THE WHITE STAR LINE
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OLYMPIC (1) was ordered as a sister of the Oceanic but when Thomas Ismay died on 23rd November 1899 the construction of the second ship was shelved. The company then placed a new order with a request for designs to produce 'the largest ships in the world' - the 'Big Four' class.

RUNIC (2) was built in 1900 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 12482grt, a length of 565ft, a beam of 63ft 4in and a service speed of 13.5 knots. Launched on 25th October 1900 she was the first of a pair built with the same hull design as the Afric but with longer poops. Handed over on 22nd December she commenced her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Sydney on 19th January 1901. On 25th November of that year she towed the disabled Union-Castle liner Dunottar Castle into Dakar. During 1917-19 she was operated under the Liner Requisition Scheme. On 3rd November 1928 she suffered damage to her stern when she collided with HMS London of Gourock Pier. In July 1930 she was sold to the Sevilla Whaling Co. of London, owned by the Norwegian A/S Sevilla, and converted into the whale factory ship New Sevilla. A/S Sevilla was acquired by Christian Salvesen in April 1931. On 20th October 1940, during a voyage from Liverpool to Antarctica, she was torpedoed and sunk by U-138 30 miles off Malin Head, Galway, Ireland with loss of two lives. She floated for 20 hours during which time 412 persons were saved.

SUEVIC was built in 1900 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 12531grt, a length of 565ft, a beam of 63ft 4in and a service speed of 13.5 knots. Sister of the Runic she was launched on 8th December 1900 and commenced her maiden voyage to Australia on 23rd March 1901. She was slightly larger than her sisters and on her outward voyages carried troops to the Cape and on her return, Australian contingents to the Boer War. On 17th March 1901 inbound for Plymouth with 382 passengers and nearly full with cargo she stranded in drizzle and fog on Stag Rock near the Lizard. Her landfall at Plymouth had been calculated when she was 138 miles from Lizard Point and full speed maintained. When she was 122 miles out the Lizard light should have been seen ahead but, in the gloom, it suddenly appeared on the port side. She had overshot by nearly 16 miles and went aground at full speed. As a result, her Master's Certificate of Competency was suspended for three months. The passengers were taken off by the Cadgwith and Coverack lifeboats and on 20th March an effort was made to lighten the impaled bow when her forward cargo was unloaded into small coasters. The weather worsened on 27th March and she worked her way further onto the ledge. By this time the Liverpool & Glasgow Salvage Association's tug Ranger was standing by. As the stern was still intact the decision was taken to save the ship by severing her forward section. As oxy-acetylene cutters had not been invented dynamite was placed in position by a diver named Fabian and the fore part was blasted away at a bulkhead just aft of the bridge. The stern section was made seaworthy on 4th April and going astern on her engines and steered by the tugs Blazer, Herculeum and Linnet with the Ranger alongside with pumps to control any ingress of water, the Suevic steamed to Trafalgar Dock, Southampton. A new 212ft forward section was built at Belfast and towed to Southampton where it was attached to the after part. It was a perfect match and, at the time, was the largest rebuilding operating ever undertaken as virtually half the ship had been renewed. The White Star Line carried much of their own hull insurance and it was cheaper to rebuild the ship rather than to scrap her and write the cost off against the insurance fund. Although she was out of service for some considerable time the repair schedule was so precise that even before the forward section was built her next sailing was announced as commencing in January 1908. On 19th October the new forward section was towed from Belfast by the tug Pathfinder with the Blazer at the stern providing the steerage and arrived at Southampton on 26th October when the marriage of the two sections commenced. On 14th January 1908 she resumed commercial service on schedule. When World War One began in 1914 she remained in commercial service with her consorts because of her ability to carry a large quantity of frozen meat. Passenger accommodation was used for trooping. In March 1915 she made one trooping voyage to Mudros during the Dardanelles campaign. During 1917-19 she operated on the same route under the Liner Requisition Scheme. She was returned to commercial service in January 1920 and after a refit resumed the Australian service. She completed her 50th voyage on the Australian route when she arrived at Southampton on 14th March 1924. In October 1928 she was sold to Yngar Hvistendahl's Finnvahl A/S of Tonsberg for £35,000 who converted her into a whale factory ship at Fruppe's Germaniawerft, Kiel and renamed her Skytteren. After the German invasion of Norway she was, in April 1940 and with several other Norwegian ships, interned at Gothenburg. As the King of Norway and his government were in exile in London plans were made for the ships to make a break for freedom but the Quisling Government claimed them. At a subsequent Court hearing it found in favour of the exiled owners. On 1st April 1942 and under the codename 'Operation Performance', plans were made for 15 ships to make a dash for the open sea where they would be met and protected by Allied forces. The plan was a total disaster. As the ships were not permitted, quite correctly, to sail in Swedish territorial waters they were directed away by that country's warships into the path of the waiting Germans who had been alerted. Only two ships, Tschudi & Eitzen's B. P. Newton and J. O. Odzell's Lind made it to safety. Six ships were sunk by enemy action, three returned to Gothenburg were they were arrested and two whale catchers were captured in Swedish waters by German armed trawlers. The crews were taken prisoner and allowed to leave on the Swedish cruiser Gota Lejon. The Skytteren, Bucaneer and A. O. Andersen scuttled themselves off Maseskjaer, Sweden. Even so the Germans protested about the action but were told by the Swede's that the navy's action had predominantly favoured the interests of Germany. However, in breach of international law, the Swede's had secretly equipped the ships with anti-aircraft guns while they were in Gothenburg. Surrounded as they were by a triumphant German forces nobody, wisely, made a fuss and Sweden did their best to play down what was considered to be a crazy idea.

