SS Servia

SS Servia, also known as RMS Servia, was a successful transatlantic passenger and mail steamer of revolutionary design, built by J & G Thomson of Clydebank (later John Brown & Company) and launched in 1881. She was the first large ocean liner to be built of steel instead of iron, and the first Cunard ship to have an electric lighting installation. For these and other reasons, maritime historians often consider Servia to be the first "modern" ocean liner.

Background

In 1878, Samuel Cunard's British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was reorganised into limited company and officially named Cunard. This capitalisation allowed it to use shareholder money to build larger, more expensive ships. A new policy to this end was put into effect by Cunard's new chairman, John Burns, and announced in the London Times.

Launched on 1 March 1881, Servia was the first of Cunard's new breed of ocean liners. She was the second largest ship in the world at 515 feet long and 52.1 feet wide, surpassed only by Brunel's SS Great Eastern. With her design and construction guided by admirality specifications, Servia had many features that satisfied the requirements for her to be placed high on the admiralty's reserve list of the armed auxiliary cruisers, where she could be called into service in times of war.

Servia

Servia or Servian may refer to:

Servia, Greece

Servia (Greek: Σέρβια) is one of the main towns in the Kozani regional unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the local government reform of 2011, it is the seat of the extended municipality of Servia-Velventos. Prior to 2011, the town was the seat of the Municipality of Servia. Τhe town itself has a population of 3,540 people (2011 census).

Etymology

Its name derives from the Latin verb servo, meaning "to watch over" and it was given by the Romans, approximately during the 2nd century A.D., replacing what is thought to be the ancient name of the town Phylacae (Greek: Φυλακαί) from the Greek verb φυλάσσω "to watch over". The ancient name of the town of Servia is also mentioned by Roman writer Pliny the Elder as well as on an Ancient Greek inscription found at the city of Veroia which reads: "Παρμενίων Γλαυκία Φυλακήσιος νικητής εν Δολίχω", i.e. "Parmenion son of Glauceas from Phylacae winner at Doliche".

History

Prehistoric period

Servia has given its name to the prehistoric settlement site beside the former bridge across the Haliakmon river to the west and now submerged deep below the surface of Lake Polyphytos. This was first reported by Alan John Bayard Wace and first excavated by the British School at Athens under the direction of Walter Heurtley in 1930. Renewed excavations were jointly conducted by the Greek Archaeological Service and the British School at Athens under the direction of Aikaterina Rhomiopoulou and Cressida Ridley between 1971 and 1973; in advance before the completion of the Polyphytos hydro-electric dam and the flooding of the valley, to create Polyphytos lake.