SS ''Britannia'' was a British

Passenger Liner A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

that was scrapped after 22 years of duty (1887–1909) at

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Construction

''Britannia'' was constructed in 1887 at the Caird & Co. shipyard in

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and she was named ''Britannia'' and served from 1887 to 1909. She was launched on 18 August 1887 and was completed on 11 October 1887. The sea trials began on 15 October 1887 and after completing them the ship departed on her maiden voyage on 16 October 1887. She had one sister ship ''SS Victoria''. She was also fitted with unsubsidised gun platforms in case of auxiliary cruiser duties. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . The ship was assessed at . She had a Three cylinder triple expansion steam engine driving a single screw propeller. The engine was rated at 7000 i.h.p.

Career

''Britannia'' had a successful career. On 5 November 1887 she established a new British/Indian mail record of 23 days 10 hours, at an average speed of 16 knots. Despite this, in July 1889, while traveling at 15-16 knots, she was overtaken during the night by a sailing ship which later turned out to be the Cutty Sark. She was also used as an experimental charter for six months in 1894-1895 in which she could cary 1,200 Indian troops (or 2,700 in emergency). She continued to serve as a troop ship from 1895 to 1897. In 1904 the ship was refitted and modernised for revised mail contracts and was returned to service in 1905. In 1907 she carried

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on a state visit to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Accidents

During her career ''Britannia'' was involved in two accidents: * 18 October 1887: Ran Aground on Goodwin Sands for 12 hours. * 1894: Ran aground at the

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The Final Days

In August 1909 the ship was sold for £11,520 to Fratelli Cerruti fu Allesandra,

to be broken up and arrived in

on 22 August 1909 together with her sistership ''Victoria'' where they were scrapped alongside each other.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Britannia (1887) 1887 ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Ocean liners of the United Kingdom Ships built on the River Clyde Ships built in the United Kingdom