CELTIC (2) was built in 1901 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 21035grt, a length of 700ft, a beam of 75ft 4in and a service speed of 16 knots. The last ship ordered by Thomas Ismay she was the first of a class known as the 'Big Four' and launched on 4th April 1901. She was the largest ship in the world and the first to exceed the tonnage of Brunel's Great Eastern which was registered as 18915grt. Her design introduced a new concept for Atlantic liners which was to last for thirty years. Large in size and great in comfort her moderate speed of 16 knots as opposed to the normal 19 knots enabled her to operate at an economical 280 tons of coal per day. With a high passenger and cargo carrying capacity her turnaround time in Liverpool and New York was a week but, with her sisters Cedric, Baltic and Adriatic, she was popular and highly profitable. By this time the company had decided to leave the fast crossings with Cunard and Norddeutscher Lloyd. Handed over on 11th July she commenced her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York ,where the approach channel had to be deepened to take her, on 26th July. In 1902 she made a five week cruise with 800 passengers to the Mediterranean and in September 1904 she carried 2957 passengers on the westbound Atlantic crossing, the largest number ever carried by the company. On 6th August 1907 she sailed on the first of two round voyages from Southampton to New York for the American Line as a replacement for the St Paul and soon after White Star began to operate a service form Southampton. She was requisitioned for war service on 4th August 1914 and on 20th October commissioned as an Armed Merchant Cruiser with 8 x 6in guns. On 4th December 1914 she was assigned to the 10th Cruiser Squadron. Decommissioned in January 1916 she was then converted into a troopship and operated between Liverpool and Egypt until March 7th when she sailed from Liverpool to New York. On 15th February 1917 she hit a mine which had been laid by U-80 off the Isle of Man with the loss of 17 lives. London & North Western Railway Co's Slieve Bawn took the passengers to Holyhead and the Celtic was towed into Peel Bay. The Tynwald of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co. carried divers and equipment from Liverpool and she was made good and taken to Belfast where she was repaired. Recomissioned at Liverpool she worked under the Liner Requisition Scheme from the following April. As with her sisters she was capable of carrying 700 tons of high grade oil in her deep tanks which was pumped into barges before docking at Liverpool. Each of the 'Big Four' supplied 1400 tons per week. On 19th May 1917 an attack by U-57 failed but on 31st March 1918 she was torpedoed by UB-77 in the Irish Sea with the loss of six lives. Towed into Liverpool she was repaired by Harland & Wolff. Returned to White Star in 1919 she was refurbished and resumed her Liverpool to New York service in January 1920. On 21st April 1925 she collided with Coast Line's Hampshire Coast but only suffered superficial damage. The Hampshire Coast was more badly damaged but managed to reach port. Two years later, on 29th January 1927, she collided with the US Shipping Board's Anaconda off Long Island with little damage to either vessel. In the same year she was converted to Cabin Class only with accommodation for 2500 passengers. On 10th December 1928 while stopped in gale force conditions awaiting the pilot to take her into Cobh (Queenstown) she was driven towards the shore and grounded on Roches Point. Although the engines were put to full astern and she came off she went aground again on Calf Rocks. Attempts were made to salvage her but she remained firmly ashore and became a total loss. Her funnels were cut down to deck level within days as they obstructed the Roches point lighthouse beam and a bridge was constructed from the ship to shore to facilitate her unloading. By this means everything came off the ship including the rats. The wreck was later sold to Petersen & Albeck of Copenhagen and she was broken up where she lay. The demolition was completed in 1933 and during the final stages ironworks were found which turned out to be the remains of Guion Line's Chicago which had been lost on the same rocks in January 1898.

