SS ''Georgia'' was an

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined ...

that was built in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in 1908 as ''Texas'' and spent most of her career in the

United States Merchant Marine United States Merchant Marines are United States civilian mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of the government and private sectors, an ...

. In 1917 she was renamed ''Georgia''. In 1927 she was transferred to

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

ownership, and shortly thereafter ran aground and was lost on

Haisborough Sands Haisborough Sands (or Haisboro Sands or Haisbro Sands) is a sandbank off the coast of Norfolk, England at Happisburgh.SC1408 Harwich and Rotterdam to Cromer & Terschelling Admiralty Small Craft Chart Coastal planning chart of the Harwich and Rot ...

off the coast of

Norfolk, England Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North ...

History

Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company built the ship at

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the U ...

as hull number 82. She was launched as ''Texas'' on 24 April 1908 and delivered to her owners, The Texas Company (now

Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an independent company unt ...

) on 18 July 1908. The Texas Company registered the ship at

Port Arthur, Texas Port Arthur is a city in Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Texas. A small, uninhabited portion extends into Orange County, Texas, Orange County; it is east of Housto ...

. Her US

official number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats have sometimes ...

was 205362 and her

code letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids and today also. Later, with the i ...

were KWQL. By 1917 the ship had been renamed ''Georgia'' and was equipped for

wireless telegraphy Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using cables. Before about 1910, the term ''wireless telegraphy'' was also used for other experimental technologies for ...

. By 1918 her

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally ass ...

was KUR. In February 1918 she was inspected for possible

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

service and assigned the Identification Number (ID) 2316. The Navy ordered her acquisition, but it was cancelled shortly before the

Armistice of 11 November 1918 The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...

, and she remained in commercial service. In 1922 it was reported that the ship's name had been changed to ''Texaco''. By 1927 the NV Dutch Tanker & Oil Company Ltd owned her, and had registered her in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. Her Dutch code letters were NTBH.

Final voyage

In September 1927 ''Georgia'' loaded a cargo of

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

Abadan Abadan ( fa, آبادان ''Ābādān'', ) is a city and capital of Abadan County, Khuzestan Province, which is located in the southwest of Iran. It lies on Abadan Island ( long, 3–19 km or 2–12 miles wide). The island is bounde ...

in Persia (now

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

). She left the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

bound for the oil refinery at

Grangemouth Grangemouth ( sco, Grangemooth; gd, Inbhir Ghrainnse, ) is a town in the Falkirk council area, Scotland. Historically part of the county of Stirlingshire, the town lies in the Forth Valley, on the banks of the Firth of Forth, east of Falkir ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. By 20 November she was in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...

when a strong gale broke her steering gear. Just before midnight she ran aground on Haisborough Sands and stuck fast. The storm carried away her radio aerial, so her wireless telegraphist was unable to send a

distress signal A distress signal, also known as a distress call, is an internationally recognized means for obtaining help. Distress signals are communicated by transmitting radio signals, displaying a visually observable item or illumination, or making a soun ...

. For several hours the heavy sea battered her hull, eventually ripping her apart amidships. Her after section was sounding her siren as a distress signal, but the two halves slowly drifted apart and lost sight of each other, the stern section being carried away by the force of the

gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).bow section remained stuck on the sand bank with huge seas washing over it. The bow section had the captain, Harry Kissing and 14 of the crew all crouched in the

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...

. The other 16 members of the crew were in the drifting

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

section. The next morning (21 November) the

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

''Trent'' sighted the drifting stern section and resued the 16 crewmen. ''Trent'' then found the bow section stuck on the sand bank. In the meantime, the stern section had drifted North West and was sighted off

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is north of Norwich, north-northeast of London and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local government authorities are Nor ...

Henry Blogg Henry George Blogg"Henry Blogg, the Greatest of the Lifeboatmen", Jolly, C., Pub: Poppyland Publishing, new edition 2002, GC BEM (6 February 1876 – 13 June 1954) was a lifeboatman from Cromer on the north coast of Norfolk, England, and the ...

coxswain The coxswain ( , or ) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from ''cock'', referring to the cockboat, a type of ship's boat ...

of the Cromer lifeboat , attending to the stern reported at 3.15 p.m. that the ship had been abandoned although at this time they were unaware that the ship was in two halves as the stern was creeping higher into the air. The Cromer lifeboat attended the stern section all that night warning shipping of the danger. Back at the bow section, the

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

Coastguard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

had learned of the disaster at 9 p.m. and had called the Gorleston lifeboat to assist. ''Trent'' had signalled by wireless that it was too dangerous to approach the stern section, and she made for Cromer to land the rescued men from the stern section. On the morning of 22 November the Gorleston lifeboat tried to rescue the remaining 15 crew, now sheltering in the chartroom, the highest point on the ship out of the water. Coxswain Billy Fleming tried to use the lee provided by the close by ''Trent'', but with the seas still heavy this proved to be too dangerous, and she stood off to wait until conditions improved. Another attempt was made at midday. On the fifth attempt they got a line to the stranded section, but a huge wave picked up the lifeboat and dropped her in a trough, snapping the line. The Gorleston boat then developed engine trouble and retired from the rescue. At about 4.30 pm the remaining crew were finally rescued by the exhausted crew of the Cromer lifeboat. Blogg and his crew had stood by the stern section all night, and then after returning to Cromer, were immediately called back out to attend the bow. ''H F Bailey'' was considerably damaged in the rescue, but got her crew and the rescued men safely back to Great Yarmouth by 7 pm. Both sections of ''Georgia'' sank in the following days.

Positions of the wrecks

Stern section * at a depth of . Bow section * at a depth of , on Haisborough Sands.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *

External links

* *
The Old Cromer Lifeboat Shed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Georgia SS 1908 ships Maritime incidents in 1927 Merchant ships of the Netherlands Oil tankers Ships built in Newport News, Virginia Shipwrecks of Norfolk Shipwrecks in the North Sea Steamships of the Netherlands Steamships of the United States World War I merchant ships of the United States