SS Megantic (1908)

SS ''Megantic'' was a British transatlantic ocean liner that was built in Ireland and launched in 1908. She was one of a pair of sister ships that were ordered in 1907 by Dominion Line but completed for White Star Line.

Before the First World War her regular route was between Liverpool and Quebec City. She and her sister were the largest ships on the route between Great Britain and Canada.

During the First World War, ''Megantic'' served as a troop ship from 1915.

''Megantic'' was refitted in 1919 and 1924. In the 1920s and early 1930s her duties were a mixture of liner services and cruising. In 1928 ''Megantic''s regular route was between Great Britain and New York.

''Megantic'' was laid up in 1931 and scrapped in 1933.

Background

The Dominion Line operated a transatlantic liner service between Liverpool, Quebec, Montreal and Boston. In 1902 the International Mercantile Marine Company (IMM) took over Dominion Line.

In 1905 the rival Allan Line introduced the World's first steam turbine ocean liners. and '' Virginian'' were two of the swiftest ships on the route between Britain and Canada, and at more than each they were also the largest. The pair made such an impression that Allan Line won a valuable Canadian Government mail contract before the ships were even launched.

But like all of the earliest turbine ships, ''Victorian'' and ''Virginian'' had direct drive from their turbines to their propellers. On ''Virginian'' this caused cavitation. ''Virginian'' also acquired a reputation for rolling excessively in heavy seas. Also, the earliest steam turbines used more bunker fuel than triple- or quadruple-expansion steam engines.

In 1907 Dominion Line responded by ordering a pair of liners from Harland and Wolff. At almost each they would be larger than ''Victorian'' and ''Virginian'', the largest ships in Dominion Line's fleet, and the largest ships on the route between Britain and Canada.

Dominion Line planned to call the ships ''Alberta'' and ''Albany''. But before the pair were completed, IMM transferred them to another of its subsidiaries, White Star Line, and they were renamed to conform with White Star naming policy. ''Alberta'' was launched as ''Laurentic'', and ''Albany'' was launched on 19 December 1908 months later as ''Megantic'', after Lake Mégantic in Quebec.

Despite the change of owner, ''Laurentic'' and ''Megantic'' were still to serve the route between Liverpool and Montreal. They were White Star Line's first ships on the route.

Building

Harland and Wolff built ''Megantic'' on slipway number seven of its South Yard in Belfast. She was completed on 3 June 1909, less than two months after ''Laurentic''.

''Laurentic'' was built with experimental combination of machinery which had a triple Propeller arrangement of a central turbine, and two four-cylinder triple-expansion engines that drove the port and starboard propellers, the exhaust steam from their low-pressure cylinders powered the turbine.

However, ''Megantic'' was built with a conventional twin propeller installation driven by conventional quadruple-expansion engines, to provide a direct comparison with ''Laurentic''. Between them ''Megantic''s engines produced 1,180 NHP and gave her a speed of .

''Laurentic'' produced 20 percent more power than ''Megantic'' for the same coal consumption. For the same power output, ''Laurentic''s coal consumption was 12 to 15 percent less than ''Megantic''s. This led IMM to specify a similar combination of two triple-expansion engines and one low-pressure turbine for the s that Harland and Wolff launched in 1910 and 1911.

As built, ''Megantic'' had berths for 230 first class passengers, 430 second class and 1,000 third class.

Service

The White Star and Dominion Lines provided two ships each to run a weekly joint service between Liverpool and Canada. The White Star ships were ''Laurentic'' and ''Megantic''. The Dominion Line ships were the ''Canada'' and ''Dominion''. On 17 June 1909 ''Megantic'' left Liverpool on her maiden voyage.

In July 1910 Metropolitan Police DCI Walter Dew arrested murder suspect Hawley Harvey Crippen and his lover Ethel Le Neve at Rimouski aboard the Canadian Pacific liner . Dew repatriated Crippen and Le Neve to Britain aboard ''Megantic'', reaching Liverpool on 28 August.

By 1911 ''Megantic'' was equipped for wireless telegraphy, operating on the 300 and 600 metre wavelengths. Her call sign was MZC. In March 1911 ''Megantic''s Marconi Company wireless operator transmitted a signal 2,500 miles across the Atlantic to Poldhu Wireless Station in Cornwall. Previously the maximum range of Marconi transmitters aboard ships was thought to be about 600 miles.

When the First World War began in 1914, White Star Line briefly put ''Megantic'' on its route between Liverpool and New York. On 30 May 1915 she was on a westbound voyage from Liverpool to Montreal when a submarine chased her off the south coast of Ireland. The liner safely outpaced the submarine.

On 6 April 1917 ''Megantic'' was requisitioned for government service. She became a troop ship and carried members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) and United States Armed Forces. After the Armistice she repatriated members of the CEF and First Australian Imperial Force.

1919 refit

In 1919 ''Megantic'' was refitted at Belfast. Her first class accommodation was increased to 325 berths, and her second and third class were reduced to 260 and 550 berths respectively. White Star Line returned ''Megantic'' to her Liverpool – Canada route, with Dominion Line's ''Canada'' as her running mate. In the off season she made cruises to the West Indies.

In January 1920 ''Megantic'' made one voyage on White Star's joint service with Shaw, Savill & Albion Line, whose main route was between Britain and New Zealand. Later in 1920 she made one voyage to Sydney and Wellington in government service.

1924 refit

In 1924 ''Megantic''s first class accommodation was converted into 452 "cabin class" berths. In January 1927 the Admiralty chartered her and had her fitted out as a troop ship to take Royal Marines to Shanghai.

In February 1928 ''Megantic'' made a Caribbean cruise that included a call at La Guaira in Venezuela. In March, White Star Line put her on the London – Le Havre – Halifax – New York route until the Saint Lawrence River thawed, and then transferred her to the route to Quebec and Montreal.

In May 1929 ''Megantic'' was in King George V Dock, London when fire broke out in her number two hold. The hold was flooded to extinguish the fire.

By 1930 ''Megantic''s navigation equipment included wireless direction finding. In 1930 and 1931 she operated economy cruises.

On 20 July 1931 the Royal Mail Case opened at the Old Bailey, which led to the collapse of White Star Line's parent company. ''Megantic'' was laid up in the Firth of Clyde off Rothesay.

In 1933 White Star Line sold ''Megantic'' and to Japanese buyers for scrap. The sale was controversial because Japan was at war in Manchuria, and UK public opinion feared Japan could use the two liners as troop ships. ''Megantic'' was sold that January, arrived at Osaka on 7 May and was broken up at Kobe.

References

Bibliography

*
*
*
*
*

External links

* – sailing schedules, several including ''Megantic''
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Megantic (1909)
1908 ships
Ship names
Maritime incidents in 1915
Ocean liners of the United Kingdom
Ships built in Belfast
Ships built by Harland and Wolff
Steamships of the United Kingdom
Troop ships of the United Kingdom
World War I passenger ships of the United Kingdom