CEDRIC was built in 1903 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 21035grt, a length of 700ft, a beam of 75ft 4in and a service speed of 16 knots. Launched on 21st August 1902 she was the only one of the four to be equipped with Welin davits in place of radials. She was handed over on 31st January 1903 and commenced her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York on 11th February. Her accommodation was said to be an improvement on that of the Celtic. During the winter of 1906 she undertook an annual five week cruise from New York to the Mediterranean and between January and March 1911 made two sailings to the Mediterranean. When the Titanic sank in April 1912 the Cedric was in New York and her departure was delayed until the Carpathia arrived with survivors, including crew members not required for the Court of Enquiry, who wished to travel back to Liverpool. In November 1914 she was requisitioned for war service and converted into an Armed Merchant Cruiser for service with the 10th Cruiser Squadron. She operated on 'A' patrol with the Teutonic. Decommissioned in 1916 she was converted into a troopship for operation initially to Egypt and then to the USA. In April 1917 her operation came under the auspices of the Liner Requisition Scheme. On 29th January 1918 whilst in convoy HG 27 she rammed Canadian Pacific's Montreal off Morcambe Bay. The Montreal was taken in tow but sank the next day 14 miles from the Mersey Bar lightship. She was returned to her owner in September 1919 and refitted by Harland & Wolff. In 1923 she collided with Cunard's Scythia off Ireland. On 5th September 1931 she made her last sailing from Liverpool to New York before being replaced by the Britannic. Sold for £22,150 to Thos. W. Ward she sailed from Liverpool on 11th January 1932 bound for Inverkeithing where she was broken up.

BALTIC (2) was built in 1904 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 23876grt, a length of 729ft, a beam of 75ft 7in and a service speed of 16 knots. Launched on 21st November 1903 an additional 20ft was added during construction so that she would retain the title of the world's largest ship. She was handed over on 23rd June 1904 and commenced her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York on 29th June. Unfortunately, her extra length slowed her down which made it difficult for her to maintain her schedules and subsequent engine modifications made her less economical. On 23rd January 1909 she rescued 1260 survivors following a collision between the Republic and Lloyd Italiano's Florida. The Baltic had been advised of the collision by wireless telegraphy, the first time it had been used for such a purpose. Although only an hour out of New York she turned around and made for the scene of the accident and landed the survivors at New York on the following day. On 14th April 1914 she sent a wireless message to the Titanic warning her of the ice that was causing her to reduce her speed to a crawl. When the First World War broke out she remained on the New York service with the Adriatic until 1915 when she was deployed as a troopship under the Liner Requisition Scheme. On 26th April 1917 she was attacked by UC-66 but received no damage. In May of the same year she carried the Headquarters staff and the first US troops to Europe. She resumed commercial service between Liverpool and New York on 12th December 1918. In 1926 her crew football team acquired the distinction of being the first British ship to win the Atlantic Soccer Club Tournament. On 6th December 1929 she rescued the crew of the schooner Northern Lights off Newfoundland. She commenced her final voyage on 17th September 1932 before being replaced by the Georgic. Laid up at Liverpool on 1st October she was sold in the following January and left Liverpool on 17th February 1933 bound for Osaka where she was broken up.
(Photo: John Clarkson)

