The SS ''Georgic'' was a steam ship built by

Harland and 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 ...

for the

White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between ...

to replace the which was lost at sea. ''Georgic'' was a cargo ship designed principally to carry

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to anima ...

, at the time of entering service in 1895 she was the largest cargo ship in the world with a

deadweight tonnage Deadweight tonnage (also known as deadweight; abbreviated to DWT, D.W.T., d.w.t., or dwt) or tons deadweight (DWT) is a measure of how much weight a ship can carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, pro ...

of 12,000 tons.

Career

''Georgic''s maiden voyage took place on 26 August 1895. Her large size soon became a problem as it restricted her usage to the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

for most of her career, mostly operating between the UK and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. From October 1909, along with the and , she was transferred to the service to Australia, calling at

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

and Sydney.

Incidents

The ''Georgic'' had a somewhat accident-prone career; she twice collided with the dock entrance at

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 23 May 1896 and 5 August 1901. On 10 March 1902, she collided with

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the fore- and mainmasts rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) rigged fore and aft. Sometimes, the mizzen is only partly fore-and-aft rigged, b ...

''Oakhurst'' at Liverpool, the latter being badly damaged as a result. On 18 January 1903, she collided with the British steamer SS ''Saxon King'' off

Flemish Cap The Flemish Cap is an area of shallow waters in the north Atlantic Ocean centered roughly at 47° north, 45° west or about 563 km (350 miles) east of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. The shallow water is caused by a wide underwater p ...

, although it was the ''Saxon King'' which rammed ''Georgic'' from the side, the former ship bore the brunt of the damage. On 21 March 1904, she collided with the SS ''Kalabia'' in

St George's Channel St George's Channel ( cy, Sianel San Siôr, ga, Muir Bhreatan) is a sea channel connecting the Irish Sea to the north and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. Historically, the name "St George's Channel" was used interchangeably with "Irish Sea" ...

, both ships made Liverpool safely. On 26 November 1908, she rammed the US owned SS ''Finance'' in fog off

Sandy Hook Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The barrier spit, approximately in length and varying from wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern e ...

. The latter sank with the loss of four lives.

World War I

After the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

in August 1914, ''Georgic'' was used to ship horses and mules and other cargo from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

for use on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

by the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

. On 3 December 1916, she left

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

for Liverpool with a cargo of 1,200 horses, 10,000 barrels of oil and a large consignment of

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeolog ...

intended for the Allies. One week later on 10 December when she was south-east of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, she was intercepted by the German

merchant raider Merchant raiders are armed commerce raiding ships that disguise themselves as non-combatant merchant vessels. History Germany used several merchant raiders early in World War I (1914–1918), and again early in World War II (1939–1945). The cap ...

which was disguised as a Swedish merchant ship. After the crew of 142 were taken off the ship, explosive charges were placed on board ''Georgic'' by the crew of the ''Möwe'', and she was scuttled with her cargo of 1,200 horses still on board. ''Georgic'' was the largest ship sunk by the ''Möwe''.

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20120531153244/http://www.red-duster.co.uk/WSTAR6.htm *http://www.titanic-titanic.com/georgic_1.shtml *http://smsmoewe.com/ships/smsms25.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Georgic 1895 ships Ships built in Belfast Ships built by Harland and Wolff Ships of the White Star Line Steamships Maritime incidents in 1916 World War I shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean

Career

Incidents

World War I

See also

References

External links