SS ''Arcadian'' was a Barrow-in-Furness built

passenger liner A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

constructed in 1899 by Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd for the

Pacific Steam Navigation Company The Pacific Steam Navigation Company ( es, Compañía de Vapores del Pacífico, links=no) was a British commercial shipping company that operated along the Pacific coast of South America, and was the first to use steam ships for commercial traffi ...

as SS ''Ortona''. In

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

she served with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

and was sunk by a

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

in 1917.

Pacific Steam Navigation Company service, 1899–1906

SS ''Ortona'' was the last ship that Pacific Steam built for the London-to-Australia route. Launched on 10 July 1899 and registered in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

on 26 October, she left London on her maiden voyage was on 24 November in a joint service with the

Orient Steam Navigation Company The Orient Steam Navigation Company, also known as the Orient Line, was a British shipping company with roots going back to the late 18th century. From the early 20th century onwards, an association began with P&O which became 51% shareholde ...

. She carried 140 first-class, 180 second-class and 300 third-class passengers, a total of 620. In December 1902, ''Ortona'' was used to return troops to the UK after the end of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

Royal Mail Steam Packet Company service, 1906–15

StateLibQld 1 157625 Orient steamship line, Ortona at Pinkenba Wharf, Brisbane

On 8 May 1906 ''Ortona'' was sold to the

Royal Mail Steam Packet Company The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by a Scot, James MacQueen. The line's motto was ''Per Mare Ubique'' (everywhere by sea). After a troubled start, it became the largest shipping group ...

, who used her in a joint operation with the Orient line to Australia. The " All Golds" professional New Zealand Rugby League team, travelled on ''Ortona'' from Australia to France via Ceylon in August/September 1907. In April 1909, she was transferred to the Royal Mail

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Great ...

service. In 1910, she was sent to the

Harland & Wolff Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the ...

shipyard in Belfast for conversion into a 320-capacity

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours know ...

with a new gross tonnage of 8,939. She was renamed RMS ''Arcadian'' on 21 September 1910 as the RMSP's liners had names beginning with the letter "A", and was registered at Belfast in September of the following year. She started her first world cruise in January 1912, the largest dedicated cruise ship in the world at that time. She was on the first leg of this voyage that Olave St Claire Soames met Lieutenant General Sir Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the

Scout Movement Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth Social movement, movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hik ...

, leading to their marriage in October of that year.

Admiralty service, 1915–17

In February 1915, ''Arcadian'' was hired by the Admiralty. On 7 April 1915 at

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandr ...

, General Sir Ian Hamilton came aboard and used ''Arcadian'', together with the battleship ''Queen Elizabeth'', as his headquarters ship during the opening phase of the Gallipoli Campaign. Once Hamilton's staff had transferred to a shore base at

Imbros Imbros or İmroz Adası, officially Gökçeada (lit. ''Heavenly Island'') since 29 July 1970,Alexis Alexandris, "The Identity Issue of The Minorities in Greece And Turkey", in Hirschon, Renée (ed.), ''Crossing the Aegean: An Appraisal of the 1 ...

, ''Arcadian'' was employed as a

troop ship 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 land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

in the

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 north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

. On 15 April 1917 ''Arcadian'' was ''en route'' from Thessaloniki (Salonika) to

with a company of 1,335 troops and crew and escorted by a

Japanese Navy , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN ...

destroyer. Shortly after completing a boat drill, while 26 miles north east of the Greek island of

Milos Milos or Melos (; el, label= Modern Greek, Μήλος, Mílos, ; grc, Μῆλος, Mêlos) is a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea, just north of the Sea of Crete. Milos is the southwesternmost island in the Cyclades group. The ''Ve ...

, ''Arcadian'' was hit by a single

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

from the German submarine and sank within six minutes with the loss of 279 lives. A contemporary newspaper article described how four of ''Arcadian's'' overcrowded lifeboats were successfully lowered before she sank. Some of the dead were cooks and stokers who were working below decks. The escorting destroyer had two torpedoes launched at her while she was attempting to rescue men from the water; survivors reported that she had lowered three of her own boats while going "at full speed". More survivors, who had been clinging to a raft, were rescued at midnight by the

Q-ship Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, decoy vessels, special service ships, or mystery ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open f ...

. Among the dead was the eminent

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology -- a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learning about bacteria, as ...

, Sir

Marc Armand Ruffer Sir Marc Armand Ruffer CMG (29 August 1859 – 15 April 1917) was a Swiss-born British experimental pathologist and bacteriologist. He is considered a pioneer of modern paleopathology. Family Ruffer was born in Lyon, as the fifth of nine chil ...

, who was returning to Alexandria after advising on the control of an epidemic among troops based at Thessaloniki.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arcadian 1899 ships Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness Maritime incidents in 1917 Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I Troop ships of the Royal Navy World War I shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea