SS Mohegan

The SS Mohegan was a steamer which sank off the coast of the Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall. She hit The Manacles on 14 October 1898 with the loss of 106 of the 197 on board.

Design and construction

The ship started life as the Cleopatra, a mixed passenger liner and animal carrier. She was built alongside four others at Earle's Shipbuilding and Engine Company, Hull, for the Wilson & Furness-Leyland Line. She was rated A1 at Lloyd's of London. She was built for 'safety at sea' and was equipped with eight watertight bulkheads, failsafe lighting and pumping systems, eight lifeboats capable of carrying 59 passengers each and three compasses. She could carry 120 first class passengers, with stalls for 700 cattle.

She did not serve with the Wilson & Furness-Leyland Line, instead being purchased by the Atlantic Transport Line, who were seeking to replace ships that had been requisitioned as troop transports by the United States government for use in the Spanish–American War. The other four ships acquired in this period were the Alexandria, Boadicea, Victoria and Winifreda, at a cost of around £140,000 per ship.