HMT City of Edinburgh
From Our Contribution
 | |
 Ships bell, held in Museum of Liverpool | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | HMT City of Edinburgh |
| Owner | S.S. Mentmore Ltd - W. Johnston & Co., Liverpool |
| Builder | Charles Connell & Company, Glasgow |
| Yard number | 244 |
| Launched | 17 Oct 1898 |
| In service | 1899 |
| Out of service | 1929 |
| Fate | Broken up at Bo'ness 9 May 1929 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | cargo vessel |
| Tonnage | 7,714 tons |
| Length | 459.0 ft |
| Beam | 52.5 ft |
| Depth | 131.0 ft |
| Speed | 12 knots (22.22 km/h) |
Remarks
Launched as the SS Maplemore, but after being sold in 1901 to JR Ellerman, Liverpool she was renamed SS City of Edinburgh. She sailed from Southampton to the Cape on 29/30 Nov 1899, carrying 441 men and 352 horses to fight in the Boer War. Unloaded, she was then directed to Sydney, arriving 7 Mar 1900 to pick up Australian troops (including members of the Bushmen's Corps) for the Cape, leaving Fremantle on 17 Mar 1900. She made another trip, carrying 510 Australian troops from Sydney to the Cape, sailing on 15 Mar 1901. Her name was officially changed to SS City of Edinburgh in 1903.
She was used as a troop ship in the First World War. The HMSO publication "British Vessels Lost at Sea: 1914-18", the City of Edinburgh was attacked by a submarine (torpedo & gunfire) in the English Channel on 2 Jul 1915. Although the torpedo missed, there were four deaths (presumably from gunfire). A second attack - gunfire from a submarine - occurred in the Channel on 26 October 1916, with no loss of life. In early 1916 she carried Australian troops from Alexandria to Marseilles.
When the troop-transport SS Ballarat was torpedoed on 24 April 1917, the City of Edinburgh was one of the vessels that helped ensure the safe evacuation of all 1,600 troops aboard, as well as Ballarat's crew. The Admiralty sold her in 1918 to British owners, who sold her in 1921 to Spanish owners. On 4 Jan 1952 she became stranded on Cap Blanc, Spanish Sahara, and became a total loss.