ADRIATIC (2) was built in 1907 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 24541grt, a length of 729ft, a beam of 75ft 7in and a service speed of 16 knots. Sister of the Baltic she was ordered in December 1903 and, although rumours abound, it still remains a mystery as to why she took fours years to build. She was launched on 20th September 1906, the same day as Cunard's Mauretania (1), and was marginally larger than her sister so as to retain the largest ship in the world accolade. An additional innovation was the inclusion of the first indoor swimming pool and Turkish bath. She commenced her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York and thence back to Southampton on 8th May 1907. On 5th June 1907 she replaced the Celtic on the Southampton - Cherbourg - New York service. In June 1911 she was replaced by the Olympic on that route and was consequently transferred back to the Liverpool - New York service. On 5th May 1912 Bruce Ismay returned from New York on her after he had attended the Court of Enquiry following the loss of the Titanic. As a result of the enquiry all passenger ships were required to carry sufficient lifeboats for all passengers and, as a result, additional boats were installed on the Adriatic. When World War 1 broke out in August 1914 she remained on the Liverpool - New York service and during 1917 - 1918 was operated under the Liner Requisition Scheme when she carried high grade oil in her double bottom tanks. Refurbished in February 1919 she resumed service and on 1st April brought the five ' Original Dixieland Jazzband' members to Liverpool. This was the first time Jazz had come to Britain and their performance at the London Hippodrome lasted one night but the new genre of music was eventually accepted by the British. She returned to commercial service between Southampton and New York on 3rd September 1919 where she operated with IMMC's Lapland pending the refit of the Olympic. On 13th May 1922 she returned to the Liverpool - New York service and on 11th August five persons were killed in Liverpool following an explosion in a reserve coal bunker. In 1923 a call at Boston was introduced and in 1925 she made her fastest eastbound crossing in 7 days 6 minutes. She commenced winter cruising in 1926 and on 10th July 1927 was the first ship to enter the Gladstone Dock in Liverpool shortly after it had been opened by King George V. No.2 Branch, North Quay became White Star Line's regular berth. The Gladstone Dock was named after Robert Gladstone, chairman of the Mersey Docks & Harbour Board, not the Prime Minister of the day, W. E. Gladstone. In 1928 she was designated a Cabin Class ship and, as such, made her first sailing on 28th April. During the off season she made cruises to the Mediterranean. In 1929 she was laid up for the winter at Liverpool and only undertook voyages in the summer from thereon. She was laid up at Liverpool again on 30th August 1931 after her September cruises were cancelled. During the summer of 1933 she cruised out of Liverpool on a 'seven days for seven pounds' itinerary, Liverpool - Coruna - Lisbon - Madeira - Liverpool, until 31st August when she was laid up for the off season. On 24th February 1934 she made her final voyage from Liverpool to New York and on 29th March undertook a 'Scouters and Guiders' cruise with the Chief Scout Lord Baden Powell on board. In the July she was transferred to Cunard - White Star and became redundant. She made her final cruise out of Liverpool in the September and was put up for sale in the October. Sold for £48,000 in the following November she left Liverpool on 19th December bound for Osaka, Japan where she arrived on 5th March 1935 for demolition.

CRETIC was built in 1902 by Hawthorne, Leslie & Co. at Hebburn-on-Tyne with a tonnage of 13507grt, a length of 582ft, a beam of 60ft 4in and a service speed of 15 knots. She was launched on 25th February 1902 as the Hanoverian for Frederick Leyland & Co., the company's largest ship, and commenced her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Boston on 19th July. After only three voyages the company was taken over by the IMMC combine and she was transferred to the Dominion Line and renamed Mayflower. On 9th April 1903 she made her first sailing for the group from Liverpool to Boston. In the same year IMMC decided to make the White Star Line their premier company and, as a result, she was one of five liners transferred to White Star and renamed Cretic. She initially served on the Liverpool to Boston service but in November 1904 was transferred to the New York - Mediterranean route where she remained until 1910 when she reverted to Boston as her terminus. Between 1917 and 1919 she was operated under the Liner Requisition Scheme and in September 1919 she returned, with the Canopic, to White Star's Mediterranean service. In June 1923 she was transferred back to Frederick Leyland & Co. and renamed Devonian for service on their Liverpool to Boston run. During 1927-28 she was operated by the Red Star Line for three round voyages between Antwerp and New York with a call at Southampton. On 15th September 1928 she made her last sailing before being laid up and in the following year she was broken up by P & W McLellan at Bo'ness, Firth of Forth.

