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RMS Ivernia (1899)

Coordinates: 35°42′N 23°19′E / 35.700°N 23.317°E / 35.700; 23.317
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For other ships with the same name, see RMS Ivernia.

Ivernia
Cunard Liner Ivernia
History
United Kingdom
NameSS Ivernia
NamesakeIverni
OwnerCunard Line
Port of registryUnited Kingdom Liverpool, United Kingdom
BuilderC. S. Swan & Hunter, Tyne and Wear
Yard number247 [1]
Laid down6 December 1898 [2]
Launched21 September 1899 [2]
ChristenedThe Countess of Ravensworth[2]
Maiden voyage14 April 1900, Liverpool to New York [3]
Refit
FateTorpedoed and sunk, 1 January 1917
NotesCompleted deep-sea trials 27 March 1900, off Liverpool [5]
General characteristics
TypeOcean liner
Tonnage13,900 gross register tons (GRT)[2][5]
Length
Beam64.5 ft (19.7 m)[2]
Height140 ft (43 m) from keel to top of funnel[2]
Depth41.5 ft (12.6 m) (depth moulded to Upper Deck)[2]
Decks
  • 6 passenger decks
  • 8 decks overall[6]
Installed power
  • 9 single-ended scotch boilers
  • Steam pressure of 210psi
  • 12,000 indicated horsepower[7]
PropulsionSteam quadruple-expansion engines geared to twin propellers
Speed
  • 16.8 knots (31.1 km/h; 19.3 mph) (achieved on trials)[5]
  • 16.25 knots (30.10 km/h; 18.70 mph) (contract stipulation)[5]
Capacity
  • 1,964 passengers
  • (164 First Class, 200 Second Class, 1,600 Third Class)
Notes

SS Ivernia was a British ocean liner owned by the Cunard Line, built by the company C. S. Swan & Hunter of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and launched in 1899. The Ivernia was one of Cunard's intermediate ships, that catered to the vast immigrant trade. Like her sisters, she saw military service during World War I, and was sunk in 1917 after being struck by a torpedo.

Saxonia was the larger sister ship of Ivernia, and was launched three months later at John Brown & Company of Clydebank, leaving Ivernia the largest Cunard steamer during those months.

Carpathia was a smaller half-sister of Ivernia and Saxonia, built at the same yard as Ivernia and launched in 1902, to a modified design based on her older half-sisters. Carpathia was made famous for its role in the aftermath of the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912.

Design

Conception

In 1898, the Cunard Line commissioned C. S. Swan & Hunter, based on the North bank of the River Tyne in Wallsend, to construct one of two new intermediate-sized liners intended to work the Liverpool-Boston route across the North Atlantic. Unlike the leading Cunard liners at the time, RMS Campania and RMS Lucania, the new Ivernia class would focus on cargo and economy. Space otherwise taken by engine and boiler machinery would instead be freed for cargo at the cost of some speed.[6]

Cunard produced a plan on 3 August 1898 at their Derby Road works in Liverpool to accompany a contract specification for Swan & Hunter, and this was reviewed by William Denton, director of the yard, three days later with some adjustments that led to the appearance of Ivernia diverging from that of her sister Saxonia. The design was of a 580 ft (180 m) vessel with passenger and cargo capacity over 8 decks.[8]

First class saloons were on the top deck, the Promenade Deck. Below this was the 280 ft (85 m) Bridge Deck consisting of a main house accomodating first-class cabins, a separate rear house for second-class cabins, and a small forward house for the officers mess. The Shelter Deck spanned the full length of the ship and mainly housed the second class passengers, along with the first and second class dining saloons within a central house under the Bridge Deck. The enclosed Upper Deck housed crew, some cargo, and the third class promenade. Beneath this was the Main Deck which housed third class cabins forward, and dormitory accomadation aft. Below was the Lower Deck and a forward Orlop Deck, housing cargo and refrigerated goods. Finally, the boiler room and engine room sat back-to-back in the middle of the ship on top of the double bottom, separated from deep forward and after cargo and ballast holds by 10 watertight bulkheads extending up to the Upper Deck.[8]

At launch, Ivernia was equipped with 18 lifeboats, with 8 on the Promenade Deck, two just forward of the bridge on the Bridge Deck, four atop the second class accomodation on the Bridge Deck (paired and served by only two, not four, davits), and four at the aft of the Shelter Deck.

