Vaderland (ship, 1900)
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The Vaderland was an ocean liner of the International Navigation Company that was put into service in 1900 and was used in the service of the Red Star Line in transatlantic passenger traffic from Belgium and Great Britain to New York . The ship served as a British troop transport during the First World War under the name Southland until it was sunk by a German submarine on June 4, 1917 off the coast of Northern Ireland .
The ship
In July 1899, the International Navigation Company announced that it had commissioned four new steamers. Two of them, the 11,899 GRT Vaderland and her identical sister ship Zeeland , were built by the John Brown & Company shipyard in Clydebank near Glasgow (Scotland), the other two, the Kroonland and the Finland two years later by William Cramp and Sons in Philadelphia . The launch of the Vaderland took place on July 12, 1900. The official owner was the American Line, the ship was registered with the International Navigation Company, and it was used by the Red Star Line. These shipping companies belonged to one company. The Vaderland and the Zeeland were the first newbuildings for the Red Star Line since the Friesland of 1889.
The 170.94 meter long and 18.34 meter wide ship was equipped with two funnels, four masts and a double propeller. The quadruple expansion steam engines could accelerate the ship to up to 15 knots (27.8 km / h). The passenger accommodations were designed for 342 passengers in the first, 194 in the second and 626 in the third class. On December 8, 1900, ran Vaderland in Antwerp on her maiden voyage to New York via Southampton from. This was the traditional route of the Red Star Line. Between December 11, 1901 and April 2, 1902, the steamer made three crossings from Southampton via Cherbourg to New York under the charter of the American Line ( American Steamship Company , Philadelphia) .
On May 16, 1903, the Vaderland ran again under the Belgian flag in Antwerp for New York. She cast off for the last trip on this route on December 25, 1914. From September 22, 1914, the ship steamed under the British flag for White Star - Dominion for three trips on the route Liverpool - Halifax - Portland . In 1915, the Vaderland was converted into a troop transport and renamed Southland , as its name was too similar to the German word Vaterland .
In the first World War
The former passenger steamer was used after its intended transport ship in the Mediterranean to bring troops of the 6th Essex Regiment from Devonport ( Devon ) to Gallipoli from July 4th to August 11th, 1915 . She then promoted the sixth brigade of the Australian 22nd Battalion, the second division of the First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF), members of the Australian 23rd Battalion under General James Gordon Legge with his staff and the 2nd Division Signals Company.
On September 2, 1915, the Vaderland was torpedoed by the German submarine UB 14 about 30 nautical miles off the island of Limnos in the Aegean Sea . The ship was with 1,400 men on a mission from Alexandria to Gallipoli. At 9.45 a.m. the submarine commander, Oberleutnant zur See Heino von Heimburg , fired a torpedo at the steamer, which was a direct hit. The Vaderland was damaged, but did not sink and was aground near Limnos.
40 people were killed in the attack. The survivors, some of whom spent up to four hours in the water, were picked up by the Neuralia and the Ben-my-Chree and brought to Moudros , where they were transferred to the troop transport Transylvania . Among the men was the soldier James Martin (1901–1915), who is considered the youngest Australian to be killed in action. The Vaderland was towed by the Racoon to Moudros and repaired there. The attack on the ship was recorded by the Australian marine painter Frederick Leist under the name Sinking of the Southland .
After the repair, the ship went back to the White Star Line in August 1916 and was used in passenger traffic from Liverpool to Quebec and Montreal . On June 4, 1917, the Vaderland was on a voyage from Liverpool to Philadelphia 140 nautical miles northwest of Tory Island at position 56 ° 10 ' N , 12 ° 14' W by the German submarine U 70 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Otto Wünsche sunk by two torpedoes. Four crew members were killed.
