HMT Transylvania
From Our Contribution
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | HMT Transylvania |
| Owner | Cunard Steam-Ship Co., Liverpool |
| Builder | Scotts' Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd., Greenock |
| Yard number | 451 |
| Launched | 23 May 1914 |
| Completed | 19 Oct 1914 |
| In service | 1914 |
| Out of service | 4 May 1917 |
| Fate | sunk by torpedo |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Passenger liner |
| Tonnage | 14,348 tons |
| Length | 548.3 ft (167.1 m) |
| Beam | 66.6 ft (20.3 m) |
| Depth | 42 ft (13 m) |
| Propulsion | twin screw |
| Speed | 17.5 knots (32.41 km/h) |
| Capacity | 1,379 passengers or 3060 troops. |
Contents
Remarks
Built for a Cunard subsidiary, the Anchor Line. She could carry 1,379 passengers in her original configuration, and 3,060 troops when fitted out as a troopship. Requisitioned by the UK government on 19 May 1915 and used to move troops around the Mediterranean. On 4 May 1917 while sailing from Marseille to Alexandria, 2,860 British soldiers, 200 officers and 60 Red Cross nurses were on board the Transylvania when she was torpedoed 2.5 miles (4 km) south of Cape Vado in the Gulf of Genoa, Italy by the German U-Boat U-63. This was despite an escort from two Japanese destroyers. While one of the escorts was taking on board troops from the Transylvania, another torpedo was fired and although the destroyer was able to avoid it, the Transylvania was dead in the water and it sank immediately. Ten crew members, 29 army officers, and 375 soldiers lost their lives.
Soldiers carried
Alexandria to Marseilles 29 March -4 April 1916
- William Carroll
- Frank Moore
- Edward Patrick Thomas O'Brien
- John Donaldson Patterson
- John James Thorpe
- † Richard John Williams