SS British Transport

SS British Transport was a steel-hulled steamship of 4,143 GRT launched 25 April 1910 by Raylton Dixon at Middlesbrough for Empire Transport Company, Ltd., London.[2]

History
United kingdom
Name: British Transport (1910-1933)
Owner: Empire Transport Co. Ltd. (Houlder Bros & Co. Ltd.), West Hartlepool
Builder: Raylton Dixon, Middlesbrough
Yard number: 550[1]
Launched: 25 April 1910[2]
Completed: June 1910, trials 2 June 1919[3]
Fate: Scrapped, Pola, Italy, July 1933.
General characteristics
Class and type: Steam
Tonnage: 4,143 GRT[4]
Length: 364 feet 8 inches (111.15 m)[4]
Beam: 51 feet 1 inch (15.57 m)[4]
Draught: 26 feet 1 inch (7.95 m)[4]
Propulsion: 2 x boilers, 1 shaft, reciprocating vertical triple expansion[4]

On 11 September 1917 under the command of Capt. Alfred Thompson Pope (Lieut., R.N.R), British Transport was in the Bay of Biscay en route from Brest to Archangel with a cargo of munitions and other explosives when she was attacked by the surfaced U-boat SM U-49. After a five-hour gun battle lasting into darkness, U-49 fired two torpedoes at her but both missed. Betrayed by the phosphorescence in her wake, British Transport pursued and rammed the submarine, and then fired her deck gun to complete U-boat's destruction. U-49 sank at 46.17N 14.42W with the loss of all 43 hands.[5] This was the first action in which a merchant ship had sunk a U-boat, for which Pope was awarded the DSO.[6]

British Transport was scrapped at Pola, Italy, in 1933.[7][8]

References
  1. Tees Built Ships (2018). "BRITISH TRANSPORT". Tees Built Ships. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  2. "Launches and Trial Trips". International Marine Engineering & Naval Architect. Marine Engineering, Inc., New York—London. 32 (June): 437. 1910. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  3. "Launches and Trial Trips". International Marine Engineering & Naval Architect. Marine Engineering, Inc., New York—London. 33 (August): 30. 1910. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  4. Lloyds. "Lloyd's Register 1930-31" (PDF). Lloyd's Register (through PlimsollShipData). Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  5. "WW I U-boats U-49". uboat.net. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  6. "ROYAL NAVY MEDALS - HONOURS & GALLANTRY AWARDS, Part 7 of 11 London Gazette editions 30460-30755 (January-June 1918)". World War 1 at Sea. 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  7. Stevens, E. F., (1950). One hundred years of Houlders. Houlder Bros., London.
  8. Haws, D., (2000). Merchant Fleets in Profile. Volume 38. ISBN 0946378398


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.