SS ''Norseman'' was a British

cargo liner A cargo liner, also known as a passenger-cargo ship or passenger-cargoman, is a type of merchant ship which carries general cargo and often passengers. They became common just after the middle of the 19th century, and eventually gave way to conta ...

that was torpedoed by the German

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

off

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, Greece on 22 January 1916. The vessel was en route from

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

, United Kingdom to Thessaloniki , while carrying a varied cargo including about 1,100 mules and munitions. ''Norseman'' was subsequently beached at

Moudros Moudros () is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lemnos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lemnos, of which it is a municipal unit. It covers the entire eastern peninsula of t ...

, Greece, and declared a

total loss In insurance claims, a total loss or write-off is a situation where the lost value, repair cost or salvage cost of a damaged property exceeds its insured value, and simply replacing the old property with a new equivalent is more cost-effect ...

. She was scrapped

in situ is a Latin phrase meaning 'in place' or 'on site', derived from ' ('in') and ' ( ablative of ''situs'', ). The term typically refers to the examination or occurrence of a process within its original context, without relocation. The term is use ...

in 1920.

Construction

''Norseman'' was launched on 27 November 1897 and completed in March 1898 at the Harland & Wolff Ltd. shipyard in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, United Kingdom as ''Brasilia'' for the

Hamburg America Line The Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG), known in English as the Hamburg America Line, was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, in 1847. Among those involved in its development were prominent Germ ...

. The ship was long, had a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

of and had a depth of . She was assessed at and had two 4-cylinder quadruple expansion engines driving two screw

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

s. The ship could generate 604

nominal horsepower 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 th ...

, with a speed of . She was also fitted with four masts instead of two in 1899.

Career

''Brasilia'' set out on its maiden voyage on 21 March 1898, sailing from

, United Kingdom, to New York City. The ship held accommodation for 300 second class and 2,400

steerage Steerage is a term for the lowest category of passenger accommodation in a ship. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, considerable numbers of persons travelled from their homeland to seek a new life elsewhere, in many cases North Amer ...

passengers. She continued to serve the

on the

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Germany to

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, United States route, making the crossing 13 times between May 1898 and October 1899, after which she was resold to

Harland & Wolff Harland & Wolff Holdings plc is a British shipbuilding and Metal fabrication, fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish yard, Arnish, Appledore, Torridge, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, ship ...

. Harland & Wolff added two more masts to the ship's existing two for her conversion into a

before selling her to the

Dominion Line The Dominion Line was a trans-atlantic passenger line founded in 1870 as the ''Liverpool & Mississippi Steamship Co.'', with the official name being changed in 1872 to the ''Mississippi & Dominion Steamship Co Ltd.'' The firm was amalgamated in ...

in February 1900. The ship was renamed ''Norseman'' and was first used as a troop transport ship, shipping

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

troops from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, United Kingdom to

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, South Africa to aid the

British army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

in fighting the

Boers Boers ( ; ; ) are the descendants of the proto Afrikaans-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled the Dutch ...

during the

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

. Following its military service, ''Norseman'' returned to its usual North Atlantic route, carrying cargo and steerage passengers only after Dominion eliminated the 300 second class accommodations. In 1910 ''Norseman'' was chartered to the

Aberdeen Line The Aberdeen Line was a shipping company founded in 1825 by George Thompson (shipowner), George Thompson of Aberdeen to take sailing vessels to the St. Lawrence river, carrying some passengers and returning with cargoes of timber. The business ...

to serve the London, United Kingdom – Cape Town, South-Africa – Sydney route. When the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

commenced in 1914, ''Norseman'' contributed to the British war effort against the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

Sinking

''Norseman'' set sail from Plymouth, United Kingdom bound for Thessaloniki, Greece via

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, France. The ship's cargo consisted of vehicles, clothing, munitions, barbed wire, about 1,100 mules and oats. She was also transporting 150 men of the 26th Infantry Division. In the early morning of 22 January 1916, ''Norseman'' reached the

Thermaic Gulf The Thermaic Gulf (, ), also called the Gulf of Thessaloniki and the Macedonian Gulf, is a Gulf (geography), gulf constituting the northwest corner of the Aegean Sea. The city of Thessaloniki is at its northeastern tip, and it is bounded by Pie ...

alongside a

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

of six other ships including a

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

and two

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as b ...

s. ''Norseman'' was spotted by the German

at 4:25 am and was first attacked at 5:10 am by a

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

fired from ''U-39''. However, the torpedo missed the ship and a second attack at 5:36 am also resulted in the torpedo failing to find its target. The attacks were not noticed by any of the ships, so the submarine was able to gain another opportunity in striking the ship. ''Norseman'' was ultimately struck by a torpedo on ''U-39'' her third attempt. The attack left the ship heavily damaged and to save her, she was towed by a

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

, a fishing vessel and two French

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

s to the harbour of

. The towing effort was commanded by Captain Alexander Campbell once his ship, , arrived to offer their assistance. Captain Campbell ordered ''Norseman'' to be abandoned while the ship's

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...

began to sink before she was beached near Moudros. The stern ultimately sank in of water, drowning many of the mules; however, many others that were stored in the intermediate decks were rescued. No humans lives were lost in the incident.

Wreck

The wreck of ''Norseman'' was subjected to many recovery attempts by the British before they abandoned their efforts in 1919. Thereafter the wreck changed hands multiple times, being dismantled and scrapped bit by bit each time until the mid-1950s. She was officially scrapped

in 1920, but the large pieces of sheet metal that still lie at the wreck site to this day at a depth of , speak of a long and tiresome salvage operation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norseman (1897) Ships of the Aberdeen Line Ships of the Hamburg America Line Ships of the Dominion Line Ships built by Harland and Wolff Ships built in Belfast Maritime incidents in 1916 1897 ships Cargo liners Steamships of the United Kingdom World War I shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Steamships of Germany Ships sunk with no fatalities World War I ships of the United Kingdom World War I ships Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I Shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea