View source for SS Arabic (1920)

{{Short description|Transatlantic ocean liner}}
{{other ships|SS Arabic|SS Berlin}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{more citations needed|date=July 2008}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = SS Arabic 3.jpg
| Ship caption = SS Arabic at sea
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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| Ship country = [[German Empire]]
| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|German Empire|naval}}
| Ship class = 
| Ship operator = [[Norddeutscher Lloyd]]
| Ship name = ''Berlin''
| Ship ordered = 
| Ship builder = [[AG Weser]], [[Bremen]]
| Ship laid down = 
| Ship launched = 7 November 1908
| Ship completed = 25 April 1909
| Ship acquired = 
| Ship commissioned = October 1914<ref>Hawkins p63</ref>
| Ship decommissioned = 
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| Ship reinstated = 
| Ship fate = Interned 18 November 1914
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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| Ship country = United Kingdom
| Ship flag = {{Shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}}
| Ship name = ''Arabic''
| Ship namesake = 
| Ship owner = 
| Ship operator = *[[White Star Line]]
*[[Red Star Line]]
| Ship registry = 
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| Ship acquired = by purchase, November 1920
| Ship in service = 7 September 1921
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| Ship fate = Sold for scrapping, December 1931
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}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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| Header caption = <ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.oocities.org/White_Star_Liners/Arabic-III.html |title=Arabic (III)  |work=oocities.org |year=2012 |accessdate=28 October 2012}}</ref>
| Ship class = 
| Ship type = 
| Ship tonnage = {{GRT|16,786}}
| Ship displacement = 23,700 t
| Ship length = {{Convert|613|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam = {{Convert|69|ft|8|in|abbr=on}}
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| Ship propulsion = [[Quadruple expansion steam engine]]s, {{Convert|16000|ihp|0|abbr=on}}, 2 propellers
| Ship speed = {{Convert|19|kn|lk=in}}
| Ship range = 
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| Ship boats = 
| Ship capacity = *3212 passengers:
*266 × 1st class
*246 × 2nd class
*2,700 × 3rd class
| Ship crew = 410
| Ship notes = 
}}
|}
'''SS ''Arabic''''', originally built as '''''Berlin''''', was a passenger steamship launched on 7 November 1908 which was built by the [[AG Weser]] [[shipbuilding company]] in Germany. Her gross register tonnage was advertised at 16,786 tons. She made her maiden voyage on 1 May 1909 from New York to Genoa and Bremerhaven. In September 1914 she became an [[auxiliary cruiser]] with the [[Imperial German Navy]] as a [[minelayer]]. 

''Berlin'' remained in Norway for the duration of the war. In 1919 she was transferred to Britain as war reparations and put into service as the [[White Star Line]]'s ''Arabic''. In 1931 she was discarded and broken up for scrap.

==History==

===Early career===
[[File:Feldpostkarten von Rudolf Kämmerer aus Norwegen Berlin.jpg|thumb|left|''Berlin'' interned at Lofjord, in [[Trondheim]], Norway]]
''Berlin'' was built in 1908 by [[AG Weser]] of [[Bremen]] for the [[North German Lloyd]] shipping line, and saw service on the [[Genoa]] to [[New York City]] route prior to the outbreak of the First World War. 
In August 1914 ''Berlin'' was at [[Bremerhaven]] undergoing repairs, and was taken over by the Imperial German Navy for service as an auxiliary cruiser.<ref>Schmalenbach p46</ref>

===World War I===
''Berlin'' was intended for use as a fast [[minelayer]] and also to operate as a [[commerce raider]]. This was part of Germany's ''kleinkrieg'' campaign, to wear down Britain's numerical advantage by using mines and other devices to sink warships, or to divert them from fleet operations into trade protection.  ''Berlin'' was converted for the role at [[Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven|Kaiserliche Werft]] ( KWW ) in [[Wilhelmshaven]] and equipped with minelaying equipment and 200 mines. She also carried two 105&nbsp;mm guns, and several heavy machine guns.

Commissioned in October 1914 under the command of [[Kapitan zur See|KzS]] Hans Pfundheller, the ship's first mission was laying a mine field off the north-west coast of Ireland against British trade. This she succeeded in doing, laying 200 mines on 23 October off [[Tory Island]]. The first victim of Berlin's minefield was the British cargo ship SS Manchester Commerce of 5,363 GRT.  By chance the [[Grand Fleet]] had evacuated [[Scapa Flow]] under the threat of U-boat attacks (the Flow being undefended at that time) and were stationed temporarily at [[Lough Swilly]].<ref>Halpern p33</ref> On 27 October vessels of the Grand Fleet sailed into ''Berlin’s'' minefield; the new dreadnought battleship {{HMS|Audacious|1912|6}} was struck and damaged, sinking later as efforts were made to tow her to safety. The trans-Atlantic liner {{RMS|Olympic}} was also in the area, with a full complement of passengers, but she escaped hitting any of ''Berlin’s'' mines, thus avoiding  a major diplomatic incident.<ref>Hawkins p64</ref>

''Berlin'' sought to return to Germany, but put in at [[Trondheim]] with storm damage. Having outstayed her 24 hours grace and unfit to leave port, she was interned by the Norwegians on 18 November 1914.<ref>{{cite web |title=Minelayer Berlin Interned in Norway |url=http://today-in-wwi.tumblr.com/post/102788585073/minelayer-berlin-interned-in-norway |website=today-in-wwi.tumblr.com |date=16 November 2014 |accessdate=4 October 2018}}</ref>

===Post-war career===
[[File:Ss arabic ship.jpg|thumb|left|Postcard of SS ''Arabic'']]
In December 1919 she was a war reparation to [[P&O (company)|P&O Line]]. About a year later in 1920 she was purchased by the [[White Star Line]], based in Liverpool and was refitted in Portsmouth, it was then she was renamed the SS ''Arabic''. In September 1921 she made her maiden voyage as a White Star Line ship, via the Southampton to New York route. Afterwards, she sailed on the Mediterranean to New York service until 1924 when she was moved to the Hamburg to New York route, later that year her passenger accommodation was modified, and on 29 October 1926 ''Arabic'' made her first voyage under charter to the [[Red Star Line]] and resumed doing so until 1930 when she reverted to the [[White Star Line]] and her passenger accommodation was again modified. Less than one year later she was sold for breaking up at Genoa.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
*{{Cite book|last=Halpern|first=Paul G.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31160583|title=A Naval History of World War I|publisher=UCL Press|year=1994|isbn=1-85728-295-7|location=London|oclc=31160583}}
*{{Cite book|last=Hawkins|first=Nigel|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1154858280|title=The Starvation Blockades: Naval Blockades of WW1|publisher=Leo Cooper|year=2002|isbn=978-0-85052-908-1|location=Barnsley|language=English|oclc=1154858280}}
*{{Cite book|last=Schmalenbach|first=Paul|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/7843588|title=German Raiders: A History of Auxiliary Cruisers of the German Navy, 1895-1945|date=1979|publisher=Patrick Stephens|isbn=0-85059-351-4|location=Cambridge [England]|oclc=7843588}}

== External links ==
*{{commonscat-inline}}
*{{commons category-inline|Berlin (ship, 1909)|'''SS Berlin (1908)'''}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120716184616/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/whitestar.html The Ship List]

{{White Star Line ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arabic (1908)}}
[[Category:Ships of the White Star Line]]
[[Category:1908 ships]]