RMS ''Hesperian'' was a British

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of 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). Ca ...

that was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine south west by south of the Fastnet Rock in the Atlantic Ocean on 4 September 1915 with the loss of 32 lives, while she was travelling from Liverpool, United Kingdom to Montreal, Canada.

Construction

''Hesperian'' was launched for the

Allan Line The Allan Shipping Line was started in 1819, by Alexander Allan (ship-owner), Captain Alexander Allan of Saltcoats, Ayrshire, trading and transporting between Scotland and Montreal, a route which quickly became synonymous with the Allan Line. By th ...

at the Alexander Stephen and Sons shipyard in Glasgow, Scotland 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 Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

, 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 passengers. She had a sister ship named .

Early career

For her maiden voyage she sailed from Liverpool on 25 April 1908, calling also at Quebec, en route to Montreal. ''Hesperian'' was chartered to the Canadian Pacific Line in January 1910, where she also served the Glasgow - Halifax - Boston 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 of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

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 ''Front Lines'' is a 1994 computer wargame for MS-DOS developed and published by Impressions Games. Gameplay ''Front Lines'' is a wargame with a turn-based play system, using vehicles. Reception In ''PC Gamer US'', William R. Trotter calle ...

. Also on board was the metal casket of

Frances Stephens Francis or Frances Stephens may refer to: * Francis Stephens (scientist), see List of Fellows of the Royal Society S,T,U,V *Frances Stephens (philanthropist) (1851–1915), Canadian of Scottish origin prominent in Montreal society *Frances Stephens ...

which was boxed in a wooden crate. The widow of Canadian politician

George Stephens George Stephens may refer to: *George Stephens (playwright) (1800–1851), English author and dramatist *George Stephens (philologist) (1813–1895), British archaeologist and philologist, who worked in Scandinavia * George Washington Stephens, Sr. ...

had been lost in the sinking of the four months prior and was being repatriated 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 nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which are ...

bow at 8.30 pm, damaging the forward engine room and causing a list to starboard. Captain Main ordered to halt the ship and rang the alarm bells. An

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

was sent out, while the ship's officers prepared and lowered the lifeboats. 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 warships 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. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

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' 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