The 8,268 GRT steamship Ionian was built at the Workman, Clark shipyard in Belfast , Northern Ireland , and was launched there on September 12, 1901. The ship, 143.3 meters long and 17.4 meters wide, had a chimney, four masts and two propellers and was equipped with two three-cylinder, triple-expansion steam engines from the shipyard, which developed 604 nominal hp (nhp) and enabled a speed of 14 knots. 132 passengers could be carried in first, 160 in second and 800 in third class.
On November 21, 1901, ran Ionian in Liverpool for their maiden voyage to Halifax and St. John from. From May 15, 1902, she drove from Liverpool to Quebec and Montreal . From May 27, 1905, Glasgow was the starting point, while Quebec and Montreal remained the destination ports. In the following years Liverpool and Glasgow alternated as starting points for the crossings.
In 1909, the steamer's passenger quarters were rebuilt and first class was completely abolished in this context. From then on, 325 passengers in the second class and another 800 in the third class were transported. On April 25, 1902, the Ionian sailed for the first time from London across the Atlantic. The last voyage in peacetime started on July 30, 1914. Subsequently, due to the war, the passenger ship was converted into a troop transport. From then on, it brought troops to Bombay via the Suez Canal . When the Allan Line was sold to the Canadian Pacific Line in 1917 , the Ionian also passed to the new owners, but remained in service as a troop ship.
Sinking
On October 20, 1917, the Ionian was an armed merchant cruiser armed for her own defense on another troop voyage from Liverpool to Plymouth when she ran into a sea mine two nautical miles west of St. Govan's Head on the coast of Pembrokeshire (Wales) had been laid by the German submarine SM UC 51 (Oberleutnant zur See Hans Galster ). The ship sank at the position 51 ° 35'N, 4 ° 59'W; seven people were killed. The Ionian was the largest ship sunk by UC 51 .
