HMT Osmanieh
From Our Contribution
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | HMT Osmanieh |
| Owner | Khedivial Mail Steamship & Graving Dock Co Ltd, London |
| Builder | Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd, Wallsend |
| Yard number | 761 |
| Launched | 9 May 1906 |
| Completed | August 1906 |
| In service | 1906 |
| Out of service | 31 Dec 1917 |
| Fate | Mined and sank |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Passenger/cargo |
| Tonnage | 4.041 tons |
| Length | 360 ft 2 in (109.77m) |
| Beam | 45 ft 2 in (13.76m) |
| Depth | 16 ft 2 in (4.92m) |
| Propulsion | twin screw |
| Speed | 17 knots (31.48 km/h) |
| Capacity | Accommodation for 144 x 1st Class & 76 x 2nd Class passengers |
Remarks
Sometimes spelt as 'Osmanich'. Built for the Khedivial Mail Steamship and Graving Dock Co, Ltd, London, she was at the time of her loss, hired by the British Royal Navy as a troop transport. Her normal beat was the eastern Mediterranean Sea visiting Alexandria, Constantinople, and Syrian ports.
On 23 Jun 1917 the ship evaded two torpedoes fired by a German submarine, but on 31 Dec 1917 she was not as lucky when, with troops and medical personnel from Southampton aboard, she was sunk by a mine laid the previous day by the German submarine UC-34 at the entrance to the Alexandria Harbour. The ship sank in five to seven minutes, killing 199 people, including her Captain and 23 of the crew, a Royal Navy officer, 166 other ranks and the eight nurses of Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service.
Soldiers carried
Anzac Cove to Mudros 12 - 14 December 1915
28th Battalion, less its Machine Gunners (they were amongst the last to leave on the evening of the 19/20th December).