propulsion = Twin propellers | Ship speed = 16 knots | Ship capacity = 1,400 passengers | Ship crew = 200 | Ship notes = }} |
SS Tuscania was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, and launched on 4 October 1921 for the Anchor Line.
Building and description
During the First World War, several large liners of Glasgow-based Anchor Line (Henderson Bros) Ltd were lost, including the earlier Tuscania of 1914. Embarking on a replacement programme even before the end of 1918, the replacement Tuscania for the Mediterranean-New York service was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at Govan, Glasgow, as yard number 595.{{cite news |title=Anchor Line Profits - New Ships Ordered |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001480/19181126/077/0004 |access-date=23 May 2021 |work=The Londonderry Sentinel |publisher=British Newspaper Archive (subscription) |date=26 November 1918}}{{cite ship register|register=MSI|id=1146307|shipname=Tuscania|access-date=2021-05-23}} She measured {{GRT|16991|disp=long}} and {{NRT|10016|disp=long}}, was {{convert|552.3|ft|abbr=on}} long between perpendiculars by {{convert|70.3|ft|abbr=on}} beam and had a depth of {{convert|38.6|ft|abbr=on}}.{{cite book |title=Lloyd's Register, Steamships and Motor Ships |date=1930 |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |location=London |url=https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/30/30b1228.pdf |access-date=23 May 2021}} She had six Brown-Curtis steam turbines, also made by Fairfield, driving twin screws via double reduction gearing, giving her a speed of {{convert|15.5|kn|lk=in}}.{{cite news |title=New Anchor Liner Tuscania - Sir A M Kennedy on the Shipbuilding Slump |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000540/19211005/088/0011 |access-date=23 May 2021 |work=The Scotsman |issue=24,447 |publisher=British Newspaper Archive (subscription) |date=5 October 1921 |location=Edinburgh |page=11}}
The ship was formally named Tuscania when launched on 4 October 1921, in the midst of the post-war economic slump, when many shipowners, Anchor Line included, had asked builders to slow or suspend building work. Tuscania was not completed until almost a year later; she ran sea trials on 8 September 1922 and was registered at Glasgow with Official Number 146307.{{cite news |title=New Anchor Liner |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000540/19220909/083/0011 |access-date=23 May 2021 |work=The Scotsman |issue=24,737 |publisher=British Newspaper Archive (subscription) |date=9 September 1922 |location=Edinburgh |page=11}} As completed, she has capacity for 2462 passengers (267 1st class, 377 2nd and 1818 3rd) and a complement of 342 officers and crew.
History
=Anchor Line=
Earlier plans to deploy Tuscania on the company's Mediterranean-New York service were changed, and she began her career on the Glasgow-Moville-New York route, leaving the Clyde on her maiden voyage on 16 September 1922.{{cite news |title=Anchor Line Movements |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000164/19220918/015/0002 |access-date=23 May 2021 |work=The Courier |issue=21622 |publisher=British Newspaper Archive (subscription) |date=18 September 1922 |location=Dundee |page=2}} She continued on the North Atlantic, with occasional New York-Mediterranean voyages, until May 1926.{{cite web |title=Ship Descriptions T-U |url=http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/descriptions/ShipsT-U.shtml |website=The Ships List |access-date=23 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630061026/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/descriptions/ShipsT-U.shtml |archive-date=30 June 2020 |date=2008 |url-status=live}}
In May 1926, Tuscania was chartered to the Cunard Line for its service between London and New York, via Southampton and Le Havre, and repainted in the charterer's colours. She was returned for service with Anchor Line in 1931. She was later employed on their Liverpool-India service and cruising until sold in 1939 to the Goulandris brothers' General Steam Navigation Company of Greece.{{cite book |last=Emmons |first=Frederick |title =The Atlantic Liners |publisher =Bonanza Books |date =1972 |location =New York |page =23 }}
=''Nea Hellas''=
Upon arrival in Piraeus on 8 March 1939 the ship was renamed Nea Hellas (Νέα Έλλας, meaning "New Greece") and refitted for service between Piraeus and New York City beginning on 19 May 1939. Service between these two ports was interrupted for the duration of World War II for use as a troopship for Allied soldiers. The ship was renamed New York and placed on a New York to Bremen service in 1955. Due to her age, the ship was retired in 1959 and scrapped in 1961.{{cite web |url=https://usa.greekreporter.com/2019/01/29/nea-hellas-the-historic-ship-that-brought-thousands-of-greeks-to-the-us/ |title=Nea Hellas: The Historic Ship That Brought Thousands of Greeks to the US |last=Kokkinidis |first=Tasos |publisher=Greek Reporter |access-date=5 June 2020 }}
Sources
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Category:Passenger ships of the United Kingdom