Marmora (ship, 1903)
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The Marmora was a passenger ship put into service in 1903 by the British shipping company Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), which was used in passenger and mail traffic from Great Britain to Australia . During the First World War , the ship served as an armed auxiliary cruiser (Armed Merchant Cruiser) until it was sunk by a German submarine south of Ireland on July 23, 1918 .
Passenger ship
The 10,509 GRT, steel- built steamship Marmora was built by Harland & Wolff in Belfast, Northern Ireland and was launched on April 9, 1903. She was the structurally identical sister ship of the Macedonia , which was launched on July 9, 1903 with the hull number 355 at the same shipyard . Both ships were built for P & O's Australian service and were the shipping company's largest ships to date. The marmora was named after the Sea of Marmara and the Macedonia after Macedonia .
The Marmora was 161.61 meters long, 18.37 meters wide and had a draft of 7.77 meters. It had two chimneys, two masts and a twin propeller . It was powered by two four-way expansion steam engines from the shipyard, which delivered 13,000 PSi and enabled a speed of 17 knots. The Marmora was the shipping company's first ship with quadruple expansion steam engines. The passenger accommodation could accommodate 367 first-class passengers and 187 second-class passengers. The crew consisted of 327 people.
It was handed over to P&O on November 20, 1903. Shortly afterwards, the Marmora , whose construction costs totaled 344,084 pounds sterling , went on its maiden voyage from London via Bombay to Australia. The prominent passengers she carried during her time as a passenger ship included Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife , his wife Louise of Great Britain and Ireland and their two daughters.
Auxiliary cruiser
On August 3, 1914, the passenger steamer was requested by the British Admiralty for military service in the First World War . The Marmora was then converted and assigned to Tenth Cruiser Squadron. Most of the time she was responsible for escorting ship convoys in the South Atlantic and was also looking for the German auxiliary cruiser Möve .
In August 1914 she was also involved in the search for the German auxiliary cruiser (ex-luxury steamer) Kaiser Wilhelm the Great on the coast of Río de Oro , together with the cruiser Highflyer and the also converted Empress of Britain . On September 4, 1914, she met the liner Canopus , which was on its way to the South American station. In November 1916, the Marmora was bought by the Admiralty, but returned to P&O in February 1917.
On July 23, 1918, the Marmora was on a crossing from Cardiff (Wales) to Dakar (Senegal) when she was at position 50.24N south of Ireland by the German submarine UB 64 (Oberleutnant zur See Otto von Schrader), 08.48W was torpedoed. Just a few days earlier, von Schrader had torpedoed the Justicia , but only damaged it. The marmora, on the other hand, went under. Ten of its crew members were killed. The Marmora was the largest ship sunk by UB 64 .