REPUBLIC (2) was built in 1903 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 15378grt, a length of 570ft, a beam of 67ft 8in and a service speed of 16 knots. She was launched on 26th February 1903 as the Columbus for the Dominion Line, handed over on 9th September and commenced her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Boston on 1st October. Later transferred by IMMC to White Star Line she was renamed Republic and commenced her first voyage as such from Liverpool to Boston on 17th December. In October 1904 she was transferred to the New York Mediterranean service. On 22nd January 1909 she sailed from New York at 1500hrs with 525 passengers and 297 crew bound for Naples with a call at Madeira. At 0551hrs on the following day she was rammed by Lloyd Italiano's inbound Florida off Nantucket, 175 miles from the Ambrose Light. As there was thick fog both ships were proceeding slowly but the Florida struck the Republic on the port side aft of amidships flooding the engine room. At 0600hrs the distress signal CDQ (come quick danger) was sent out for the first time. The Marconi wireless station at Siasconsett relayed the message to the Baltic who immediately altered course and raced to the scene of the accident. All the Republic's passengers and the crew, apart from 47 who remained on board, were transferred to the Florida who, although her bow had been stove in, was watertight. Soon Anchor Line's Furnessia, French Line's La Lorraine, Cunard's Lucania and America Line's New York picked up the distress signals and hurried to the scene. US Coast Guard vessels set sail from New York and on arrival took off all the Florida's 800 passengers together with those from the Republic. By now the Baltic was lying dead in the water without lights and listing to port and the US Coast Guard Revenue Cutter put a line aboard while the Furnessia, at daybreak, put a second line aboard at the stern to provide steerage. At 2005hrs the Republic began to settle in the water and before the skeleton crew could be taken off she quickly sank by the stern in 34 fathoms off Martha's Vineyard Island. Captain Sealby and his crew had to be rescued from the water. On 24th January the US Coast Guard's Seneca and the New York escorted the Florida into port. Four lives were lost as a result of the accident and, at the time, she was the largest liner lost at sea. The White Star Line successfully sued the Lloyd Italiano Line for negligence and was compensated after the Florida had been repaired and sold for about £40,000. She too was lost after a collision on 12th December 1917.. The Republic was supposedly carrying $265,000 (1999=$6,000,000) US Navy payroll destined for the Atlantic Fleet in Gibraltar. It was also rumoured that the cargo included a politically sensitive shipment of newly minted Gold eagle coins with a current value of between $400,000,000 and $1,600,000,000 depending on condition. The wreck was found in 1981 but, as far as is known, nothing has been recovered.
For more information on the Republic visit- http://rms-republic.com/index.html

ROMANIC was built in 1898 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 11394grt, a length of 550ft 4in, a beam of 59ft 4in and a service speed of 15 knots. She was launched as the New England for the Dominion Line on 7th April 1898 and commenced her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Boston on 30th June. In November 1903 she was transferred to White Star Line and renamed Romanic, commencing her first voyage as such from Liverpool to Boston on 19th November. It was also White Star's first sailing on that route. On the following 5th December she commenced her first sailing on the Boston - Mediterranean service. After positioning from Genoa to Glasgow she was, on 3rd January 1912, sold to the Allan Line of Glasgow and renamed Scandinavian and on 23rd March started on the Glasgow - Halifax - Boston route. In May of the same year she was transferred to the Glasgow - Quebec - Montreal summer service. On 22nd August 1914 she carried Canadian troops to Glasgow and on 1st October 1915 was taken over with the fleet by Canadian Pacific Ocean Services but continued on the Canadian service. During 1917 - 1919 she operated under the Liner Requisition Scheme and on 18th May 1920, back in commercial service, was deployed on the Antwerp - Quebec - Montreal route. In July 1922 she was laid up at Falmouth as a result of a surplus of tonnage and on 9th July 1923 was sold to F. Rijsdik Rotterdam for scrapping. On 16th July she was re-sold to Klasmann & Lentze of Emden and in the following October was broken up at Hamburg.

