SS ''Alfios'', built as SS ''Bolivian'', was a B-class standard

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

built by the

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government and later operated by the

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mercantile company Theofano Maritime.

Characteristics

''Alfios'' was a cargo freighter which had a gross register tonnage of 3,154 GRT which measured long, broad, and tall. It was made of steel and was powered by three triple expansion engines made by Richardsons Westgarth which produced 517

nominal horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

for a speed of 12

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History

The ship was built as ''Bolivian'' in 1919 at

West Hartlepool West Hartlepool was a predecessor of Hartlepool, County Durham, England. It developed in the Victorian era and took the name from its western position in the parish of what is now known as the Headland. The former town was originally formed in ...

, United Kingdom, by Irvine's Shipbuilding for Frederick Leyland & Company and was registered at

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. In 1933, the ship became owned by N.G. Livanos and was renamed ''Alfios''. Later that year, it was obtained by Theofano Maritime, who would operate the ship until it sunk in 1946. On 24 April 1946, ''Alfios'' was in transit across the

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from

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to Halifax to pick up a shipment of

pit prop A pit prop or mine prop (British and American usage, respectively) is a length of lumber used to prop up the roofs of tunnels in coal mines. Canada traditionally supplied pit props to the British market. As coal mining declined in importance an ...

s. While steaming near

Sable Island Sable Island (french: île de Sable, literally "island of sand") is a small Canadian island situated southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and about southeast of the closest point of mainland Nova Scotia in the North Atlantic Ocean. The island i ...

, ''Alfios'' ran aground on a shallow spit of sand. A week after the ship was wrecked, on 1 May, HMCS ''Middlesex'' set out to rescue the 30 crew and 2 passengers stranded on ''Alfios''. ''Middlesex'' successfully rescued everyone aboard, bringing them to safety in

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. By 1 June 1946 ''Alfios'' was still firmly aground in the place where it wrecked, with its breeches buoy rigged from the deck to the shore. In the 1980s, the wreck was still visible from the air, and its position was precisely mapped by a

Canadian Hydrographic Service ''Retired Canadian Hydrographic Service logo or crest'' The Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) is part of the federal department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and is Canada's authoritative hydrographic office. The CHS represents Canada in t ...

survey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alfios (1920) Cargo ships of Greece Merchant ships of the United Kingdom 1919 ships Maritime incidents in 1946 Standard World War I ships