A longitudinal section plan of the Ivernia at launch in 1899, showing deck and bulkhead layout

Power and Propulsion

The engines were designed and built by Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company, neighbours of C. S. Swan & Hunter on Tyneside, and were quadruple-expansion engines. The designer was Andrew Laing, who also designed the triple-expansion engines that powered the RMS Lucania to capture the Blue Riband accolade for fastest average speed crossing the Atlantic in 1894. The quadruple-expansion design could output 12,000 indicated horsepower, with cylinders of 28, 41, 58.5, and 84 inches in diameter, from high to low pressure, and a common stroke of 54 inches. These were fed by nine single-ended scotch boilers 15.5 ft (4.7 m) in diameter and 11.5 ft (3.5 m) deep and equipped with the Howden forced draught system with air drawn into the furnaces with use of a fan. The two engines were connected by Armstrong Whitworth shafts to twin three-bladed manganese bronze propellers on a pair of steel bosses.[7]

Starting and reversing of the direction of the propeller shaft was conducted by a separate, small engine. An additional larger donkey boiler was situated behind the funnel across the Main and Upper decks to provide steam for deck machinery and other uses.[7]

These engines allowed Ivernia to achieve a speed of 16.8 knots when completing its deep-sea trials in late May 1900, after fitting-out was complete. This exceeded the design contract stipulation of a 16.25 knots top speed, and made Ivernia the fastest of the three sisters.[5]

Electric lighting throughout the ship was fed from a dynamo generator providing a direct current from a dynamo room just behind the funnel on the Upper Deck.[8]

Operational history

Early history

Ivernia arrived on the River Mersey on 27 march 1900, after a five-day journey from the Tyne, and her passengers complimented her stability in rough weather during her delivery voyage.[9][10]

Ivernia undertook her maiden transatlantic voyage on 14 April 1900[3] from Liverpool to New York City, as the liners that were intended to work that route were conducting troop transport duties for the Second Boer War.[5] On board for this maiden voyage was Charles Sheriton Swan, son of Charles Sheridan Swan, co-founder of the builder's yard.[3] Only a few weeks later, together with her sister ship RMS Saxonia, the Ivernia began working on Cunard's service from Liverpool to Boston and then later on the immigrant run the Cunard Line had established from Fiume and Trieste to New York.[11]

Wireless history

In 1901, Cunard began outfitting its ships with a Marconi wireless system, beginning with RMS Lucania on 21 May, followed by RMS Campania, RMS Umbria and RMS Etruria. .[12]

With a longer-than-usual stopover in Liverpool of 14 days (from February 4th to 18th 1902), after Ivernia weathered a storm to bring passengers and $359,695 worth of silver across the Atlantic from New York, construction of a hut for a wireless operator would have been possible in preparation for Ivernia's Marconi equipment.[13] Two months later, Ivernia arrived from Boston on April 10th, when the Cunard engineers at Liverpool had the opportunity to complete the fitting of the wireless aparatus.[14] Ivernia sailed with a Marconi system installed and operational for the first time on 15 April 1902, with her first broadcast from 30 miles off shore reporting "All well" back to Liverpool.[15]

In 1909, sending a message to the United States from Ivernia would cost a passenger 8s. 4d. for a ten-word message, or 6s for 12 words to the UK.

Daunt Rock Incident

Ivernia departed Boston on a routine voyage on 16 May 1911, under the command of Captain Thomas Potter, and was approaching Queenstown harbour on 24 May.[16] Heavy fog closed in around noon, and she struck Daunt Rock only 9 mi (14.48 km) from the port. The forward hull of the ship was badly damaged in multiple places, but Ivernia successfully made it into the inner harbour while taking on water. All passengers were disembarked to Queenstown while Ivernia was at anchor in the Kinloch Channel, but as dusk approached and the forward holds continued to take on water, Captain Potter made the decision to have the ship towed to the mud banks near Corkbeg Island on the eastern side of the harbour. Divers assessed the damage, and powerful pumps brought aboard, but the water continued to slowly rise.[17]

