Melita (ship, 1918)
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The Melita was a 1918 passenger ship of the British shipping company Canadian Pacific Steamships , which was used for cruises from 1932 . In 1935, the Italian Italian Line took over the ship originally intended for scrapping and used it as an emigrant ship and troop transport under the name Liguria . In 1940 the Liguria was badly damaged by air raids in the port of Tobruk and sunk there as a block ship on January 22, 1941 . The ship remained in the harbor basin for nine years and was not made buoyant again until 1950, before being towed to Savona for scrapping on August 19, 1950 .
history
Planning and construction
Laid down in 1913, the Melita was actually supposed to be put into service for the German Hapag . After the outbreak of war, however, the ship under construction was confiscated and, after numerous war-related delays, launched on April 21, 1917. The Melita was delivered to Canadian Pacific Steamships in January 1918 and put into service on January 25, 1918 on the route from Liverpool to St. John's .
period of service
The Melita stayed on its old route until 1920 and then switched to the route from Liverpool to New York after taking a special trip for the British government to Bombay in 1919 .
In 1922, the ship's European port of departure moved to Antwerp , from where it could continue to be used on the route to New York. After an extensive renovation in Jarrow in 1925 , the Melita returned to its original route from Liverpool to Canada in 1927.
From 1932 the ship was used for cruises after 146 transatlantic voyages until it was decommissioned in 1935 and sold to Genoa for scrapping . Once there, however, she bought the Italian Line instead, which converted it into a migrant ship as Liguria , which could also be used as a troop transport.
Retirement
In 1940 Liguria, used as a troop transport, was badly damaged during an air raid in Tobruk. It was decided to sink her as a blockade ship in the port. On January 22, 1941, the order was finally carried out. After nine years in port, the wreck of the Liguria was made buoyant again in 1950 and sold for scrapping. On August 19, 1950 she left the port of Tobruk pulled by tugs to be dismantled in Genoa.
Murder on board the ship
In October 1925, the Melita briefly hit the headlines when Arthur Honeywell Clews, the ship's captain, was shot dead in his cabin by first officer Thomas Augustus Towers while he was sleeping. Despite the rapid intervention of the ship's doctor, only Clew's death could be determined, while the perpetrator was locked up in his cabin by other officers. Towers, who had already been convicted of attempted murder, was arrested in the next port and later admitted to a psychiatric clinic as not being sane.