View source for SS Donegal

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}} 
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= SS Donegal postcard.jpg
|Ship caption= ''Donegal'' in Midland Railway service
}} 
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country= [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|government}}
|Ship name=*SS ''Donegal'' (1904–14)
*HMHS ''Donegal'' (1914–17)
|Ship namesake= [[County Donegal]], Ireland
|Ship owner= [[Midland Railway]]<ref name=Clyde>{{cite web |url= http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=15334 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131203083340/http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=15334 |url-status= usurped |archive-date= 3 December 2013 |last1=Cameron |first1=Stuart |last2=Biddulph |first2=Bruce |last3=Robinson |first3=George |title=SS Donegal |publisher=Clydesite|access-date=2 December 2013}}</ref><ref name=U1686>{{cite Uboat.net
|id=1686
|name=Donegal
|type=1ship
|accessdate=2 December 2013
}}</ref>
|Ship operator= 
|Ship route= [[Heysham Port|Heysham]] – [[Port of Belfast|Belfast]]
|Ship ordered= 
|Ship builder= [[Caird & Company]], [[Greenock]]<ref name=Clyde/><ref name=U1686/>
|Ship yard number= 303<ref name=Clyde/>
|Ship laid down= 
|Ship launched= 30 April 1904
|Ship completed= 1904<ref name=Clyde/>
|Ship acquired= 
|Ship in service= 
|Ship out of service= 
|Ship registry= {{flagicon|UK|civil}} [[Port of Belfast|Belfast]]<ref name=Clyde/><ref name=U1686/>
{{flagicon|UK|government}}
|Ship identification= 
|Ship fate= Torpedoed and sunk by {{ship|SM|UC-21||2}}, 17 April 1917<ref name=Clyde/>
|Ship notes= 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class= 
|Ship type=*passenger ferry (1904–14);
*ambulance ship (1914–17)
|Ship tonnage= {{GRT|1885}}<ref name=Clyde/><ref name=U1686/>
|Ship length= {{convert|331|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name=Clyde/>
|Ship beam= {{convert|42.1|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name=Clyde/>
|Ship draught= {{convert|17.2|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name=Clyde/>
|Ship depth= 
|Ship decks= 
|Ship power= 386 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]]<ref name=Clyde/><ref name=U1686/>
|Ship propulsion= [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion steam engine]];<ref name=Clyde/> screw
|Ship speed= {{convert|13|kn|km/h}}<ref name=Clyde/>
|Ship capacity= 610 (as ambulance ship)<ref name=Bendigonian>{{cite news |title=Hospital Ships Sunk |newspaper=[[Bendigo]]nian |publisher=[[National Library of Australia]] |date=26 April 1917 |url= http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article90857229|access-date=2 December 2013 }}</ref>
|Ship crew= 70 (as ambulance ship)<ref name=Bendigonian/>
|Ship armament= 
|Ship sensors= 
|Ship notes= [[sister ship]]: {{SS|Antrim}}
}}
|}

'''SS ''Donegal''''' was a [[Midland Railway]] passenger ferry that served in the First World War as an ambulance ship. She was completed in 1904 and sunk by enemy action in April 1917.

==Building and peacetime service==
In 1897–1903 the [[Midland Railway]] of England had [[Heysham Port]] on the coast of [[Lancashire]] built as a terminal for ferries to and from [[Ireland]]. In 1903 the Midland established its interest in Ireland by buying the [[Belfast and Northern Counties Railway]].

In 1904 the Midland took delivery of a pair of new passenger ferries from [[River Clyde|Clydeside]] shipyards in [[Glasgow]] and [[Greenock]] to work between [[Heysham Port railway station|Heysham Port]] and [[Belfast Harbour]]. They came from different builders but they were [[sister ship]]s: {{SS|Antrim||2}} built by [[John Brown & Company]] of [[Clydebank]], and ''Donegal'' built by [[Caird & Company]] of [[Greenock]].<ref name=Clyde/>

''Donegal'' had a [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion steam engine]] rated at 386 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]], giving her a speed of {{convert|13|kn|km/h}}.<ref name=Clyde/> She and ''Antrim'' worked between Heysham and [[Port of Belfast|Belfast]] from 1904 until they were requisitioned for UK Government service in the First World War.

==War service and loss==
{{location map|UK England Southeast|relief=1|width=304
|lat= 50.26
|long= -1.00
|caption= Approximate position of ''Donegal''{{'}}s wreck off the French coast in the [[English Channel]]
|AlternativeMap= 
}}
''Donegal'' was one of numerous ferries, many of them requisitioned from railway companies, that were converted into ambulance ships to carry wounded personnel from France back to Great Britain. Ambulance ships were classified as [[hospital ship]]s under [[Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907|Hague Convention X of 1907]] and as such were to be clearly marked and lit to make them easy to identify. Nevertheless, in the First World War the [[Imperial German Navy]] attacked and sank a number of British hospital ships. The UK Government then announced it would cease marking hospital ships, alleging that German vessels had used their markings and lighting to target them, so ''Donegal'' was unmarked.<ref name=Bendigonian/>

On 1 March 1917 a German submarine tried to attack ''Donegal'' but the steamer managed to outrun her. Then on 17 April 1917 both ''Donegal'' and a larger ship, {{HMHS|Lanfranc}}, were sunk by U-boats when carrying British wounded across the [[English Channel]].<ref name=WOHS>{{harvnb|The War on Hospital Ships|1918|p=16}}</ref>

''Donegal'' had sailed from [[Port of Le Havre|Le Havre]] bound for [[Port of Southampton|Southampton]]<ref name=WOHS/> carrying 610 lightly wounded soldiers and 70 crew.<ref name=Bendigonian/> She had a [[Royal Navy]] escort.<ref name=Bendigonian/><ref name=WOHS/> She was about {{convert|19|nmi|km}} south of the Dean [[Lightvessel|light vessel]] when the [[German Type UC II submarine]] {{ship|SM|UC-21}} torpedoed her. She sank with the loss of 29 wounded British soldiers and 12 of her crew.<ref name=WOHS/>

A [[Royal Naval Reserve]] Lieutenant, H Holehouse, jumped from his ship into the sea to recover one of ''Donegal''{{'}}s wounded soldiers from the water. The man did not recover, but the [[Royal Humane Society]] awarded Lieut. Holehouse its [[Royal Humane Society#Medals and awards|bronze medal]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lsars.org.uk/bronz17s.htm |title=Royal Humane Society Bronze Medals Taken from the Annual Report for 1917 |work=Life Saving Medal Rolls and Citations |publisher=Life Saving Awards Research Society (LSARS) |last=Fevyer |first=Bill |access-date=2 December 2013 |archive-date=5 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131205053315/http://lsars.org.uk/bronz17s.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==''Titanic'' connections==
Two of ''Donegal''{{'}}s crew, [[Archie Jewell]]<ref name=Yachting>{{harvnb|Durham|2008}}</ref> and [[Arthur John Priest]],<ref name=BBC>{{cite web |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17543632 |title=Titanic's unsinkable stoker |work=Northern Ireland Politics |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=30 March 2012|access-date=2 December 2013}}</ref> had served on {{RMS|Titanic}} and survived her sinking in April 1912. Jewell had been one of ''Titanic''{{'}}s lookouts (although not on watch when she struck the iceberg)<ref name=Yachting/> and Priest had been one of her stokers.<ref name=BBC/> Priest had also been on the liner {{RMS|Asturias}} when she foundered on her maiden voyage in 1907, and on {{RMS|Olympic}} when she was damaged in a collision with {{HMS|Hawke|1891|6}} in 1911.<ref name=BBC/>

Priest then served on the [[Armed merchantman#Armed merchant cruisers|armed merchant cruiser]] {{SS|Alcantara|1913|2}} when she and the German armed merchant cruiser {{SMS|Greif|1914|6}} sank each other in February 1916.<ref name=BBC/> Both Jewell<ref name=Yachting/> and Priest<ref name=BBC/> then served on ''Titanic''{{'}}s [[White Star Line]] sister ship {{HMHS|Britannic}}, and survived when she was sunk in November 1916. When ''Donegal'' sank, Priest survived yet again<ref name=BBC/> but Jewell was killed.<ref name=Yachting/> In 1917 Priest was awarded the Mercantile Marine Ribbon for his service in the war.<ref name=BBC/>

==Wreck==
''Donegal''{{'}}s wreck lies intact on her [[Port and starboard|port]] side in about {{convert|45|to|50|m}} of water.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.dive125.co.uk/diving/gosport/wrecks-and-sites/ |title=Gosport, Wrecks and Sites |work=Dive Eastbourne and more |publisher=Dive125 |year=2012|access-date=2 December 2013}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of hospital ships sunk in World War I]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book |year=1918 |title=The War on Hospital Ships, With Narratives of Eye-Witnesses and British and German Diplomatic Correspondence |edition=Second and Revised |location=New York and London |publisher=[[Harper (publisher)|Harper and Brothers]] |page=16 |ref={{harvid|The War on Hospital Ships|1918}}}}
*{{cite news |url= http://www.yachtingmonthly.com/news/409032/died-at-sea |last=Durham |first=Dick |title=Died at sea |newspaper=Yachting Monthly |publisher=[[IPC Media]] |date=25 November 2008|access-date=2 December 2013 }}

{{coord|50.26|-1.00|format=dms|display=title}}
{{April 1917 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donegal}}
[[Category:1904 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]]
[[Category:Ferries of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships of the Midland Railway]]
[[Category:Passenger ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1917]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I]]
[[Category:World War I shipwrecks in the English Channel]]
[[Category:Attacks on hospitals during World War I]]
[[Category:World War I crimes by Imperial Germany]]