728 passengers were on board at the time of the accident, and the crew were able to remain on board throughout the salvage process. An unnamed first-class passenger reported they had felt the impact from the smoking room, and emerged onto the deck to see the Captain and officers calmly discussing the matter at the bridge. So calm was the atmosphere that lunch was still served, with an orchestra playing for entertainment. Nevertheless it was apparent to the passenger that the ship was slowly sinking by the head.[18]

Lloyd's Register surveyor Herbert W Dove inspected the ship on 1 June, and reported flooding as high as the Main Deck and even the Shelter Deck at high water. The vessel was moved to Haulbowline for temporary repair and then returned to Liverpool for repair and refurbishment, should it be refloated.[19]

Nearly a month after it struck the reef, Ivernia was successfully refloated on 23 June 1911, the pumps finally able to keep pace with incoming water enough to enable temporary repair.[20]

A Board of Trade Inquiry found that Captain Potter was responsible for the accident, finding him guilty of "navigating the vessel at too great a rate of speed in increasingly thick weather". They were satisfied that the course set for the vessel was appropriate, but that the compass was at fault for leading the ship towards Daunt Rock. The court decided Captain Potter's master's certificate did not need to be revoked, allowing him to continue captaining vessels, but he was "censured" and made to pay £50 (equivalent to £6,432 in 2023) towards the costs of the inquiry.[21]

However, on 8 July an address was read out, signed by prominent figures from Cork and Queenstown, praising Captain Potter's success in handling the incident will skill in sailing the stricken vessel to port and avoiding loss of life or loss of the vessel herself.[22]

The still-damaged liner departed Queenstown for Liverpool under her own steam on 6 July, accompanied by tugs and salvage vessels from the Liverpool Salvage Association that had assisted in refloating her.[23] Ivernia was placed in Brocklebank Graving Dock in Liverpool, and Cunard staff began refitting and furnishing the ship. The ship repairers, H & C Grayson Ltd, were assigned the task of repairing the structural damage.[24]

Ivernia returned to service on 17 October 1911, with much of its interior refitted.[4] with William R D Irvine in command, carrying 872 passengers out of Liverpool towards Queenstown and Boston.[25]

World War I

Captain William Thomas Turner, photographed on 11 March 1915.

On 4 August 1914, following the outbreak of World War I, the Ivernia was hired by the British government. Initially it brought Canadian Soldiers to Europe.[26] In March 1915 it was in use as a prison ship moored off Southend-on-Sea and holding around 1,500 German prisoners of war.[27]

Now known as HMT Ivernia, the liner began operating as a troopship in support of the Gallipoli campaign once it had offloaded its prisoners. It departed Devonport on 12 May 1915, carrying the Collingwood Battalion of the 63rd Royal Naval Division. It called at Gibraltar in 16 May, and Malta on 19 May, arriving at Lemnos on 22 May. Due to submarines in the Mediterranean Sea, Ivernia ran with no lights at night.[28] The soldiers on this voyage would go on to fight in the Third Battle of Krithia.

In autumn of 1916, William Thomas Turner (made famous for being the captain of RMS Lusitania at the time of her sinking) had taken command of Ivernia from Arthur Rostron (made famous himself for being the captain of the RMS Carpathia when it rescued the survivors of the Titanic).[29][30]

On 1 January 1917, the Ivernia was carrying some 2,400 British troops from Marseille to Alexandria, when at 10:12 am she was torpedoed by the German submarine UB-47 58 miles south-east of Cape Matapan in Greece, in the Kythira Strait. The ship went down fairly quickly with a loss of 36 crew members and 84 troops. Captain Turner, who had been criticised for not going down with the Lusitania (even though he had believed he was the last person on board), remained on the bridge until all aboard had departed in lifeboats and rafts "before striking out to swim as the vessel went down under his feet."[30]

HMS Rifleman rescued a number of survivors and armed trawlers towed the bulk, who had taken to lifeboats, to Suda Bay in Crete.

Today Ivernia Road in Walton in Liverpool still bears the name of the doomed vessel.

