SS ''Sarpedon'' was a UK

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

passenger A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The ...

and refrigerated

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 ...

launched in 1923. She was the fourth of six ships to bear the name.

Building

Cammell, Laird & Co built ''Sarpedon'' in Birkenhead, England. She was launched on 2 February 1923 and completing her that June. ''Sarpedon'' was the first of a set of four

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

s built for

Alfred Holt and Company Alfred Holt and Company, trading as Blue Funnel Line, was a UK shipping company that was founded in 1866 and operated merchant ships for 122 years. It was one of the UK's larger shipowning and operating companies, and as such had a significan ...

of Liverpool, who owned Blue Funnel Line and other shipping lines including the Ocean Steam Ship Company. Her sisters were launched in 1923, and and launched in 1924. All were named after characters in Homer's '' Iliad''. ''Sarpedon'' was long, beam and had a depth of . She had a counter stern, slightly raked

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

, one funnel and two masts. She had accommodation for first class passengers only. At the request of the UK Government the four ships were built with berths for 155 first class passengers for services to the Far East. Blue Funnel Line did not expect carrying passengers to be profitable. ''Sarpedon''s tonnages were and . She had four steam turbines driving twin

screws A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to fa ...

via single-reduction gearing, which gave her a service speed of . By 1934 ''Patroclus'' had been fitted with wireless direction finding equipment.

Service

In peacetime ''Sarpedon'' and her three sisters sailed a regular route between Liverpool and the Far East. In the Second World War ''Patroclus'', ''Hector'' and ''Antenor'' were requisitioned and converted into

armed merchant cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

s, but ''Sarpedon'' remained in civilian service. In March 1940 she sailed on her usual route to China, leaving Liverpool on 3 March with Convoy OB 103 which dispersed at sea. But thereafter ''Sarpedon'' was taken off her usual route. She sailed partly in convoys and partly unescorted. ''Sarpedon'' sailed in two HX convoys from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Liverpool: HX 144 in August 1941 and HX 185 in April 1942. She was in Australia for Christmas 1941 and again in May 1943. She called at Port Moresby in Papua in January 1942, shortly before the Japanese invasion of New Guinea. She passed through the Panama Canal in October 1942 and January 1943. After the

Armistice with Italy The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brigad ...

in September 1943, the Mediterranean was less dangerous for Allied shipping. ''Sarpedon'' passed through the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

in May and July 1944. Her final convoy of the war was MKS 93G, which left

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

in Morocco on 5 April 1945 and reached Liverpool on 14 April, three weeks before VE Day. ''Sarpedon'' and ''Antenor'' were the only two of the four sisters to survive the war.

Fate

''Sarpedon'' arrived at Newport, Wales on 5 June 1953 to be scrapped by John Cashmore Ltd. ''Sarpedon''s bell is preserved in the yard of the parish church of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas, Liverpool, opposite the Pier Head.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarpedon (1923) 1923 ships Ocean liners of the United Kingdom Ships built on the River Mersey Steamships of the United Kingdom World War II passenger ships of the United Kingdom