Haverford (ship)
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The Haverford was a passenger ship put into service in 1901 by the US shipping company American Line , which was built for transatlantic passenger and mail traffic between Europe and the USA. The Haverford served as a British troop transport in World War I and was broken up in Italy in 1925 .
The ship
The 11,635 gross register tons steamship was built from 1899 to 1901 at the John Brown & Company shipyard in Clydebank near Glasgow and was launched there on May 4, 1901. The ship was completed in August 1901. The ship, 161.85 meters long and 18.04 meters wide, had four masts, a chimney and two propellers . It was powered by two triple expansion steam engines from the shipyard, which developed 5,000 PSi and enabled a speed of 14 knots. The passenger accommodations were designed for 150 second class and 1,700 third class passengers.
The Haverford and her sister ship Merion (11,621 GRT), which entered service in 1902 , were built for the American Line based in Philadelphia . On September 4, 1901, the Haverford ran on her maiden voyage from Southampton via Cherbourg to New York . Although it was an American shipping company, the Haverford sailed under the British flag. After just this one voyage, the steamer was chartered to the Red Star Line and sailed from Antwerp to New York on November 9, 1901 under the Belgian flag . By March 8, 1902, the Haverford completed four crossings on this route. Then she was returned to the American Line and steamed from Liverpool to New York from April 1902 .
On December 17, 1908, the Haverford was chartered to the Dominion Line , for which she made two crossings from Liverpool to Halifax and Portland by January 21, 1909 . The Haverford then stayed on the American Line's Liverpool – Philadelphia route until January 1915. In 1915 and 1916 the ship served as a troop transport for the British. On June 26, 1917, she was torpedoed off the west coast of Scotland by the German submarine U 94 . According to various sources, seven to eleven people were killed, but the Haverford was able to return to port and be repaired. On April 17, 1918, she was attacked again by a submarine in the North Atlantic , but got away without damage or loss.
In January 1919 the Haverford returned to service from Liverpool to New York. In February 1921 she started her last trip for the American Line. Then she was sold to the White Star Line , which she continued to operate under the name Haverford on the same route. This was unusual for the White Star Line, which usually gave each newly acquired ship a new name with the ending -ic . On April 1, 1921, the Haverford cast off for her first voyage for the new owners. By November 6, 1921, she completed seven crossings on the route, until she was used from January 18, 1922 for three round trips by the American Line on the route from Hamburg to New York.
From May 16, 1922, the Haverford drove again for the White Star Line on the Liverpool – Boston – Philadelphia route. Her crossing on August 27, 1924 from Liverpool via Glasgow and Belfast to Philadelphia was her last. Due to the increasing number of structural and electrical defects, which repeatedly required repairs, the Haverford was sold for demolition at the end of 1924 and broken up in Italy in 1925 .