See also

A postcard for Ivernia that uses a photograph of half-sister Carpathia

References

  1. ^ "Record Yard no. 247, Ivernia". Tyne and Wear Archives Catalogue. Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Maw, W H; Dredge, J (22 September 1899). "The Cunard Liner "Ivernia"". Engineering: An Illustrated Weekly Journal. 68: 368.
  3. ^ a b c "BT27/318/17 - Ivernia, Liverpool to New York", UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, The National Archives, Kew, 14 April 1900
  4. ^ a b "The Ivernia Departs For Boston". Cork Examiner. No. 18, 149. 18 October 1911. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Maw, W H; Dredge, J (6 April 1900). "Launches and Trial Trips". Engineering: An Illustrated Weekly Journal. 69: 463.
  6. ^ a b Maw, W H; Dredge, J (21 September 1900). "The Cunard Liner "Ivernia"". Engineering: An Illustrated Weekly Journal. 70: 368–369.
  7. ^ a b c Maw, W H; Dredge, J (5 October 1900). "The Quadruple Expansion Engines of the Cunard Liner "Ivernia"". Engineering: An Illustrated Weekly Journal. 70: 436.
  8. ^ a b c Denton, W, "Rough outline of Proposed Twin-Screw Steamer", Tyne and Wear Archives Catalogue, Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums
  9. ^ "The Ivernia Arrives At Liverpool". Shields Daily Gazette. No. 13, 649. 29 March 1900. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  10. ^ "Departure of the Ivernia". Shields Daily Gazette. No. 13, 645. 24 March 1900. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  11. ^ Neil McCart, Atlantic Liners of the Cunard Line (1990), pp. 35-36.
  12. ^ Hancock, H.E. (1950). Wireless at Sea. Chelmsford: Marconi International Marine Communication Company. p. 44.
  13. ^ "Arrival of the Ivernia". Liverpool Daily Post. No. 14555. 5 February 1902. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  14. ^ "BT26/193/26 - Ivernia, Boston to Liverpool", UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, The National Archives, Kew, 10 April 1902
  15. ^ "Cunard Boston Steamer Fitted". Liverpool Mercury. No. 16945. 17 April 1902. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  16. ^ "BT26/482/9-16 - Ivernia, Boston to Queenstown", UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, The National Archives, Kew, 24 May 1911
  17. ^ "Crippled Ivernia". Liverpool Echo. No. 9818. 26 May 1911. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  18. ^ "ACCIDENT TO LINER DAMAGED ON GAUNT'S ROCK - Experience On The Ivernia". Western Daily Press. No. 16528. 31 May 1911. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  19. ^ Dove, Herbert W., "Regarding the bulkheads of the steamer "Ivernia"", Correspondence, Lloyd's Register of British & Foreign Shipping, Heritage and Education Centre
  20. ^ "IVERNIA REFLOATED -To Be Towed To Liverpool". Liverpool Daily Post. No. 17, 492. 24 June 1911. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  21. ^ "SHIPPING". The Mercury. Vol. XCVI, no. 12, 962. Tasmania, Australia. 10 October 1911. p. 4. Retrieved 2 October 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  22. ^ "COMPLIMENTING CAPTAIN POTTER". Cork Weekly Examiner. No. 3, 173. 8 July 1911. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  23. ^ "Damaged Ivernia". Liverpool Echo. No. 9, 853. 6 July 1911. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  24. ^ "Repair Of The Cunard Liner Ivernia". Liverpool Journal of Commerce. No. 26, 460. 2 August 1911. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  25. ^ "BT27/717/3/3/24 - Ivernia, Liverpool to Boston", UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, The National Archives, Kew, 17 October 1911
  26. ^ "Two Leicester Men Saved". Leicester Daily Mercury. 10 May 1914. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  27. ^ "Prison Ships". Liverpool Daily Post. No. 18, 656. 17 March 1915. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  28. ^ "A Burtonian In Gallipoli". Burton Observer and Chronicle. No. 922. 13 January 1916. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  29. ^ "Acting Purser of the Invernia". Liverpool Journal of Commerce. No. 28, 161. 13 January 1917. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  30. ^ a b Gould, James E. (7 May 2015). "Why Should Captains Go Down With Their Ships?". The Atlantic Monthly. Retrieved 8 May 2015.

35°42′N 23°19′E / 35.700°N 23.317°E / 35.700; 23.317

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