RMS ''Hesperian'' was a British

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

that was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine south west by south of the

Fastnet Rock Fastnet Lighthouse is a 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 lighthou ...

in the Atlantic Ocean on 4 September 1915 with the loss of 32 lives, while she was travelling from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, United Kingdom to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada.

Construction

''Hesperian'' was launched for the Allan Line at the

Alexander Stephen and Sons Alexander Stephen and Sons Limited, often referred to simply as Alex Stephens or just Stephens, was a Scottish shipbuilder, shipbuilding company based in Linthouse, Glasgow, on the River Clyde and, initially, on the east coast of Scotland. Hist ...

shipyard in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on 20 December 1907, and completed the following year. The ship was long, had a beam of and a depth of . She was assessed at and had a pair of triple expansion engines producing 802 nhp, driving twin screw propellers. The ship could reach a maximum speed of and had two masts and one funnel. As built, she had the capacity to carry 210 1st-class, 250 2nd-class and 1,000

steerage Steerage is a term for the lowest category of passenger accommodation in a ship. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, considerable numbers of persons travelled from their homeland to seek a new life elsewhere, in many cases North Amer ...

passengers. She had a sister ship named .

Early career

For her maiden voyage she sailed from

on 25 April 1908, calling also at

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, en route to

. ''Hesperian'' was chartered to the Canadian Pacific Line in January 1910, where she also served the

- Halifax -

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

route.

Attack and sinking

''Hesperian'' departed Liverpool for Montreal on 3 September 1915 at 7 pm under the command of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

William Main. The ship was carrying 814 passengers and 300 crew, among the passengers were also wounded Canadian soldiers returning home from the

front lines A front line (alternatively front-line or frontline) in military terminology is the position(s) closest to the area of conflict of an Military, armed force's Military personnel, personnel and Military technology, equipment, usually referring to ...

. Also on board was the metal casket of Frances Stephens which was boxed in a wooden crate. The widow of Canadian politician George Stephens had been lost in the sinking of the four months prior and was being

repatriated Repatriation is the return of a thing or person to its or their country of origin, respectively. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as the return of mi ...

for burial next to her husband in Montreal. Having barely left port and sailing in a

zigzagging A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular. In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...

motion, ''Hesperian'' was struck by a single torpedo at her

starboard Port and starboard are Glossary of nautical terms (M-Z), nautical terms for watercraft and spacecraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the Bow (watercraft), bow (front). Vessels with bil ...

bow at 8.30 pm, damaging the forward

engine room On a ship, the engine room (ER) is the Compartment (ship), compartment where the machinery for marine propulsion is located. The engine room is generally the largest physical compartment of the machinery space. It houses the vessel's prime move ...

and causing a list to starboard. Captain Main ordered to halt the ship and rang the alarm bells. An

SOS SOS is a Morse code distress signal (), used internationally, originally established for maritime use. In formal notation SOS is written with an overscore line (), to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" a ...

was sent out, while the ship's officers prepared and lowered the

lifeboats Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen ...

. There was no panic amongst passengers and crew and the evacuation occurred in an orderly fashion. However, a lifeboat on the port side upset while lowering, leading to all her 32 occupants drowning. Meanwhile a group of British

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as b ...

s came to aid ''Hesperian'' and took all survivors aboard and back ashore to Ireland. The vessel had been evacuated within an hour and although riding low in the water, her bulkheads held and the ship stayed afloat. Only the captain and a skeleton crew remained aboard as they had hopes to either beach the ship or have her towed to Queenstown. It was while under tow to Ireland that ''Hesperian'' ultimately gave away and sank some from the Irish coast on 6 September 1915, not far from the wreck of the ''Lusitania''. Mrs. Stephens' casket also went down with the ship, ironically close to the ship that took her life and as it turned out, ''Hesperian'' had also been sunk by the same submarine and

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

as the ''Lusitania''. To deflect criticism of the sinking, the German Foreign Office claimed that no submarines were operating in the area and that she "probably hit a mine".

Wreck

The wreck of ''Hesperian'' lies west of Cobh, Ireland in of water. Her wreck was the site of a few '

grave robbing A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grave ...

' incidents, when local Irish fishermen caught some artifacts from the wreck in their nets in November 2017.

Construction

Early career

Attack and sinking

Wreck

References

See also