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SS Tuscania (1914)

Coordinates: 55°22′N 6°13′W / 55.367°N 6.217°W / 55.367; -6.217
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For other ships with the same name, see SS Tuscania.

Tuscania
History
United Kingdom
NameTuscania
NamesakeTuscany
OwnerAnchor Line
BuilderAlexander Stephen and Sons, Linthouse
Launched4 September 1914[1]
FateSunk by UB-77, 5 February 1918
General characteristics
Tonnage14,348 GRT
Length567 ft (173 m)
Beam66 ft 4 in (20.22 m)
Depth45 ft (14 m)
Installed power6 × Scotch boilers[1]
PropulsionParsons steam turbines - twin screw[2]
Capacity2,500+ passengers
Armament4-inch naval gun (fitted October 1916)[3]
NotesTransylvania and Tuscania were the first installations of geared turbines in large trans-Atlantic vessels.[1]
Graveyard from the Tuscania disaster

SS Tuscania was a luxury liner of the Anchor Line, a subsidiary of the Cunard Line and named after Tuscania, Italy. In 1918 the ship was torpedoed and sunk by the German U-boat UB-77 while transporting American troops to Europe with the loss of 210 lives.[4]

Operations

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Tuscania carried passengers between New York City and Glasgow while in service with the Anchor Line, on a route that had previously been assigned to her sister ship Transylvania.[2] On its first trip to Glasgow, Tuscania was captained by David Bone, who was also a popular novelist of maritime adventures [5] based on his life experiences. She continued to run this route even as World War I broke out in Europe in August 1914 and Germany initiated a submarine campaign against merchant shipping in waters near the United Kingdom.

Tuscania made international headlines for rescuing passengers and crew from the burning Greek steamer SS Athinai on 20 September 1915.[6] In 1916, Tuscania was refitted and pressed into service as a troopship. She made the news again in March 1917 by evading a submarine and a suspected Imperial German Navy armed merchant cruiser.[7]

Final voyage and sinking

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On 24 January 1918, Tuscania departed Hoboken, New Jersey, with 384 crew members and 2,013 United States Army personnel aboard. On the morning of 5 February 1918, she turned south for the North Channel en route Liverpool. The German submarine UB-77 sighted Tuscania′s convoy during the day, and stalked it until early evening. Under the cover of darkness around 6:40 pm, the submarine's commanding officer, Korvettenkapitän Wilhelm Meyer, ordered two torpedoes fired at Tuscania. The second of these struck home, sending her to the bottom of the Irish Sea within about four hours. Tuscania sank nearly three years to the day after her maiden voyage as a passenger liner. About 210 of the troops and crew were lost,[4] while many others were rescued by the Royal Navy destroyers Mosquito and Pigeon.[8] Some of the U.S. Troops were rescued by an Irish fishing boat as well.

The wreck of Tuscania lies between Scotland's Islay and Northern Ireland′s Rathlin Island, about 7 nautical miles (13 km) north of Rathlin lighthouse, at roughly 55°22′N 6°13′W / 55.367°N 6.217°W / 55.367; -6.217 at a depth of 100 m (330 ft).

Many of the bodies of the drowned servicemen washed up on the shores of Islay and were buried there. The police sergeant at Bowmore, Malcolm McNeill, the maternal grandfather of NATO general secretary (1999 - 2004) George Robertson, had said of local people in his official report: 'though they had so little, they gave so much to help those who were wrecked on their shores' and he wrote back to all those raising enquiries from America on family members lost on Tuscania (and in the 1918 HMS Otranto sinking).[9]

The loss of the Tuscania prompted the government of Washburn County, Wisconsin to burn its German textbooks as part of anti-German sentiment.[10]

After the First World War, many were reinterred in Brookwood Military Cemetery or repatriated to the United States. Just one grave is left on the island today. In 1919, the American government and American Red Cross unveiled a tower as a permanent memorial,[11] for those lost on Tuscania and Otranto, on the southern-most tip of Islay, the Mull of Oa.[9]

Notable passengers

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Army units on board

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Launches and Trial Trips". International Marine Engineering. 37 (October). Marine Engineering, Inc., New York—London: 87. 1914. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Tuscania Was Pride of the Anchor Line", The New York Times, 7 February 1918, p. 2
  3. ^ "Tuscania Carried No Civil Passengers" New York Times 7 February 1918: p. 2
  4. ^ a b Massie, Robert K. Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea. New York: Ballantine Books, 2004. ISBN 0-345-40878-0
  5. ^ "The Nautical Gazette". 1922.
  6. ^ "Greek Liner Burns at Sea, 469 saved," The Philadelphia Inquirer, 21 September 1915, p. 2.
  7. ^ "Report the Tuscania Dodged a Submarine", The New York Times, 22 March 1917, p.3
  8. ^ "Troopship Tuscania Oa Peninsula Islay|Loss of Troopship Tuscania". Islayinfo.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  9. ^ a b MacPherson, Hamish (3 October 2021). "Remembering the tragedy off Islay that claimed the lives of 470 sailors". The National. p. SevenDays supplement page 11 - Back in the Day.
  10. ^ "Wisconsin News". The West Bend News. West Bend, Wisconsin. 5 June 1918. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Service marks sinking of SS Tuscania". BBC News. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  12. ^ Wikisource:Author:Sydney Brooks
  13. ^ "Britain's Heart Now of Granite" The New York Times, 19 January 1916: p.2
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