SS ''Telena'' was a British merchant ship that was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean west north west of the

Fastnet Rock Fastnet Lighthouse is a 54m high lighthouse situated on the remote Fastnet Rock in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the most southerly point of Ireland and lies southwest of Cape Clear Island and from County Cork on the Irish mainland. The current ...

() by German submarine on 21 April 1917. Her crew survived. She was en route from Philadelphia to Queenstown, with a cargo of

benzine Petroleum benzine is a hydrocarbon-based solvent mixture that is classified by its physical properties (e.g. boiling point, vapor pressure) rather than a specific chemical composition. This complicates distinction within the long list of petrole ...

. She was built in 1895 by

William Gray & Company William Gray & Company Ltd. was a British shipbuilding company located in West Hartlepool, County Durham, in North East England. Founded in 1863 by John Denton and William Gray as a partnership, it became a private and then a public limited compa ...

West Hartlepool West Hartlepool was a predecessor of Hartlepool, County Durham, England. It developed in the Victorian era and took the name from its western position in the parish of what is now known as the Headland. The former town was originally formed ...

, she was initially operated by Marcus Samuel & Company, London, the forerunner of

Shell Transport & Trading Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...

, to which company ''Telena'' was transferred on its restructuring in 1898. She was transferred to the subsidiary company Anglo-Saxon Petroleum when it took over Shell's shipping assets in 1907. On 15 December 1916 ''Telena'' was inbound to

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 cen ...

, when at 8:14 p.m. she collided with the Merchants and Miners Transportation Company's vessel SS ''Powhatan'' southeast of Thimble Shoal Light in the deep channel of the lower

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

. Both ships were damaged with ''Powatan'' beached with ship and cargo a total loss. Court findings were that ''Powhatan'', in confused signals, had cut across ''Telena''s course rather than pass port to port with the responsibility for the collision resting entirely with ''Powhatan''. On appeal of that decision the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case and found it "unnecessary to add anything to the full and fair discussion" of the case in the lower court. ''Powhatan'' was later salvaged and returned to service as SS ''Cuba''.

Citations

Bibliography

* * * Maritime incidents in 1917 Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom 1895 ships Ships of Anglo-Saxon Petroleum World War I shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Ships built on the River Tees Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I {{Merchantship-stub