ARABIC (2) was built in 1903 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 15801grt, a length of 600ft 8in, a beam of 65ft 6in and a service speed of 16 knots. Laid down as the Minnewaska for the Atlantic Transport Line which was acquired by IMMC during construction, she was, consequently, launched on 18th December 1902 as the Arabic for the White Star Line. She commenced her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York on 26th June 1903. On 14th April 1905 she was deployed on the Liverpool - Boston route but alternated with New York as trade demanded. She reverted to the Liverpool - New York service on 20th June 1907 but went back to the Boston route on 1st August 1911. In 1913 First Class was discontinued and extra lifeboats added as a result in the change of regulations following the loss of the Titanic. When the 'Big Four' were requisitioned for war service she was transferred to the New York service on 23rd December 1914 and retained her peacetime livery. On 19th August 1915, outbound for New York with 200 passengers, she was torpedoed by U-24 50 miles off the Old Head of Kinsale with the loss of 44 lives. The action was contrary to a German pronouncement that passenger ships would be given sufficient warning to allow passengers to escape and happened three weeks before the Lusitania was sunk by U-20 in the same location. Resentment was strong in the USA and many say that a hardening of attitudes as result of the Arabic sinking led to America entering the war.

CANOPIC was built in 1900 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 12097grt, a length of 578ft 4in, a beam of 59ft 4in and a service speed of 16 knots. She was launched on 31st May 1900 as the Commonwealth for the Dominion Line and commenced her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Boston on the following 4th October. In November 1901 she made three winter sailings from Boston to Genoa before reverting to the Liverpool - Boston run. She was transferred within the IMMC Group to the White Star Line in 1903 and renamed Canopic before making her first sailing from Liverpool to Boston on 14th January. Twelve months later she was transferred to the New York - Mediterranean service. When the 1st World War was declared she remained in commercial service between the USA and the Mediterranean and in 1915 she operated between Liverpool and New York or Boston. On 26th April 1917 she came within the control of the Liner Requisition Scheme where she remained until February 1919 when she was returned to the White Star Line and deployed on the New York - Mediterranean route. She was replaced on the Mediterranean route by the Arabic in 1922 and subsequently transferred to the Liverpool - Halifax - Boston run, making her first voyage on 13th April. During that summer she operated to Montreal and on 10th November 1922 commenced her sailings from Bremen to New York with calls at Southampton and Halifax. In November 1923 her terminal port was changed to Hamburg (Cuxhaven). From September 1924 she operated between Liverpool and Philadelphia and Portland, Maine before being broken up at Briton Ferry in October 1925.

ATHENIC was built in 1902 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 12345grt, a length of 500ft 4in, a beam of 63ft 4in and a service speed of 14 knots. The first of three sisterships built for the New Zealand White Star - Shaw, Savill and Albion joint service she was launched on 17th August 1901 and commenced her maiden voyage from London to Wellington on 14th February 1902. During a dock strike in Wellington in 1912 the crew refused to join the strike and local farmers loaded their own produce. Because of her meat carrying capacity she remained on commercial service when the 1st World War broke out. On 28th February 1916, when at Santa Cruz, Tenerife, she embarked British prisoners who had been victims of the German raider Mowe. They had arrived there in J Westoll's Westburn which had been taken as a prize and later scuttled. Between 1917-19 she operated under the Liner Requisition Scheme carrying frozen meat from Australia and New Zealand via the Panama Canal. When the USA entered the war she often carried troops on the northbound voyages. On 3rd May 1920 she rescued the 80 passengers and crew from the Munsen Line's Munamar which had run aground on Little San Salvador Island, Bahamas, and took them to Newport News. In October 1927 she made her last voyage to New Zealand before being sold in May 1928 for £33,000 to Hvalfangerselskapet Pelagos, A/S Svend Foyn Brunn of Brunn & Von de Lippe of Tonsberg, Norway who converted her into a whale factory ship at Smiths Dock Co., South Bank, Tees. Renamed Pelagos her former first class accommodation remained intact, the most luxurious for a whaler. On 15th January 1941 she was captured in the Antartic by the German raider Pinguin along with another factory ship, a depot ship and 11 whale catchers. She was sent to Bordeaux and subsequently operated by the German whaling company Erste Deutsche Walfang Ges. as a depot oiler to the 24th Submarine Flotilla which was based in Norway. On 24th October 1944 she was sunk at Kirkenes and in the following year was raised by the Norwegians and put back into service with a modified superstructure. She was sold to SF Brunn of Hamburg on 25th June 1962 and immediately resold to Eckardt & Co. of Hamburg where she was broken up.

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