Drina (ship, 1912)

Drina

The Drina in service as a hospital ship

Ship data flag  United Kingdom Ship type Passenger ship home port Liverpool Shipping company Royal Mail Line Shipyard Harland & Wolff , Belfast Build number 428 Launch June 29, 1912 Commissioning December 1912 Whereabouts Sunk March 1, 1917

Ship dimensions and crew length 152.61 m ( Lüa ) width 18.99 m Draft Max. 12.3 m measurement 11,483 GRT

Machine system machine Two eight-cylinder quadruple expansion steam engines Machine performance 680 PS (500 kW) Top speed 13.5 kn (25 km / h) propeller 2

Transport capacities Permitted number of passengers I. class: 95 II. Class: 38 III. Class: 800

Others Registration numbers 132027

The Drina (I) was an ocean liner put into service in 1912 by the British shipping company Royal Mail Line (RML), which was built for passenger and mail traffic between Great Britain and South America . She was the first merchant ship to be converted into a hospital ship during World War I. On March 1, 1917, the Drina sank off the coast of Wales after it ran into a sea ​​mine laid by a German submarine .

history

The 11,483 GRT steamship Drina was built at the renowned Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast , Northern Ireland , and was launched on June 29, 1912. She was one of five sister ships that the Royal Mail Line had built for passenger and mail traffic to South America. The other four were the Deseado (1911, 11,475 GRT), the Desna (1912, 11,483 GRT), the Darro (1912, 11,484 GRT) and the Demerara (1912, 11,484 GRT). All five ships were built by Harland & Wolff.

The Drina was 152.61 meters long, 18.99 meters wide and had a maximum draft of 12.3 meters. It had a chimney, two masts , three decks and was powered by two eight-cylinder quadruple expansion steam engines that operated on two propellers and allowed a top speed of 13.5 knots at 680 nominal horsepower . Their passenger capacity was 95 passengers in the first, 38 in the second and 800 in the third class. The maiden voyage of the Drina from Liverpool to Buenos Aires took place in December 1912th

In August 1914, after less than two years in civilian passenger traffic , the Drina was drafted into military service by the British Admiralty and converted into a hospital ship. She was the first merchant ship in World War I that this happened. After a short time as HMHS (His Majesty's Hospital Ship) Drina , however, she was returned to the Royal Mail Line and returned to her original purpose as a passenger ship .

Sinking

On Thursday March 1, 1917, the Drina was under the command of Captain CV Fletcher on another voyage from Buenos Aires to Liverpool, with stops in Lisbon and Falmouth . On board were 148 crew members, 189 passengers and 4,000 tons of cargo, including wood , coffee and meat products .

At 11:57 p.m. on the evening of March 1, the Drina ran off Milford Haven, two nautical miles west of the island of Skokholm on the Welsh coast, on a sea ​​mine laid by the German submarine UC 65 (Kapitänleutnant Otto Steinbrinck ). Another torpedo impact occurred about 45 minutes later. All passengers were rescued, but 15 crew members were killed. Most of them were from the Liverpool area. The ship sank to the coordinates 51 ° 41 '  N , 5 ° 20'  W coordinates: 51 ° 41 '0 "  N , 5 ° 20' 0"  W .

wreck

The wreck of the Drina lies at a depth of 60 meters off Skokholm on its starboard side . The upper deck is 42 meters below the water surface.

Web links

• Detailed information and photos
• The Drina in a listing of British hospital ships in World War I.
• The Drina in the submarine database
• Brief information about the wreck of the Drina on wrecksite.eu
• Incomplete list of fatalities
• Brief report on the construction of the Drina and its sister ships in the New York Times of August 24, 1912