''Dieppe'' was a

steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

passenger ferry that was built in 1905 for the

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR (known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton)) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at ...

. She was requisitioned during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

for use as a

troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable to land troops directly on shore, typic ...

and later as a

hospital ship A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating healthcare, medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navy, navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or ...

HMS ''Dieppe'', returning to her owners postwar. She passed to the Southern Railway on 1 January 1923. In 1933 she was sold to W E Guinness and converted to a private diesel

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

, ''Rosaura''. She was requisitioned in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

for use as an armed boarding vessel, HMS ''Rosaura''. She struck a mine and sank off

Tobruk Tobruk ( ; ; ) is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.)."Tobruk" (history), ''Encyclop� ...

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

on 18 March 1941.

Description

The ship was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd,

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...

. She was yard number 439 and was launched on 6 April 1905 with completion in May 1905. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . She was powered by three

steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

s, which were made by Fairfield. The turbines could propel her at a speed of . When converted to a private yacht, the turbines were replaced by two 8-cylinder

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...

diesel engines The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the die ...

. One of her propellers was removed as was one of her funnels. Her speed was reduced to . As built, her GRT was 1,210. This had increased to 1,426 by 1930, and further increased to 1,536 in 1933.

History

''Dieppe'' was built for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. She was used on their

Newhaven Newhaven is a port town in the Lewes district of East Sussex, England, lying at the mouth of the River Ouse. The town developed during the Middle Ages as the nearby port of Seaford began drying up, forcing a new port to be established. A ...

—

Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...

route. She was requisitioned by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

in the First World War for use as a troopship and a

. On 27 February 1916 she took aboard over 100 survivors from the P&O passenger liner , which was sunk by a mine off

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

. ''Dieppe'' was returned to her owners after the war and passed to the Southern Railway at 1923 grouping. On 27 November 1924 ''Dieppe'' had a mishap in which she ended up hitting the breakwater at Newhaven Harbour stern first. The

tugs A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, such ...

''Alert'' and ''Richmere'' were sent to her aid. ''Richmere'' became disabled when a cable became entangled around her propeller. The Newhaven lifeboat ''Sir Fitzroy Clayton'' was sent to her aid. ''Richmere'' ended up being dashed against the harbour wall and sank. Her crew were rescued by the lifeboat and the tug was later raised and repaired. ''Dieppe'' managed to dock some five hours after the drama began. In September 1933, ''Dieppe'' was sold to W E Guinness for conversion to a private yacht. She was renamed ''Rosaura'', replacing which had been lost earlier that year. In August 1934, the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

and

Wallis Simpson Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Spencer and then Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986) was an American socialite and the wife of Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor (former King Edward VIII). Their intentio ...

took a cruise on ''Rosaura''. According to Wallis, it was on this cruise that she fell in love with the Prince. Also in 1934,

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

and his wife

Clementine A clementine (''Citrus × clementina'') is a tangor, a citrus fruit hybrid between a willowleaf mandarin orange ( ''C.'' × ''deliciosa'') and a sweet orange (''C. × sinensis''), named in honor of Clément Rodier, a French missionary who f ...

cruised on ''Rosaura'' in the eastern

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

. On 26 September 1936, ''Rosaura'' was in collision with the Dutch coaster at

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Netherlands and was severely damaged. She was subsequently repaired. ''Rosaura'' was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in the Second World War for use as an armed boarding vessel in the Contraband Control Service. In February 1941, ''Rosaura'' was involved in Operation Abstention. On 18 March 1941 ''Rosaura'' struck a mine off

and sank, claiming the lives of 78 people.

Official number and code letters

Official number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their flag state, country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats hav ...

s were a forerunner to

IMO Number The IMO number of the International Maritime Organization is a generic term with two distinct applications: * the IMO ship identification number is a unique ship identifier; or, * the IMO company and registered owner identification number is u ...

s. ''Dieppe'' and ''Rosaura'' had the UK Official Number 105655. ''Dieppe'' used the

code letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids. Later, with the introduction of ...

HCRB.

Legacy

The yacht ''Rosaura'' is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of Honduran gecko, '' Sphaerodactylus rosaurae''.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Rosaura", p. 226).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dieppe 1905 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Hospital ships in World War I Hospital ships of the Royal Navy Maritime incidents in 1924 Maritime incidents in 1936 Maritime incidents in March 1941 Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Ships of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Ships of the Southern Railway (UK) Ships sunk by mines Steamships of the United Kingdom Troop ships of the Royal Navy World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea