The 11,973 GRT, steel-built steamship Persic was built at the Belfast shipyard Harland & Wolff . She was the last to be completed of three sister ships , unofficially called The Jubilee Class, which was considered a sign of anticipation for the approaching turn of the century . The other two ships were the Afric and the Medic . With these three ships, the White Star Line opened its passenger and freight traffic to Australia. This step proved so successful that the shipping company completed the Jubilee Class with the Runic and the Suevic in 1900 .
The 173.7 meter long and 19.3 meter wide ship had three decks , a chimney and four masts . The Persic was powered by an eight-cylinder quadruple expansion steam engine from Harland & Wolff, which acted on two propellers and developed 5000 PSi . The top speed was 13.5 knots. 320 passengers could be transported in the cabin class. The ship also had seven holds. Freight and luggage could be loaded with a total of 21 derrick cranes . The daily coal consumption was 80 tons.
The Persic (left) next to the Ceramic on the pier (undated).
On September 7, 1899, the Persic was launched in Belfast and on November 16, she was handed over to the White Star Line. On December 7, 1899, the steamer left Liverpool on its maiden voyage via Cape Town to Sydney . On this trip she carried troops for use in the Boer War . Her rudder broke in Cape Town, delaying her journey until Harland & Wolff was able to deliver a new one. The first crossing was not completed until January 1900.
On October 26, 1900, the Persic took on the crew of the schooner Madura , which had caught fire . From 1917 to 1919, like her sister ships, she was subject to the Liner Requisition Theme. On September 7, 1918, she was torpedoed by the German submarine UB 87 (Kapitänleutnant Karl Petri) with 2800 American soldiers on board 40 nautical miles northwest of the Isles of Scilly , but was able to enter the next port. In 1920 it was returned to the White Star Line and modernized. From then on there was only room for 260 cabin class passengers. In 1926, irreparable machine damage occurred during renovation work in Govan . After her last departure on September 26, 1926, the Persic was launched. On July 7, 1927, it was sold for demolition and steamed from the Mersey to Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht in the Netherlands , where it was scrapped.
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