As Atlantis ( lithograph by Kenneth Shoesmith, 1930s)
The 15,620 GRT steamship Andes was built by Harland & Wolff in Belfast , Northern Ireland , and was launched on May 8, 1913. The 179.83 meter long and 19.91 meter wide passenger and mail ship had a chimney, two masts and three propellers and was powered by triple expansion steam engines that allowed a speed of 17 knots. The nominal engine power was estimated at 1610 hp. The passenger accommodations were designed for 380 first class passengers, 250 second class passengers and 700 third class passengers. She was the sister ship of the Arlanza (I) (15,044 GRT), which was commissioned in 1912 .
The Andes was completed on September 12, 1913, left Belfast on September 11 and ran from Liverpool on September 26, 1913 on her maiden voyage to Valparaíso . In the following years she commuted between Southampton and Buenos Aires with stops in Lisbon , Rio de Janeiro and Montevideo . During the First World War , the Andes served as an auxiliary cruiser ("Armed Merchant Cruiser") and as such was involved in the battle with the German auxiliary cruiser Greif on February 29, 1916 , as a result of which the Greif sank. In the further course of the war, the Andes was used as an escort for ship convoys and for the repatriation of British submarine crews from Murmansk .
As Atlantis in Wellington Harbor, 1951.
In 1919 the ship was overhauled after years of military service and resumed service to Río de la Plata . In 1929 the steamer was converted into a cruise ship and put into service under the name Atlantis with space for 450 first class passengers . In 1939 the ship was converted into a hospital ship for war use and initially stationed in Alexandria . In 1940 it was used in the evacuation of Norway . The ship then patrolled the Indian Ocean for two years . In 1942 she took part in the Allied conquest of Madagascar and in 1943 she repatriated Italian prisoners of war to Lisbon and Gothenburg .
Until 1946, the Atlantis was used for hospital and repatriation tasks. Then she was used with space for 900 third class passengers for emigration trips from England to Australia and New Zealand . In 1952, the 39-year-old ship was launched and scrapped in Faslane-on-Clyde in March of the same year .
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