SS or RMS ''The Ramsey'' was a passenger steamer operated by the

Isle of Man Steam Packet Company The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company Limited (abbreviated to IoMSPCo or, locally, The Steam Packet ()) is the oldest continuously operating passenger shipping company in the world, having been founded in 1830. The company provides freight, p ...

from 1912 to 1914. She had been built in 1895 as ''Duke of Lancaster'' for the joint service to Belfast of the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world. Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connec ...

and

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company before the Railways Act 1921, 1923 Grouping. It was Incorporation (business)#Incorporation in the United Kingdom, incorpo ...

companies. The steamer was requisitioned by the Admiralty in 1914 as the armed boarding vessel HMS ''Ramsey'' and sunk the following year.

Construction

''Duke of Lancaster'' was launched on 9 May 1895 at the

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English units, English unit of length in both the British imperial units, imperial and US United States customary units, customary systems of measurement equalling 3 foot (unit), feet or 36 inches. Sinc ...

of the Naval Construction & Armaments Co, who also constructed the

engines An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

and boilers. The vessel initially had a tonnage of 1,520 grt and 467 nrt; length ; beam ; depth . ''Duke of Lancaster'' had an operating speed of .

Service life

London & North Western Railway Company

''Duke of Lancaster'' entered service with the

Company who operated her with the London & North Western Railway Company on the

Fleetwood Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census. Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830 ...

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 ...

service. In March 1911, ''Duke of Lancaster'' was sold to an organisation named the ''Turkish Patriotic Committee'', who had the

and boilers renovated at

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

. However, the outbreak of the

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish (, "Tripolitanian War", , "War of Libya"), also known as the Turco-Italian War, was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911 to 18 October 1912. As a result of this conflict, Italy captur ...

in September 1911, prevented the purchasers from taking delivery, and the vessel was sold in 1912 to the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.

Isle of Man Steam Packet Company The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company Limited (abbreviated to IoMSPCo or, locally, The Steam Packet ()) is the oldest continuously operating passenger shipping company in the world, having been founded in 1830. The company provides freight, p ...

The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company took delivery of the vessel in July 1912, and immediately changed the vessel's name to ''The Ramsey''. She had an uneventful career with the company as she established herself within the Steam Packet fleet. SS The Ramsey

''The Ramseys service with the company was one of the shortest of any ship in its history, and concluded at the end of the 1914 season.

War service and loss

''The Ramsey'' was the third of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company's ships to be called up for service in the

Great 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 ...

. On 28 October 1914 she was requisitioned and fitted out as an Armed Boarding Vessel by

with two 12-pounder guns and a

ship's company A ship's company or complement comprises all officers, non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel aboard a naval vessel, excluding civilians and guests. United States Aircraft-capable ships An exception to this rule is the definition of shi ...

of 98, and renamed simply HMS ''Ramsey''. ''Ramsey'' was based at

Scapa Flow Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and Hoy. Its sheltered waters have played an impor ...

under the command of

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

Harry Raby.''Isle of Man Examiner.'' Saturday 14 August 1915. Her work consisted of night patrols during the course of which she was usually accompanying two

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 ...

s. It was dangerous work, directed by radio from headquarters, carried out without

navigation light A navigation light, also known as a running or position light, is a source of illumination on a watercraft, aircraft or spacecraft, meant to give information on the craft's position, heading, or status. Some navigation lights are colour-code ...

s, and with manned guns throughout. In the course of a few months ''Ramsey'' intercepted and challenged many ships, sometimes putting a

prize crew A prize crew is the selected members of a ship chosen to take over the operations of a captured ship. History Prize crews were required to take their prize to appropriate prize courts, which would determine whether the ship's officers and crew h ...

aboard and taking the suspect into port. On her last patrol she had steamed for 12 hours when, after dawn on 8 August 1915, smoke was seen from over the

horizon The horizon is the apparent curve that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This curve divides all viewing directions based on whethe ...

. ''Ramsey'' gave chase and came upon a steamer flying the Russian flag. ''Ramsey'' proceeded alongside the vessel, which had duly stopped. The suspect, which was the German auxiliary minelayer SMS ''Meteor'', then hoisted the German flag and fired at what amounted to

point-blank range Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm or gun can hit a target without the need to elevate the barrel to compensate for bullet drop, i.e. the gun can be pointed horizontally at the target. For targets beyond-blank range ...

, killing the

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

and crew members on the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

of ''Ramsey''. At the same time the raider fired 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 ...

, shattering ''Ramsey''″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 ...

. Fifty five of the crew were killed; ''Meteor'' picked up 43 after ''Ramsey'' went down in five minutes. Her wreck position is given as . The next day British forces overwhelmed ''Meteor'', whose prisoners were transferred to neutral ships before she was

scuttled Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull, typically by its crew opening holes in its hull. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vesse ...

Notes

References

;Bibliography * Chappell, Connery (1980). ''Island Lifeline'' T.Stephenson & Sons Ltd

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:The Ramsey 1895 ships Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness Ships of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Ferries of the United Kingdom Ferries of the Isle of Man Armed boarding steamers of the Royal Navy Steamships of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in 1915 World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea