SS Tuscania (1914)
 SS Tuscania (1914) | |
| Career | Anchor Line |
|---|---|
| Builder: | Alexander Stephen & Sons, Ltd., Linthouse, Govan |
| Laid down: | 1914 |
| Launched: | September 1914 |
| Fate: | Sunk 5 February 1918 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 14,348 gross tons |
| Length: | 567 ft (173 m) |
| Beam: | 66 ft 4 in (20.22 m) |
| Draught: | 45 ft (14 m) |
| Propulsion: | Parsons steam turbines - twin screw [1] |
| Capacity: | 2,500+ passengers |
| Armament: | 4-inch naval gun (fitted October 1916) [2] |
The SS Tuscania was a luxury liner of the Cunard subsidiary Anchor Line, named after a town in Italy. She was torpedoed in 1918 by the German U-boat UB-77 while carrying American troops to Europe and sank with a loss of 210 lives.[3]
Contents
Commercial career
The Tuscania carried passengers between New York City and Glasgow while in service with the Anchor Line, on a route that had previously been assigned to her sistership Transylvania.[1] She continued to run this route even as World War I broke out in Europe and Germany initiated unrestricted submarine warfare in British territorial waters, which put neutral ships like the Tuscania at risk of being misidentified and attacked. The Tuscania made international headlines for rescuing passengers and crew from the burning Greek steamer SS Athinai on September 20, 1915,[4] and made the news again in March 1917 by evading a submarine and a suspected German commerce raider.[5]
Notable passengers
- Harry Randall Truman, who later died in the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.
- Sydney Brooks, British critic.[6][7]
Army units on board
- 100th Aero Squadron
- 158th Aero Squadron
- 213th Aero Squadron
- 32nd Infantry Division (United States)
- 20th Engineers
- 357th Infantry
- 165th Depot
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Tuscania Was Pride of the Anchor Line" New York Times 07 Feb 1918: p. 2
- ↑ "Tuscania Carried No Civil Passengers" New York Times 07 Feb 1918: p. 2
- ↑ Massie, Robert K. Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea. New York: Ballantine Books, 2004. ISBN 0-345-40878-0
- ↑ "Greek Liner Burns at Sea, 469 saved" The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 21, 1915: p.2
- ↑ "Report the Tuscania Dodged a Submarine" New York Times 22 Mar 1917: p.3
- ↑ http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Sydney_Brooks
- ↑ "Britain's Heart Now of Granite" The New York Times, January 19, 1916: p.2
External links
- Tuscania, an American History http://renton.50megs.com/Tuscania
- http://www.footnote.com/image/#19120039 100th history
- http://www.footnote.com/image/#19743002 158th history
- http://www.footnote.com/image/#19052811 213th history
