SS ''Ivernia'' 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). C ...

owned by the

Cunard Line Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Ber ...

, built by the company Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is a ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, and launched in 1899. The ''Ivernia'' was one of Cunard's intermediate ships, that catered to the vast immigrant trade. Together with her sister ship RMS ''Saxonia'', the ''Ivernia'' worked on Cunard's service from

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 ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

and then later on the immigrant run the Cunard Line had established from

Fiume Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primorj ...

and

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into pr ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

.Neil McCart, ''Atlantic Liners of the Cunard Line'' (1990), pp. 35-36. Following the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 the ''Ivernia'' was hired by the British government as a troop transport. In autumn of 1916,

William Thomas Turner Commander William Thomas Turner, OBE, RNR (23 October 1856 – 23 June 1933) was a British merchant navy captain. He is best known as the captain of when she was sunk by a German torpedo in May 1915. Career and honors Early life and car ...

(made famous for being the captain of at the time of her sinking) was given command. On 1 January 1917, the ''Ivernia'' was carrying some 2,400 British troops from Marseille to Alexandria, when at 10:12am she was torpedoed by the German submarine ''UB-47'' 58 miles south-east of

Cape Matapan Cape Matapan ( el, Κάβο Ματαπάς, Maniot dialect: Ματαπά), also named as Cape Tainaron or Taenarum ( el, Ακρωτήριον Ταίναρον), or Cape Tenaro, is situated at the end of the Mani Peninsula, Greece. Cape Matap ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

, in the

Kythira Strait Kythira Strait (also Kythirian Straits, Kythira– Antikythira Strait or Kithera Channel) is a waterway off Kythira in Southern Greece. The Kythira– Antikythira Strait is situated within the Western Hellenic arc. It measures approximately in le ...

. The ship went down fairly quickly with a loss of 36 crew members and 84 troops. Captain Turner, who had been criticised for not going down with the ''Lusitania'' (even though he had believed he was the last person on board), remained on the bridge until all aboard had departed in lifeboats and rafts "before striking out to swim as the vessel went down under his feet." rescued a number of survivors and armed trawlers towed the bulk, who had taken to lifeboats, to

Suda Bay Souda Bay is a bay and natural harbour near the town of Souda on the northwest coast of the Greek island of Crete. The bay is about 15 km long and only two to four km wide, and a deep natural harbour. It is formed between the Akrotiri p ...

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...

. Today Ivernia Road in

Walton Walton may refer to: People * Walton (given name) * Walton (surname) * Susana, Lady Walton (1926–2010), Argentine writer Places Canada * Walton, Nova Scotia, a community ** Walton River (Nova Scotia) *Walton, Ontario, a hamlet United Kingd ...

still bears the name of the doomed vessel.

References

External links

Photograph of ''Ivernia''

Wrecksite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivernia Ocean liners Maritime incidents in 1917 Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I World War I shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Ships of the Cunard Line 1899 ships Ships built by Swan Hunter Ships built on the River Tyne